Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As soon as Shouta stepped through Detective Naomasa’s office window, he could tell he was going to hate whatever new case the detective had for him. Naomasa had called him, while still on patrol, telling him a new case came in that he needed to come down to the precinct to be briefed on, immediately. That, however, wasn't what had Shouta starting to dread whatever this case was about. It was what he saw when he entered the office.

There wasn’t much different about the office’s appearance, it was in its usual state of disarray whenever there was a new case. There were manilla folders and loose files strewn across the detective’s dark wood desk in seemingly haphazard piles. Shouta still didn’t know how Naomasa was always able to find whatever file he needed. The trash can beside the desk was, as per usual, filled with paper to-go coffee cups. On the opposite wall of his window entrance, the cork board for organizing details on more complex cases was currently blank, but the spool of light blue thread and thumbtacks the detective liked using was set nearby. The blinds on the window of the door to his office were down to make sure no one looked in and potentially saw sensitive information. The comfy leather chair Shouta always sat in while working on cases was in front of Naomasa’s desk like usual. All in all, the office looked as it usually did.

What made Shouta worry was two things that were very much out of the ordinary. The first being Naomasa not making a single comment about Shouta entering through his window instead of the door. It had become somewhat of a running joke between the two that Naomasa would make some sarcastic comment whenever Shouta entered, and Shouta would return it with some comment about it being more efficient than walking through the whole precinct. It had been a way to lighten the mood for a moment before they started on cases and got down to business. No comment meant things were more serious than the usual cases they got.

The second, more concerning thing that was starting to set Shouta on edge was how the detective was acting. He had his head in his hands, staring down at a small stack of manilla folders separated from the rest of the cluttered desk. The look on his face was, somehow, a combination of a man at his wit's end, and a man who was already resigned to his fate. The last time he saw Naomasa like this was when the force had been investigating the ever-elusive Midori no Bara yakuza clan. During that case, the detective had taken shots of whiskey followed by chasers of lukewarm black coffee to, in his own words, ‘reduce his stress and stay awake at the same time’. If this case was just as bad, Shouta may wind up drinking with him.

“I’m going to assume whatever is in those files is the reason you called me down here,” Shouta said while sliding into his chair across from the detective, “How bad is it?”

Naomasa took a moment to close his eyes and collect his thoughts before looking up at Shouta, getting straight down to business, “There’s a new criminal group in town, each of the known members have already been a pain for heroes and law enforcement individually, but now that they’re working together, we can currently only speculate what they’ll do.”

Shouta was right, he could already feel the migraine from working late nights this case was going to give him. Even still, the sooner they got started, the sooner he could, hopefully, apprehend these people.

“Who are the known members, and what information do we currently have on them?”

Naomasa picked up the stack of files he had previously been staring at and handed them to Shouta. There were five files in total, but that did little to reassure him, given that each criminal could be highly lethal.

“Quality over quantity” he thought to himself. Quality criminals meant it would be a bigger hassle to capture them. Shouta opened the first file, labeled with the name ‘Ghost’.

The picture included in the file showed a grainy image of someone in a slate gray, padded, full-body suit with matching boots, gloves, and mask which covered their entire head. The only details that could be made out from the photo were two black spots for the eyes. They appeared to be running into an alleyway, looking behind them as if they were being chased. As he studied the picture Naomasa started giving him a rundown of the file.

“First, we have Ghost, both gender and true identity currently unknown. Their quirk is believed to be some form of invisibility that can affect the clothes they wear and items they hold. It was originally thought possible that they had a camouflage quirk, but that was dismissed due to them being able to bypass infrared laser fields that were still fully operational at the time of their heists. Because of their quirk, the photo included is, currently, the only known photo of them. They’re known for being a thief for hire, able to break into nearly anywhere without being detected, and stealing requested items. The few times they did set off the security system of the places they were robbing, which hasn’t occurred in roughly a year now, the heroes that responded were unable to find and apprehend them. Ironically, the only reason we know what they’ve stolen is because, unlike others, they don’t appear on the security feed as they’re stealing.”

Shouta had heard about Ghost, they had only been operating for roughly two years but had shown to be highly effective at what they do. They were also adept at escaping heroes undetected. He remembers Vlad telling him about finding one of Ghost’s “business exchanges” on patrol and how they slipped away undetected while he was dealing with Ghost’s clients. They had even given Shouta the slip once in the past when he had responded to one of their botched robberies. He closed the file with a sigh, and set it to the side to look at in-depth later. Now opening a familiar file labeled with the name ‘Virus’.

“Next is someone we’ve both dealt with in the past, Virus, both gender and true identity currently unknown. They’re a fairly well-known hacker, and info-broker, in the underground that has shown the ability to get information on just about anyone and anything that can be found online. As we both know, they’ve also shown to be willing to make deals with underground heroes and the police given the right price. Their quirk is still unknown, but it’s theorized that they have some form of advanced technomancy quirk given how adept they are at hacking and leaving no trace behind.”

There was a picture of Virus’ calling card included in the file, a neon-yellow biohazard symbol, in place of where their photo would be. There wasn’t a picture of Virus themself, nor any police sketch, since no one had ever seen Virus in person. They operated purely online, usually through texts to numbers that they shouldn’t have access to but somehow did, Shouta’s number being one of them. Virus had been operating only a few months longer than Ghost, but had quickly made a name for themself. Shouta and Naomasa admittedly hadn’t put much effort into trying to capture Virus, given how they provided useful information, but it seemed that would now be changing.

As Shouta set aside Virus’ file, he couldn’t help but feel tense. So far, this group had a hacker and a thief, and while they were skilled at what they did, he knew they weren’t the main cause of Naomasa’s despair over this case. Seeing the name ‘Blade’ labeled on the next file, he was quickly starting to understand why the detective was having the reaction he had, if this is the same Blade he’s thinking of. Hoping he was wrong, he opened the file, his eyes immediately drawn to the photo within.

The photo of Blade was better quality than Ghost’s photo, probably taken by an unlucky bystander or a lucky news reporter. They wore a black full-body suit that had red stitching in various places, likely done to repair the suit after it was cut by either their quirk or someone else. They wore a white kitsune mask with red accents and, most likely, a balaclava under that to hide their hair. The photo looked to be taken while they were mid sprint, wielding a katana in their right hand and carrying a bo-staff on their back. It was obvious from their body language that they were chasing someone rather than being chased.

Shouta couldn’t help but cringe slightly. The photo was the same one he’d seen used on various news stations, confirming it was the same Blade he had been thinking of.

“I know you’ve probably seen the headlines, everyone has, but the news hasn’t released all her info to the public. We know Blade is female, but her true identity is still currently unknown. Her quirk, as we know it, is the ability to create detachable steel blades of varying size from any part of her skin. Combining her quirk with her proficiency with melee weapons makes her extremely dangerous in close quarters combat.”

Included in the file was a photo of one of the many recovered bloody blades. It resembled a large box-cutter blade in shape, and was lying on the floor of an alleyway. The photo was obviously taken at the scene of one of Blade’s bloodier fights given there were further blood splatters trailing out of frame.

“She was originally known as an extreme vigilante, but was reclassified to a villain when she started taking down heroes. She seems to follow a belief system similar, but less deadly, to that of Stain’s, claiming she is, and I quote, ‘taking down any and all villains I come across, even if those villains have the title hero’. At this time, she hasn’t killed anyone, however, over the past three years she has managed to apprehend roughly 63 criminals and has given 13 low-ranked pro heroes career ending injuries. The only link between said heroes being that all of them had previously been tried for various crimes, but were all found innocent.”

Shouta had never had a run in with Blade yet, but he was well aware of their activity, all the heroes were. When you have people like Blade and Stain actively hunting heroes, you need to keep up to date on their activity to try and make sure you weren’t their next victim. However, because he knew their activity, he could safely say he was extremely confused how Blade got involved with Ghost and Virus. Ghost and Virus both worked with exchanges, it made sense for them to be involved, besides, it certainly wouldn’t be the first time a thief had a hacker to support them. Blade, on the other hand, didn’t care about money or profit, the only thing they cared about was enacting their own form of ‘justice’.

Shouta closed Blade’s file and set it to the side with the other two before sighing and looking up at Naomasa, “I may regret asking, but is Blade the worst of them, or does it get worse?”

“Individually? It’s debatable. As a collective? Open the next file and see for yourself,” Naomasa said, rubbing his temples as if trying to ward off a migraine.

Shouta opened the next file and, upon seeing the name ‘Hell Hound’ on the label, immediately closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, now understanding the detective’s response.

“Should I even give you his rundown?”

“To be honest, I probably know everything in here and more,” Shouta replied, starting to dread working on this case.

Hell Hound was well-known among the underground heroes for being one of the most efficient and elusive bounty hunters in the criminal underworld. He had gained the reputation of being able to track down and locate nearly anyone if given a photo, and could do it in under two weeks if given something with the target’s scent. He is also said to be adept at taking down said targets non-lethally, delivering them to his clients if paid extra to do so. He’s always described as a tall, intimidating figure covered in all black clothing, wearing a mask that resembled a dog muzzle, red lensed goggles, and at times sounded more like he was growling than speaking. His quirk was still technically unknown, however, based on his reputation and description, it’s believed he has a complex heteromorphic mutation quirk similar to some type of predatory animal.

Though it’s still unknown how accurate the description is given how the only accounts came from captured criminals that had dealt with him in the past. Somehow, there was no photographic evidence of anyone that matched the description, and no hero had been able to catch a glimpse of him either. Hell, Shouta knew some underground heroes who had tried to contact him for some difficult cases but all were unsuccessful since he refused to work for underground heroes. Any time an underground hero was able to set up a meeting under a false identity, Hell Hound would cancel right before the meeting because he was, somehow, able to realize who they actually were.

Closing Hell Hound’s file and setting it to the side with the other three, Shouta was now dreading looking at the final file he still held. This new group was already going to be difficult to apprehend given how each member seemed extremely adept at avoiding detection. Shouta took a deep breath and decided to just bite the bullet and see who was in the last file.

However, as soon as he looked at the file and saw the name on the label, he jerked back to look at Naomasa and exclaimed, “You have got to be shitting me!”

“I honestly wish I was,” Naomasa responded, a look of resignation on his face, “but unfortunately for us, I’m not.”

Shouta couldn’t help the groan he let out as he slumped back into his chair, because out of everyone it could have been, it just had to be him. He looked back down at the extremely familiar file, labeled with the name ‘Green Oni’.

Green Oni had been a constant thorn in both Shota and Naomasa’s side for roughly three years now. He had originally been thought to be a vigilante when he first became active roughly three years ago. He was known to wear a black, fire-proof Kevlar jumpsuit with a hood, combat boots, and a green Oni mask. He showed to be capable in both quirked and quirkless combat based off of the apprehended criminals’ accounts. His quirk allowed him to create gouts of green flames from his hands, which he managed to use without causing severe injury to the criminals he apprehended. He also uses a meteor hammer attached to a chain rather than a rope, which he is capable of heating using his quirk. Even though he possessed a dangerous quirk and combat skills, his case was placed on the backburner in favor of focusing on other cases because he was a vigilante.

Shouta was working on a case to track down and arrest one of the known members, and top hitman, of the Midori no Bara yakuza clan, Will-o-Wisp. He had managed to locate him as he was about to commit his next hit, and intervened before he could kill his target. However, before he was able to apprehend them, Green Oni had attacked him from behind and, with Will-o-Wisp’s help, took Shouta down. The only reason he was still alive now was because Green Oni had prevented Will-o-Wisp from killing him. Though they did leave him with the warning that, ‘If you ever target my family again, I won’t be there to save you.’

Since then, he has continued to perform vigilante work, but was reportedly becoming more involved with yakuza work as well. He had been reported, by various criminals in police custody, to be acting as a bodyguard for higher level Midori no Bara dealers. This was later confirmed by a number of heroes when each had come across deals he was guarding, and each had the misfortune of him taking them down. At this time, he has managed to successfully incapacitate 11 pro heroes, Shouta included. Any other activity he might have been a part of has been unknown, until now.

Setting Green Oni’s file with the others, Shouta took a moment to process how bad the current situation could potentially be. However, there was a very small piece of hope that he was still somehow holding onto, that these five weren’t actually a group and someone had made a mistake. Because while he could understand some of them partnering with each other, it still didn’t make sense why these five would team up together.

Turning to Naomasa, he asked, “What evidence do you have that makes you believe these five are working together?”

Naomasa, instead of responding, opened a file on his computer before turning the monitor around to Shouta and played video evidence that, not only fully confirmed the five were working together, but made him wonder, ‘what in the hell had led up to this?’

Chapter Text

Earlier that week…

Ducking through alley after alley, Izuku could already tell he was going to hate whatever this meeting was going to be about. Virus had contacted him, or rather had contacted ‘Green Oni’, saying that they had a proposition that needed to be discussed in person. That alone was enough to set him on edge for his entire trip to the meet up location, a warehouse in Kamino ward. He would have brushed it off thinking it was someone else posing as Virus, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was through Virus’ ‘specially made communicator’ that he only gave to ‘trusted clients’. In other words, it was a souped-up phone that couldn’t be hacked or traced. So here he was, sneaking through back alleys, on his way to an illegal deal the night after completing his first day at UA. You know, just like any other hero in training would.

As Izuku continued through the back-alleys, making sure to avoid view from people on the street, he kept wondering what could possibly be so important that Virus had to see him in person. They had done a number of deals over the past year as ‘business associates’. Virus would sell him info on the more problematic gangs and organizations that he could take down. Izuku would sell him analyses on heroes that he requested, which were often the ones that committed crimes but got away with it. They were useful for each other, hence why Izuku was a ‘trusted client’.

When Izuku turned the last corner before arriving at the meeting location, there was an audible crunch under his boot, causing him to cringe and silently curse. He looked down to see the floor of the alley he just stepped into was covered with shards of glass. Glancing at his surroundings, it became obvious as to why. The building on his right was a warehouse in obvious disrepair. Every window was either shattered or the glass was completely missing, showing how they were boarded up from the inside. The bricks were worn down and looked grimy from never being cleaned. There was a door close by, or at least the remnants of a door. In place of a door there was a large sheet of metal bolted to the doorframe.

Checking Virus’ communicator again, it showed that this warehouse was indeed their meeting location. Repressing a sigh of frustration, Izuku carefully made his way through the glass covered alleyway so that he didn’t create further noise. Getting to the doorway, he looked around to double check his surroundings, making sure to glance at the roofs where he knew underground heroes and vigilantes liked to perch. Seeing no one around, he reached out for the right side of the metal sheet and pulled, just like Virus’ instructions said to. It came away easier than he had suspected, and swung open like a door. A quick glance showed that the bolts were purely decorative, only giving the illusion of securing the sheet to the frame. The inside was near pitch-black, but Izuku stepped inside and closed the ‘door’ behind him without hesitation.

Reaching up to his Oni mask, he flipped a hidden switch near his eyes, activating the night vision feature. A quick scan showed the expansive room to be almost completely empty. Any boxes and crates that had been left behind were all stacked against the walls, leaving the middle completely open. To his right was a set of stairs leading up to what used to be the warehouse foreman’s office. Which is where Virus said their meeting would be held. Making his way up the stairs as quietly as possible, he mentally prepared himself for whatever he was about to walk in on. He knocked on the wooden door just as Virus had instructed him (two slow, three quick, and two slow again) and waited. After a moment, the door was opened, shining dim light out of the room. As the light hit his mask, the night vision automatically turned off to prevent him being blinded. As his eyes adjusted, he quickly took in the room, as well as the four people inside. Three of which Izuku had not been told would be a part of this deal, nor did he ever expect to see them all in one location.

The person who opened the door was wearing black jeans, a black leather jacket, sneakers, and a motorcycle helmet with Virus’ yellow biohazard calling card on the tinted visor. It was obvious they were Virus, but Izuku was currently focusing on the room’s other three occupants sitting in metal folding chairs set up in a semi-circle in the center of the room. Sitting in a hunched position in the chair on the right, closest to the door, was Hell Hound. He recognized them from when the Midori no Bara hired them to find a copycat dealer selling laced drugs, claiming they were a member. It was honestly surprising to see them at all, considering they had gone quiet for the past three months. To Hell Hound’s right was, or at least who he assumed was, Ghost. He had only seen one blurry photo of them, but they wore the same slate-gray bodysuit and mask. The person sitting to Ghost’s right, however, was the biggest shock, and solidified his hate for this meeting. How the hell Virus was able to convince Blade to meet them was beyond him. All three were looking at him, visibly tense, as if they were just as surprised to see him as he was to see them. They probably were, all things considered.

“Green Oni,” Virus said, voice electronically distorted, yet still sounding pleased, “it’s good that you were able to come, I would have hated for you to miss out on this opportunity.”

“If you were willing to meet in person, I knew it had to be important,” he replied, his own voice modifier deepening his voice, hiding the trepidation he now felt.

Izuku knew at this point, even though he hadn’t stepped into the room, there was no turning back. He could try to run, sure, but he wouldn’t make it far with both Blade and Hell Hound giving chase. Mustering all the courage he had, he walked through the doorway into the room, Virus closing and locking the door behind him. He sat down in the only available seat, to the right of Blade, and hoped that whatever proposal Virus was about to give was good enough for Blade to not attack Izuku at the first chance she got. Call it a hunch, but he figured that the person who ended the careers of corrupt pro-heroes probably wasn’t a fan of a vigilante yakuza member. He didn’t have time to think any further though, as Virus stood in front of the semi-circle, and started speaking.

“I highly doubt that anyone in this room is unaware of who each other are, so introductions should be unnecessary. I would firstly like to thank you all for agreeing to meet with me, and apologize for not informing you of each other’s attendance. I thought it necessary since I did not want to risk any of you not attending if there was ill will I was unaware of. If there is, I ask that you hold off resolving it until the end of this meeting. Now as to why I have called you all here to meet me in person, I am proposing that the five of us form an alliance.”

Izuku didn’t know whether to laugh or applaud Virus for having the sheer audacity to suggest Blade join a villain alliance. He could understand pitching the idea to Ghost and Hell Hound, it would make sense for them to work together. He could even understand why Virus brought him in, especially with his access to the Midori no Bara’s resources. However, the idea of pitching the idea to Blade was almost laughable, yet Virus seemed completely serious, and continued.

“I know it may seem like an odd thing to suggest, especially since not all of us share a common goal, but I can assure you that we all have common ground. With this alliance, each of us would be able to call upon the others for assistance in whatever job or mission that may need another’s... expertise. No one would be forced to help either, if you don’t want to take part in a job, you won’t have to. But before we continue, I want to make sure that I’m not just wasting my breath.”

As he finished, he turned around and walked back to the door, unlocked it, and stood back, before speaking again, “If you decide to join, I am more than happy to explain my reasoning for this proposal, as well as why I specifically chose you four. However, if any of you would rather not go through with my proposal, for any reason, you are free to leave now. I will still be willing to make deals with you, but the alliance offer will be permanently off the table.”

There was a brief pause before Blade leaned forward, holding the hilt of the katana sheathed on her back, and spoke with a voice full of venom, “I have a question, tell me Virus, what in the hell could I possibly have in common with these villains?”

Even though she said his name as if it was a curse, Virus didn’t outwardly react, and instead asked in a level tone, “Hell Hound, you’ve taken on plenty of contracts on a variety of targets. Have you ever accepted one for a non-corrupt hero or civilian target?”

A low growl caused all eyes to turn to Hell Hound, who had straightened up from their hunched position, radiating anger. Their fists were clenched as they spoke in a distorted growl, “Last time someone contacted me, the creep tried to get me to track down his ex that left him for abusing her. Said he wanted revenge for 'breaking his heart'. Last I checked, the bones in his legs are still gravel.”

The way he said the last line, as if almost proud of what he did, honestly should have sent a shiver down Izuku’s spine. All he felt, however, was a morbid satisfaction for the creep’s fate.

“And what about heroes?” Virus prompted.

“I’ve only ever handled criminals and low-level villains, never any heroes,” Hell Hound replied, before adding, almost as an afterthought, “Not that I have any problem with corrupt ones being taken down.”

Seemingly satisfied with their answer, Virus turned to Ghost, still speaking in a level tone, “Ghost, you’re known for being a thief for hire, stealing anything a client has requested. But is that actually true? Or are there places you’d never be willing to take from?”

Ghost leaned back in their seat, arms crossed over their chest, in an almost casual position, before speaking in a bubbly feminine voice, lacking any distortion, “For some reason people think I get hired to hit museum exhibits to steal ‘priceless artifacts’ or some other shit like that. In reality, people hire me to steal expensive materials like gold and silver in whatever form I find it in. Plus, most of the places I’ve hit have been the houses of rich assholes that just hoard money and over-expensive bullshit.”

To say the rest of them were thrown off by Ghost’s animated way of speaking was probably an understatement. Blade had even let go of their katana’s handle while they were leaning back to avoid Ghost’s hands waving around as they spoke.

They, however, were oblivious to all of this, too invested in finally being able to rant, “Hell, three days ago I stole an entire set of solid gold cutlery from the Monoma family. Not gold plated! Solid, fucking, gold! Like, why in the hell would anyone need to waste their money on that shit when there are people who barely have enough to make ends meet! It’s just so frustrating!”

After their final exclamation, the only sound in the room was them panting while coming down from the emotional high they just had. After a minute Virus, who seemed to hesitate for a moment, finally broke the silence, “Thank you for your… honesty, Ghost. Now, Green Oni, you’ve been known to assist the Midori no Bara on several occasions, yet you’re also known as a highly effective vigilante. How are the Midori no Bara’s members any different from the criminals you apprehend?”

All eyes were now on Izuku, waiting for his answer. In the back of his mind, he knew he should feel nervous about answering. Even though Blade was no longer holding their katana, one wrong word and they wouldn’t hesitate to attack him. But all he could feel in that moment was a simmering anger, because how dare anyone imply that his family were anything like the people he took down.

“My family are nothing like the selfish scumbags I take down on my patrols,” Izuku hissed out, “My family doesn’t sell shit to make a profit in the underground, they sell medicine that people need in order to survive, but can’t get because they’re labeled ‘villain’ or ‘vigilante’. Hell, if it wasn’t for my family, a good majority of the vigilantes in Japan wouldn’t have access to medical equipment that made sure they didn’t die from one bad run in. My family does exactly what I do, help people regardless of what the law says.”

By the end of his rant, he now noticed how the others were leaning away from him, and how there were wisps of smoke coming from his hands. Taking a moment to collect himself, he leaned back in his chair, evening out his breathing.

Seeing him calming down, Virus turned away to look back at Blade, “You asked me what you have in common with the others in this room. Each person in this room, yourself included, does what they believe to be good, even though the police and heroes label them as villains because of it. We all help people, albeit at times in a roundabout way, even if it means breaking the law to do so. If you still hate the idea of working together, like I said earlier, you are free to leave. But at least recognize that you have more in common with us than you may realize.”

They all sat in silence, no one daring to speak, as they waited to see what would happen next. Subtly glancing at Blade, Izuku could see her facing the door for a brief moment, as if mulling over whether or not to leave. It only lasted a moment before she shifted to look back at Virus, and nodded for him to continue.

“Holy shit, he actually convinced Blade,” he thought, shocked by the revelation.

Sure it made sense after Virus had laid everything bare like that, but it was still shocking for Blade to actually be joining a villain alliance. The sound of the door relocking forced him to refocus on what was currently happening. Quelling his feelings of shock, Izuku refocused on Virus, who had retaken his place in front of the semi-circle.

“Now that you’ve all made your decision, I can answer the question you’re all probably wondering, why you specifically? You may think it because, like I said, we all share similar directives, but that’s not why I asked for you four. After all, there are plenty of other ‘moral villains’ I could have contacted. The reason I chose to give this offer to you four is because it’s not every day that four of your classmates are secretly villains,” he said, and even though his face was covered, it was obvious that he was grinning.

Time seemed to almost pause as Izuku processed what Virus just revealed. It didn’t make any sense. There was no possible way that any of his classmates, students in the hero course, could possibly be–

“So, let me properly introduce myself,” Virus continued, reaching up and lifting off his helmet to reveal an impish grin and eclectic blonde hair with a black streak, “my name is Kaminari Denki, villain name Virus, and member of class 1-A, just like the rest of you.”

Chapter Text

The room was dead silent as Izuku stared at Kaminari, one of his new classmates , questioning whether this was a weird ass dream or if it was actually a set-up. He slowly turned his head to the others, all of them still staring at Kaminari, waiting for a moment to see if any of them were about to try and jump him. They, however, only did the same as he did, and started slowly glancing at each other. It was as if all of them were hesitant to say or do anything in fear of what may happen next. The sound of Kaminari clearing his throat caused everyone seated to quickly turn to him. He seemed happy to ignore the now tense atmosphere, and continue speaking.

“I figured it would only be fair for me to reveal myself to you all since I was able to realize your civilian identities, and I thought it would be a good way to start some proper introductions. After all, if we’re going to be working together, it’s important to know who we may need to cover for, either at UA or in day-to-day life.”

“And what makes you think we’re your classmates?” Hell Hound interjected; the surprise obvious in their voice. “For all you know, you’ve just revealed your identity to four random criminals.”

Kaminari’s smile turned smug as he explained, “The reason I know for certain who each of you are is quite simple. Part of my quirk allows me to ‘read’ electrical signals, and each of my specially made communication devices run on a unique signal compared to all other electronics.”

The four seated all had the same dawning moment of realization, but Ghost was the one to verbalize it, “You got us the moment we stepped through the classroom door.”

“Bingo,” Kaminari replied, “Now, with that out of the way, who would like to be the next to introduce themselves?”

Another moment of awkward silence permeated the room, each of them hoping that one of the others would go first. Izuku wasn’t going to even think about taking off his mask until it was fully confirmed that, at least, another one of the masked people in this room was one of his new classmates. A resigned sigh from Ghost caused all heads to turn to them (her?).

“If no one else is brave enough to bite the bullet, I guess I’ll have to,” they said, while reaching up and beginning to remove their mask.

Everyone watched as Ghost lifted their mask to reveal… nothing? Where Ghost’s head should have been, there was literally nothing. For a moment, Izuku was scared that they had just removed their head, until the same bubbly voice came from the place Ghost’s head should be.

“Hi there! You all know me as Ghost, but my real name is Hagakure Toru. I know this isn’t what we expected, but I hope we all get along!”

Izuku remembered her now, she had been talking with Ashido when he had entered the 1-A classroom. He idly wondered whether Ashido knew that her friend was a criminal. He was pretty sure that she had gotten 14th place in Eraserhead’s quirk assessment test, which made a lot of sense if she was able to evade pro heroes without a mobility quirk.

Hagakure’s introduction seemed to ease some of the tension in the room. It was still noticeable; however it was hard to be suspicious of someone who sounded like they genuinely wanted to ‘get along’. Looking at Blade and Hell Hound, while they were both less tense, they still seemed hesitant to unmask themselves.  That meant if he wanted to avoid another awkward stalemate, he’d have to go next. Reaching up and pulling back his hood, revealing his green hair that had been pulled back in a braid, he undid the clasp on the strap of his mask and took it off.

“My name is Midoriya Izuku, code name ‘Green Oni’, and I can agree with wanting all of us to get along. After all, in-fighting is what usually brings down even the best of organizations,” he said, trying to seem cool and confident, like his dad does during business meetings.

His confidence quickly fled, however, as Hagakure audibly whispered, “Holy shit, it’s Mina’s ballerina dude…” causing everyone besides Izuku to turn to her in confusion. Meanwhile, Izuku was blushing up a storm, staring at her in a combination of embarrassment and dawning horror.

Realizing she said her thoughts aloud, Hagakure quickly tried explaining herself, “I meant you’re the guy from Mina’s dance studio that she talks about! Not anything bad though! She thinks you’re a good guy!”

Blade and Hell Hound watched as Hagakure, almost frantically, tried to remedy the situation while Izuku was hunched over, covering his face with his hands from embarrassment. Kaminari was hunched over as well, but he was holding his stomach and laughing so hard it sounded more like a wheeze. It took a few minutes before everyone was able to calm down and compose themselves, but the atmosphere seemed less tense than before because of the accidental comedic moment.

“Okay,” Kaminari began, still stifling his laughter, “let’s get back on track with the introductions. Blade, Hell Hound, which of you would like to go next?”

Neither of them seemed willing to reveal themselves first, silently staring each other down. Tension was beginning to build again until Blade eventually caved, sighing as she leaned back in her chair to look at everyone.

“If any of you give away my identity I’ll take you down before the heroes even get a chance,” she stated, in clear annoyance.

She reached up and slipped off the balaclava, and attached kitsune mask, to reveal probably the last person Izuku would expect. Her black hair was pulled back and pinned down, and she was glaring fiercely, something he had never seen her do.

“My name is Yaoyorozu Momo, and before you even ask, yes, I am the heir of the Yaoyorozu fortune that my parents have amassed through dirty dealings with corrupt heroes,” she stated, her lip pulling back to almost a snarl when she said ‘parents’.

Izuku recognized her easily, it would be hard not to, considering she was the class president while they attended Soumei High together. They had never talked much; their social circles were completely different. His was more nonexistent. But even still, he had thought he’d gotten a decent read on her personality. She was always helping others and seemed like a kind and approachable person, if a bit formal. Seeing her now, leaning back with her arms crossed, glaring at them all as if they had personally insulted her, he started questioning how much of that was an act. Thinking further, he was struck with a sudden realization.

“That explains why all of the pro heroes you’ve taken down were once defended by your parents’ attorney office. You’ve been using their records as a hit list,” he exclaimed, grinning and pointing triumphantly at Yaoyorozu.

As she looked at him, her glare became a prideful smirk as she said, “They’d never expect their daughter to be the one to take down their clients.”

“You both will have plenty of time to plot later,” Kaminari interjected, “Right now, we still have one last introduction.”

Everyone turned to Hell Hound who, for the first time, seemed nervous with all attention on him. Fidgeting with the hood of his outfit, he looked down toward his lap as he spoke, hesitance sounding odd with his growling voice.

“I-Is it really necessary to take off my mask, o-or can I just say my name?”

“We need to be able to put a face to the name,” Kaminari replied.

Hell Hound sighed heavily, before pulling back his hood, revealing a pointed head covered by a beanie. He hesitantly undid the straps for his goggles and muzzle like mask, to reveal a rock-like face that looked incredibly shy.

“Koda Koji,” he quickly stated, his voice much higher than any of them expected.

Izuku was shocked that this was who Hell Hound actually was. He might not have known about Koda before earlier today, but it had been easy to get a read on them. They were nervous throughout the entire test and had only communicated with others sparingly, and even then it was only with sign language. It was a complete opposite to how Hell Hound acted, meaning they must have been faking their confidence the entire time. It made more sense how they had gotten 12th place in the assessment as well; considering they hunt down and incapacitate villains for a job.

Placing his mask back on, Koda said, “I’d rather not speak without my mask if it’s not a problem…”

“I don’t think any of us will have a problem if it means you’re more comfortable speaking with us,” Kaminari reassured, turning to the others, who nodded in agreement.

Koda leaned back in his chair with a relieved sigh, while Kaminari clasped his hands in front of himself and turned to address the group, “Now that we have introductions out of the way, I think it best if you four all exchange the numbers of your communication devices, that way we’ll have a secure way to discuss future jobs-”

“About that,” Yaoyorozu cut in, a dangerous smile on her face, “I already have a job that we can do. And it’ll double as a way to see whether or not you all are actually willing to help me.”

Kaminari, seemingly expecting her to do this, responded without missing a beat, “Who did you have in mind to be ‘Blade’s next take down’?”

Her smile grew sharp as she asked, “Have you ever heard of the hero Death Arms?”

Chapter Text

“......ru”

“....Dekiru…”

“Midoriya!”

Izuku was startled awake by the shout, and could feel someone poking his back. He turned around, still sleepy and just a little angry, leveling a glare at whoever woke him. His glare meeting with the concerned dark brown eyes of Uraraka.

“Are you alright, Dekiru? You were asleep when I walked in.” 

Uraraka had quickly cemented herself as his closest friend at UA, basically latching onto him since day one. Not that he was complaining. He enjoyed her company since it reminded him of his older sister at times, especially when she got excited about something. She was also a very open person, which made interacting with her much easier than some of the others. He may have a secret “villain” alliance with some of his classmates, but there was a level of professionalism with them.

Still, he could tell she was competent and capable, able to hold her own against multiple robots during the entrance exam, as well as scoring 13th during Aizawa's quirk exam. Although she needed to work on her physical ability, and should definitely work on her situational awareness. He doesn't even want to think of what would have happened if he hadn't been there to help her escape from the 0 pointer…

“Hello! Dekiru! What's up with you today? Did you even hear a single thing I said?” 

Izuku snapped back to reality, blushing furiously as he realized he had been completely spacing out and analyzing her.

“O-oh, I'm fine, I just had a late night, that's all,” he replied while glancing away. 

He hadn’t lied, it had been a long night. The new alliance had spent a few hours in that warehouse after the initial meeting. Yaoyorozu had informed them about the “hero” Death Arms, the dirt she had gathered on him from her parents' records, and the basis of a plan she had concocted to take him down. It was a good start, but it relied heavily on timing and the element of surprise. So they had worked together to form a more substantial course of action, finishing around 3am, but ready to set in motion in a few days’ time. Even though he was used to late-night patrols, the meeting had required a lot more critical thinking than a patrol, and his social meter had run completely dry. Thus, he came into class more tired than usual, hoping he’d be able to push through the day.

“Honestly Dekiru, you need to take better care of yourself! Did you even eat this morning?”

As Uraraka continued to fret over him, he couldn't help but smile. Even though they hadn’t known each other for very long she still showed so much concern for him, it was sweet. He wasn't used to anyone outside of his family showing concern for him like this. He was taken out of his musings by a new weight on his desk, and an arm slung around his shoulder.

“Don’t worry ‘bout Midori here, I’m sure we can get him to perk up by the end of the day!” Kaminari said with obvious joy. How he was so cheerful after such a long night is a mystery.

Kaminari had pointed out last night that they should figure out ways to associate with each other at UA so if anyone got suspicious of one person, another could cover for them. The issue was they needed to make it look like the bonds formed naturally, since it would be suspicious if they all began hanging out when they’d barely spoken with each other the previous day. Kaminari and Hagakure’s outgoing personalities at least made it less suspicious if they started hanging around others seemingly randomly, but for the rest of them it would be harder to explain. If Kaminari’s presence was any indication, it meant he was “befriending” Izuku first. Which would mean he’d have to deal with two extroverts today while running on low energy. Joy.

While Kaminari and Uraraka talked about the day ahead, he took the time to subtly glance around the room to see what some of his classmates were doing. Towards the front, Hagakure was animatedly talking with Ashido, who he learned was unaware of her friend’s underworld dealings. On the far side of the room by the windows, just like yesterday, Iida was lecturing Bakugou about proper dress and conduct while Bakugou was yelling about ‘beating him with the stick up his ass’. It wasn’t shocking to find out Bakugou hadn’t changed since Izuku left Aldera Junior High, but that didn’t mean he was happy about the blonde Pomeranian still acting rabid. In the back row, Koda, Yaoyorozu, and Jirou were talking, or at least Jirou and Yaoyorozu were talking while Koda listened. It was still odd to think about how different their civilian and “villain” personas were. Looking at Yaoyorozu, it was almost impossible to think that the polite and refined girl he was seeing had cursed out Death Arms for being a “incompetent, narcissistic, quirkiest cunt”. It was even harder to imagine Koda, who got visibly shyer whenever Jirou asked him a question, was the same person that had offered to break Death Arm’s legs so he couldn’t run away. He was taken out of his musings by the door slamming open and Eraserhead walking through, causing anyone not already sitting to scramble to their desk.

“It took you five seconds to settle down, better but not fast enough,” Eraserhead drawled, looking unimpressed as usual, “There’s only one important announcement I have and then you can take homeroom as a free period. Due to your Heroics teacher’s lesson plans being… advanced for your current skill level, I will be taking over today, and the rest of the week, to teach you basic combat training while they revise. Any questions?”

The mention of combat training caused everyone to start whispering excitedly to each other. Bakugou had a near manic grin on his face as small pops set off of his hands. All of the noise was quickly silenced by a flash of Eraserhead’s eyes.

“All of you be quiet. It will be nothing more than combat basics against sparring dummies. None of you are fighting anyone today. Do I make myself clear?”

When no one spoke up, he gave a nod and climbed into his sleeping bag. The room was quickly filled with hushed talking once again, and Izuku decided to follow Eraserhead’s example and get some sleep. He just wanted to get today over with.

-----------------------------------------

Walking home, Izuku felt sore all over like he just completed one of him and his sibling’s fitness contests. To be fair, Eraserhead has drilled them on quirkless combat techniques for the entire duration of class, Present Mic even let them take English as a study hall upon seeing how wiped out they all were. All Izuku was thinking about now though was getting back home so he could finally get some proper sleep. He could only give a tired smile upon seeing the building he lived in. He made his way inside and up to his family’s apartment, where upon entering he was immediately tackled into the hallway by a red and blonde blur. Looking up at his assailant, he saw the wide fanged grin and cat like eyes of his sister. She was wearing one of her blood red sweaters with her school uniform, with red bows tying up her hair in her signature messy buns.

“Izu! You’re back! Can we spar?” Himiko asked excitedly, bouncing with energy he was envious of.

“I’m exhausted Himi, the heroics course is no joke.”

“Awww,” she sighed, before getting up and helping him to his feet, “I wanted to burn off some steam by kicking your ass.”

A deep but smooth voice spoke up from the entry way, “Then go find Rappa, he’s always looking for someone to fight.”

Glancing over, Izuku couldn’t help but chuckle at the bored look their brother Kai was giving her over his black medical mask. He wore his usual all black button-up and dress pants with matching gloves, and was standing in the entry way with his arms crossed.

“But all he does is throw punches, I wanna fight someone who does flips and shit like Izu!”

“Well right now he looks like he’s about to fall if there’s a gentle breeze,” Kai responded, which was probably fair, but Izuku still resented the statement, “Now both of you get in, Dabi’s making katsudon for dinner.”

With a newfound surge of energy, Izuku quickly ran into the apartment, with Himiko hot on his heels. He at least kicked his shoes off in the entry way to make sure Kai didn’t scream about getting the house dirty, again. Rushing past the living room and into the kitchen, he was met with the sight of his other brother Dabi in grey sweatpants, a white tank top, and a red ‘kiss the cook’ apron. Upon hearing his entrance, Dabi turned around and smirked at Izuku.

“Sup Gremlin, figured you’d want some good food after your first day of bitch school,” Dabi said, causing him to groan.

“I had a fine day at HERO school, thanks for asking, Bacon Bits.”

“Exactly what I said, bitch school, now go set the table, Ma and Dad are both working late so it’s just us tonight. Himi, you get drinks for everyone.”

They both got to work with their assigned tasks. Izuku wanted to be annoyed with Dabi over his comment, but honestly couldn’t find it in himself to do it. When you work against heroes and have even seen them do worse things than you’ve done, you don’t tend to see them in a positive light. The buzzing of a message quickly brought him out of his thoughts, causing him to pull out the device, his virus communicator.

‘Speaking of,’ he thought, opening the message to see it was from Virus himself with new information on Death Arms. Apparently he was able to get ahold of Death Arm’s patrol route and was planning when they would be able to set Operation: Broken Arms into motion.

Stashing the device, Izuku went back to his task of setting the table. He could worry about the alliance and the operation after he had food and some sleep. He half considered telling Dabi about the alliance and their plans, but thought better since Dabi would probably just try to join in to flambe Death Arms. So for right now, he just focused on getting ready for dinner with his siblings, besides it was still gonna be a while before the alliance was ready to set the plan in motion.

Chapter Text

As Izuku stood on a roof dressed in his Green Oni costume, hidden in the shadows of an AC unit, he couldn’t help but feel like the week had flown past him. Now the alliance was finally setting into motion ‘Operation: Broken Arms’, and Izuku was getting nervous. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe they could take down Death Arms. While the man was a heavy hitter and had a sizable number of villain take-downs, he was also incompetent whenever he was presented a situation he couldn’t punch his way out of, like the Sludge Villain Incident. They even had a slight advantage since he was patrolling at night to cover another hero’s shift and the man was typically a daylight hero, unused to fighting at night. The thing that troubled Izuku though was that he knew that no plan ever went how it was intended, and that no matter how well they planned there could always be something that caused things to go awry. He was broken from his musings by the sound of soft static coming from his ear piece comm-link.

“Alright everyone, t-minus 5 minutes until Operation: Broken Arms is officially under way. Everyone in position?” Virus asked, sounding as excited and chipper as ever.

“In position, ready to begin,” came Blade’s clipped response.

“Ready whenever,” Hell Hound followed up with.

“Outside Death Arm’s Hero Agency and ready to start!” said Ghost, now outfitted with one of Virus’ voice modulators, at everyone else’s insistence.

He reached up to press the button to activate his comm-link, “Ready to go, and let’s try to make this as quick as possible, we don’t need other heroes coming in to give back-up.”

“Oh stop worrying so much Green Oni, let the hacker extraordinaire handle any calls for back up.”

Izuku decided to keep quiet rather than respond. He glanced over at the roof across the alley he was facing, where Blade was crouched down in the shadows like he was. The overall plan was relatively simple, Hellhound would lure Death Arms to the alley way between the buildings he and Blade were on. It was a fairly secluded dead-end alley that would ensure Death Arms would only have one entrance and exit, which Hellhound would block and provide back-up if necessary, while he and Blade took the forward assault. Meanwhile, Ghost would be raiding the hero’s agency and Virus would be making sure that they would all be able to complete their jobs uninterrupted. The plan focused on capitalizing their strengths, and they had been ironing out the details all week, but Izuku still couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen.

“Got a visual on Bitch Arms,” Hell Hound whispered over their comm-link, “grabbing his attention now.”

Izuku briefly wondered how he would do it, since when they were planning Koda had just said he would handle it. He then heard a sound that he was very familiar with due to two of his siblings; the loud pingsound of an empty metal can hitting someone in the head, followed by cursing and rapid movement.

“Attention grabbed, enroute to the location,” Hellhound reported, a hint of smug satisfaction in his voice not present a second ago.

It was less than a minute before he could hear the sounds of Hellhound approaching and Death Arms cursing and yelling while in pursuit. Taking his cue, Izuku hooked his grappling hook securely on the building, close to the mouth of the alley, and started repelling down the rope. He stopped when he was about six feet off the ground and looped the rope around his foot before placing his other foot on top to secure it. He still held on to the rope with his left hand, but he was able to use his now free right hand to begin swinging his meteor hammer in preparation. In the back of his mind he reminded himself to thank Himi later for getting him to practice aerial silks with her, the techniques were useful during moments like this. Hell Hound came rushing around the corner and quickly moved out of his way, probably not wanting to risk getting hit by mistake.

The moment Death Arms came into view he sent his meteor hammer, which had built up a decent amount of momentum, straight at the hero’s head. Considering that Hell Hound had thrown something at the man’s head, Izuku was worried for a brief moment that the man may be expecting another similar attack and be prepared to dodge. It seemed he overestimated the man since the meteor hammer immediately crashed into his jaw, probably breaking some teeth if not the jawbone itself, and leaving him momentarily dazed. That was all the opportunity Hell Hound needed to rush up and grab onto the man before, with an impressive amount of strength, throwing him further into the dead-end alley. Izuku quickly dismounted and got into a fighting stance, keeping his meteor hammer constantly moving around him to build up momentum so he could strike whenever he needed. As much as they had been insulting the man’s abilities, he was still a serious threat in combat, and if they slipped up once he would be able to knock them out extremely easily. Death Arms quickly got up into a fighting stance, facing him and Hell Hound, with an angry snarl that would’ve made Bakugou jealous.

“Green Oni, I’ve heard about you before villain, finally decided to stop pretending to be a hero?” The man taunted; the effect being ruined by the hero’s now missing teeth.

“The only one pretending to be a hero here is you Death Arms, but we’re going to ensure that ends tonight,” Izuku replied, tense and ready to strike.

The hero scoffed at his words, “You and your henchman can try to take me down, but the only way tonight will end is with you two behind bars!”

Both he and Hell Hound got into combat stances as Death Arms took his first step towards them, before he crumbled to one knee with a cry of pain, revealing Blade behind him wielding her katana. She quickly had to retreat as the downed hero rounded on her from his kneeling position, throwing a wide punch that she managed to avoid easily. Izuku used the opportunity to launch his meteor hammer into the man’s side, eliciting another pained yell. Blade was quick to capitalize on the moment of distraction, as she darted forward and slashed at the man’s arm. He tried to jerk away from the hit, but wasn’t able to prevent her from cutting him just above his elbow. Death Arms was better prepared for the strike, however, and was already throwing a haymaker with his uninjured arm towards Blade, who wouldn’t be able to dodge out of the way fast enough. Thinking fast, Izuku arched his meteor hammer for his next attack, getting it to wrap around the man’s arm and, using all of his strength, was able to pull the arm towards him enough for Blade to back out of the punch’s range. Izuku knew, however, that he wouldn’t last long in a tug of war match against the man, and was rapidly trying to think of a plan on how to not get yanked into a fist to the face.

Thankfully he didn’t need to think for long, as Hell Hound grabbed a hold of the meteor hammer chain and pulled as hard as he could, resulting in what could only be described as a sickening pop. Death Arm’s scream of pain was cut short by Blade palm striking him in the neck, causing him to begin coughing and hacking as he tried to start breathing again. Hell Hound rushed the man, still keeping ahold of the chain which Izuku had released in fear of being dragged along with him, and tackled him to the ground before he used the chain to secure both of Death Arm’s arms behind his back. For a moment, everything was still, Blade and Izuku were both panting lightly, and Hell Hound stood above Death Arms, who was still trying to regain his breath, pinning him to the ground and keeping a tight hold of the chain in his hands. They had actually taken down Death Arms without any of them taking a single hit, which is better than any outcome he thought would happen. Blade began walking around the downed hero until she was standing in his line of sight before crouching in front of him.

“Do you know who I am hero?” She asked, her voice dripping with venom.

Death Arms looked up at her, and now that they weren’t in the heat of combat Izuku could see that the man was looking at Blade with genuine fear in his eyes. As the man opened his mouth, Izuku expected him to try and put on a brave face, to deny his obvious fear and say that he would still take them down and all that.

“Please don’t kill me! I still have so much to do before I die!” Death Arms pleaded, dumbfounding Izuku for a moment.

‘Huh, so much for the tough guy act,’ he thought, leaning against the wall of the alley behind Blade.

“You have already done enough harm with your career you barely sentient gorilla. Or need I remind you of the crimes you have committed.”

A spark of the earlier anger Death Arms had seemed to reignite in his eyes as he said, “I haven’t committed any cri-“

His sentence was cut short as Blade brought her sword down centimeters from his face, eliciting a yelp of fear, before she spoke, “Don’t you dare fucking lie to me you piece of shit. I already know how over the course of your career you were tried for 27 accounts of assault against civilians for ‘mistaking them as villains’. As well as how every time it happened, the civilian in question ‘just so happened’ to have a heteromorphic mutant quirk. Not to mention how the list of ‘excessive force’ charges against you is so long it’s only rivaled by the number Endeavor has, with each of the 27 cases I already mentioned contributing to that number. The only god damn reason you even still have a fucking license is because you’re an HPSC lap dog and they paid off the best lawyers money could buy before brushing the ‘accusations’ under the rug to make sure you stayed on the streets.”

By the end of Blade’s rant she sounded down right murderous and Izuku honestly couldn’t blame her. Even though this wasn’t the first time he heard all the charges, he still felt a swell of unbridled fury every time. Hell Hound seemed to be in a similar state if him tightening the chain was any indication. Death arms was pale, shaking in fear and whimpering in pain; Izuku couldn’t help the small amount of smug satisfaction he felt at the sight.

“Now I can make sure that no one needs to live in fear of you again,” Blade said, as she raised her katana.

For a brief moment, Izuku was afraid that she was going to actually kill him. He knew she’s never killed any of her victims, and some of her other victims may have even done worse than Death Arms. But Izuku still felt himself tense, ready to intervene. The katana sliced into Death Arm’s shoulder where it met his arm, and repeated the action on the other side before he could even scream in pain at the first cut. She also cut his left arm just above the elbow in the same way she had done to his right during the fight. Death Arms was now crying from the amount of pain he was in, his yells and screams now hoarse. As Blade stood back to look him over, Izuku took the opportunity to do the same, having been so focused before on making sure Blade didn’t finally snap. In his honest opinion, the man looked like shit. His shoulders, elbows and the back of his right leg above the ankle, were bleeding, but not enough to signify any major arteries were hit. His left arm was obviously dislocated from how limp it was, which explained the disgusting pop from earlier. His jaw was sporting a rapidly darkening bruise, and the teeth he was missing were strewn about the alley floor. Izuku almost felt sorry for him… Almost.

Their communicators gave a brief sound of static before they heard Virus, “Hey y’all, hope I’m not calling at a bad time, but you need to get the fuck out asap!”

The sudden panic in Virus’ voice startled Izuku, who immediately responded with mounting dread, “Why do we need to leave so suddenly? I thought you said you had the area secure?”

“Well I did have the area secure. That is until Kamui Woods started searching for Death Arms, who was apparently supposed to meet up with him to finish their patrol routes together 10 minutes ago,” Virus replied, causing all three of them to start cursing.

Fighting Death Arms was one thing, but fighting an actually intelligent hero that specialized in range capture was an entirely different ball park. Plus, Izuku wouldn’t even be able to use his quirk to even the field without risking killing the man. Hell Hound immediately punched Death Arms in the temple, knocking the man out instantly, before starting to undo the meteor hammer restraining him.

“How long until Pinocchio finds Bitch Arm’s location?” He growled out.

Virus not even chuckling at the comment was probably a testament of how panicked he was, as he replied, “You have less than 2 minutes before he’s above you. Once you’re all out of the immediate danger zone I’ll stop jamming the distress signal on Death Arm’s communicator, which he tried to send out while fighting you. You’re welcome by the wa-“

“Just tell us where to go!” Blade yelled into her comm-link.

“Right! Sorry! Head toward Death Arm’s Agency, I’ll update Ghost on the situation, make sure you all stay together and avoid the roof tops, the less visibility the better. Kamui will hopefully be too distracted helping Death Arms to search for you, but keep your eyes peeled just in case.”

By the time Virus finished his explanation, the three of them were already sprinting through the alley ways in the direction of Death Arm’s Hero Agency. Izuku was still mentally cursing as they ran because he knew something would fucking happen, he KNEW that things were going too well to be true. The constant sprint through the winding alleys seemed to stretch on for eternity, all of them on high alert the whole time, preparing for a hero to drop down on them at any moment. They finally arrived at an alley way that opened out onto the street, giving a clear view of Death Arm’s Hero Agency on the opposite side. The building looked like a plain office building that was only about 4 stories tall. Glancing around didn’t reveal anyone, so they all took a much-needed moment to catch their breath.

“We've arrived Virus, now what?” Blade called over the comm-link between breaths.

There was an odd moment of silence that stretched for nearly 10 seconds before the static of the comm-link and Virus’ voice came through, “Ghost is on their way, heroes are scouring the area and getting closer, so there’s been a change to the escap-“

The sound of a car horn blaring over the comm-link caused the three to all wince, as Virus’ voice came through a moment later, “Get out of the fucking way jackass! Why the hell are you even fucking driving right now! I’ll be there in a moment guys!”

The comm-link immediately went quiet again, and as Izuku looked up at the other two, even though they were all wearing masks, he was pretty sure they were all thinking the same thing.

“Is Virus driving a fucking escape vehicle?” said the open air next to Izuku in a distorted voice, causing everyone else present to let out a yell of surprise or, in Blade’s case, throw a knife blade at where the voice came from.

The knife blade clattered harmlessly in the street as the voice said, “Shit! Sorry! Forgot to go visible,” before Ghost materialized before them.

They breathed a collective sigh of relief, but before any of them could get another word in, the rumbling of an engine and the brief squeal of tires was their only warning before a white van pulled up in front of them. Virus was in the driver’s seat in the same outfit he wore when they first made the alliance.

“Get in bitches, we gotta go!” Virus yelled, as Hell Hound immediately threw open the back door and they all began piling in.

As Izuku was about to slam the door behind him, when from above he heard, “Stop in the name of the law villains!”

Looking up, he immediately paled as he saw Kamui Woods swinging towards them. The man was rapidly closing in and Izuku knew that if he didn’t do something the hero would be able to stretch his arms enough to latch onto the van, making their escape impossible. He whipped around and yelled, “Gun it!” before gripping onto the wall of the van and, hoping that he wouldn’t actually hit the hero, launched a gout of green flames from his hand out the open back door towards him. He saw the hero instinctively flinch at the sight, retracting his arms, and that gave them enough time for Virus to slam on the gas and peel out of there. Izuku lost his grip from the sudden movement, and nearly tumbled out the open back, but was saved from road rash and capture by a large hand grabbing onto his shoulder and pulling him back in. He quickly shut the door with a sigh of relief before looking behind him, unsurprised to be looking up at Hell Hound

“Thanks, Hound. That’s twice tonight you’ve saved my ass.”

“Don’t thank me yet, we still have to get back to base,” he replied, before turning to Virus, “Speaking of, why the hell did we have to take an escape vehicle instead of stealthing back?”

“Because when that distress signal went off, it alerted all nearby pro heroes,” Virus explained, while speeding through the streets and making sudden turns around corners, “One of those heroes being Bloodhound, and I didn’t want to take a single chance with them patrolling the alleys.”

“Who’s Bloodhound, and why are you so scared of them?” Blade asked while sitting behind the passenger seat that Ghost had taken.

“Oh! I’ve heard of her, she’s an underground hero who specializes in tracking right?” Ghost piped up.

“That’s putting it lightly,” Hell Hound replied, “Rumor is she can track anyone anywhere, though I think people give her too much credit considering she’s tried to hire me to track someone for her.”

“Oh, that’s probably because for her quirk to work she needs to have touched the person previously in order to track them,” Izuku said, and was confused when everyone was silent and staring at him (except for Virus, thankfully).

“What?”

“How do you possibly know that?” questioned Blade.

“I may or may not have been tracked down by her previously, BUT,” he quickly added noticing how tense everyone had suddenly become, “her quirk seems to only track you until she gets within a certain range before it stops. She had tagged me at the beginning of a patrol a few months ago and had tracked me down later the same night, but after that second run in she couldn’t seem to find me again.”

“How confident are you in your analysis?” Blade prompted, still sounding warry.

“Considering I escaped her by sitting in a trashcan until she left, which she had walked within 5 feet of while I was in it. Extremely.”

Blade only gave a nod in response, seemingly satisfied with his answer, while both Ghost and Virus made noises of disgust. Hell Hound gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder, that honestly felt like it was out of solidarity, but he could question them on that later. The van made a sharp right turn, sending both him and Hell Hound to the floor. Izuku was about to shout at Virus for his driving until the loud bang of something impacting the left side rang throughout the cabin. Looking over, there was now a sizable dent, meaning whatever hit them had a lot of power behind it. Getting up and looking out the back door window to see what hit them, he immediately ducked back down in panic.

“What the fuck is Shishido doing here!”

“WHAT?!” Came the immediate, equally panicked response of everyone else at the news the number 13 hero was pursuing them.

Everyone except Virus, who responded, “Oh fuck, that’s what I forgot to mention! Turns out he was in town visiting his niece, and he’s pissed he had to leave early!”

Looking out the back window again, Izuku could honestly say this was probably the most pissed he had ever seen the lion themed hero, which was saying a lot since the man constantly looked angrier than Bakugou having a bad day. Even if all of them were fighting the man in perfect sync, Izuku would still bet all of his money on Shishido winning the fight. They needed to find a way to at least slow the raging hero, or else they would all be in a world of pain while sitting in a jail cell.

“Virus, I swear to Kami if you don’t get us out of this shit you’re gonna be the first person I ever fucking kill!” Blade yelled, both in anger and panic.

“Noted! But if you really want him off our tail, then I suggest someone who isn’t fucking driving either find a way for us to go faster or throw something at him!”

In that moment, Izuku had a sudden sense of déjà vu, remembering when his family were trying to escape a gang that had more firepower than expected. The gang had a faster car and would have caught up to them, if it wasn’t for Dabi…

“Blade, I have a stupid idea, but I need a carabiner clip!”

“What fucking good will that do!” she yelled back.

“Oh, I’m sorry, do you have any ideas?” he shot back.

“Fine!” she shouted as she removed one of her gloves and, keeping the light away from the windows, created the specified item.

Izuku took the clip with a quick thanks before hooking it onto one end of the chain of his meteor hammer before looping the chain around his waist and securing it. He handed the other end of the chain to Hell Hound before rushing over to the back doors once again and throwing them open. Shishido had gained ground and was now within 30 feet of the van, and he seemed to somehow double his efforts upon seeing Izuku. The hero didn’t even say any words, instead letting out a ferocious roar that felt like it was shaking his very bones. Trying to ignore the snarling hero as well as his rising panic, he crouched down and pointed his palms at the street.

“Everyone hang on!” He yelled back into the van.

“Please fucking work,” he whispered to himself, before taking a deep breath and releasing concentrated blasts of fire from both his hands.

The van began rocketing forward faster than before, rapidly forming a wider and wider gap between them and Shishido, who couldn’t keep up with their new speed despite his best efforts. Izuku thought he heard shouts of excitement from Virus and Ghost, but didn’t dwell on it as he focused everything he had into maintaining his flames. Soon they lost sight of Shishido, but Izuku didn’t want to risk anything and continued boosting them.

After what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes, Virus called out, “Cut the nitro! We’re approaching our destination!”

Izuku immediately shut off his quirk, feeling a sudden rush of lightheadedness that nearly made him fall over and out the open doors. Thankfully, Hell Hound pulled him back and further into the van, where he collapsed on the floor, taking in deep greedy breaths of air. Staring up at the ceiling, Hell Hound walked into his view and crouched down next to him.

“Looks like you saved my ass this time,” Hell Hound said, the amusement in his voice clear despite the modulator.

Izuku’s only response was a shaky thumbs up. The squealing of tires across asphalt was the only warning they got as the van braked to a sudden stop.

“Everyone get out and follow me, quickly!” Virus yelled, already throwing himself out the driver-side door and rushing to the mouth of a nearby alley.

With a groan and a hand up from Hell Hound, Izuku joined everyone else in the rapid retreat from the van and into the alleys. Weaving through alley after alley, keeping their eyes and ears peeled for any sign of heroes, Virus lead them to a four way intersection with a manhole in the center, which he opened before turning back to the group.

“Alright everyone, get in.”

“What do you mean get in,” Ghost whispered-shouted in obvious disgust.

“It’s either get in or play hide and seek with every pro hero in the prefecture,” Virus whisper-shouted back.

“Fuck it, I’m not goin to jail,” Hell Hound said, before hopping down into the hole

Glancing at each other, and knowing they probably didn’t have any better options, each of them hopped in after Hell Hound until Virus climbed down, replacing the manhole in its proper spot. Izuku switched on his night vision, and made a silent note to thank whoever put a respirator into his mask as he heard Ghost gag and complain about the smell.

“I know. It sucks. But this is the only way for us to completely avoid detection while we travel to the safe house,” Virus explained, sounding like he was holding back from gagging as well, “Now come on, the sooner we get there the sooner we’re away from this smell.”

They spent the next 10 minutes silently navigating the sewer tunnels, with Virus seemingly knowing exactly where he was going. They eventually stopped in a tunnel that looked the exact same as every other tunnel they had passed through, however as Virus pressed a hand against the wall, one of the bricks shifted. The sound of stone grating against stone echoed through the tunnel as a section of the brick wall swung inwards like a door, leaving a decent sized opening Virus ducked into without hesitation. They all quickly followed, none of them wanting to be left behind in the sewers. Stepping inside, the group was greeted with the sight of what they could only assume was Virus’ main headquarters. The room was fairly spacious and held more amenities than what you would expect of an 18-year-old villain’s hideout.

Tucked in the corner to the left of their sewer entrance was a kitchen complete with a stove, microwave, mini-fridge, sink, and plenty of cabinets and counter space. In the center of the room was a couch and two arm chairs, as well as end tables between each end of the couch and one of the chairs, along with a coffee table in the center of the seating arrangement. Against the far wall where the couch and chairs were facing was a frankly impressive computer set up. Three monitors took up a majority of metal desk’s space, the center one being closer to the size of a tv than a computer monitor, with two regular sized monitors on either side of it. There were two high tech looking PC unites under the desk on either side of where the black leather office chair was pushed in. To the left of the computer set up, tucked in the corner, was a ladder that lead up to a trap door that likely served as the main entrance to the base. All in all, the hideout wasn’t bad. Izuku had seen some much nicer ones, but those belonged to his family so it was a bit unfair to compare them to this one.

“Welcome, to Virus headquarters, and I think a huge congratulations is in order, considering we just completed our first mission together!” Virus exclaimed while taking off his helmet.

None of them replied as they all collapsed to the floor in exhaustion, thankful that it was finally over. From her place on the floor, Bla- Yaoyorozu, they didn’t need to use code names now, called out, “If you ever withhold information on what heroes are in the area ever again, I will cut off one of your arms.”

“Ok, that’s a fair reaction, but in my defense I didn’t know Shishido was in the area until he was already responding to the distress signal.

“Well then how did you know he was visiting his niece if you didn’t find out he was even here until he was already on his way?” Hagakure chimed in, which was a fair question now that Izuku thought about it.

“I was able to gain that information thanks to your efforts my stealthy friend,” he responded with a smug grin, “The flash drive you had plugged in to Death Arm’s computer not only allowed me to gain access to all of his files relating to his shady relations, it also opened the door for me to make a backdoor connection to the Hero Net.”

Izuku looked at Kaminari in shock. The Hero Net was the most secure online network in current existence. Protected not only from regular hacking, there were several precautions in place to prevent anyone with even the most powerful technology-oriented quirk from gaining access if they weren’t supposed to. No one had ever been able to hack into the Hero Net successfully, and yet Kaminari was claiming he did just that.

“Bullshit,” Yaoyorozu said, obviously thinking the same thing Izuku was, “no one has hacked the Hero Net.”

Instead of responding, Kaminari strode over to the computer set up, switched it on, and began typing in something. Seconds later, he pulled up a browser window on the main monitor showing communication channels, heroes’ profiles, alerts of villain attacks, and at the top of the page, in bold blue words ‘Hero Net’. On the monitor to his right, he pulled up what looked like a map of the entire Musutafu area with markers, some moving and some not, each labeled with the names of heroes.

“Holy shit,” was the only thing Izuku said as he took off his mask and walked over to get a better look, because honestly what else could he say.

“Holy shit is right my friend, because we now have access to not only every hero profile and their up-to-date communication channels, we also have real time information on their movements all across the city. We can also gain access to any specific hero’s communication device, meaning we can give them false alerts, send spoofed messages, disable their distress signal, or just shut them out of the device entirely!”

“Hold on a second,” Yaoyorozu spoke up taking her mask off and giving Kaminari an accusatory look, “If you’re now able to disable the distress signal of the communicators, then how did you disable Death Arm’s distress signal?”

Kaminari gave them a slightly guilty look, before glancing away and responding, “So I may have had to put a signal-jamming device, specifically keyed into the signal produced by the hero communicators, in one of the trashcans in the alley you three fought him in.”

Izuku stared at Kaminari in shock, because not only had he just shattered Izuku’s view of what was impossible or possible, he also just admitted to making an extremely complex signal jammer that nullified the hero’s distress signal while leaving their comm-links unaffected. He really needed to give Kaminari more credit for his intelligence, but it was hard at times to think of him as the same classmate who begged Izuku for help on their history homework just the other day.

“Well, everything worked out, so I’m not gonna complain about the methods,” Koda said, keeping his voice modulator on but taking off his goggles, “But judging by the map, the streets are crawling with heroes, and I’m not risking getting seen, even in civilian clothes. So what do we do now?”

There was a long moment of silence before Kaminari spoke up, “Any of y’all play Smash Bros?”

“Oh you are going down!” Hagakure declared, already rushing over to the couch to claim a spot and grab a controller off the coffee table.

“Fuckin try me!” Kaminari yelled back with a wide grin, switching the center screen display to show the Super Smash Bros starting screen before rushing over to claim a seat next to her.

“Why not, never played before,” Koda said, earning gasps of mock offense from Kaminari and Hagakure, before claiming one of the arm chairs.

Izuku glanced over at Yaoyorozu, who looked hesitant to join in, and said, “Come on, it’s not like we don’t have some time to kill while the heroes are searching for us,” while pointing at the monitor that still showed the GPS tracking of the hero communicators.

With a sigh of resignation, Yaoyorozu strode over to the remaining arm chair, and said as she sat down, “I will simply watch you all play until I am able to leave.”

Izuku just smiled and joined Kaminari and Hagakure on the couch, honestly just happy to be doing something normal after such an intense night.

Chapter Text

Shota had his head in his hands, much like how he found Naomasa, still reeling from the security footage he just saw. What other reaction was he supposed to have to watching five villains escape capture in a van boosted by Green Oni’s quirk. Not only that, but to also watch Virus drift the van to a stop before they all abandoned it to rush into the nearby alleys was something Shouta expected from an action movie and not from someone trying to evade capture.

“Should I tell you why they teamed up now, or would you prefer some more time to process the insanity you just watched?” Naomasa asked, looking at Shota with sympathy.

“Might as well rip the bandage off now,” was Shota’s only response.

“It is currently thought that the group had two goals during yesterday’s incident. One that has been confirmed as true, and the second is currently only a theory,” Naomasa explained, “The first goal was the assault and battery of the pro hero Death Arms to the point of hospitalization."

That immediately got Shota’s attention. While he didn’t know much about Death Arms, he at least knew the man was a highly capable combatant. Even if Shota didn’t care for his method of ‘punch first, ask questions never’ you didn’t get to be rank 63 off of brute strength alone. Unless you were the blond oaf of course, but he put that thought to the side for now. In addition, given that the security footage showed all of the members sprinting away without any signs of struggle or pain, Shota would bet that none of them were injured, at least not severely. That meant they took down a top 70 pro hero with, at most, minimal injuries. That also marked this as Blade’s current highest profile takedown to date, even if she had help.

“I guess having five against one would certainly skew the odds in the five’s favor,” Shota said.

Naomasa gave a slight wince, a nervous tick that he did whenever he had bad news, before saying, “From the report that Death Arms gave after he woke up this afternoon, only Hell Hound, Blade, and Green Oni were present for his assault. With Blade and Green Oni doing most of the damage to him.”

“How much damage are we talking about exactly?” Shota asked, starting to get nervous about how capable these three were in combat, even if he didn’t outwardly show it.

“From the medical report that was sent in as evidence for the case, he suffered significant blood loss, a broken jaw, two broken ribs, the severing of four arm ligaments and his right Achilles heel, his left arm was completely dislocated at the shoulder, and he had a mild concussion. It is currently believed that he will recover, but he won’t regain full mobility in his arms, and he will be permanently unable to perform hero work in the future.”

Shota took the information with grim acceptance. Every hero knew when they went out on patrol it could be their last day, either being a hero or on this earth. He did make a mental note to never engage the three on his own though. He also wasn’t going to ignore the fact that he knew Blade chose targets that had been found innocent of substantial criminal charges, meaning there was a very real possibility that Death Arms did something to catch her ire. The nail in the metaphorical coffin, and thankfully it was metaphorical, was that he knew how Green Oni operated and who they took down. He spent too long patrolling with them to not know. For them to assist Blade and allow the former hero to receive such extensive injuries, that meant they knew, or were convinced, that Death Arms had hurt innocent people. The more he thought about it, the less sympathy he felt towards Death Arms, but he didn’t need to say his thoughts out loud. Considering the man’s face didn’t shift at all while reading out the injuries, Naomasa was probably having, or already had, similar thoughts.

“Alright, what’s the theory on the group’s other goal? I’m guessing whatever it is involves Ghost and Virus.”

“The B&E and robbery of the Death Arms Hero Agency.”

It took a lot for Shota to show outward surprise, especially twice in a single night, but this was one of those few moments. Of all the places to choose to rob, a Hero Agency should be at the bottom of that list. The number of sidekicks and heroes that would likely be in the building should be enough to deter any would be robbers from even considering the building. Add a state-of-the-art security system provided by the HPSC and you have something that only the most experienced and elusive thieves would consider targeting with extreme trepidation. While he could recognize Ghost’s skills with stealth and avoiding detection, this still seemed outside their wheelhouse.

“You said this was only a theory though, what evidence do you have to contribute to it? Was there something on the security footage of the building?”

“We’re still searching through the security footage from last night to try and find more evidence, however the theory was developed due to the testimony of Kamui Woods. He was the first hero to respond to Death Arm’s distress signal and provided basic medical treatment to the unconscious hero before sending a message to Death Arm’s sidekicks on the man’s location and condition before searching for the assailants. He was able to find them as they were piling into the escape vehicle shown in the security footage you just watched. He was unable to capture them due to Green Oni launching flames at him, which he was thankfully able to dodge,” Naomasa added quickly, noticing how Shota had unconsciously tensed.

Shota let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Even though he knew the hero was able to give a testimony, that didn’t stop him from worrying that Green Oni had disfigured or nearly kill the man. He knew they would have hated themself for it. Noticing Naomasa was waiting for him, he gave a single nod to continue. Naomasa, reminding him why he considered the detective a close friend, continued as if nothing happened. He should get the man a gift some time soon, maybe a filing cabinet.

“The interesting thing, and the reason for the theory, is that he reported seeing Ghost enter the van along with the three who attacked Death Arms, even though there was no mention of her, or an invisible assailant, in Death Arm’s report. The location where they were picked up was across the street from Death Arm’s agency.”

“You’re telling me that five villains escaped capture in a vehicle they entered across the street from a hero agency?” Shota asked in disbelief, “How did no sidekicks spot them and try to apprehend them!”

With a heavy sigh, Naomasa explained, “Unfortunately, all sidekicks left the agency in order to rush to Death Arm’s location before the group and the vehicle arrived, leaving the agency unguarded.”

Shota could only groan in response. Of course villains got away because people couldn’t remain logical while in a stressful situation.

“While I admit the location and the presence of Ghost is suspicious, it’s not enough to be concrete evidence that Death Arm’s agency was their target.”

“That’s why it’s called a theory, Eraserhead,” Naomasa responded, with a faint smile.

Shota sent the man a glare with no real heat behind it. Honestly he was happy that the detective was still optimistic enough to make jokes. He would sooner cut off his leg before admitting it though.

“Where did they even get the van,” Shota asked, “from my understanding of Virus, they wouldn’t have abandoned anything they invested money in, so I’m assuming it’s stolen.”

“We actually know the van’s owner, not only from the license plate, but also because the owner reported the van as stolen this morning after he noticed it missing. He even had security footage of the lot where the van was parked that he submitted to assist our investigation,” Naomasa said, pulling up the video up on his computer and hitting play.

It wasn’t the best quality, but it gave a clear view of the driver side of the van, as well as the person approaching. Despite the quality, Shouta easily recognized the yellow bio-hazard symbol on the front of the motorcycle helmet they wore. How they could see at night with a tinted visor was beyond him, but that wasn’t what was important right now.

Virus tried the door handle, but upon finding it locked placed their hand flat against the door over the lock. After a second of waiting, with no indicator that anything had happened, they tried the door again and it swung open. They proceeded to hop in and after another few seconds of waiting, the van started up and peeled out of the lot. Shouta already knew they likely had a powerful technomancy quirk, but for them to be able to steal a van without using a key in seconds took skill that he hadn’t seen in most criminals with similar quirks. Hell, he had previously apprehended a thief with a technomancy quirk because the thief couldn’t start the car he was trying to steal quick enough.

“Well, this at least shows we were right about their quirk, because there’s no way he was able to do that without a technomancy quirk,” Shota said, “That should narrow down our list of suspects.”

“That should be the case, however there currently isn’t anyone in the quirk registry that has a technomancy quirk this powerful. At least no one in Japan,” Naomasa said.

“So you think they’re from outside the country?”

“Unlikely, the only other person currently known to have a technomancy quirk capable of doing what Virus did is an American pro hero by the name of Cipher. He also doesn’t have anyone in his family with a quirk of similar power, so before you even ask, no it’s not a family member trying to outdo him,” Naomasa said with a teasing grin.

Shota grumbled instead of responding. It was a valid theory that had proven to be true at least 7 times previously when a villain had an eerily similar quirk to a hero. Sue him for trying to think of all possibilities.

The door slamming open prevented them from further discussion, as Officer Sansa ran into the room crying out, “Sir! We have a problem!”

“What’s the situation,” Naomasa asked, immediately getting down to business.

“Turn on the news.”

“What channel?”

“Any of them.”

That set Shota on edge immediately. Whenever the vultures were all reporting the same story, things were bad. Most often it meant a hero’s actions were under scrutiny. Naomasa quickly pulled up live feed of one of the news stations.

“Our top story tonight, Death Arms: Hero or Villain?” said the reporter on the screen, who had blue skin, long purple hair, and eyes that reminded him of Ashido, but colder.

Sometimes, Shota hated being right.

“We received videos and files from an anonymous source that puts the actions of the 63^rd rank hero ‘Death Arms’ under scrutiny of whether he truly is the hero many believe him to be. Most of the videos are considered too violent to be aired, however they will be uploaded for mature audiences to view on an age restricted section of our website. The videos depict the pro hero Death Arms assaulting civilians with complex heteromorphic quirks, most often when they were nearby, but not participating in, villain attacks or robberies. We are able to show at least a part of one of these assaults. Viewer discretion is advised.”

The news room on screen was replaced with a footage showing an open street late in the afternoon. There was someone with a reptilian appearance, green scales covering them and long purple hair tied back in a pony-tail, walking down the street. As they started to approach a building with a large display window, a clothing store from the looks of it, the window shattered. Looking as though they were thrown through the window, and colliding with a streetlamp pole before falling to the ground, was a figure dressed in all black who appeared to have a knife instead of a left hand. The reptilian man rushed over and Shota immediately recognized he was searching the downed man for injuries, even pulling a bright red first-aid kit out of his bag as he did so.

Then Death Arms walked out of the shattered display window, calling out ‘Oh, an accomplice? I’ll make a hand bag out of you lizard!’ before rushing the man. He barely had time to turn around before Death Arms punched him hard enough to launch him across the street. The video abruptly cut there, and the newsroom feed returned, however the reporter on screen now had tears in their eyes that were threatening to fall.

Taking a deep breath, the reporter spoke, “Apologies, but seeing someone else with physical mutations being attacked just for trying to help someone…”

She quickly wiped her eyes and took another deep breath to collect herself before continuing, “The video we just showed was taken by a security street camera and the events transpired when Death Arms was apprehending the man in all black. The man was trying to rob the store before he was thrown through its window display. The victim of the assault has not been identified; however we are attempting to reach out to them to see if they would be willing to share their side of story. We are also extending the same offer to anyone else assaulted by Death Arms. We ask that if you know the victims to inform them of our offer, but please do not pressure them to do so, nor should anyone question them about the events without their permission. The last thing we want is to cause them any further strife or pain.”

Shota would have called bullshit considering how he knew vultures were. However, the intense glare the reporter gave while making the warning made him think they were actually being genuine. He supposed there was a first for everything.

“In addition to the 26 other videos showing similar events to the one we just viewed, we received transaction receipts showing large sums of money being transferred from the Death Arm’s agency’s funds to the lawyers and judges handling these assault cases. This includes the lawyers representing the civilians. The oldest of these transfers dates back to 7 years ago.”

Multiple pictures were put on the screen next to the reporter, showing receipts of thousands of yen being transferred to various accounts. The largest of the transfers being 1.3 million yen. Shota was honestly a little scared to find out what Death Arms did to feel the need to bribe a judge with that much money. He also knew there was no way Death Arms transferred that money without the HPSC knowing about it.

“It’s no wonder Death Arms has been able to avoid criminal charges when he has invested so much money into bribing the people who should be protecting civilians. It’s only possible to speculate what else Death Arms has done under the guise of enacting justice. We tried to get some answers from the man himself, however upon trying to reach him at his agency, we were informed that he had been assaulted last night and was hospitalized due to his injuries. This begs the question, was this revenge from civilians pushed too far by Death Arm’s actions, or was this a form of vigilante justice, possibly enacted by the same anonymous source who sent us the evidence of his wrong doings? Either way, I believe it is safe to say that his victims, and many other heteromorphs, are feeling much safer knowing he’s off the streets. Don’t think that we’ll stop here though folks! We will be following up on this story with the HPSC and police force to try and figure out how he has been allowed to get away with these crimes for so long. I’m Kizuki Chitose, signing off for now.”

Silence reigned in the room as Shota processed what he just saw. He no longer felt any sympathy towards the man. Glancing at Naomasa, who looked like he was trying to stop himself from punching a hole through his computer monitor, he figured the detective was having more creative thoughts about the man. He expected Sansa to have the worst reaction, but the man just had a fanged smile stretching from ear to ear.

Turning to Shota and Naomasa, he asked, “Would it be bad if I gave the group who took down Death Arms a fruit basket if we ever catch them?”

“As long as you don’t tell anyone who it’s from, I’ll pay for half of it,” Naomasa responded without hesitation.

Sansa just nodded before leaving the room with a slight skip to his step. Shota didn’t blame the man in the slightest for being happy that Death Arms was going to be dragged through the mud over this, if not given a jail sentence he should have gotten years ago. He just wished it had been done through more legal means, he might have been able to get a hit in if that had been the case.

Turning back to Naomasa, he said, “Well, it looks like your theory was right.”

“I just wish Virus had sent me the files instead of every news channel in Japan,” he replied, dragging a hand down his face, “Though I suppose they assumed the police would have either tried to cover it up or kept an arrest away from the public eye.”

“At least once we get video evidence of doors opening and closing by themselves from Death Arm’s agency footage we can start compiling a definitive list of charges for the group.”

“It’s still going to be a pain to capture them. Not only because of who they are, but the moment it’s revealed they took down and exposed Death Arms, there’s no way the public will approve of any action taken against them. They’ll be considered the real heroes and whoever captures them will likely be immediately labeled as villains,” Naomasa put his head in his hands, and groaned out, “I’m gonna need more coffee and whiskey.”

“Got any idea of what we’re gonna call this new group?” Shota asked, trying to get Naomasa to perk up at least a little.

The detective always had, what Shota considered, an unreasonable amount of fun naming cases and villain groups that didn’t already name themselves. Seeing the man in such despair, Shota figured he needed some sort of distraction, even if it still related to the case. It seemed to work at least slightly, considering the man took his head out of his hands and turned back to Shota.

“Well, I had an idea, and I think it’s fairly fitting, but you may think it’s ‘illogical’,” he said, making air quotes as he said illogical.

He rolled his eyes at the man’s subtle jab, but chose not to mention it, before saying, “Try me.”

“I thought that since most of them had either a name or costume relating to supernatural creatures, we could call them The Yōkai.”

Shota raised an eyebrow at the name. It honestly wasn’t bad considering before now some of the members were almost considered myths due to their elusiveness. He did notice that the name only applied to four of the members though.

“You know that as soon as Virus finds out we named the group that, they’re gonna message you about how it should have been something else they thought of.”

“Well they should have thought of that before they sent information on a criminal to every news station in Japan instead of me,” Naomasa replied with a huff.

That got Shota to let out a bark of laughter. Let it never be said that the detective wasn’t petty.

“Then I think The Yōkai is a fitting name,” Shota said, with a wide grin, a genuine one instead of the one that sent chills down his student’s spines.

Naomasa smiled back before taking out a new manila folder and labeled it ‘The Yōkai’ before placing it with the five member’s files on his desk.

“That’s all I had to discuss tonight. I’ll have copies of each of the member’s files, as well as all the information we have on last night’s incident, sent to you by tomorrow at the latest. And of course I’ll send you any additional information we may find. Hopefully you’ll have time to look it over in between grading papers.”

Shota didn’t even try to stop the long groan he let out, slouching further into his chair before saying, “I swear this is my worst class to date.”

“I thought you said that about your last class?”

“No, that class was bad because of how little potential they had, this class is gonna make my hair gray before I even get to 40.”

“Oh come on, they can’t be that bad.”

“I had to restrain one of the kids from attacking his classmate on the first day,” Shota responded flatly, getting a wince of sympathy from the detective.

“Yeesh, okay, yeah, that’s pretty bad. Any idea why?”

“Apparently Bakugou, the would-be attacker, thought the other student, Midoriya, cheated because he ‘wasn’t supposed to have a quirk’.”

Naomasa immediately froze up for a second, not long enough for most people to notice, but Shota was too familiar with his friend’s body language to not notice. He decided to file it away for later. Shota had known him long enough that if he thought there was something Shouta should know, he would tell him. He silently promised that if he thought it was an issue though, he’d grill the man until he said what it was about.

“What do you mean, ‘wasn’t supposed to have a quirk’?”

“Apparently they knew each other previously when Midoriya didn’t have a quirk but lost contact before he developed one. Probably a rare case of being a late-bloomer. Bakugou also has obvious anger issues, so my guess is that when he saw Midoriya launch a baseball using a gout of blue flames, he felt lied to and angry. So he tried to attack what made him angry, in this case, Midoriya. I've given him a warning not to do it again, but I don't think it got through to him.”

“Blue flames?” Naomasa asked, starting to pull out a file labeled ‘Will-o-Wisp’ from one of the piles on his desk.

“Before you even try,” Shota interjected, “I can confirm that Midoriya isn’t Will-o-Wisp nor Green Oni. The kid can only release fire from his mouth, and the fire is usually red unless he pushes himself to make blue flames. He can’t do anything relating to his quirk with his hands.”

Naomasa, instead of responding, shoved Will-o-Wisp’s file back into the pile he got it from. He really needed to get the man a filing cabinet.

“If you’re done suspecting my students of being yakuza members, I’ll be heading out,” Shota said while getting up and heading to the window.

“Tell Emi and Mic I said ‘Hi’!” Naomasa called out after him, getting a noncommittal grunt in response.

He would obviously tell his partners, but he had to at least keep up his bastard like appearance. He didn’t need any of his students hearing rumors about how he had feelings. Hopping out the window and swinging up to a nearby roof top, he mentally prayed this case wouldn’t be as much of a headache as he thought it would be. Thinking about the security footage he saw of their getaway, however, he had a sneaking suspicion the headache was going to be more of a migraine.

Chapter Text

Walking into the classroom, Izuku noticed that it was quieter than it usually was. Even though they had only been together for a week, Izuku thought he still had a good idea of his class’s general demeanor, which is why he was surprised to not be greeted with the sounds of yelling and excited shouts. Glancing around as he made his way to his desk, he took note of who was acting out of the norm.

Iida and Bakugou weren’t having a yelling match like they had been every day last week. Though it was probably more due to Iida finally giving up on trying since there didn’t seem to be any other shift in behavior. Ashido was talking with Hagakure like usual, but she didn’t seem as bright as she usually was, and he noticed how she was straining to smile at times, even if it was subtle. He knew what a fake smile looked like, even when the person was good at faking them.

Even though they were typically quiet, he noticed how there was a tension to Shoji, Asui, and Tokoyami’s shoulders that was absent last week. Kirishima and Kaminari were talking with Sero, but the black-haired boy wasn’t as enthusiastic as he typically was. He was also crossing his arms, with his hands covering most of his enlarged elbows from direct view. The only two with noticeable quirk mutations who didn’t seem to be acting differently than they usually did was Ojirou and Jirou. Ojirou was talking animatedly with Kendo at the front, but Izuku noticed that the boy had his tail curled under his seat, as if trying to hide it. Jirou was chatting with Yaoyorozu at the back, looking relaxed, but she was also tugging and twisting her earphone jacks more than usual, a nervous habit he had noticed last week.

If Izuku had to guess, though it was more a deduction than a guess, his classmates were still processing the news about Death Arms’ criminal actions. He didn’t blame them for being affected by it. He knew first-hand how cruel people could be if you were different. He didn’t doubt his classmates with heteromorphic appearances had learned that fact earlier than they should have had too. After all, kids are often crueler than adults when someone didn’t fit in.  

Izuku wanted to let his classmates know he was there for them, but he also knew directly approaching each of them about it would only call attention to them. Besides, they had only known each other for a week and he’s barely interacted with most of them. He probably knew Ashido the best and that was only because they went to the same dance studio and had conversations when they were on break at the same time. If he wanted to do something, he would need a more subtle way to do it. A thought struck him that could work, but as he started taking out some paper, the classroom door slammed open.

“Aizawa-sensei’s almost here!” Uraraka exclaimed as she rushed through the door and nearly sprinted to her desk.

Everyone not already at their desk immediately scrambled to them before Aizawa-sensei could see. As they all sat down, Aizawa-sensei walked through the still open door and made his way to the center podium.

“Four seconds, better, but not good enough since you all had the luxury of a warning,” Aizawa-sensei said, looking at them all with his usual dead eye glare.

“I have a few announcements to make before you can get ready for your next class, so listen up. First order of business is addressing something that I’m sure many of you saw over the weekend. The actions of Death Arms that were released to the public on Saturday.”

Izuku noticed his classmates he was worried about all tensed, some more so than others. His other classmates either grimaced, winced, or had little outward reaction in a few cases. He took mental note of the ones who didn’t have much of a reaction, just in case. A few people were, or at least trying to, subtly glance at their classmates with heteromorphic appearances with looks of concern.

“I want to make something expressly clear. UA has a zero-tolerance policy towards bullying and discrimination. If I hear anything that would be discriminatory towards a fellow classmate, or anyone else for that matter, I will expel you without a moment of hesitation,” Aizawa continued, a tinge of red in his eyes making him seem more intimidating, “I refuse to have anyone in my class that would act even remotely similar to the mockery of a hero known as Death Arms.”

Taking a moment to look around the room, as if to ensure everyone understood him, he went on,  “In addition, if anyone here is struggling with what Death Arms did, for whatever reason it may be, you are welcome to speak to me or Hound Dog at any point. I will say, Hound Dog is probably a better choice since he’s a licensed counselor, but both of us are here to help you. Hound Dog may seem intimidating at first, but he’s honestly just a softy that’s keeping up a tough act.”

It took everything in Izuku not to snort at the man’s words. He had watched Eraserhead lie on his stomach in a dingy alleyway and make soothing noises to try and coax a cat out of hiding. If anyone was a softy keeping up a tough guy act, it was him.

“Now, onto the second matter of business,” Aizawa-sensei said, “I will not be teaching your heroics class today. Last week you all had the opportunity to learn quirkless, and some quirked, combat techniques, so you all should be prepared for today’s lesson without me. Make sure you listen intently to your instructor’s directions. Now, if no one has any questions, I’m taking a nap.”

Seeing no one raise their hand, Aizawa-sensei got into his sleeping bag and laid down behind his desk. Conversations started up around the room again, but Izuku paid it little mind as he got back to work on his idea.

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Izuku sped walked back to class slightly before lunch ended to make sure he got there before any of his other classmates. While he didn’t necessarily need for there to be no one around while he set his plan in motion, it would certainly make things easier. He just hoped Uraraka and Ashido didn’t question why he left slightly early, but Kaminari and Hagakure would hopefully be able to assuage any concerns the others may have had. Stepping inside, he found the classroom thankfully empty.

‘Perfect,’ he thought, while taking the pieces of paper with his notes on them out of his pocket.

He set one on the seat of Ashido, Asui, Shoji, Tokoyami, Sero, Ojirou, Jirou, and Koda’s desks. While he knew Koda had already gotten the chance to vent his frustrations against the former hero, he still wanted to let them know he was here for them. Plus, he figured this would be more appreciated than a direct conversation. After placing the notes, he went back to his desk and began working on his ‘Hero Analysis for the Future: Vol. 14’ entry for himself and ways he could improve his quirk.

He was broken out of his musings maybe a minute later by the sounds of his classmates entering the classroom. Conversation was flowing and it seemed as if much of the tense atmosphere from this morning had been lifted. He sent a mental prayer to any luck gods listening that he didn’t bring it back down with his notes. He made sure to keep note of everyone’s reactions as subtly as he could.

Ojirou, upon noticing the note, glanced around as if to ask a question, but stopped before picking it up and reading it as he sat down. After he finished, he only glanced back at Izuku before turning back to the front, but Izuku could see the how the boy’s tail was now raised up and swaying slightly from side to side. He’s happy they weren’t hiding it under their seat like they had all morning.

Shoji visibly tensed at the sight of the note on their chair, and they seemed to be preparing themself as they picked it up and took their seat. Izuku felt guilty for leaving a note now, and made a mental note not to do so in the future, but pushed it aside for now; if needed, he could apologize later. As Shoji read the note, the tension fell away as he gave a quiet sigh of what Izuku guessed was relief. The guilty feeling intensified slightly, but when he noticed one of Shoji’s hands low to the ground wave slightly, he glanced down to see one of the boy’s other hands had become an eye that made eye-contact with him while the hand that waved gave him a thumbs-up. He sighed in relief, smiling and giving a subtle thumbs-up in return before glancing away once more

Jirou looked at first surprised by the note, before her features shifted into a glare as she picked it up and sat down. Izuku made another mental note not to leave Jirou notes, this one made out of fear of angering her. He did not want his brains to be vibrated into soup. She took a deep breathe before opening the note to read it, and soon covered her mouth with her hand as she started shaking with silent laughter. She glanced back at Izuku and gave him a mock salute with one of her earphone jacks, which he gave a two-finger salute in response to, before she turned back to the front.

Sero looked confused by the note as he picked it up, sitting down as they read it. He let out a snort of laughter before covering his mouth like Jirou had, trying to hold in anymore laughter from escaping. Kirishima asked if he was okay, but Sero just reassured the red head he was fine, which they accepted, even though they still looked concerned, and turned back around. Sero looked over at Izuku, now grinning from ear to ear, and gave him a thumbs-up before turning forward, shoulders still shaking from silent laughter.

Tokoyami only raised an eyebrow at the sight of the note before picking it up and sitting down. As he read the note, there wasn’t any notable change in his features, but Izuku could see Dark Shadow’s glowing yellow eyes start peering at him from within Tokoyami’s jacket. He accidentally made eye contact with the sentient quirk, his gaze unconsciously drawn to the fascinating quirk, who seemed to become more active and started whispering something to Tokoyami, whose feathers began to puff up a bit. Judging by his body language, Izuku guessed it was how the boy blushed in embarrassment, likely caused by whatever Dark Shadow said to him. Izuku, with a great amount of effort, stopped himself from muttering about how cool Dark Shadow was.

Ashido had a look of surprise at finding the note and was glancing around at their classmates, as if trying to deduce who left it off of vibes alone. She took her seat and opened the note, letting out a snort of laughter just like Sero had after reading it. She turned around to look at him with an impish grin and sent him a wink when she noticed him looking at her. He responded with a smirk and a wink of his own, which caused a lilac blush to cross her features as she quickly looked away. He was briefly worried he may have over stepped, but seeing she still had a small smile, he figured he had just flustered her for once instead of her flustering him.

Koda looked nervous at the sight of the note on his seat, and Izuku was once again reminded of the dichotomy between the boy’s personality and his bounty hunter persona. Reading the note, he seemed more surprised than anything else, glancing over at Izuku, but quickly glanced away upon making eye contact. Izuku figured if the quiet teen wanted to say anything, they would just message him on their communicators. He was surprised when a small crumbled piece of paper landed on his desk moments later. He glanced back over at Koda, who was pointedly looking away from him and had a light blush now dusting his cheeks. Opening the note, it read, Thanks for the offer, I’ll keep it in mind, causing Izuku to smile.

“Midoriya, kero.”

He looked up from the note in his hands, putting it safely in his jacket pocket, and was met with the blank look of Asui.

“Yes, Asui?”

“Call me Tsu, kero,” she replied instantly, before continuing in a quieter voice, “Thank you for the offer, but I’m capable of handling things on my own, kero.”

She began to turn back around, but paused as he said, “I used to think the same, but then I realized even if I can, that doesn’t mean I have too. Of course, I won’t make you do anything you don’t want to, but I figured I’d at least make the offer.”

She stayed in her half-turned position for a moment before turning back to him. She seemed to consider him for a moment, and he met her gaze, suppressing the instinctive rise of anxiety he felt, as he tried his best to convey he was being genuine.

The corners of her mouth upturned slightly before she said, “I’ll keep your words in mind Midoriya,kero.”

“That’s all I ask, Tsu.”

She responded with another kero that, unless he was imagining things, sounded distinctly happier than her previous ones as she turned back around to face forward. Izuku was just happy his notes were taken well, and leaned back in his chair, releasing the tension he didn’t realize he had. His moment of relaxation was interrupted with the classroom door slamming open, and a shout he would recognize anywhere.

“I AM HERE! Entering the class like a normal person!” All Might yelled, while holding onto the doorframe and leaning in, causing the class to become a cacophony of excited shouts at the sight of the Number 1 Hero.

Izuku, however, only sunk further in his seat trying not to groan, now dreading their heroics class. He desperately wished that Eraserhead was still teaching them heroics, which he never thought he would wish for considering what a taskmaster the man was with training. Anything would be better than dealing with the man now posing at the front of the room though. He didn’t want to think about roof tops and broken dreams. Shaking his head, he figured he should tune in and actually find out what All Might had planned for them.

“We will be covering an important part of your journey to becoming heroes! BATTLE TRAINING!”All Might yelled, eliciting more excited yells from the class.

“But a hero is nothing if they don’t look the part!” He continued, before pulling a remote from behind the podium and clicking the center button while dramatically pointing at the wall to his right with it.

The section of the wall in front of Eraserhead’s desk shifted and extended to reveal metal brief cases, each one labeled with numbers ranging from one to twenty.

“Grab the case that corresponds to your seat number and meet me at Ground Beta!” All Might said, before rushing out of the room just as quickly as he entered.

People immediately began rushing to grab their cases from the wall and follow All Might’s lead out the door.

“Isn’t this great Dekiru! We get to learn heroics from All Might! How cool is that!” Uraraka exclaimed, shaking his shoulders from behind him.

“Yep, it’s a dream come true,” he replied unenthusiastically.

‘More like a nightmare,’ he thought to himself.

“Hey, you alright? I would have expected you to be the most excited, given how pumped you get about heroes. Heck, I thought you were gonna pass out with how excited you were about getting Lunch Rush’s autograph,” she said as they got their costumes and followed after the rest of their class.

He felt heat creep across his face, and knew he was blushing because of her assessment. Sue him for getting excited over one of the heroes that was always there to help with disaster relief and donated both time and money to shelters all across the providence in his spare time. The man was an exceptional hero and he would fight anyone who said otherwise. He knew he had to answer her though, after all, he understood how weird it probably is for a ‘hero fanboy’ to not be excited about the Number 1 Hero in Japan

“Lets just say, I met him before and the saying ‘never meet your heroes’ has more meaning to me because of it,” he said, hoping it would be a satisfactory answer

That seemed to be the wrong answer, however, as Uraraka suddenly had an intense glare he had never seen her make before, and said, “If he hurt you I can throw him into the sun. It might take me a week or two to figure out the math, but I can probably do it. I swear if he’s anything like Death Arms I’ll-”

“No, no, no! Nothing like that!” Izuku quickly reassured, now realizing how his response must have been interpreted, “I just asked him something and he didn’t give me the answer I was hoping for.”

The intense look Uraraka had dropped in a second at his words before she said, “Oh, good, my parents probably wouldn’t have been happy with me launching the Number 1 Hero into orbit.”

He breathed a sigh of relief. In the back of his mind, he couldn’t help but compare Uraraka’s reaction to how Himiko had reacted when she found out about his impromptu meeting with All Might. He had to physically restrain her from rushing out of their apartment to try to find and stab the man. He’s pretty sure she still has a picture of All Might taped onto the dart board in her room.

“What was the question you asked him? If you’re okay with telling me that is,” she quickly added.

He thought about it for a moment, and was about to make an excuse or lie, but then he remembered his words to Asu- Tsu moments prior. He wasn’t ready to tell Uraraka about his past, not yet anyway, but maybe he could trust her with this.

“Do you think someone quirkless could be a hero, Uraraka?”

She blinked at him in surprise, before responding, “Well of course they could, Aizawa-sensei fights quirkless and he’s scary as hell, so a quirkless person could be a hero like him. They might need some more support equipment than him since he can just cancel people’s quirks, but it’s not like he can keep his eyes open all the time. Why do you… ask…”

Izuku was still reeling at how easily she answered the question, as if it was as obvious as the color of the sky. He had only had his family tell him that he could be a quirkless hero, and that’s because they knew him and his capabilities. Uraraka had just flat out said yes, quirkless people could be heroes. Maybe he had gotten lucky with his first friend at UA.

He didn’t notice as the intense glare she had moments ago came back with a vengeance until she asked, “Dekiru, what did All Might say?”

Izuku didn’t even need to look at her to tell Uraraka was furious, he could practically feel the anger rolling off of her. He silently hoped that he wouldn’t have to hold her back from attacking All Might like he had with Himiko.

“H-he said that they wouldn’t be able to be a hero a-and should think more realistically,” he said, wincing as the glare became a look of righteous fury.

“That fucker!” she exclaimed, shocking Izuku, “He’s always said in every interview that anyone could be a hero no matter what! Didn’t matter who they were, where they came from, or what their quirk was! Ta think that sunuva’bitch was bullshittin’ this whole time! And what kinda bullshit is that! ‘Think more realistically’. I can send shit into fuckin orbit without even tryin’ and you can breathe fire like a goddamn dragon! Nothin’ ‘bout what we can do is realistic, but it still fuckin happens! Sayin’ someone can’t be a hero cause they weren’t born with a quirk is just quirkiest! It’s not like having a quirk is a part of the fuckin job description!”

Izuku was thankful that the rest of the class had been out of the range of Uraraka’s rant, otherwise they probably questioned what had her so angry, and he can only imagine what she would have said after the rant she just gave. He couldn’t stop the wide smile he now had though, deciding he was definitely lucky having Uraraka as his best friend.

“I couldn’t agree more, and it’s nice hearing someone else share the same thoughts on the matter. Even if it’s in a more colorful way,” he teased, causing her to blush and realize how much she just swore.

“I grew up on a construction site,” she said defensively, “My dad and his coworkers didn’t exactly censor themselves when they got hurt, or really at all, so I picked up how they spoke.”

“I never said it was a bad thing. Just a bit surprising since I don’t think I’ve heard you swear before,” he reassured, deciding not to comment on the accent change, trying to make sure he didn’t make her feel self-conscious.

“I try not to, since I know a lot of folks don’t think it’s ‘proper manners’,” she explained, using air quotes, “but I jus’ can’t stand when people act like quirkless people ain’t as capable as quirked people. My uncle’s quirkless and he’s the toughest sunuva’bitch I’ve ever met!”

“I’ll take your word. But as far as swearing goes, I don’t think anyone will have an issue with it considering we have Bakugou in our class.”

“I’m convinced if he tried to say somethin’ without swearin’, he would keel over on the spot from his brain overloadin’.”

Izuku burst out laughing at the assessment, which Uraraka joined in a moment later, and they spent the rest of the walk to Ground Beta in companionable silence. Izuku wondered what he did to deserve a friend like Uraraka, but he certainly wasn’t going to complain.

-------------------------------------------------

Walking into Ground Beta, he was hit with the sudden realization that he was really at UA and fulfilling his lifelong dream. Sure, he already knew he was here and that he was studying to be a hero, but something about walking out in his hero costume made the reality of the situation fully sink in. He looked down at his costume, still in awe of it.

The outfit consisted of a full dark green body suit with black accents and a scale like pattern covering the entire thing. It didn’t cling to his body and restrict his movement, but it wasn’t baggy enough for it to feel awkward and in the way, making it a comfortable fit that allowed him full range of movement. The material was a tough almost leathery material, but was still light enough for the suit to not weigh him down like real leather would. It was made to be both cut resistant and fire resistant, which would ensure he didn’t accidentally burn it to a crisp. His forearms were covered in black, metal plated gauntlets that had a flat, curved spike that functioned both as elbow protection and an improvised weapon incase someone attacked him from behind. His boots were made of a thick and durable black leather made to match his gauntlets. He also had matching black metal plated knee pads to go along with the rest of the protective gear. He would have had the boots go up to his knees with metal, but figured it would weigh him down too much for his mobile fighting style. He had a black utility belt with a number of pouches with medical supplies or water flasks for him to prevent overheating or dehydration. The look was completed by the black metal mouth guard he currently wore around his neck and the dark green goggles he had pushed up on his forehead.

He looked around at the class as he approached, taking in all the different hero costumes everyone was wearing. He idly noticed that All Might was standing at the front of the class, which meant Uraraka either wasn’t finished changing or had held herself back from sending the man into orbit. Stopping himself from laughing aloud at this thought, he started looking for his alliance members’ outfits, wondering how different their hero outfits were to their villain outfits. He noticed Kaminari first, who looked like they were heading out to a party rather than hero work, and he really hoped there was more protection to their outfit than it looked. It took him a moment to find Hagakure, but he nearly had a heart attack when he did. He hoped they were actually wearing a DNA encoded body suit like he was, and wasn’t just in a pair of boots and gloves.

Koda’s costume was sensible, with what looked like a padded forest green shirt with dark brown long sleeves. He wore dark brown pants with matching green accents, and multiple pockets, to go along with his shirt. He had on a pair of falconry gloves and a matching pair of thick brown leather boots. The most notable feature, however, was the yellow and black mouth guard he wore, which resembled the beak of a falcon if Izuku remembered correctly. It was a significantly different look than his Hell Hound outfit, but it honestly suited him just as well in Izuku’s opinion.

Yaoyorozu’s outfit was probably the best looking in both style and efficiency. She had on a red sleeveless body suit with a number of black zippers all across it. There was one on each of her sides going from her hips to her ribs, with another set on the outside of her legs going from her thighs down to disappear in a pair of black combat boots that went up to mid-calf with a zipper on the side. A zipper at the front of her costume went from her stomach up to her neck. She was fixing around her shoulders what looked like a combination of a half cape and shawl, made of the same red material as her bodysuit, with a black clasp securing it. He noticed on her right forearm was what looked like red metal armor, but there was a screen built into it.

The thing that really caught his attention though, was her utility belt looked the exact same as his. It made sense, they were likely made by the same company with the same layout for all utility belts, but he still couldn’t fight the warmth spreading to his cheeks. Why was he reacting like this? Maybe because only they had all black utility belts so only they match? But that still doesn’t explain why he was acting like thi-

“Whatcha lookin’ at, Dekiru?”

He whirled around to see Uraraka looking up at him with a mischievous grin. He now realized he was accidentally staring at Yaoyorozu while he was thinking. He really hoped no one else noticed his slip up.

“I was just looking at everyone’s costumes,” he replied, a slight blush crossing his cheeks, knowing what she was trying to imply.

“Everyone’s costumes Or someone’s costume?” she said, now wiggling her eyebrows at him.

“Ugh, you’re as bad as my sister,” he said with a fond grin, “Come on, let’s go see what we’re doing for class.”

“Fine, but don’t think we ain’t gonna be talkin’ ‘bout this later,” she replied with mock sternness.  

He questioned if he should mention her accent change, and figured that if she was hiding it around the class, she would prefer to not use it without realizing.

He said in a low voice so no one else would hear as they approached the class, “I don’t know if you’ve realized or not, but your not hiding your accent. I don’t know why you’re hiding it, but I thought you’d prefer I say something rather than nothing.”

Her eyes widened, and she quickly glanced around looking worried, before looking back at him saying, “Thanks Dekiru.”

“Of course, but we’re talking about that later too,” he said with a grin, nudging her with his forearm.

She rolled her eyes and nudged him back instead of responding, but she was smiling again.  

“All of you look like heroes! But there’s more to being a hero than just looking the part, zygotes!” All Might announced, silencing the class, “Now, the exercise we will be conducting is a simplified indoor rescue, where all of you will be split into teams of two and assigned to either act as heroes or villains. The villain team will be guarding a mannequin filling the role of a hostage, and their goal is to defend their hostage from the hero team until time runs out. The hero team will, meanwhile, be attempting to locate the hostage and rescue them by touching them. Either team is also capable of winning by wrapping capture tape around their opponents. As a warning, even though the hostage is a mannequin, it would be best to treat it how you would treat an actual person. Are there any questions?”

Iida immediately raised his hand and called out, “Sir! How will the teams be determined?”

“Good question young Iida! I have a box, containing 20 ping pong balls with the first 10 letters of the English alphabet printed on them. Teams will be based on which two people have the same letter on their ping pong balls. This will also serve as an impromptu English lesson for you all!” All Might said, smiling despite some of the students groaning at the last part.

“Is that really the best method to determine teams?” Iida asked.

“Heroes aren’t always gonna get to pick who they team up with. If you’re responding to a distress signal, you have to work with whoever else is around as well,” Izuku answered without thinking, earning surprised looks from All Might and Iida.

“I suppose I had not thought of that…”

“Quite alright young Iida, you’re here to learn after all, but young Midoriya is correct, heroes have to be able to work with people they may have never met before to take down a villain! Now, everyone come up and draw your lot!”

Half the class rushed All Might in an attempt to get to the box as quickly as possible. Izuku and Uraraka held back and waited for the initial rush to disperse before selecting their ping pong balls. He had hoped he and Uraraka would be paired together, but when she held up an A and he held a C, those hopes were quickly dashed. Next hope was he would get paired with one of the alliance members, but that was quickly dashed as well as each attempt turned up with nothing. Last hope was for him to just not get paired with Bakugou or Iida, he didn’t think he could deal with either of them during their first training simulation.

“Hey, Midoriya, you’ve got a C right?” a voice said behind him.

He turned and was thankful his last hope came true, as he saw Kendo holding up a ping pong ball with a C that matched his.

“I look forward to working with you Kendo,” he said, holding up his ping pong ball

He looked around to see who was the unlucky one to get paired with Bakugou and nearly burst out laughing at seeing Iida standing next to walking bomb, the two of them already arguing.

“It looks like everyone’s paired up! Now I’m going to randomly select teams to face each other,”All Might said, collecting one of each teams ping pong balls and putting them back in the box and shaking it before selecting two.

“Team J as villains and Team E as Heroes!”

Izuku looked around to see who reacted, and nearly laughed when he realized Koda and Hagakure were team J, as Hagakure ran up announcing it while she dragged Koda along with her. Koda looked horrified at having to go first and was shaking slightly with everyone’s eyes on him. Izuku looked around and saw Kirishima and Mineta step up, meaning they had to be team E. Izuku hoped Kirishima would be able to keep Mineta in check. He hadn’t known the diminutive boy for long, but he didn’t like most of the things Mineta said. Glancing at Koda, the rocky boy was no longer shaking and was now slightly glaring at Mineta. Good to know Izuku wasn’t the only one bothered by the boy.

“I will guide you four to the building being used for this exercise, the rest of you stay here and when I return I will start the security cam monitoring system so everyone will be able to see what is happening. The cameras do not have audio, however I will be able to hear you through a device I will hand out once we get to the exercise building,” All Might explained, before guiding the two teams out of the observation room and into Ground Beta.

Izuku would have wished his team mates luck, but he figured that they probably didn’t need it with Mineta. Regardless of who fights the grape themed boy, he’s certain it will be entertaining.

Chapter Text

Koji was dreading this exercise already, especially since he had to act as the villain. The irony was not lost on him, and he would have probably laughed along with the universe if he weren’t so worried about messing this up in front of all his classmates or acting like he did as Hell Hound. The only reason he hadn’t completely frozen like a deer in headlights was the fact that he was able to tap into some of his anger when he realized Mineta was on the opposite team. Ever since the first day he has heard the diminutive boy making suggestive comments about the girls in the class and every word always made Koji’s blood boil. It reminded him too much of some of the creeps who had tried to hire Hell Hound to track down their ex or some random girl who caught their eye. He felt his hands start to clench into fists and knew he really needed to calm down before the exercise started. He didn’t want to slip into his Hell Hound mindset while at hero training, or else something bad would definitely happen.

“You alright Koda?”

He quickly looked up to where Hagakure’s voice came from, trying to look where he knew her face would roughly be. The ear piece All Might had given her, matching his own, helped guide his gaze. They were in a corner room on the fourth floor of the five-floor building they had been guided into. The mannequin hostage was tied up in the back right corner of the room, furthest from the door. He started to hold up his hands to sign, but remembered that she didn’t know sign language from when he suggested the team use it for on field communication. He adjusted the dial on his mask, making his voice slightly lower but not to the same depth as his Hell Hound modulator.

“I’m just nervous about this. I don’t want to mess up on camera,” Koji said, deciding not to mention his anger.

“I’m sure we’ll do great as long as we work together and make a decent strategy,” Hagakure easily responded, confidence clear in her voice, “Now, do you have any suggestions for what our strategy should be?”

Koji thought for a moment, glancing around before his eyes landed on a spider in a web under the camera in the top right corner of the room, sparking an idea that made him grin.

“I have a thought, but I need to outsource some help,” He said as he walked over to the corner where the spider was and switched off the modulation.

“Hey there, would you be willing to gather some other residents like yourself to help me and my friend? You all wouldn’t have to do much, just tell me what the two people that are coming into the building are planning and doing,” Koji said to the spider, which he now recognized as a joro spider.

“You’re polite with your request, I suppose it’s not too much,” the joro spider responded, before starting to climb up to a crack in the wall stemming from the camera.

“You can talk to spiders?” Hagakure asked, causing Koji to lock up.

He began to internally panic, preparing for the cries of his weirdness or how it was creepy. It had happened many times when he was younger, and it caused him to hide his interactions with his invertebrate friends. In that moment he had focused on gathering info more than being cautious and now Hagakure was gonna think he was-

“That’s so cool!”

Koji whipped his head around to look at her in shock, having never gotten that reaction before.

“Oh! Have you ever asked them why they choose the web patterns they choose to weave? Like, do they do it for efficiency or do they just like the design?” Hagakure asked, with what he could tell was genuine curiosity.

“… M-most do it for efficiency, b-but some of them like to make them intricate because they like how it looks,” Koji answered, while blushing heavily, having asked a few spiders the same question when he was younger.

“Omg, that’s adorable! It’s like their making their home fancier! Also, how long will that take?”

Koji went to speak to Hagakure, but stopped when he realized he hadn’t reengaged his voice modulator, and rushed to do so. She waited for him to adjust the dial to his preference without any comment or indication of impatience, which he greatly appreciated. Once he set the dial back to where he had it before, he looked back to where he thought her eyes were.

“Hopefully not long, but in the meantime, we can plan a way to deal with Kirishima and Mineta,” Koji said, doing his best not to growl as he said Mineta’s name.

“I was thinking about that, and I honestly think the best thing to do is to separate them and deal with them individually,” Hagakure suggested, surprising Koji.

“Easier said than done, besides, they’ll try to prevent a two on one at all costs. They probably don’t have much combat experience, but anyone understands being out numbered is a bad thing.”

“Oh, no, I mean we separate them so it’ll be two sets of 1-v-1’s,” she said, causing Koji to raise a questioning eyebrow.

“Is splitting up really the best option?”

“Listen, I can take care of myself when push comes to shove, so you don’t have to worry about my safety. My thinking is, no matter if we face both of them or one of them, we would both be fighting in an enclosed space, which means we have to avoid each other while aiming for our opponents. And that is made harder with me being invisible and you can’t see when I’m in the way. The best way to mitigate risk is to fight separately.”

Koji stared at Hagakure for a moment, impressed that she identified an obstacle he hadn’t even considered. Thinking about it, he really should have expected something like this from a skilled thief since they have to think of every possibility of a heist. He’d remember not to underestimate Hagakure in the future; even if he already wasn’t it still served as a good reminder.

“Alright, who do you want to deal with then?”

“Oh, definitely Kirishima. I may have invisible clothes on, but I am not risking that purple midget trying to get handsy with me.”

“Sounds fine to me,” Koji replied, trying not to sound too eager over the prospect of fighting Mineta.

“Alright, we’ll need to set up some event to separate them. Maybe I could try to lure Kirishima into a fight while you stealth take down Mineta from behind?”

“That only works as long as Mineta doesn’t scream and he isn’t immediately eliminated so All Might doesn’t announce it to Kirishima.”

“Oh, right, forgot that he would announce eliminations. Well, do you have any ideas?”

Koji paused in thought, before asking, “How high of a fall do you think Kirishima can withstand?”

“If he’s not tired, probably three stories,” Hagakure replied without missing a beat,” Mina told me he once fell out of a second story window and walked away without a scratch, so I’d guess he could tank a three-story drop.”

“Alright, I have an idea then on how to separate them.”

“Well before you tell me,” Hagakure interrupted, pointing a gloved finger at the wall behind him, “Our friend brought their friends.”

Koji turned around to see a large number of not just jono spiders, but also some cellar, jumping, and neoscona spiders as well, as they poured out of the crack in the wall until almost a fifth of the wall was covered in them. If Koji had to guess, this was close to all the spiders in the building, if not all of them. If he wasn’t wearing a mask, Hagakure and everyone in the control room would have seen the wide smile spreading across his face. Their new friend had just provided them an incredible boon of an information network, and he was planning on using it to the fullest. Once he was finished explaining the spider’s role and thanking them for their help, all he and Hagakure needed to do was finalize their attack plans with the little time they had left. Time to see how well the villain team can do.

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In the observation room, the class watched as Koda faced the camera without looking directly at it, and was gesturing as if speaking to someone. This confused many people, but when some of them looked to All Might, the Number 1 Hero looked busy listening in, so they assumed whatever he was doing was fine. On the screen looking at the hero team, Kirishima looked like he was speaking to Mineta, but the diminutive boy was waving off the red head with a smug air to him.

“So, whose betting on who winning?” Ashido said while looking around at the class.

“Ashido! It is highly improper to bet or gossip about the capabilities of our classmates!” Iida exclaimed, chopping a hand in her direction.

“It’s quite alright young Iida!” All Might said, stunning the boy and preventing his incoming lecture, “I was actually going to get the thoughts of the class on the match, but young Ashido beat me to it! I want you all to be watching these matches and analyze the strategies used, both strong and weak points. So you’re all free to speak among yourselves, and when the match is over and the teams return I’ll ask for your insights!”

As All Might finished speaking, the class began discussing about their thoughts on the match up, some people only with their partner while others sought out their friends.

“Well,” Kendo said, turning to her partner, “who do you think is gonna be the winning team?”

“Team J,” Midoriya responded without hesitation.

Kendo raised questioning eyebrow at him before saying, “You sound pretty confident in that assessment. Care to share why?”

“Confident in what assessment?” Uraraka asked as she approached the two, Shoji walking next to her.

“Midoriya thinks that Team J are going to win, and he seems confident in his answer,” Kendo explained, earning a surprised look from Uraraka and a questioning look from Shoji.

“Why do you believe Team J to be the winning team, Midoriya?” Shoji asked.

“Stealth and Recon are an incredibly useful in a match like this, and Team J has that. Team E is at a disadvantage because of this, plus from what I’m seeing on the screen, Mineta is overconfident,” Midoriya explained, while pointing to where said boy was still smugly grinning.

“Okay, I can understand that reasoning,” Kendo said, “but as much as I hate to say it, Mineta has a good quirk for capture and Kirishima has a great quirk for both defense and offence. Plus, I’m not too sure how well team J will do in a combat scenario.”

“Aw, come on Kendo,” Uraraka said, pouting a little, “Just cause Koda’s shy doesn’t mean he can’t fight. Besides, it’s gotta be rough fighting someone who’s invisible, so Hagakure has that as a big benefit!”

“I completely agree Uraraka,” Midoriya said with a wide smile.

 “I will have to agree with Kendo in this case. Mineta’s quirk is perfect for a capture-oriented exercise like this,” Shoji said, smiling under his mask when Uraraka looked at him in mock hurt.

“My own team mate betraying me!” she said dramatically, before descending into giggles

As the others kept talking, Midoriya noticed All Might was fiddling with the computer until he had all the various camera perspectives on the monitor. He was beginning to speak into a microphone on the console as Midoriya turned back.

“We’ll see who has the most accurate assessment,” he said while directing the others to look at the screens.

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“Alright everyone! Prep time is over, the heroes may now enter the building! Good luck everyone!” All Might called over the speaker system.

The hero team entered the building with the general idea of a plan rather than an actual strategy for the situation. During the planning phase, Kirishima had prompted Mineta on what they thought would be a good battle strategy, but he had had waved off the question, asserting that they didn’t need one. When prompted further, the diminutive boy explained that Koda’s behavior indicated that he would be too timid to fight and would be easily captured by his sticky quirk. Mineta was sure that with the two of them together, they would easily be able to capture Hagakure with Koda unable to assist.

“I still don’t know, bro, ” Kirishima said nervously as he looked around the halls, “I feel like we should have done more planning, y’know? I mean, isn’t it a bad thing to assume how someone will act?”

“If you are a hero, aren’t you supposed to profile villains to try and plan how to act?” Mineta fired back with a smug tone, stumping Kirishima.

“Well… yeah I guess so, but it still just doesn’t feel right.”

“Trust me, Kirishima. We are going to win this,” Mineta assured, before mumbling quietly, “I’ll especially win if I can get a feel of Hagakure’s invisible assets.”

“What was that bro?”

“We need to keep an eye out for Hagakure! Never know where she could be!” Mineta exclaimed in panic.

“Oh, true! You’re so smart bro.”

Mineta sighed in relief before the hero team continued their search. As they moved around the first and second floors, both boys had the feeling as if they were being watched. Even in places where there were obviously no cameras, there was still the nagging feeling in the back of their minds. Their paranoia was not helped by the silence that seemed to permeate the building, setting their nerves on edge even more. Both were acutely aware that an invisible punch could hit one of them at any point in time. As they made it to the third floor and started searching around, ready to strike at the slightest sign of movement, they headed down a corridor with windows all down the right wall, showing the front of the building. They carefully made their way down and as they got close to the end, Mineta looked forward after glancing around and almost ran face first into a spider hanging from some silk. The grape themed boy shrieked in terror and leaped back in panic.

Kirishima whipped around to look at his team mate, his forearms hardened, and yelled, “Where! Where is she!?”

Mineta frantically pointed at the spider, and watched as Kirishima got into a combat stance facing where he was pointing. The red head threw a punch and connected with nothing, but the quick movement and air disturbance from the swing caused the spider to retreat back up its silk strand. Kirishima noticed the retreating arachnid, then looked at Mineta, who was carefully watching the spider, before snorting in amusement.

“Didn’t know the villain team had a third teammate,” he teased with a shark tooth grin.

“Oh shut up!”

“Come on man,” Kirishima said still grinning, the tension he once held now released after the false alarm, “Lets go find the other team before they find us from your scream.”

Mineta rolled his eyes and began following Kirishima, who was walking out of the hallway and into a conjoining hallway ahead of them. Kirishima stood there for a moment and turned his head left to look down the conjoined hallway, before Mineta watched as Kirishima was bull-rush tackled by a charging Koda, who proceeded to throw the red head out of the last window lining the hallway.

Mineta’s breath caught in his throat as he desperately tried to process what he just witnessed. The quietest person in class, who acted like there wasn’t a mean bone in their body, just threw their classmate out of a third story window. Mineta would have been worried about Kirishima if not for the fact that he was currently trying not to piss himself. His attempt was not made easier as Koda turned from facing the broken window to glare at Mineta, a look he had never seen on their face in the short time the class had been together.

“What… did you say,” Koda started saying, sounding like they were struggling to keep their voice even, “about ‘Invisible Assets’, Mineta?”

Mineta, when asked later, would claim that that moment was when he learned what true fear was.

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As Kirishima was launched through a window, looking back in surprise to see Koda, he instinctively hardened his skin as he began to plummet. Falling the three stories before impacting with the asphalt, his landing leaving a crater in the mock city’s road, making him groan. Even though it didn’t hurt, he was definitely still gonna feel that impact in his bones for a bit.

“Young Kirishima,” All Might said through the communicator in his ear, “Are you still able to continue, or should I send med bots to your location?”

“I’m fine All Might-sensei! I just need a sec and I’ll be right back up,” Kirishima said, refusing to admit defeat over a minor setback.

The red head pulled himself out of the crater, and winced at the damage he did, and hoped it would be alright with the school. He whipped around to the building when he could hear Mineta shriek in what sounded like terror from the window he was just thrown out of.

“Don’t worry bro! I’m on my way!” Kirishima yelled as he charged into the building, making a B-line for the stairs up.

He made it through two hallways before he tripped over something and fell, his impact lessened by his skin hardening. He was about to brush it off until he heard a quiet giggle behind him. Whipping around he was met with nothing but the empty hallway, but that only set his nerves more on edge. Kirishima got into a low defensive stance and hardened his forearms, looking around for any indication of where Hagakure was.

“C’mon bro! Fight me!” He called out, listening for any sign of a response.

As the seconds stretched on, he started to think she had left and had just done that to mess with him. The sudden impact to the back of his left knee, making him involuntarily buckle under his own weight. He quickly spread hardening to his legs to prevent any other hits and held his still rocky forearms to defend his face. He only realized he had left his stomach exposed as what felt like a kick hit him in the gut, making him double over as the air was knocked out of him.

“Sorry Kiri, but I definitely wasn’t gonna go easy on you,” Hagakure said from behind the downed boy.

“Wouldn’t want you too!” he yelled, as he swung at where he thought her voice came from.

His fist met air, but he was at least rewarded with a surprised yelp from Hagakure. He threw another punch, trying to take advantage of the opportunity he had made, but as he met nothing but air and began pulling his arm back, he felt it get grabbed. He was barely able to get out a noise of confusion before he found himself sailing through the air and being slammed into the ground. He hardened his skin barely before the impact, but it still nearly took his breath away for the second time that day.The grip on his arm remained as he was forcefully flipped onto his stomach, and his arm was bent behind him. He tried to struggle and break free, but Hagakure’s grip was surprisingly hard to break. In the back of his mind, he made a note to ask her about her workout routine, as he desperately tried to get any leverage to free himself. Hagakure managed to grab his other arm and bring it behind him as well, before he heard the sound of tape coming off the roller.

“Young Kirishima has been captured! Med-bots are on their way to retrieve him and check for injuries.” All Might announced over the speaker system.

Kirishima sighed, ceasing his struggle with his hands now tied behind his back with capture tape, “Man, I was hoping for more of a fight.”

“I knew I wouldn’t be able to fight you in a head on battle,” Hagakure said, now standing next to the downed red head, “so I needed to capture you before you got the advantage.”

“Where did you even hide the tape? I know it wasn’t on you.”

“Hid it just in the doorway you landed next to when I flipped you, but enough talk, I gotta go help my team mate, later Kiri!”

With that, Hagakure rushed away, leaving Kirishima to wait for the med-bots to retrieve him.

----------------------------------------------------------

Koji watched as all the color drained from Mineta’s face as he repeated those words back to him, Koji’s hands clenching into fists as he did.

“W-w-where is she?!” Mineta yelled in panic, whipping his head around as if it would provide him the answer.

“Dealing with your partner, while I get to deal with you,” Koji said, earning a shocked look from the boy.

Mineta seemed to consider his options for a moment, eyes still filled with terror, but he didn’t run immediately, and instead got in a poor version of a defensive stance.

“W-well, you m-made a mistake then! Because I’ll just capture you!” the purple haired boy claimed with false bravado, unable to stop the shaking in his voice.

“We’ll see,” Koji said, before charging at Mineta.

 Mineta immediately shrieked in panic and started throwing his hairballs at Koji haphazardly while backing away. Koji, despite his larger frame, maneuvered through the onslaught and was managing to avoid getting hit even as he began closing the distance with Mineta. Years of avoiding the attacks of his targets had provided him plenty of practice. As Koji got closer, Mineta’s attempts to avoid capture became more and more frantic, making it so his throws, while quicker, also became more inaccurate. Koji was keeping some space between them though, knowing one hit to the wrong place would render him immobile. For a bit of time they remained in this stalemate where neither were able to land a hit on the other.

This was interrupted as All Might’s voice called over the speaker system, “Young Kirishima has been captured! Med-bots are on their way to retrieve him and check for injuries.”

That announcement caused Koji to grin and Mineta to look like he was on the verge of a panic attack. This chase continued, with Koji ducking, weaving, and jumping to avoid getting hit, while Mineta was now almost completely ignoring precision and just throwing as many hairballs as he possibly could to try and stop Koji. After only a few seconds of this, however, Mineta pulled a one of the hairballs and winced in pain as the spot began to bleed. In his panic he hadn’t kept track of his quirk, and he had just reached its comfortable limit; Koji knew everyone had one, and if they expended everything too early, they were much easier to capture. This moment of pain was the opportunity he needed, because in that brief moment the volley of sticky hairballs ceased, and he didn’t have to fear capture.

Koji closed the distance between himself and Mineta before the boy had a chance to get over his sudden pain. He reeled his arm back and, as the purple haired boy began to open his eyes again and look up, Koji brought his fist down into his opponent’s stomach. Mineta immediately had the wind knocked out of him and was launched across the remaining ten feet of the hallway they were in, tumbling heels over head, and slammed into the back wall before falling to the floor.

As Koji approached Mineta, breathing deeply from his impromptu dodging practice, the boy let out a groan of pain from his position on the floor but made no move to rise. Koji looked down at him, still feeling angry over what he had said he wanted to do to Hagakure, and felt like the one blow wasn’t enough. He clenched his fists again, and wanted to throw another punch at the scumbag who wanted to be a sad excuse of a hero. Before he could even raise his hand, however, he was reminded of dark alleyways, where all he felt was anger and the feeling of his knuckles hitting flesh. He was reminded of adrenaline and danger. He was reminded of-

Koji shook his head to try and dispel the memories that were clouding his thoughts. He crouched down, taking the capture tape from one of his pants pockets, and used it to bind Mineta’s hands together. As he finished and stood up he was startled by All Might’s announcement.

“Young Mineta has been captured! Team J wins! Med-bots will escort young Mineta out of the building so please do not impede them and return to the observation room!”

Koji stood above Mineta a moment longer, looking down at the pained form at his feet, wishing he could release more anger.

“Koda!” Hagakure called out, causing him to quickly turn to face her voice before an invisible weight impacted with him, “Your plan worked! We did it!”

Koji froze up at the feeling of Hagakure hugging him, a bright blush clear despite the half-mask he wore. He almost mechanically moved his arms to hesitantly hug her back, not used to people hugging him outside of family. It was strange… but not bad.

“I’d say our plan worked. I couldn’t have done it without you,” he replied softly, his blush deepening as he did.

“Awww, you’re so sweet! Now c’mon! Let’s go to the observation deck!” Hagakure said with glee, as she grabbed one of his hands and pulled him away like she did when they had first gotten called upon to participate.

Koda could only smile behind his mask as he rushed to match Hagakure’s pace, but let her continue to pull him along.

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As All Might announced the end of the battle trial, Izuku tried not to seem too smug as he looked at Kendo. She was still staring at the screens in shock, mouth ajar since Koda first threw Kirishima through a window. Uraraka was still pumped about Hagakure’s take-down and was muttering about how she could try to do that with her quirk. Izuku would wish her opponents a speedy recovery if she figured it out before her match.

Shoji turned to Izuku, one of his hands transformed into a smiling mouth, and said, “Maybe I should listen to your advice in the future.”

Izuku grinned back, before looking back to Kendo, who still hadn’t moved, “Earth to Kendo? You with us?”

That seemed to shake her out of it as she turned to Izuku, “Huh? Oh! Sorry, I was just so… surprised by how efficient Koda and Hagakure were in that.”

“I’m sure a lot of people in our class have had some form of training before coming here,” Izuku said, hoping she wouldn’t question them about said ‘training’.

“Welcome back students!” All Might announced, silencing everyone who was now paying attention to the three students returning, “An impressive display from both teams involved!”

Koda and Hagakure had opposite reactions to the praise, where Hagakure cheered and thanked the Symbol of Peace while Koda hid his face in his hands. Kirishima seemed to brighten at All Might’s words, but didn’t seem to have the same energy as he did earlier.

“Now, who do we think was the MVP of this match class?” All Might asked, getting a jumbled response as several people called out at once.

“My quirk isn’t super hearing, so please one at a time class!” He called out, looking disoriented, “Young Iida, you have your hand raised, so why don’t you share first.”

“Sir! From my analysis I believe that Hagakure should be the MVP of this match since she was likely the one tracking the location of the hero team for Koda to ambush them and separate them. Also, it was highly dangerous of Koda to throw a classmate from a three-story window without knowledge on his classmates capabilities,” Iida said, his reprimand causing Koda to shrink back.

“Hey!” Hagakure cried out, sounding outraged and surprising the class, “We planned that ambush there because I had the knowledge that Kiri could take a fall like that based off of info from a trusted source. And I wasn’t even the one who did all the recon, I would say that me and Koda did an equal amount of recon, if not more, by him getting our friends to help out.”

“What do you mean ‘friends’?” Ashido asked while Iida was rendered silent, shocked that his analysis had been completely wrong.

Hagakure paused and shifted in place for a moment while Koda looked more anxious than normal, before she said, “Koda’s quirk makes it so he makes friends with animals really easily, so they helped us!”

The tension Koda had seemed to release as Ashido said, “That’s so cool! I wish animals would help mee with stuff.”

“With this new information, does anyone else have any thoughts on an MVP?” All Might asked, trying to make sure his class stayed on track.

Izuku raised his hand, and when he was called on said, “Koda should be the MVP, assisted his team mate so that info gathering wasn’t solely placed on her, was the one to execute the ambush which separated the opposing team, and preformed a successful capture of an opponent.”

“Does anyone have any thoughts in disagreement with young Midoriya’s analysis?”

When no one else moved to speak, All Might announced, “Well then, it looks like young Koda is our first MVP of the day!"

Koda looked stunned by the announcement and was blushing a deep red as people began to cheer for him.

"You may rejoin the class, but if anyone is injured, please go visit Recovery Girl! Now, next up for their battle trials are… Team B as Villains and Team G as Heroes!”

Izuku started thinking that the universe really did have a sense of humor as he watched Yaoyorozu and Kaminari walk to the front as Team B was called. Seriously, what are the chances that all four of them got assigned to teams and just so happened to also be chosen as the villain teams. He glanced at All Might and briefly questioned if the Symbol of Peace knew, but dismissed it quickly, knowing they would have already been arrested if the man knew. He noticed Todoroki and Tsu were at the front of the room as well, and figured they were Team G. As the teams were lead out of the room, Yaoyorozu glanced back at the class, and briefly met his gaze. He mouthed ‘good luck’ to her, which she seemed surprised by before she nodded and continued with All Might. Even if Izuku knew how capable she was, she was still gonna have to face Endeavor’s son, and Izuku had a good idea of how intense the Number 2 “hero” could be with training.

Chapter Text

As All Might lead them to the trial building, Momo was already thinking of strategies to win against her opponents. She knew that despite having the advantage of combat experience, if she underestimated her opponents she could easily slip up and get captured. If Asui’s long jump score in the quirk assessment test was anything to go by, one kick could hit hard enough to daze or stun if not outright knock her out if aimed right. Then there was of course the obstacle that was Todoroki and his quirk. The amount of control he had over his quirk would allow him to capture both her and Kaminari without breaking a sweat if they didn’t react quick enough.

She thanked All Might automatically as he handed her the communicator linked with Kaminari’s, continuing to think of possible defensive plans as she and Kaminari walked into the trial building, with her carrying the mannequin hostage.

“So, what’s the plan Yaomomo?” Kaminari asked as they made their way through the halls leading to the staircase, heading to the fifth floor to find a room to set up in.

“Yaomomo?” Momo asked, confused by the mixing of her names.

Kaminari shrugged before responding, “Not gonna lie, your last name is a mouth full, so I wanted to give you a nickname. Do you like it?”

Momo had honestly never had a nickname before. So much weight came with her last name that everyone she had previously met acted like they needed to only refer to her by it.

“Yes,” she decided, “I do like it.”

“Sweet! Now, what’s our plan of attack, Yaomomo?”

“We aren’t going to have a plan of attack; we need a defensive plan to ensure we succeed.”

“I mean sure, but considering who we’re up against, wouldn’t it make sense to go on the offensive as our defensive strategy?”

Momo looked at Kaminari, once again confused but also curious as to what her team mate’s thought process was, “Why would an offensive strategy be better suited?”

“Well, Todoroki is probably gonna do those big flashy moves like during the quirk apprehension test, right? So he’ll probably freeze, like, the entire room or hallway we’re in as soon as he sees us, which will only take out Tsu if we can dodge it. Then we just have to take Todoroki down in a two vs one.”

“I’m fairly certain that Todoroki will have enough control to avoid freezing his partner.”

“Well sure, but Tsu has a frog mutation quirk, and frogs enter a state of hibernation when it becomes too cold, meaning that Tsu will probably enter hibernation as soon as Todoroki launches his first attack.”

“How do you know that frogs hibernate when too cold?” Momo asked, now very interested in the potentially useful information on their opponent.

“When I was around 10, I found a frog outside after a flash snow storm caused by a kids quirk awakening, so I brought it inside and wrapped it in a blanket to warm it up and try to save it since I thought it was dying. Mom wasn’t happy when a frog leapt at her when she came to check on me later, but I was so happy about ‘saving’ the frog I didn’t care.”

Momo suppressed a snort of laughter, and said, “Well, if Asui shares enough biology with a frog, then you may be right in your assessment. Though I believe it would be best to not assume it as fact so that we avoid becoming over confident.”

“Whatever you say Yaomomo,” Kaminari replied with a salute, “So, what’s our plan of defense?”

Momo held her chin as she thought aloud, “Our opponents are capable of both long- and close-range combat, making them formidable in any form of combat we engage in. Our best bet for a combat victory would be ambushing them and taking them down as quickly as possible. A defensive victory would have to involve reinforcing the room, but I don’t know if I could create enough metal plating for the walls in time. There’s also no rule against moving the hostage, so we could continuously move throughout the building and avoid our opponents until the timer runs out. That, however, could lead to an underprepared encounter with our opponents, making it a risky strategy. My quirk also works best if I conserve my energy as much as possible, meaning staying stationary would be the most beneficial. Is there a strategy that benefits your quirk Kaminari?”

Her team mate looked like his face was frozen, likely processing everything she just said and considering which option would be best.

After a moment Kaminari unfroze and said, “Any strategy will work for me, the electricity I release isn’t based on my energy, so exercise won’t deplete my reserves.”

To accentuate his point, he held up his hand and sparks danced between his fingers. Momo looked at him in surprise, since she had thought Kaminari had a purely technology-based quirk. Looking at Kaminari’s face, he was giving her a pleading look that she had seen a few times in high school whenever a friend needed her to cover for them in front of a teacher. Looking just above Kaminari she could see the security camera and she knew that All Might could hear them on the comms, so she couldn’t ask anything without potentially compromising them.

Saving any questions she had about his potential duel quirk, she instead asked, “Can you absorb electricity as well, or only release it?”

“I can do both, though I get really jittery if I absorb too much and if I release too much I have… difficulty thinking,” he replied hesitantly.

Momo raised an eyebrow at his phrasing, “Difficulty thinking? Would you become a liability on the battle field?”

“I struggle with forming coherent thoughts when I’m spent, so probably? I try to avoid reaching that point, but I can end up expending a lot of electricity in a fight.”

Trying to think of a way to make sure Kaminari didn’t incapacitate himself, Momo asked, “How well can you direct your electricity for a single attack?”

Kaminari winced and made a ‘so-so’ gesture, “I can limit it to an area, but I haven’t mastered the art of lightning bolts.”

“Have you ever used a lightning rod to try and direct it?”

“Uuummm… It’s kinda hard to set up a lightning rod during a fight, Yaomomo.”

“Just answer if you have,” she replied, a little annoyance seeping into her voice.

“Alright, yes, I have set up a lightning rod to make lightning bolts. But trying to set up one and then getting someone to step between it and me is very difficult.”

“I think I could make the process a bit easier,” Momo said as her arm began to glow with her quirk, and a grin spread across her face.

----------------------------------------------------------

In the observation room, the class had barely waited until the two teams had left before discussing who would become the victors of the trial. With Hagakure and Koda’s “surprising victory” many were trying to theorize how each side could claim the win.

“So, who’s gonna win this time Dekiru?” Uraraka asked without looking away from the screens.

“You make it sound like I already know who’ll win,” Midoriya replied instead of answering her.

She turned to him and gave him an unimpressed look, as if saying, ‘Because you do.’

“I believe Team G are the likeliest to win,” Shoji said, watching the screens in contemplation, “While Yaoyorozu and Kaminari have the benefit of using Yaoyorozu’s quirk to set up any defenses they can think of, Team G has an edge when it comes to combat.”

“And what makes you think that?” Midoriya asked.

“Todoroki has training from Endeavor, which means he likely has the most experience with quirked fighting, which makes him the most capable combatant in the trial. If you combine that with the strength Tsu has exhibited then they should be able to overwhelm Team B. Especially if Todoroki focuses on Kaminari while Tsu focuses on Yaoyorozu.”

“Oh, I get it,” Kendo chimed in, “Todoroki can freeze Kaminari in place at range to avoid his electricity while Tsu can use her enhanced leg strength to fight Yaoyorozu. That’s a good strategy, Shoji.”

“It is,” Midoriya agreed, “and it could lead them to win, if Team G would actually do that.”

“What do you mean?” Kendo questioned, looking at Midoriya with confusion, “Why wouldn’t they do something like that? It’s a good strategy and I doubt they won’t think of it.”

“Because it looks like Team G is going to make the same mistake that the last Hero team made.”

“And that mistake would be?”

Midoriya turned to Kendo, pointing at the screen with Team G on it, and said, “Arrogance.”

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While the villain team worked on their battle strategy together, the hero team was silent. When Tsuyu had attempted to form a battle strategy with Todoroki, she was met with a blank look as he claimed her assistance would not be needed. Tsuyu had spent another minute or two attempting to get her teammate to work with her, insisting they needed to work together for the assignment, but the split haired teen continued to deny the notion. She gave up on trying to strategize with him in favor of trying to plan a way to capture her opponents while accounting for Todoroki being an obstacle.

When All Might called the start of the match, as Tsuyu began to bend her legs to leap to the building, Todoroki took a step forward and used his quirk. Ice shot across the road and began to incase the walls, quickly covering up to the first floor. Tsuyu leapt back, trying to get away from the sudden chill that would cause her to go into torpor. Ice continued to cover the building, and it could be seen through the entry way how it began to encase the inside of the building as well. In a matter of seconds the entire building was encased in ice, making Tsuyu’s usually blank face become visibly annoyed. Todoroki stared up at the building for a few moments, before looking slightly confused, as if he expected something to happen. When there was no change he shrugged before walking into the building, not noticing Tsuyu heading back to the observation room.

Todoroki walked through the building at a leisurely pace, checking each floor for the hostage and his opponents, but coming up with nothing at every turn. As he finished checking the second floor, he picked up the pace as he became conscientious of time limit of the exercise. As he finished his sweep of the third floor, All Might announced the half-way point of the exercise. Todoroki began skating on the icy floor, rushing now to not run out of time. He swept the fourth floor as quickly as possible before going to the fifth floor, rushing into rooms to try and find his opponents and the objective.

As Todoroki slammed open another room’s door, he didn’t have a chance to process what was inside as a blow to the gut knocked the wind out of him. He stumbled away from his assailant, throwing a wave of ice blindly in the direction he thought the blow came from. He gasped in a rough breathe as he looked up to see Yaoyorozu had dodged his attack and was spinning a black bo staff, ready to strike him again. He shifted into a defensive stance, but crumbled as a sharp, burning pain coursed through his body, centered on his right side. He instinctively released another wave of ice, attempting to freeze whatever, or whoever, had hurt him.

“Whoa! Sorry if that hurt, but there’s no need to give me the cold shoulder!” Kaminari called out as he dodged away from the ice, an impish grin on his face.

Trying to now keep track of both his opponents, Todoroki scanned the room, trying to form a plan of attack. Kaminari was armed with a copper tonfa stick while the matching stick was visibly sticking out of the ice Todoroki had just created. The hostage was in the far corner of the room with Yaoyorozu standing between it and him. All he needed to do was capture them in ice while finding a way to avoid getting hit somehow.

He didn’t have much time to think of a plan, however, as Yaoyorozu rushed him and he was forced to focus on defending himself from her rapid series of jabs with her weapon. He threw up a wall of ice to separate them and attempt to restrain her if she got caught in it. Todoroki only had a second to breathe before he noticed movement out of the corner of his eye and dived away, narrowly missing Kaminari swiping at him with a sparking tonfa.   

“Damn, man, guess sneak attacks won’t work on you anymore,” Kaminari said, before running at him once more.

Todoroki slammed his right foot on the ground used his quirk to encase Kaminari, who let out a loud ‘awww’ of disappointment. Todoroki could barely pay attention though as he began to shiver, frost clinging to his clothes and skin. He was swaying slightly, but remained on his feet as he looked around, trying to find Yaoyorozu. He didn’t have to look long as she rushed around the ice wall he had created, sprinting towards him with a wide grin and intense look in her eyes. For a moment, he questioned how she could possibly be sprinting on the ice covering the floor until he noticed cleated plated attached to her shoes. He had to throw himself away from her to avoid the incoming attack, barely avoiding her staff which impacted where he was just standing. Looking back, he noticed that the ice where Yaoyorozu’s staff hit had shattered, exposing some of the tile flooring below it. Glancing up at her, he nearly flinched as she looked at him the same way Miruko looks at any villain; manic glee and bloodlust.

“Come on Todoroki! Is this really your best?” Yaoyorozu yelled as she rushed him once more.

He was too slow to dodge the first blow to the same side that had gotten shocked, near causing him to buckle from the pain. He managed to move in time to turn the next strike into a glancing blow to his shoulder. Throwing his hand out to launch another ice attack against her, he was thwarted by her hitting his wrist, diverting a blast of ice that impacted into the wall next to Kaminari.

“Hey! Don’t kick someone while they’re already down!” Kaminari called out.

Todoroki ignored the blonde in favor of desperately trying to avoid Yaoyorozu’s attacks. Every time he managed to avoid one hit he found himself on the receiving end of at least another two strikes. The pain from each hit coursed through his body as he fought to try and put any amount of space between them, but she didn’t let up her assault for even a second. Throwing himself back and desperately putting everything he could into his quirk, he launched another wall of ice, this one spanning from the floor to the ceiling, managing to buy him a few precious moments to think. His breathing was ragged as he hunched over, in pain but refusing to go down yet. A loud crackling made him whip his head around in time to see the ice encasing Kaminari shatter, electricity pulsing around him briefly.

“Sorry about this, man,” the blonde said with a rueful smile, “No hard feelings?”

Todoroki didn’t get a chance to respond, as Kaminari lifted his remaining tonfa, sparkling with electricity, and pointed it at him. A bolt of lightning leapt from the end and rushed towards the split-haired teen, who was too cold from his quirk to dodge, hitting him and causing him to cry out in pain. Todoroki fell to the floor, unconscious.

----------------------------------------------------------

“Young Todoroki has been captured! Team B wins! Please return to the observation room while med-bots will retrieve young Todoroki,” All Might called out over the speaker system.

Momo made her way around the ice wall Todoroki had made and came upon the sight of the split haired teen unconscious on the floor. Kaminari was trying to wrench one of his copper tonfas out of the ice structure next to the unconscious teen with little success.

“The plan worked then?”

Kaminari stopped his efforts to look at her and respond, “Yep, you managed to get him right between me and the tonfa. I already checked his vitals and he seems stable, if a bit cold.”

Momo gave the blonde a slightly impressed look, “You thought to check him before the med-bots came?”

“When you could very easily electrocute someone by sneezing wrong, it’s important to always check vitals,” he replied instantly, like it was a common phrase.

“Let us head back then,” Momo said, deciding not to question him about it for now, “I’m sure the rest of the class is eager to participate in their trials.”

Momo went over and retrieved the hostage, carrying the mannequin over her shoulder before heading to the door. As she went, she realized that she didn’t hear Kaminari’s footsteps following her and turned to the blonde, who was giving her a sheepish look.

“Ummm… I can’t get the tonfa un-stuck.”

Momo sighed before approaching the stuck weapon and wrenched it out of the wall with a single pull. The ice around the spot now had cracks spider-webbing through it and small chunks fell to the floor as she wordlessly handed it to Kaminari, who silently took it while staring at her in shock. She began walking away once more, this time with Kaminari following shortly after. Noticing the med-bots loading Todoroki onto a stretcher, a pang of guilt went though her at seeing the state he was in, but she pushed the feeling away, focusing on getting back to the class.

“Quick question, how much can you lift?” Kaminari asked as he walked alongside her.

Needing the distraction, Momo replied, “185 pounds (~84 kg) is my current barbell maximum, why do you ask?”

Kaminari looked up at her with wide eyes before saying, “… Yaomomo, I don’t know how else to say this, but you’re fucking scary.”

She burst out laughing, having never heard anyone ever call her scary before when she wasn’t dressed as Blade.

“I think that’s the best compliment I’ve gotten so far this week,” she said, giving Kaminari an amused smile.

“I’m glad you think so, because I do not want to get on your bad side. Ever.”

“Just don’t do anything stupid and you’ll have nothing to worry about.”

Kaminari looked at her it horror as he exclaimed “But I do so many stupid things!”

Momo descended into another fit of laughter, this time with Kaminari joining in moments later. As she laughed, she thought about how different the people she’s met at UA have been from the people she knew in high school. She had plenty of friends in high school, but speaking with them was always so… dull. It was always talk about whatever prestigious thing had become popular, or conversation about experiences (mostly elite events and vacations). Momo at a certain point had even started going through those interactions on autopilot from how similar they all were, able to tune it out completely without anyone noticing. Never once has she gone on autopilot while talking to one of her classmates so far, even more so, she enjoyed most of the conversations she had had with them.

They were able to calm themselves down as they reached the observation room, All Might announcing their arrival with, “Welcome back Team B! You were both impressive combatants!”

Momo beamed with pride at the praise, barely believing her combat skills were being recognized by All Might himself! Glancing at Kaminari, he had a grin that was probably only rivaled by hers.

“Now, who has thoughts on which person deserves the title of MVP? I know this analysis is going more limited since we only had three students able to participate, and one of them has been taken to Recovery Girl, but I would still like to hear your thoughts.”

Momo noticed that Asui was huddled with Uraraka and Shoji, wrapped in a blanket, looking a bit dejected. Kaminari must have been right and Asui was unable to participate due to the harsh cold of Todoroki’s opening move. She now felt slightly less bad about the state they had left Todoroki in, hoping it served as a lesson that he should consider others before acting. If he hadn’t launched that giant attack, he would have had Tsu watching his back and he might’ve actually stood a chance against them.

“It has to be Kaminari,” Sero called out, “He got the hit at the start that weakened Todoroki a bunch and he hit that final lightning bolt move that took him down!”

“I disagree, I think Yaoyorozu is the MVP,” Jirou claimed, speaking before All Might could respond, “Yaoyorozu was the one who did most of the fighting and is the reason Kaminari was able to get in those attacks.”

“Very good young Jirou,” All Might said, startling the purplette, “When analyzing a fight, it is important to analyze the components of the fight just as much as the action within the fight itself. Would anyone else like to share their thoughts on the fight? Young Midoriya, you have your hand up.”

“Yaoyorozu is the MVP,” Midoriya stated, as if it was a fact, “Like Jirou said, Yaoyorozu did a majority of the fighting and set up the opportunity for the final attack that secured Team B victory. On top of that, she is the only reason why they were able to preform those attacks by creating the bo staff and tonfa sticks they used, as well as the spiked plates on their shoes that allowed them to move on the ice without slipping. If it wasn’t for her preparation, the fight likely wouldn’t have resulted in their victory.”

Momo was frankly shocked at Midoriya’s assessment. Sure, she recognized that she had provided her and Kaminari an edge in battle that Todoroki likely didn’t account for, but she didn’t think she was their sole reason for victory.

“Oh, definitely,” Kaminari chimed in, making her whip around to stare at him, “If Yaomomo hadn’t made me these tonfa sticks, I would’ve probably just thrown myself at Team G trying to shock them before they could capture me. She deserves MVP more than me.”

Before she could deny and say she hadn’t been that crucial, All Might’s voice rang loudly throughout the room, “While I believe you would have had a better strategy than you claim, young Kaminari, I have to agree that young Yaoyorozu was instrumental to your team’s victory. So, unless anyone believes they have a reason young Kaminari has earned it instead, young Yaoyorozu is this match’s MVP!”

The class began to cheer and congratulate Momo, causing her to blush and bow, saying, “Thank you all for the kind words!”

“Now, please give me a moment to set up for the next trial. We will have to use a different building since it will take a while before young Todoroki’s ice melts. It shouldn’t take long for me to switch the camera feeds, but feel free to talk among yourselves while I take care of everything.”

As All Might fiddled with the control panel, Momo rejoined the rest of the class, many of whom praised her on her victory. She tried to thank everyone for their kind words as she made her way through the crowd until she reached the back where Midoriya and Kendo were standing.

Noticing her approach, Midoriya smiled as he asked, “Is your staff encased in a layer of rubber to make sure Kaminari’s electricity didn’t potentially redirect to it?”

“You can never be too careful in a combat situation,” Momo replied with a smirk.

“Smart choice, if you and Kaminari had been forced to fight in close quarters with each other it would have prevented any possibility of you accidentally getting shocked by an errant spark.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Momo said, mentally cheering that someone recognized her thought process.

“Damn, I already thought you were impressive in that fight, but it seems like you thought of everything,” Kendo said, making Momo blush.

“Not everything. Kaminari was the one who realized Tsu would potentially be affected by the cold. I hadn’t even considered the possibility until he explained his reasoning.”

Kendo winced and glanced at the froggy girl with sympathy, saying, “Yeah, when Tsu got here she was half asleep and pissed. When she explained how her quirk was affected by the cold, All Might got an emergency blanket for her and excused her from having to attempt the exercise, thankfully.”

“That’s good. I’d hate for Todoroki’s actions to have caused her to receive a failing grade for this exercise.”

“If anyone were to get a failing grade, it would be Todoroki,” Midoriya said, face set in an annoyed glare.

Kendo looked at him confused, saying, “I mean, Todoroki lost, sure, but I don’t know about receiving a failing grade. Doesn’t that seem a bit harsh?”

“He completely ignored his team mate during the planning phase because he believed he would be able to capture both Yaoyorozu and Kaminari by freezing the entire building. Then once he did freeze the building, he took his time searching it to the point where if he hadn’t been knocked out the timer would have gone off less than a minute later, making him lose either way. If this was a real-life scenario, he would have also alerted the villains to his presence the moment he froze the building, ruining any chance at a surprise attack. If he doesn’t get a failing grade then I’ll eat my utility belt.”

Momo was staring at Midoriya, surprised by how angry he sounded, but couldn’t think of a single point he made that she disagreed with.

Her gaze set into a glare mirroring Midoriya’s as she said, “You’re right. Hopefully this will serve as a reality check for him.”

Kendo still seemed hesitant to agree, but was saved from having to say anything by All Might calling out, “Everything is all set up! Now we may begin the next Battle Trial with… Teams D as villains and Team C as heroes!”

“That’s us,” Kendo said as she began walking towards the front.

As Midoriya began following after her, Momo caught his sleeve, causing him to turn to her. before she said, “Good luck,” and released him.

He stayed in place a moment longer before grinning and saying, “Thanks, I’ll need it,” before rushing to catch up to Kendo.

Momo was confused for a moment until she looked up and saw who they would be facing against. At the front of the room alongside Kendo and Midoriya stood Bakugou and Iida. Iida looked uncomfortable, likely hating that he was acting as the “villain” in this exercise, while Bakugou was glaring daggers at Midoriya. She didn’t understand what the rabid blonde had against Midoriya, but she hoped it blinded him enough for it to make him easier to beat. Maybe if he lost he’d finally shut up.

“So, what was that with you and Midoriya?”

Momo whirled around to see Jirou looking up at her with a smug smile.

“What do you mean?” Momo asked, “I was wishing him good luck.”

“Sure, but that doesn’t explain why you grabbed him to do it,” Jirou said, now giving her a teasing grin, “Seemed a little intimate if you ask me.”

Momo could feel her face heating up, and turned away stating, “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Jirou. He wished me good luck before my trial and I wanted to return the sentiment, nothing more.”

“Whatever you say, Yaomomo.”

Momo huffed but couldn’t help but smile at the use of her new nickname. Focusing her attention on the screens, she saw that Midoriya was already speaking rapidly to Kendo, likely strategizing on their best course of action. She was confident in his abilities though, after all, he was the one who made the analysis that ensured their victory over Death Arms.

Chapter Text

“So, oh wise analyst,” Kendo said in a mocking, but not unkind, tone that reminded Izuku of Dabi, “You’ve done pretty well figuring out which team is gonna win, so tell me, how can we win?”

“Well that depends,” he replied as he gazed up at the building Bakugou and Iida had disappeared into, “How much are you able to lift while your hands are at their maximum size?”

“Uuuhhh… I want to say around 650 pounds (~295 kg)? I’m guessing, since that’s the about combined weight of all the weights my family has, and I can carry it all if I use both hands.”

“Cool, awesome, I’m never challenging you to an arm-wrestling contest, but that kind of strength will be a huge benefit. Now, do you control the size of your hands or is it only base and max size?”

Kendo snorted in amusement before saying, “It’s one or the other, unfortunately.”

“Is that because that’s your quirk’s limitations or because you’ve only ever thought of it as one or the other?”

Kendo gave him an incredulous look as she said, “Do you think I don’t know my own quirk, Midoriya?”

“In my defense, a common problem among transformation quirks is the user viewing it in a limiting manner that causes the muscle memory for their quirk to default to only having a ‘base’ and ‘transformed’ appearance. Let me ask you this, does it feel like you turn your quirk on and off like a light switch, or do you focus to increase your hands’ size and can do it at varying speeds?”

“Uh…. The second one?”

“Then I’m guessing you’ve trained your quirk to increase your hands’ size to their maximum size as quickly as possible. Correct?”

Kendo was staring at him in surprise as she said, “Yeah, how’d you know?”

“It’s what everyone with transformation quirks tend to focus on,” Izuku said, causing Kendo to scowl, making him quickly add, “Not that that’s a bad thing or anything! It’s useful to be able to have you’re quirk’s full power available within seconds.”

When Kendo stopped scowling Izuku breathed a sigh of relief before continuing, “There are going to be some cases, however, where the full power of your quirk is more of a detriment than a benefit.”

“Alright smart guy, then what do you suggest I do?”

“Easy, the opposite of what you’ve been doing.”

Kendo stared at him in confusion for a moment before he watched as her face changed to a look of revelation. He waited and watched as she looked down at her hands and stared at them in concentration. After a few moments, Kendo’s hands began to slowly increase in size until they were roughly twice their size, but nowhere near their maximum size.

Izuku was about to congratulate her on her new quirk development until she shouted in obvious annoyance, “You’re fucking shitting me!”

Izuku winced, hoping that she wasn’t angry at him for this, as she continued, “How in the fuck have I never thought of this! Fucking dammit! Now I feel stupid.”

“Hey, none of that,” Izuku insisted, making Kendo look up at him in surprise, “Just because you found out something new about your quirk, that doesn’t make you dumb for not realizing it sooner. Like I said, this is a common thing among a ton of transformation quirk users, so it’s not as if it’s just a you thing.”

“I mean, yeah, I guess. I just…”

“Hate you didn’t realize it sooner because it feels super important?”

She chuckled, though it sounded more bitter than amused, as she said, “You got a mind reading quirk along with your fire?”

Izuku gave her a knowing smile as he said, “No, I wish. I just understand how frustrating quirks can be.”

Kendo looked like she was about to question him, so he quickly added, “Now, with your new quirk development, I think the plan I’ve made is even more likely to succeed.”

Kendo hesitated another moment but let the topic drop in favor of asking, “Alright, what’ve you got?”

“First we need to split up-“

“I already hate this plan.”

Izuku sighed, having expected that reaction before continuing, “Against anyone else I would hate it too, but I honestly think splitting up is gonna be our best way to win this exercise.”

“How could splitting up possibly be the best way to win?”

“Because even though it’s been years since me and Bakugou last saw each other, he hasn’t changed at all. As soon as the trial starts, he’s going to leave Iida with the hostage and start hunting us to take us down as quickly as possible. Once that happens, it’s unlikely they’ll have any consistent communication, so we won’t have to deal with both of them working together. Iida comes from a family of heroes so he most likely has combat training which will make him formidable, however his flaw is that he thinks too rigidly so he’s unlikely to come up with creative attacks making him predictable. Bakugou’s going to be a bigger threat since he’s a fairly skilled combatant given his level of mastery over his quirk that he exhibited during the quirk assessment test.”

“Doesn’t that give more reason to take him on together?” Kendo interjected.

He grinned back before responding, “Ordinarily, yes, but we have a benefit that will help us pull a win, but only if we split up.”

“And what could that possibly be?”

Izuku allowed himself to feel a little smug, but knew that he couldn’t become over confident or else suffer the same fate as the last two hero teams.

“Because, I have something that will guarantee me an opportunity to take him down that no one else has.”

He paused for dramatic effect, but Kendo was just staring as if to say, ‘Get on with it’.

Not letting it deter him, he continued, “I have a perfect counter to his quirk.”

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While Iida was desperately trying to form a cohesive plan with his team mate, Bakugou stood by ignoring him the entire time. The only thoughts going through the explosive blonde’s mind currently was how he was going to pummel Midoriya into the ground as soon as he saw them. He was still fuming over Midoriya not telling him how they had been able to gain a quirk, and was fully intending on using this opportunity to pry the answers he wanted out of them.

Finally getting tired of the constant tirade Iida was going on, Bakugou finally snapped, “Shut the fuck up, extra! I already know what I’m gonna fuckin do! Just don’t get in my way!”

Iida sputtered in indignation before replying, “That is no way to speak to your ally! We are meant to be working together on this exercise, so it is highly important we-”

“It’s highly important you shut the fuck up! I’m gonna go deal with Deku and the other extra while you fucking stay here and out of my way.”

“You cannot possibly expect to take on both Midoriya and Kendo by yourself!”

Bakugou rounded on Iida and was prepared to blast him for implying he couldn’t handle them, but was interrupted by All Might announcing over the speaker system, “Team C may now enter the building! Let the Battle Trial, begin!”

Bakugou didn’t waste a second, launching himself out the door of the room they had chosen and flying down the hallway, screaming, “DEKUUUUUUUUU!!!”

Bakugou recognized in the back of his mind that he was being extremely loud and giving away his position, but that was completely overshadowed by the desire to find Midoriya. As he blasted down hallway after hallway, it wasn’t until he made it down to the second floor that he encountered his target. Midoriya was standing at the opposite end of the hallway he had just rounded the corner of, leaning against the wall and staring at his gauntleted hand as if checking his nails.

Looking up, Midoriya pretended like he just noticed Bakugou as he said, “Oh, there you are, Bakugou. What took you so long?”

It was such an obvious display of fake nonchalance anyone would be able to recognize it as a ploy. They may have also taken the time to question where Kendo was, and considered she may have been nearby ready to ambush them. Bakugou, however, was so blinded with rage at the moment that he only screamed at the top of his lungs as he launched himself down the hallway at his green haired opponent. Flying forward, he reared back his fist, preparing to send it directly into Midoriya’s face. As he threw his first punch, faster than he could react, Midoriya ducked under him, grabbing him by the arm and flipped him so he went careening into the floor.

Bakugou felt the air get knocked out of him, but still had the presence of mind to know if he didn’t do something quick, then Midoriya would gain the advantage. He activated his quirk in the hand Midoriya was holding onto, causing them to release their grip and stumble back. The blond bomber used the opportunity to force a deep breath into his lungs as he stumbled up to his feet, automatically falling into a wide fighting stance.

“You really haven’t changed a bit, have you, Kacchan,” Midoriya said, his tone mocking as he said the old nickname he had for them

Bakugou snarled before launching an explosion forward as he yelled, “Shut up, Deku!”

Midoriya managed to dodge out of the way and breathed a jet of bright red flames at the blonde, who launched himself out of the way with small bursts of his quirk. As soon as the flames dissipated, he launched himself right back at them, aiming to fire an explosion at their side. Midoriya managed to move to dodge a decent portion of the hit and used his metal gauntlet to block what he wasn’t fast enough to avoid. Bakugou brought his other hand up, ready to fire another explosion to try and press his opponent into going on the defensive. Instead of trying to avoid it, however, Midoriya stepped further into range to grab onto Bakugou’s wrist, redirecting it and causing the blast to harmlessly singe the walls.

“I really thought you’d have gotten better at fighting in the years I’ve been gone,” Midoriya said, driving his gauntleted fist into Bakugou’s stomach, nearly causing bile to rise up their throat, “But you’re still the same brat who’s overconfident in their flashy fucking quirk.”

Bakugou flinched at the sheer venom dripping from Midoriya’s every word, having never heard them ever speak with any amount of anger. He quickly got over his initial shock however, as rage quickly replaced it.

“I’ll fucking kill you!” Bakugou screamed, using his free hand to make a large explosion, to send them apart.

Bakugou slammed into the wall of the hallway, falling to the floor in a heap before rushing to stand again. Midoriya was launched a few feet away and down the hall, but managed to remain upright, landing on his feet and getting into a combat stance. His green hero suit was singed in some places but didn’t show much ware, despite the amount heat it just took.

“Really? ‘I’ll fucking kill you’? Honestly Katsuki, for someone claiming to want to be a hero you sound down right villainous.”

“Shut the fuck up Deku!”

“Make me,” Midoriya replied before blowing a concentrated jet of orange flame at Bakugou.

The blonde blasted the wall next to him to launch him out of the fire’s path and into the connecting hallway. As soon as the flames disappeared he sped around the corner, small explosions propelling him as he rushed towards Midoriya, who had backed further into the hallway.

Bakugou threw both hands forward to create a large explosion as he shouted, “Die!”

The flash temporarily cut off the blonde’s view, but once it cleared he could see Midoriya, looking no worse than before, outside of the now singed area of the hallway. Midoriya breathed a wide spreading gout of fire that singed Bakugou’s hair before the explosive teen managed to blast himself away. He landed back to where Midoriya had been standing before they began fighting while the green haired hero student stood about half way down the hall.

“What’s the matter?” Midoriya called out, his tone having a smug air, “Can’t handle a little heat, Baka-gou?”

Bakugou did something he had never done before after being insulted to his face. He went completely silent. However, his entire body began to shake, as he seethed with more than just anger. At this point, all he felt was hatred. As he stood there, he heard his gauntlet chime, signaling that it was full, his face twisting into a wicked grin as he began cackling at the top of his lungs, though there was little joy in his laughter.

“Do you know what these gauntlets do, Deku?” Bakugou called out, staring down the greenette as he aimed the right gauntlet, “They collect my sweat to the point where I can create an explosion 10 times bigger than my normal ones!”

He could see the surprise in Midoriya’s eyes as he gripped the pin with his other hand.

“Young Bakugou! Stop!” All Might yelled over the blonde’s comm link, “If you release an explosion of that size, it would kill young Midoriya!”

“Not if he dodges!” Bakugou yelled in response, pulling the pin as he shouted, “DIE DEKU!”

Then the entire hallway was filled with fire.

-------------------------------------------

As Itsuka wished Midoriya good luck, she couldn’t help but think that he was still sending himself to a losing battle. The only reason she was even still going through with this was because somehow he had been right about how things would go the past two matches, and he had assured her this was the best strategy. So, she made her way up the stairs to the fourth floor, where Midoriya had suggested checking first. She really hoped her team mate hadn’t just been making lucky guesses so far, because if their luck ran out she was going to blame him for their loss.

She tried to be as stealthy, but quick, as possible so Midoriya hopefully wouldn’t have to fight Bakugou for too long. Carefully checking into each room before she passed them, she slowed as she began to hear a voice ahead of her. It sounded like Iida was talking, but she knew that Bakugou was on one of the floors below her from the faint sounds of rapid explosions. Making her way over to the door, she started to hear what Iida was saying to… himself?

“- must I have been paired with Bakugou? I know that the choosing was random, but he has been the most problematic member of our class given the number of disrespectful acts he performs. And now we very well may lose due to his insistence on separating!”

‘Looks like we’re in similar boats,’ Itsuka thought to herself, ‘I guess I’m lucky with my team mate actually being an agreeable person though.’

Kendo took a deep breath to steady herself before she rushed into the room, enlarging her fist as she ran directly at Iida. She managed to close most of the difference between them before he turned to face her, managing to let out a yelp of surprise before she hit him hard enough to throw him back. Despite being unprepared, Iida managed to stay on his feet as he skidded back.

“A sneak attack!” He cried out, in obvious outrage, “That isn’t heroic!”

“Too bad!” Itsuka replied, causing him to sputter as she rushed him once more.

She knew she wouldn’t be able to beat his speed, so there’s no way she’d reach the hostage before he could intercept her. To get to the hostage, she needed to take down Iida first. The engine quirked boy dodged out of the way of the enlarged chop she tried to hit him with, using his quirk to rush towards her for an attack of his own. Itsuka managed to enlarge her other hand in time to shield her from the hit, trying to grab Iida at the same time, but he kicked off before she could.

“I’ll give you this one chance Kendo! Surrender now and you will remain unharmed!” Iida called out as he put distance between them.

“Funny, I was about to say the same thing!” Itsuka yelled back with a grin, lowering into a combat stance.

Iida rocketed forward, aiming a kick at Itsuka’s torso that she managed to duck under, the armored leg passing within centimeters of her. Itsuka decided to be honorable and not take the opportunity to try and hit Iida in the crotch, letting him sail over her before turning to face him once more. Iida was still moving with his momentum and wasn’t able to turn around yet, giving Itsuka the opportunity to sprint forward and hit him with an enlarged punch. Iida tumbled forward from the unexpected hit, hitting the floor with a loud clang from his armor. Diving after him, Itsuka tried to bring out her capture tape as she went, but was interrupted as Iida landed a kick that knocked the air out of her.

She stumbled back from the hit, trying to get her breathing to work again without coming in and out ragged. Iida used the time to get to his feet, lower himself into a runner’s stance as he did.

“You should have taken my advice Kendo! Now, I apologize, but I have to capture you.”

Itsuka was about to respond, but Iida took off before she could, aiming to try and kick her once more. Unfortunately, she wasn’t able to duck like last time, and barely got her hand large enough to shield her. The force of the hit sent her flying back, sailing through the air towards one of the room’s walls. Not wanting to impact and get further injured, Itsuka threw a desperate punch at the wall with all her strength before she could slam against it. The wall she hit crumbled from the force, opening into the hallway on the other side that Itsuka landed in. She didn’t manage to stay on her feet, but had successfully prevented herself from being slammed into a wall, so she counted it as a small victory.

Getting up, she looked up just in time to dodge out of the way as Iida sprinted towards her to kick her once more, his foot hitting the wall behind her instead. As Iida cried out in pain and held his foot, Itsuka backed away further into the hallway. If she could get Iida into a more confined space, she could limit his mobility and potentially make it easier to predict and fight him. Unfortunately, her quirk was more of a detriment than a benefit in a confined space as well given the size her hands grew to. Hopefully her new trick from Midoriya would be enough to help her, or else she may have just screwed herself.

Itsuka focused on slowly increasing her hand size, fighting the instinct she felt to grow them to their full size the entire time. She could feel them growing, but it felt painstakingly slow as she watched Iida reorient himself to face her down.

Trying to think of a way to buy more time, she hid her hands behind her back as she called out, “Are you okay Iida? Do you need to see Recovery Girl or is your foot alright?”

Iida froze but quickly stood straight and began chopping his hand as he said, “I appreciate your concern for my well being despite being on the opposing side, Kendo. It shows a dedication to ensuring the safety and health of others that is highly admirable!”

Itsuka nodded along but was barely paying attention, having to use almost all her focus on controlling her quirk. Her hands were now about double their size, but she still didn’t know if it would be enough to fight Iida.

“Now, while I appreciate your good sportsmanship, I must attempt to capture you once more. I hope there will be no hard feelings after this though,” Iida said as he began to rev his quirk.

Itsuka’s hands hadn’t reached three times their size yet, and she still wasn’t confident they would be enough to take on Iida. But, as he raced towards her down the hallway, she had to at least try or else she was definitely screwed. As Iida kicked out towards Itsuka she ducked under the strike once more, however this time she reached out and grabbed onto his ankle with both slightly enlarged hands. Using all of her enhanced strength in that moment, Itsuka pivoted and used Iida’s momentum against him to slam him into the floor. The speedster let out a cry of surprise and pain as she pinned him on his stomach, using the capture tape to tie his hands together while he was still stunned by the hit.

Without waiting for All Might to confirm the capture, Itsuka started running down the hall to the opening she had made in the wall. All she needed to do was get to the hostage and the trial would be over and Midoriya wouldn’t have to fight Bakugou anymore. She only got a few steps away before an explosion shook the building, causing her to stumble from surprise. She sprinted towards the hostage room with a new found fervor, desperately hoping that explosion wasn’t as bad as it sounded and Midoriya was okay.

-------------------------------------------

Bakugou coughed as smoke invaded his nose and mouth from the aftermath of his explosion, the entire hallway obscured by the gray haze. His arm was sore from bracing against the explosion, causing him to wince every time it moved. Despite the discomfort, he was still smiling as he began to laugh once more, though not as unhinged as it was previously.

“How’s that for heat! Huh, De-?”

A gauntleted fist appeared from out of the smoke, punching Bakugou in the face. The blonde stumbled back, holding his now bloody, broken nose as he looked up in disbelief. Stepping out of the smoke was Midoriya, his suit blackened but intact, and his mouth guard and goggles protecting him from the smoke.

“H-how…?” Bakugou whispered.

“I figured out something interesting about your explosions, Bakugou,” Midoriya said, his voice clear despite the guard he wore, “Did you know they don’t produce the same amount of force as most other explosions? If they did then me and every other person you ever launched one at would have suffered considerable internal damage the moment you hit. The thing that makes them dangerous, however, is they produce more heat and fire than normal explosions.”

Midoriya chuckled a little before he continued, “At least, it would be dangerous for most people since they aren’t immune to fire like I am.”

Bakugou’s jaw was slack as he continued to stare at Midoriya, who said in a sickly-sweet tone, “Ya know. I used to think the reason I didn’t have burns after you’d beat me up was because you were going easy on me. But it turns out, it was my quirk the whole fucking time!”

The greenette rushed towards Bakugou once more, who tried throwing his hands up to fire off more explosions. The quick movement, however, caused pain to shoot up his arm and made him falter. Midoriya used the opportunity to throw a haymaker into Bakugou’s stomach, using their free hand to grab onto the blonde’s outfit to bring them down into a grapple. As Midoriya forced Bakugou to the ground he brought out his capture tape, the explosion user crying out in pain as he went down. With quick movements Midoriya pulled Bakugou’s arms behind him, ignoring the yells of pain it caused, and secured them together with the capture tape.

As he breathed a sigh of relief, All Might’s voice called over the speaker system, “Team C are the victors of this exercise. I need all students to report back to the observation deck immediately!”

-------------------------------------------

As both teams returned to the observation room, the first thing Izuku noticed was how the entire room was dead silent. Not a single classmate was talking, all of them instead staring at him and Bakugou. Not that he blamed them of course, he would probably be having a similar reaction from seeing him tank the largest explosion Bakugou had at his disposal. The second thing Izuku noticed, was how All Might’s usual smile was replaced with a disapproving frown.

“Young Bakugou,” All Might said, anger near palpable, “Do you care to explain why you thought it was acceptable to ignore direct orders from me not to fire your gauntlet at young Midoriya after I specifically said that it could kill him.”

“Tch, he’s alive ain’t he?” Bakugou responded, trying to act disinterested.

This was apparently the wrong thing to say, as the Number 1 Hero scowled at Bakugou and announced, “Class will unfortunately be ending early today. Everyone is dismissed except for young Bakugou, who will be coming with me to speak with Principal Nezu.”

“What!” the blonde bomber cried out in obvious outrage, “Why the hell do I-”

“Young Bakugou, if not for the fact that young Midoriya is still alive and uninjured, you would already be locked up at the police station for attempted murder at minimum. Now, be silent!”

Bakugou clamped his mouth shut, now staring up at All Might in shock and no small amount of fear. Everyone else was quick to move to the locker rooms to avoid potentially attracting the Symbol of Peace’s ire as well. As Izuku rushed into the boy’s room, he couldn’t help but feel a little bit of vindictive joy from Bakugou getting in trouble, considering this was probably the first time it had ever happened. 

“Yo, Mido, you okay?”

Izuku looked up to see Kaminari in front of him, looking him over like he was seeing a ghost, “That last hit looked… I’ll be honest, I thought you fucking died.”

Izuku winced as he said, “Yeah, I didn’t know he was packing that much fire power, but thankfully Bakugou’s explosions are mostly fire instead of concussive force.”

“How did you even manage to withstand that blast though? Even if it was mostly fire, you still should have gone flying.”

Izuku flicked both wrists and a throwing knife appeared in each hand, “I stabbed these into the floor and held on for dear life.”

Kaminari nodded, but was now looking at him with even more concern as he said, “Just, don’t do something like that again? I don’t know if my heart can take that much anxiety.  Uraraka seemed to be having an even worse time than I was though.”

Izuku’s eyes widened as he whispered, “Oh, fuck,” before rushing to change out of his hero outfit and into his uniform as quickly as possible.

He was the first of the boys back in uniform and out the locker room, preparing to find and check on a potentially angry Uraraka. He didn’t need to look far, as a blur side tackled him and sent him careening to the floor.

“Don’t you ever scare me like tha’ again you suma’bitch, do you fuckin hear me,” Uraraka exclaimed as she shook him back and forth.

“I’m sorry!” he managed to get out, starting to become dizzy

Uraraka stopped her shaking to pull him into a hug, whispering, “You just became my best friend. You ain’t allowed to leave me.”

Izuku chuckled as he returned the hug and said, “I have no intention of dying anytime soon, Uraraka.”

“Damn right you don’t!”

He laughed again and this time Uraraka joined in as well, her grip on him relaxing but not completely releasing him

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

Uraraka and Izuku both turned to look up at the impish grin of Ashido, who was standing next to them.

“Is there something going on between you two I should know about?” the pink skinned girl continued, wiggling her eyebrows.

Izuku looked at the position he and Uraraka had fallen into when she tackled him to the floor, and realized she was basically now straddling him.

A dark red blush spread across his face and he was about to sputter out half formed denials, but Uraraka beat him to the punch by calmly stating, “Nope, Dekiru ain’t my type.”

“Damn, not even a little bit of a blush?” Ashido complained in mock annoyance as she pouted.

“Nope!” Uraraka declared proudly as she stood up and offered Izuku a hand up as well, which he gladly took.

“Well then what is your type then, hmmm?”

Uraraka started to look nervous, so Izuku decided to try and save her by saying, “Why? You interested in one of us Ashido?”

The pink girl began to sputter out attempts at denials as she began to turn a faint lilac.

“Yeah, Ashido. Which one of us caught your eye?” Uraraka said as she leaned toward the girl, while Izuku did the same, both of them giving he teasing grins.

Ashido’s face was now a quickly darkening shade of purple as she said, “Oh, wow, would you look at the time, I’ll see you guys tomorrow,” before running down the hall towards their classroom.

Uraraka and Izuku burst into laughter as they began making their way to the classroom at a much more leisurely pace.

“Thanks for the save, Dekiru. You don’t think we teased her too much though, do ya?”

“Nah, Ashido’s just not used to people teasing her back. She’ll probably be fine by the time we get back to the classroom.”

“That’s a relief,” Uraraka said, before turning to look at him, “You wanna go hang out some where since All Might let us out early?”

“I know of a great cat café if you’re interested. My treat.”

“I can pay for myself, Dekiru.”

“Think of it as part of my apology for scaring you, how about that?”

“… Fine. But only this once!”

Izuku smiled as he and Uraraka went and gathered their things before heading out of UA.

-------------------------------------------

When Izuku walked through the door of his home, it was later than when he usually got back from school, but he had made sure to text his family about where he was and why he would be late. He and Uraraka had spent hours at the café just talking and enjoying each others company as well as the many cats at the cafe, helping them both relax after the unexpected stress from the day. He just hoped that she would get the chance to do her own trial, though he had faith UA wouldn’t let any of its students fall behind.

As he was about to announce his arrival, his mother called out for him to join her in the living room, setting off warning bells in his head. While he was happy that mom was home from working at the ER, he knew that if she wanted to speak to him and she wasn’t cooking dinner, he had probably fucked up somehow. Inko Midoriya was a master at multitasking, she needed to be while working as a nurse and being a mother of four children, to the point where the only time she wasn’t multitasking was when she thought it was necessary to give something her full attention. If she was putting off cooking to talk to him, then Izuku needed to figure out what he could have possibly done and apologize for it now.

Taking a deep breath and walking into the living room, he was met with his entire family in the room, which only heightened the dread he felt. The last time there was a Midoriya Family Meeting was when Himiko had nearly gotten arrested for assaulting someone who insulted Dabi’s scars. He looked around quickly to assess everyone’s mood to try and get some indication of how badly he screwed up.

His mother hadn’t changed much over the years since he was younger, the only real change was her smile lines (and worry lines but he would never mention it) being more distinct. She was still dressed in her nurse scrubs and was standing in front of the TV, with her arms crossed with a look he knew meant he had some explaining to do. She may be 5’3” (160cm) and not as combat knowledgeable as him, he was even 5 inches taller than her, but none of that mattered because if there was one person he never wanted to go against, it was Inko Midoriya. He still remembered what she had done to the last person who implied he was less than human for being quirkless, and he had to make sure he hid the shiver that he felt at the memory.

Glancing at his father, it looked like he had been home for a bit, being dressed in a grey t-shirt that had ‘pants’ written on the front in red kanji and a pair of black sweat pants. Izuku had gotten most of his looks (and fashion sense) from his father, with them having the same unruly hair (though Hisashi’s is black), freckles, and more angular features than his mother’s. Hisashi was currently leaning back in his seat on the two person couch him and Inko usually sat on together, and Izuku immediately recognized the look on his face, having seen it countless times before. Hisashi was looking at Izuku with his ’I’m so proud of you but I can’t say anything yet’ face that he had whenever any of his children did something morally acceptable but legally questionable.

Looking at his siblings, with Dabi and Himiko sitting on the 3-person couch and Kai sitting in his arm chair, he was met with Kai giving him a look mirroring their mother’s look while Dabi was mirroring their father’s look. Himiko, meanwhile, looked like she was holding herself back from tackling him and asking him an avalanche of questions.

Izuku at least knew now that whatever he did, it was probably related to his Green Oni work, so that narrowed down things significantly. So now all he had to do was think of what he could have done recently as Green Oni to warrant… this… reaction…

He slowly looked back at his mother, now understanding exactly why she was looking at him like this. He was also coming to terms with the fact he would have a lot of explaining to do instead of apologizing.

“I’m guessing from the look you’re giving me, you have an idea of what I want to talk to you about?” Inko asked, raising an eyebrow.

“… I have an idea… but how about you tell me what it is to see if I am correct in my thinking?” Izuku said, wanting to make sure he didn’t admit to something she didn’t know.

“I don’t have to say anything,” Inko replied while moving to the side of the TV holding up the remote, “I can let the News do it for me.”

As she hit play, Izuku registered that there was a news broadcast on the screen that had the headline ‘The Group that Took Down Death Arms’. He hoped that whatever they showed on screen wouldn’t be too bad, he knew his mother hated anything dangerous.

The news reporter on screen had a wide smile as she said, “Hello Japan, I’m Kizuki Chitose, here to give you an update on the ongoing Death Arms case. While we have been able to gain some additional information on Death Arms’ actions since our first report, there is still much not known about who finally took him down. Nor has there been any indication of who sent out the evidence condemning the man. At least, not until now. We now cut to the recording of a press conference held earlier today by the Mustafa chief of police as well as the lead detective handling the case.”

The image changed now to the view of a large press conference room with two people sitting at a table at the front of the room, a large TV screen on the wall behind them, with the rest of the room being filled by a number of reporters sitting in rows of chairs. Izuku immediately recognized detective Tsukauchi, and ignored the uncomfortable feeling that was too much like guilt in his chest, looking away at a man he assumed was the chief of police. The man was rathe plain looking, the only distinct feature being his bright red hair pulled into a bun, and he was wearing a plain black and white suit.

“Thank you all for your attendance,” the man with red hair said into the mic in front of him., “I am Chief Horikoshi Kenji of the Mustafa Police Force, with me today is Detective Tsukauchi Naomasa of the Mustafa Police Force. We are here to give a public report on the suspected assailants of the former pro hero Death Arms, as well as the potential danger they pose. Detective, if you would.”

Detective Tsukauchi stood up, holding some papers in his hand as the TV screen behind him came to life.

“The individuals who are responsible for the assault and battery of the former pro hero Death Arms are three villains that have already been on the police force’s radar and are all considered dangerous individually and even more so as a group. The villains are known by their codenames Hell Hound, Green Oni, and Blade.”

As the detective listed the names, images appeared on the TV side by side, each one an image of each alliance member named while they were mid sprint. Izuku immediately knew this was taken when they were ditching Kaminari’s van, probably by a security camera. As the Green Oni picture appeared on screen, his mother gave him a pointed look that made him shrink back. As Blade’s picture appeared, the reporters in the room immediately began trying to question the detective, who remained silent as the chief calmed down the crowd. There was a jump-cut to when all the reporters were calm and the detective continued.

“These three were not only seen fleeing the scene, but were also reported by Death Arms himself as being the perpetrators. It is clear that everyone is already aware of Blade so my only comments on her will be that even though she had assistance, this marks her highest profile takedown. The two who assisted her are the bounty hunter Hell Hound and the yakuza member Green Oni.”

Izuku frowned at the limiting title, he was a lot more than just a yakuza member, he was a vigilante and technically a yakuza heir.

“Hell Hound is proficient with close combat, information gathering, and stealth, and he has used all of these skills to previously only capture villains for other villains. This marks his first instance of targeting a hero, however if he is assisting Blade it is likely that his future hits will include other heroes. Green Oni is proficient in stealth and ranged combat, making him skilled at surprise attacks, however he is also capable in a direct fight. A few heroes have found and attempted to capture him but were incapacitated before they could make any arrests. Neither of them have killed, however it is not viewed as outside the realm of their capability.”

Dark thoughts plagued Izuku for a moment at the detective’s words. He knew they were just being realistic of something he was potentially capable of, but it still cut deep to know they thought he might willingly kill someone. He could feel his eyes watering, but held back and focused on the screen, he needed to know what else the police force knew about the alliance.

“These three are enough to warrant caution from any hero who encounters them, as we are still unsure of their full capabilities. There are, however, two other members of this group. These individuals being the hacker Virus and the thief Ghost.”

Two more pictures appeared on the screen, showing the two in similar poses as the rest of the alliance. The picture of Virus showed a clear view of the yellow biohazard symbol on his helmet.

“This marks the first public appearance of Virus, who has previously only been known as an online presence. The way we are able to know that this person and the online hacker are likely the same person is because the symbol on the helmet matches the hacker’s calling card. Ghost has been sighted by heroes previously but their quirk allows them to become invisible, making them extremely elusive. Since these two were assisting the escape of the three who assaulted the former pro hero Death Arms, it was suspected that they worked together to steal information from the Death Arms Agency while the assault took place. After reviewing the security footage of the Death Arms Agency, the police force was able to confirm at least part of these suspicions as doors opened and closed seemingly on their own, a staple of all of Ghost’s robberies.”

The images on screen faded away as a full shot of all five members of the alliance fleeing their escape van replaced them. Izuku became confused as he noticed tire marks from the van stopping looking like they had curved, as if the van had drifted. He didn’t remember the van drifting, but he was close to quirk exhaustion so he may have just not noticed. Thoughts for later, the detective still had things to say.

“Due to their actions, including assault & battery of a pro hero, grand theft auto, illegal quirk usage, and theft of classified documents from a hero agency. These charges as well as their previous charges has changed the rank of Virus and Ghost from D to C, Hell Hound from D to B, and Green Oni from C to B, while Blade remains at B rank. As a group their collective rank is B, and their group is being referred to as ‘The Yōkai’. Any information on members of this group or on the group itself should be reported to the police as soon as possible.”

When the detective finished speaking and began to sit down, the room of reporters began calling out questions in a frenzy. The view of the press conference was replaced once again by Kizuki, who still had a wide grin on her face as she began speaking.

“We now have a definitive answer on who not only took down the man responsible for multiple crimes against heteromorphs, but released the necessary information to make those crimes known. Now questions remain, whether their actions are truly villainous, or are they mor akin to vigilantism? Are these villain rankings fitting for people who took down a villain in disguise? Will The Yōkai continue to take down heroes who have committed crimes? We will continue to follow this story and report any updates we can find on the mysterious members of The Yōkai! This is Kizuki Chitose, signing off for now.”

Silence reigned on the living room as Izuku processed everything he just heard. He was a B rank villain now! The thought alone scared him, and it was a full reality. He turned to look at his mother, who was looking at him expectantly, probably waiting for him to answer why he had joined a villain group with no connection to the Midori no Bara.

“In my defense, Death Arms committed a lot of terrible acts and he was one of the heroes that didn’t do anything during the Sludge Villain Incident,” Izuku said in a rush, hoping that she would become angrier at Death Arms than at him.

“That doesn’t explain why you’re with this group, Izuku!” Inko exclaimed, “Why in the world would you make an alliance with Blade! She has a target on her back that’s only beat by Stain’s, which means you now have that target on you too! How do you even know you can trust this woman? She could double cross you and turn you in!”

“She wouldn’t do that!”

“How could you possibly know that?”

“I can’t tell you that Mom. And it’s not because I don’t want to,” he added, noticing she was about to object, “but if I tell you, I break that trust with her and I don’t want to piss her off. But, she’s not just doing this to hurt people, she’s trying to make an actual difference in the hero system without killing like Stain does. All of the alliance members are trying to help out in their own ways. Plus, we all know each other’s identities, so a double cross would just end up revealing the double-crosser as well, so there’s that.”

“You know who Blade is?!” Himiko yelled, as she launched herself off the couch to grab Izuku by the shoulders and begin shaking him, “Does she have a cool scar on her face? Does she like the color red? Where did she get her katana? Is she cute? Do you think she’d like me? Come on Izu, SPILL!”

Izuku couldn’t even get words out as he became more and more disoriented by Himiko shaking him. He could hear Dabi laughing like a hyena close by, and Dad was chuckling as well if he was hearing right.

“Stop shaking him Himi, you’ll knock a screw loose,” Kai called out, his voice tinged with amusement.

Himiko ceased her shaking and turned to their oldest brother, yelling, “I need to know this Kai!”

As Izuku reoriented himself, he answered Himiko, “Um, no, yes, she made it, I’m not answering that, and maybe?”

His answers for Himiko seemed to be enough, as she released him and exclaimed, “She’s so cool! She made her own sword to fight bad guys! And she likes red too!”

“Can we please get back to how Izuku joined a villain group!” Inko exclaimed, sounding slightly panicked.

Hisashi stood up and wrapped his arms around his wife, who noticeably untensed, and said, “Inko, I know the idea of Izuku being part of a ‘villain group’ is scary, but I know for a fact that he is capable of taking care of himself in a fight given he can kick most of our most skilled combatants asses, including Rappa. I also know that Izuku is a good judge of character, something he got from you, so if Izuku is saying that these people are trustworthy, I am inclined to believe him.”

Izuku was about to thank him before Hisashi continued, “Though I think that it would be nice to see who our son is willing to work with. So, how about we meet them and see what they’re like for ourselves?”

“I suppose that could work,” Inko replied before Izuku could interject, “Fine, if I’m able to meet with these people and see if they are decent, then I will allow you to work with them.”

Izuku plastered on a smile and said, “I’ll see what I can do,” as he mentally panicked over how he would convince the other alliance members (The Yōkai now?) to meet his family.

-------------------------------------------

In an apartment a few blocks away from the Midoriya household, Shuichi Iguchi watched the same news cast the Midoriyas had just viewed. He replayed it and paused when it got to the point where all of The Yōkai were shown on screen, gazing at the image in awe. These people were the reason he would finally get to see the man who assaulted him held accountable for their actions. He would finally be able to walk around without having to fear Death Arms was going to walk around the corner to beat him again. Tears or relief welled up in his eyes as he leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes as he did, allowing himself to enjoy this moment.

The moment was short lived however, as he began to think of other people like him, those who were hurt by heroes. He knew Death Arms wasn’t an outlier, he had previously looked into Stain and Blade and how they took down heroes who they thought didn’t think deserved the title. With Blade having helped take down Death Arms, Shuichi now knew that she was taking down people who deserved it. Not only that, she was now making their crimes known and ensuring they wouldn’t be made into martyrs. He wished he could thank her and her team for what they did for him, but he figured he would have to be a vigilante like they were to ever get the chance to meet them.

He stayed there for a moment longer before his eyes flew open and he sat forward, now really considering the thought. What if he became a vigilante like them? What if he went out and helped clean up the streets like they did? He had taken a lot of self-defense classes, his studies in anatomy would help him make sure he didn’t hurt anyone too badly, and he could do some first aid if he did hurt someone more than he intended. The more he thought about it, the better the idea was sounding to him. If he could show them he was just as serious about helping people as they are, maybe they’ll want to talk to him, maybe even team up with him! He was smiling from ear to ear at the thought, and pulled up a new browser window before starting to type in a search for protective gear. It was only just before hitting the enter key when he paused.

In that moment the reality of what he was planning on doing started to set in. If he got caught once, he would lose any chance he had at becoming a nurse. Hell, if a single person even recognized him he was screwed; there aren’t exactly many people that look like him. On top of that, everyone who had ever called him villainous because of his appearance would feel like they were right for judging him the moment they found out. Was he willing to risk his career, social standing, and potentially even his life trying to become a vigilante?

Shuichi looked at the news broadcast he still had open, with all of The Yōkai frozen mid sprint. Did they all have a moment like he was having before they became vigilantes? Did they consider their lives, and everything they held precious, before they started to stop people from hurting others? Did they consider the risks and consequences of getting caught and decide it was worth it to help people? He looked back at the search window he had open; his finger still hovering over the enter key. Did he think the consequences were worth it to help people?

He looked back at the image, but now he only focused on Blade. This incredible woman who dedicated herself to fighting injustice within the justice system and eradicate it without taking a single life. Someone who he once wished would help him, and low and behold she did. She was the reason he could now rest a little easier at night and relax a little more when he was awake. If he could do that for someone else…

Shuichi finally pressed the enter key and began researching protective equipment. What would be flexible and light while providing him a good amount of protection? He also needed to make sure he would be able to hide his heteromorphic traits; maybe he could take some notes from Hell Hound’s outfit? Maybe a mask like Blade’s? Decisions for later, right now he needed to make sure he had gear that would ensure he would last long enough to be able to meet The Yōkai.

Chapter Text

The moment Shota saw Bakugou sitting in a chair outside the principal’s office, still dressed in his hero costume but without the arm guards, he wanted to turn back around and find the closest place to sleep for the next week. When he got a message from All Might about an emergency meeting with the principal he knew it wouldn’t be a pleasant situation. The culprit being Bakugou just made Shota wish he had brought his migraine medication with him. Walking past Bakugou, the blonde didn’t react in the slightest, instead staring down at the floor with his fists clenched. When Shota reached the principal’s door, it swung open as he stepped through the threshold without breaking stride. After years of working for The Rat, he was all too familiar with his boss’s eccentricities.  

The room’s back wall was entirely window, facing the sprawling grounds of UA. The side walls were lined with dark wood bookcases, with every shelf filled with books placed haphazardly. Shota couldn’t help but compare it to Tsukauchi’s “filing system”, where everything is just strewn about, but they can always find exactly what they’re looking for. The flooring was a dark slate tile with a large red rug in the center. The wall opposite of the window was painted the same color as the floor and displayed the various degrees, diplomas, and licenses Nezu had obtained. A red couch was pushed against the wall under the achievements. Just in front of the window wall was a desk the same dark wood as the bookshelves, and sitting in a plush leather office chair behind it was Nezu. Just in front of the desk was two padded wooden chairs, with one of them being taken up by Yagi.

“Ah, Aizawa! Please, join us if you will,” Nezu called out, a bright smile on his face.

Shota could tell the smile was fake the moment he spotted Nezu. To be fair, all of Nezu’s smiles were fake considering it wasn’t a natural expression of joy for the small mammal. Usually there’s at least some joy to him though, but currently all Shota could see in his boss’s all-black eyes was a cold, calculating rage. Walking in and taking the remaining chair, he now noticed that Yagi was still in his All Might suit, the fabric baggy on his scarecrow-like body.

As the door firmly shut behind him, Shota said, “Not like I have a choice. If Bakugou still wearing his costume is any indication, this is an issue that couldn’t even wait until he got changed.”

“Correct, Aizawa,” Yagi said, with no joy in his voice, “There was an incident that happened between Young Midoriya and Young Bakugou.”

“I should have expected Midoriya to be the other student involved,” Shota said as he pinched the bridge of his nose, “Bakugou has already had to be warned once for trying to start a fight with him during my quirk assessment test.”

“This was more than just a fight,” Nezu spoke up as he typed something before turning the monitor on his desk toward Shota.

On the screen was footage of a hallway with Midoriya standing at the end the camera was mounted, then Bakugou came around the corner and the two began their fight. While audio isn’t received at the observation deck, the cameras do record it so that the teachers can review the students’ planning skills and in-exercise behavior. The sheer vitriol that was coming from each comment thrown at each other made Shota realize there was much more here than any type of rivalry. The fight was more brutal than most of the fights he had seen from first-years as well, neither of the students hesitating for a second to attack the other. It was like watching one of the quirked-fighting grudge matches Emi loved to have on.

Midoriya had an obvious upper hand, managing to dodge or intercept the majority of Bakugou’s attacks until the blonde’s gauntlets chimed. He watched as Bakugou ignored Yagi’s direct orders, firing an explosion that filled the hallway, and his heart dropped to his stomach. When Midoriya’s fist came out of the smoke he subtly sighed in relief into his capture scarf. Any relief he felt was quickly wiped away by what Midoriya said about the two’s past. The video ended as Midoriya took down Bakugou and Yagi called the match.

Silence reigned in the room for a moment before Shota said, “I’m expelling him.”

“For once Aizawa, I won’t debate you on the matter,” Nezu said, turning the monitor back to himself and beginning to type, “I already contacted the boy’s parents to come to the school for a meeting. I will also be sending an email to the Midoriya family to schedule a meeting for tomorrow. I want to make sure they know UA is willing to help them in any way we can. I don’t need to deal with a potential lawsuit or worse.”

“While I share the sentiment,” Yagi said, looking at the sentient rodent warily, “Don’t you usually enjoy taking apart issues like lawsuits?”

Nezu paused his typing and fully turned to face Yagi, completely stone faced. A chill went down Shota’s spine, and by Yagi shivering he felt one too.

“There are very few people that are capable of making me nervous, let alone actually scared. I can usually create a plan that handles nearly all possibilities to ensure victory in any given situation. I have managed to outsmart even the brightest of minds in Japan as if it were an elementary school assignment. I even get into legal battles with the HPSC President for fun,” Nezu said, staring into Yagi’s eyes, “However, if there is anyone I refuse to test my wits against, it is Inko Midoriya!”

Shota knew he shouldn’t say anything, but couldn’t help but ask, “Why is that?”

Nezu’s dark eyes turned to lock with his as the rodent-man said, with a shakiness to his voice, “Because she is the one person to ever make me question my intelligence,” before whipping back to his computer to type with renewed fervor.

Shota and Yagi shared a nervous glance, neither having seen their hyper-intelligent boss like this. Though Yagi looked like he was closer to a panic attack than just antsy nerves. Shota supposed since the incident happened during Yagi’s class the man had the right to be scared. Kami knows how well the blonde oaf would fair in a legal battle against someone who could spook Nezu.

“Oh, good, the Bakugou’s just came through the front gate,” Nezu said, “They should be here in only a few minutes with Ectoplasm guiding them. Now, is there anything else that needs to be discussed before the meeting with them commences?”

“There was actually,” Yagi said with a frown, “Something that Young Mineta said during the trial concerned me. It was just as the exercise started. I doubt he knew that I could hear him when he said it.”

Shota still remembered the “never get a harem” comment Mineta made when he got last in the Quirk Assessment test. He had hoped it would be a one-time thing and hadn’t given a warning.

Managing to bite back a groan and, hoping he wouldn’t regret his past decision, Shota asked, “What exactly did he say, and was it about anyone in particular?”

“I believe I’ve already pulled it up,” Nezu interjected, turning his computer screen to the pro heroes once more.

They watched as Kirishima attempted to convince Mineta to make a plan, but the purple haired boy insisted on their ‘assured win’ before saying under his breath, “I’ll especially win if I can get a feel of Hagakure’s invisible assets.”

“That’s not continuing,” Shota said with disgust lacing his tone, “He hasn’t received a warning yet, but I’ll pull him aside tomorrow and let him know the importance or respecting others.”

“Actually, I would like to deal with the issue if you don't mind Aizawa,” Nezu said with a slight frown, “And thank you for bringing this up, Yagi. We need to make sure everyone is able to feel safe while attending UA.”

“Of course, sir,” The two pro heroes responded at the same time.

“The Bakugou’s are only a hallway away,” Nezu informed them, “If you two would move behind me?”

Shota stood with Yagi as the blonde buffed back up into All Might. It was still strange to see the man behind the smile, but Shota pushed aside the thought. They brought their chairs around to sit on either side of Nezu. Only a few seconds passed before Nezu pressed a button under his desk to open the door, revealing the surprised Bakugou family.

“Ah, the Bakugou’s!” Nezu called out,  “I am Principal Nezu, and my associates are Katsuki’s homeroom teacher Aizawa Shota and UA’s heroic’s teacher All Might. Please, come in and have a seat. We have much to discuss.”

The family of three stepped in and made their way over to the couch, with Katsuki sitting in the middle and his parents sitting on either side. Shota could see where Katsuki got his looks from, with his mother looking near identical to him down to their glare. The father seemed the opposite of his wife and son, glancing around the room with a warry look.

Katsuki’s father spoke first, bowing his head in respect, “Hello, I’m Masaru and my wife’s name is Mitsuki.”

Mitsuki didn’t give a verbal response, but bowed her head to them upon introduction. She seemed to be holding herself from speaking, eyes darting between Nezu and Masaru.

Masaru continued, “You mentioned that Katsuki may be facing ‘serious punishment of suspension or more’ but didn’t state specifics. We’d like to know what he could have done to warrant this.”

“Before I answer that, I would like to know if Katsuki understands why he is here,” Nezu said, gaze fixing onto the young blonde.

The boy froze for a moment before he scowled and said, “How should I know! All I did was fight Deku during the battle trial!”

Only a single pop went off before Shota activated his quirk, causing Katsuki to flinch and stare at his hands.

“Hold on a second,” Mitsuki spoke up for the first time, “Deku is what you called Izuku before the Midoriya’s moved. Brat! Did you hurt Izuku!

Mitsuki was looking down at her son with a furious scowl, but Masaru held her closest hand and said, “Let’s see wat happened before we say or do anything, Mitsuki.”

She turned to her husband, face twisted in a snarl, but he didn’t react in the slightest and met her gaze with a calm look of his own. It only took a moment for her scowl to soften to a glare as she turned her attention back to Nezu.

“I think it best to show you what exactly happened,” Nezu said, as he turned his monitor to them and played the battle trial footage

As the video went on, there was a noticeable shift in both the Bakugou parents demeanors. The glare that seemed permanently set to Mitsuki’s feature shifted to mounting horror as she watched her son launch an attack that he was told would be deadly. The calm that Masaru had was replaced with a cold anger not unlike the one he saw in Nezu’s eyes, but there was pain with it too. On Katsuki’s face was the first emotion Shota had seen other than anger, fear. The elder Bakugou’s sighed in relief at Midoriya’s re-appearance, but their relief was wiped away by what Midoriya said while Katsuki was pale now and looked like he was about to be sick. The video stopped as All Might called the match, leaving the room in silence.

“Would you like another chance to answer the question I asked earlier, Katsuki Bakugou,” Nezu asked, but the blond boy remained silent, staring at his hands once again.

“All Might, could you by chance tell me what exactly Katsuki did wrong?”

“Of course, sir.” All Might replied, frowning down at Katsuki, “Young Bakugou not only went against the direct orders of his instructor, which is punishable by detention. His actions endangered the life of a student who he did not know would be able to resist his attack. The intent of using lethal force with a quirk would place charges of attempted manslaughter at minimum and give Katsuki a villain rank of D.”

The Bakugou parents were both staring at the #1 Hero in open horror, but Katsuki didn’t raise his head.

Nezu picked up from there, saying, “Currently, the only reason Katsuki has not been arrested is because the Midoriya family have yet to press charges. Though they have been informed of the incident, and as a pro hero, I am obligated to provide any school resources that would aid an investigation, such as the footage you just saw. However, until the Midoriya’s decide whether or not to press charges, Katsuki is going to be placed on house arrest.”

Tears were flowing from Mitsuki’s eyes as she gripped Masaru’s hand. The brown-haired man was now stone faced with grim acceptance, nodding as Nezu spoke.

“Now, there is still one more issue,” Nezu continued, “Aizawa, if you would?”

Both parents turned to Shota as he said, “As Katsuki has been previously warned about his behavior around Midoriya, this marks his second recorded incident. UA has a ‘three strike’ policy, but given the severity of the actions committed, the course of punishment found appropriate is immediate expulsion from UA University.”

Both parents accepted the news with an understanding nod, neither meeting his gaze. Katsuki was now hunched forward, elbows on his knees, continuing to stare down at his hands. Shota was questioning if the kid was even processing what was being said at this point.

“An expulsion from UA will also result in a black mark being placed on his record, meaning he will be barred from joining any other institutions’ hero course,” Nezu added.

“We understand,” Masaru said, voice coming out at a near whisper, “We apologize for the actions that Katsuki has committed. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help make reparations to the Midoriya family.”

For the first time since the verdict had been given, Katsuki whipped around to look at his father. He looked like he was about to shout, but flinched and shut his mouth at the glare his father gave him.

When Katsuki went back to looking down at his hands, Masaru turned back to Nezu and asked, “Is there anything else we need to know, or you need from us?”

“Two things actually,” Nezu replied, “Given the concerning comments said by Midoriya, regardless of whether charges are pressed by the family, an investigation on Katsuki’s previous schools and his actions at these establishments will be opened. In the meantime, Katsuki will have to be fitted with a quirk-suppressing tracking anklet until he is either formally charged or the investigation is completed without any significant findings. A detective will be at the gate to transport Katsuki to the police station where he will obtain the anklet. You will be able to ride with him or follow in your car if you drove here. 

Both parents nodded and stood, Katsuki standing up a moment later with a glassy look to his stare.

‘Probably dissociating’ Shota thought with a pang of pity that he quickly squashed down.

After the family left the room, the three heroes sat in silence, taking in what had happened. Then All Might deflated in a puff of steam back into Yagi, killing any tension.

With a sigh, Shota stood up and dragged his chair back to its original place, saying, “I need to go fill out the paperwork to complete the expulsion process. Yagi.”

The blonde man turned to Shota in surprise, “Yes?”

“Make sure you fill out the incident reports for both Bakugou and Mineta.”

“Oh! Of course, Aizawa. I’ll get to work on those immediately!”

Shota just gave a nod before walking out of the room and to the teacher’s lounge. He’ll also need to let Hizashi and Emi know he’ll be staying later to get it done. He could already hear the complaints the two would have over staying later, even when it will only be an hour or two. He would never understand why he fell in love with the two most irrational people he knows.

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The Next Day…

As Izuku took his morning commute by train to UA, he tried to think of a way he could possibly convince the other Yōkai to meet his family. Koda would probably turn down the offer outright, Yaoyorozu would slice him before leaving without a word, then Hagakure and Kaminari… Okay, they would probably agree to join, but convincing the other two was still going to be an issue. His phone buzzing pulled him out of his thoughts. Reaching for it, he realized it was actually Virus’s communicator going off in his backpack pocket. Pulling it out and opening the messages app, he saw it was Hagakure typing in the chat.

The Alliance

Ghost: Has anyone else seen the news report about us? (*~*)

Blade: It is the only thing my parents have talked about since they saw it last night. They’ve made their opinion on what “The Yōkai” did very clear.

Hell Hound: There’s been a news report about us?

Hell Hound: Also, “The Yōkai”?

Green Oni: It’s what the police have started calling our group.

Virus: I personally don’t like the name and think we should rebrand ourselves

Ghost: You’re just mad you didn’t think of it

Virus: Shut up

Ghost: Called it! ~(^⌄^)~

Izuku snorted and smiled. It seemed Hagakure was just as expressive over text as in person.

Blade: I see nothing wrong with the name.

Ghost: I like it too!

Virus: Cmon guys

Green Oni: I, personally, think it’s a great name.

Virus: Oh of course YOU do!

Hell Hound: Looked up the report, one website even had security footage of our escape. Sick drift Virus

Virus: Thank you!

Hell Hound: I think the name fits too

Virus: Fuckin dammit! FINE!

Virus has changed chat name to ‘The Yōkai’

Virus: Happy?

Green Oni: Yes

Ghost: Yep!

Virus: Good. Now does anyone have the answers to the math homework due today?

Blade: Are you seriously using our communications channel meant for covert operations to get the answers for a homework assignment?

Virus: In my defense I was looking for info on the heroes from the list you sent me to see if there was anyone who could be a good candidate for a takedown. I even found a lead!

Blade: Tell me who and what they did and I will send you my answers.

Virus: Uwabami has been participating in the trafficking of endangered animals for the purposes of “high-end exclusive fashion” and exotic pets

Izuku would have shouted in surprise if he wasn’t surrounded by people. He knew that Uwabami was rather vain and only participated in rescue efforts she was assigned to, but this was a level of cruelty he would have never expected. Even with there being conservation efforts using quirks to help with population numbers, many animals were still facing extinction mainly due to poaching. The law was so strict about it that anyone found to be trafficking or poaching endangered animals got a villain ranking of D regardless of whether they used a quirk or not.

Ghost: SHES DOING WHAT?!?!

Blade: How the hell did you find that out? The only thing I had on her was a single embezzling charge that got dropped.

Virus: Oh she’s been embezzling from the charity money her agency receives too, but I found out she was doing the animal trafficking after I hacked into her security system and saw a caged iriomote cat in her agency’s basement along with a number of empty cages

Hell Hound: Where is her agency

Virus: If I tell you, will you skip school to try and go raid her agency only to DEFINITELY get caught

Hell Hound: Where. Is. Her. Agency.

Virus: I will take that as a yes and let you know that if you wait until we have a proper plan then you can not only fight her, but you can also fight the person trying to buy the cat as a pet

Hell Hound: Fine. But if we don’t act before the end of the week I’m taking her down myself

Ghost: Like hell I’m letting you have all the fun! No one hurts animals on my watch! (ง •̀_•́)ง

Hell Hound: Correction. Me and Ghost are taking her down

The overhead chime that indicated the train had reached a station made Izuku look up to see he had reached his stop. Stowing his communicator and making his way out of the station, he desperately tried to think of how he was gonna get The Yōkai to meet his family before they tried to raid Uwabami’s agency. His mother had forbidden him from going out as Green Oni until she met them and had confiscated all his gear, locking it in her and Dad’s room. As he walked to UA and tried to think of how to bring up the topic, he began hearing a commotion ahead of him. Looking around, he could see the gates of UA ahead of him, as well as a swarm of reporters crowding just in front of it.

The moment he noticed the reporters was at the same time the closest of the mob noticed him, with one of them crying out, “A UA student!”

In an instant Izuku found himself surrounded by reporters, all yelling out questions and shoving microphones in his face as he had cameras pointed at him from all sides. Izuku understood why Eraserhead always called these people vultures now. The one distinct thing he could make out through the chaos was that all of them were asking about All Might. A blaze of anger sparked to life in Izuku’s chest, but he managed to tamp it down before smoke started leaking out his mouth. Of course these people were here to find out anything they could about UA’s new “celebrity teacher”.

Thinking fast Izuku said, “I don’t know! I’m part of Gen Ed!”

As quickly as they swarmed him they dispersed with disappointed groans and comments of “a waste of time”. The anger he felt blazed hotter in outrage at this. Sure, he was happy to be left alone, but this is how they decided to treat people who weren’t in the hero course? A faint trail of smoke managed to leave the corners of his mouth as he grit his teeth and marched through the front gate.

Izuku didn’t flinch when he felt the fire suddenly snuffed, instead saying, “Morning, Aizawa-sensei.”

“Midoriya,” the underground hero greeted in return, “Good work with the reporters, but remember to keep your cool in the future.”

“Sorry, sir. Just don’t like how they reacted. I’ll do better in future.” Izuku replied

With a sigh, Aizawa replied, “You’re at least being logical and avoiding them, unlike some.

Izuku turned back to the crowd to see Iida speaking to a group of reporters, using robotic gestures as he spoke on All Might’s teaching abilities. Another smaller cluster of reporters were huddling around Kaminari and Ashido, who were trying to get the reporters to focus on them instead of All Might

“You head inside. I’m gonna need to get those three and give them an impromptu media lesson,” Aizawa said as he approached the crowd of reporters.

Izuku did the smart thing and began heading inside, making his way to the 1A classroom. When he arrived most of the class was already inside, with everyone chatting as usual. The only people he noticed acting oddly were Koda and Hagakure, who were sitting in the back and taking turns writing on a piece of paper before passing it back to the other. Izuku was willing to bet his limited edition Miruko poster that they were making plans on how to take down Uwabami. He made a mental note to talk to the two about how making villain plans at UA was a potentially disastrous idea

Continuing to observe the rest of his classmates as he made his way to his seat, Izuku realized that Bakugou was nowhere to be seen. He knew that the feral blonde would never willingly miss a day of school or even be late, especially not now that he was at UA. Had he gotten suspended for yesterday? The classroom door flying open stopped Izuku from thinking more on the matter as Kaminari and Ashido both rushed in with looks of panic, followed closely by Iida yelling at them about running in the halls.

Stepping through the doorway after them, Aizawa called out, “To your seats everyone! There’s some important announcements so we’re starting early.

As everyone scrambled to get to their seats, Aizawa continued, “First order of business, due to the incident that cut your heroics class short yesterday, those who did not participate will be completing the exercise today. Asui.”

“Kero, yes Aizawa-sensei?”

“You will also be given the chance to participate in the exercise today as I was informed by All Might of what happened during your match,” Aizawa said, making Tsu perk up and let out a happy croak, “That being said, three volunteers from those who have already participated are needed to act as a teammate and two opponents for the match.”

Kirishima’s hand was raised before Aizawa had finished speaking, making the tired man sigh, “That’s one, who else?”

Iida was the next to raise his hand, calling out, “Aizawa-sensei! If it’s alright, I would like to participate as I feel I did not perform as well as I expected of myself!”

“All you had to do was raise your hand, but sure,” Aizawa replied, “Now, final volunteer?

There was a moment where no one moved and everyone looked around before Kendo sighed and raised her hand.

Aizawa marked down the three volunteers as he said, “You three will be assigned to teams by All Might and will be able to earn extra credit based on your performance, so treat it just as seriously as if this was for a grade. Understood?”

With each of the three calling out affirmations, Aizawa continued, “Now, the second announcement for today is that you all will be selecting class representatives.”

There was a moments pause before the room erupted into noise as nearly half the class began calling out and shouting about how each of them should be the class representative.

Aizawa activating his quirk quickly silenced the room, “This isn’t some fun game. Whoever gets the role will be acting as the first impression of your class to the rest of the student body. They will also be tasked with the responsibility of acting as an in-class aid to the teachers for all of your classes going forward. It is best to choose someone who you all believe will not only help you, but will lead you. Understood?”

A chorus of ‘Yes, sensei’ filled the room before he continued, “Good, now it’s up to you all to determine who will be your class representative and vice-representative. You have until the end of homeroom to do so.”

“Aizawa-sensei!” Iida called out, standing up with his hand raised, “Is it appropriate to make such a significant decision while two of our classmates are absent?”

Izuku looked around in confusion before realizing that Mineta was absent. He usually tried not to pay attention to the diminutive boy so he hadn’t noticed earlier.

“Mineta is currently meeting with the principal and won’t be back until first period, so it’s unnecessary to wait for him,” Aizawa explained, “As for Bakugou, he was expelled yesterday.”

The class was dead silent at the news, with more than a few people trying to subtly glance at Izuku. The green haired boy made sure to keep his face blank, but internally he couldn’t help but celebrate. Call him petty, but knowing that his former bully lost his chance at becoming a hero due to his own actions was immensely satisfying.

“Let him be a lesson to the rest of you,” Aizawa said, catching the class’s attention once more, “You are training to be heroes, and you are expected to act as such. I warned you all about what would happen if you failed to meet these expectations, and now you can see that it wasn’t a logical ruse. Now get to deciding your representatives before I do it for you.”

With those closing words, Aizawa pulled his sleeping bag out from under his desk and laid down to take a nap.

There was a moment where everyone was silent before Kaminari spoke up, “Sooo…. How should we pick a rep?”

Iida was quick to reply, “The best way to determine would be to put it to a vote!”

The speed quirk user pulled index cards out from within his blazer as he said, “We can hold an election for the class representative, then an election for the vice-representative. Does this sound agreeable to everyone?”

While some gave their approval, Yaoyorozu said, “Would it not be easier to hold a single election, and whoever gets the second highest amount of votes would be selected as the vice-representative.”

“An excellent idea, Yaoyorozu!” Iida replied, “Is this agreeable with everyone?

When no one raised complaint the index cards were passed out. As Izuku looked down at the blank paper, he thought about who he thought would be the best fit as class rep. Iida showed at lest some leadership skills with organizing the vote, but he was frankly too rigid to fulfill the role. Sure you need to follow the rules, but when people can’t talk to you without worrying about those rules they aren’t going to want to approach you in the first place. Yaoyorozu could be a better candidate since he knew for a fact that while she cared about doing the right thing, she would absolutely not hesitate to break some rules to do it. He also knew that she had experience acting as a class rep from their time at Soumei High. Plus, he felt at least a little obligated to vote for his teammate. With his mind made up, he wrote down ‘Yaoyorozu’ and waited until the votes were collected by Iida.

After all the votes were collected and tallied, the results were written on the board:

Aoyama: 1 vote

Yaoyorozu: 6 votes

Midoriya: 11 votes

Izuku stared at the board, mouth hanging open in shock, as he tried to process that over half the class had voted for him. All around him people cheered and congratulated him, making his face heat up at all the attention.

“Good, you made a decision,” Aizawa said as he sat up from behind his desk, still in his sleeping bag, “Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, you two will need to meet with me at the beginning of lunch so I can lay out the full responsibilities of your positions.”

“Yes, sensei,” the two new reps replied.

Getting out of his bag, Aizawa said, “Good, now all of you get ready for the day. It’s nearly time for Engli-”

The door slamming open cut him off as Present Mic entered the room and yelled, “Whose ready for English class! YEAH!”

Aizawa sighed as he left the room without another word while Present Mic began his lecture. Izuku could barely pay attention as he was still reeling over being selected as class rep. At Soumei he had never been popular enough to be considered for the position, and even if there was a class rep at Aldera he would have never been selected. Thinking about it, UA was nearly the complete opposite of Aldera and Izuku couldn’t be more thankful for it.

The only interesting point during the morning classes was when Mineta arrived a few minutes into English class. The short boy looked pale as a sheet and avoided eye contact with everyone as he made his way to his seat. Izuku briefly questioned what Nezu could have said to get that kind of reaction, but quickly decided it would be best to never find out. After that classes went as they normally did, and it didn’t feel like long before it was time for lunch. Everyone started heading out after the bell rang until it was only Izuku and Yaoyorozu left.

Getting up and walking over to her, Izuku said, “I didn’t get a chance to say it earlier, but congrats Yaoyorozu. I’m happy I’ll be working with someone I already know.”

“Thank you, and congratulations to you as well,” Yaoyorozu said with a polite smile, “It’s no small feat to receive over half the votes possible.”

Izuku sighed as he sat in the desk next to hers and said, “I still have no clue why so many people voted for me.”

Yaoyorozu looked at him like he had said something idiotic and said, “Are you serious?”

Izuku could feel his cheeks heating up as he said, “Y-yes?”

He watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath through her nose before fully facing him, “Have you considered that maybe, just maybe, it’s because you’re a kind, intelligent, and generally trustworthy person.”

Izuku felt like a deer in headlights and was extremely aware of the heat spreading across his entire face, managing to only get out, “W-what?”

Yaoyorozu rolled her eyes as she said, “Oh please, don’t act dumb, you’ve already displayed your intelligence with every piece of analysis you’ve made. And I certainly think that you’ve displayed considerable kindness with the notes you gave out to our classmates after the Death Arms Incident.”

“How do you know about those?”

“Jirou showed me the one you left for her,” Yaoyorozu replied with a smirk, “It was a good mix of caring and entertaining.”

“I-I just wanted to, y’know, let the people who were the most affected by the news know that they weren’t alone,” Izuku said, looking away towards the front.

“And you not only noticing that they were affected, but also doing something to support them, is why people voted for you. It’s part of why I voted for you.”

Izuku looked back at her with wide eyes as he said, “You voted for me?”

“That’s what I said, wasn’t it?”

“Right, sorry. I just wasn’t expecting it. I mean, not that I’m not thankful! I am! It’s just that, y’know, there were better candidates than me,” Izuku stuttered out.

“Like who?” Yaoyorozu challenged as she crossed her arms and leaned back in her seat.

“Like you!”

Her eyes widened as she said, “Me?”

“Of course! You’re incredibly intelligent and already have experience as a class rep. Plus you’re naturally kind but know how to be harsh when necessary. You’re an obvious choice! It’s why I voted for you.”

“Wait, you…” Yaoyorozu paused for a moment before saying, “Now that I think about it, it’s obvious that you voted for me since you clearly didn’t vote for yourself, and I doubt that you voted for Aoyama.”

Izuku chuckled as he said, “Yeah. Nothing against him, but I doubt he’d be the best fit for the job. Plus, I don’t think I’d be nearly as happy to work with him as I am with you.”

Yaoyorozu smiled as she said, “Happy to be working with you too.”

The door opening caused them both to turn towards it as Aizawa walked in looking more tired and angry than Izuku had seen in a while, “Apologies to you both for not arriving sooner. The reporters at the gate were giving Midnight trouble and I had to intervene.”

“It’s no trouble Aizawa-sensei. We were taking the time to get acquainted,” Yaoyorozu said, already sitting up straight with a polite smile.

It was still strange and a little disconcerting for Izuku to see her change behavior so quickly, like she was putting on a mask.

“Good,” Aizawa said with a nod, “It’s important that you two are able to work well together.”

“There won’t be any problem with that, Aizawa-sensei,” Izuku assured.

“Now, as class representatives you both will be expected to-”

Alarms blaring cut off Aizawa, causing both Izuku and Yaoyorozu to stand and get into defensive stances.

“What is the alarm for, Sensei?” Yaoyorozu yelled.

“It means that the UA barrier was breached,” Aizawa yelled back as he rushed over to the windows.

Moving over to them as well and looking down, Izuku could see the mob of reporters rushing into the courtyard and heading towards the school. He also saw Present Mic sprinting towards the mob to intercept them.

“You both stay here and wait until the rest of your class gets back,” Aizawa ordered as he opened one of the windows, “And neither of you ever try what I’m about to do!”

With those parting words Aizawa jumped out the window.

“Sensei!” Yaoyorozu yelled as Izuku cried out, “Eraserhead!”

Both of them rushed to the open window and looked down, watching as Aizawa slid down the side of the building in an eight-story drop. When he reached the half way point he leapt off, sending out a strand of his capture weapon to wrap around a nearby tree limb. Swinging from the tether and into the air once more, the underground hero tucked and rolled as he reached the ground before getting up and sprinting towards the reporters without losing momentum.

With a sigh of relief Izuku slid down to sit on the ground, managing to mutter out, “Thank fuck.”

The alarm cut out as the two secret villains caught their breath from the near panic attack their homeroom teacher had given them.

Yaoyorozu looked down at Izuku as she said, “Is he always that dramatic during hero work?”

“Usually when he does that he’s landing on someone so they break his fall, but yeah, pretty much.”

“…I never want to be in an alley he’s above.”

“Oh, absolutely same,” Izuku said before reaching out a hand, “Help me up?”

She rolled her eyes but still took hold of his hand and pulled him up. As she did, Izuku let out a noise of surprise that definitely wasn’t a squeak as he moved quicker than expected. He knew she was strong, but he didn’t expect her to pull him around like he weighed nothing! When he was standing again he saw that he was face to face with Yaoyorozu, who was looking at him with wide eyes and a faint blush dusting her cheeks. He could feel heat flush his own cheeks as he tried to form a coherent sentence but his mind kept coming up blank.

The door opening caused both of them to whirl around to see Aoyama standing in the doorway looking at them with wide eyes, “Ah… apologies mademoiselle Yaoyorozu and monsieur Midoriya. I, uh, didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Realizing the position they were in, and what it probably looked like, Izuku stepped away from Yaoyorozu and said, “Y-you weren’t interrupting anything, Aoyama. Is anyone else from our class with you?”

His eyes darting between the two of them, Aoyama replied, “Non, I, um, managed to get away from the initial panic in the lunch room, so I’m the first to arrive.”

Clearing her throat, Yaoyorozu said, “Well, while we wait for the others to arrive please take a seat. Midoriya and I need to start an attendance list to make sure everyone who was present today arrives back.”

“Right, yes, that’s a good idea,” Izuku said as he took out a pencil and his hero analysis notebook, ripping out one of the blank back pages.

Turning to his vice-rep he said, “Would you prefer to take attendance, or should I?”

“I can handle this,” She replied, taking the offered supplies, “You make sure everyone is doing okay. If there was a panic them some people may have been injured or shaken by the event.”

“Good point, thanks Yaoyorozu,” he said as he made his way to the front.

“Yaomomo."

Turning back to look at her, he didn’t even get to say ‘what’ before she continued, “We’re going to be working together and I already consider you a friend, so I’d like you to call me Yaomomo.”

“O-Okay, Yaomomo,” Izuku replied, making the ravenette perk up and smile as she moved past him to the front podium.

Glancing over at Aoyama, Izuku could tell that the blonde didn’t believe for a second that nothing was going on between them. Especially when they met eyes and the French boy winked and mouthed the words ‘nice work’. Trying to ignore him, Izuku moved to the front of the room to wait for his other classmates. It wasn’t long before people began filing into the room and Izuku started checking in on people as he directed them to their seats. Almost everyone was fine, with most people only shaken by the event, but he noticed that Tsu was holding her left hand close to her chest and had a slight frown instead of her usual blank look. Looking around to make sure no one else was acting off and seeing nothing he made his way over to her desk.

“Is your hand alright, Tsu?”

She looked up at him with a small croak of surprise before replying, “I’m alright, kero. I just got knocked down when people started to rush out the lunch room and someone stepped on my hand.”

Izuku could feel his annoyance at whoever hurt Tsu simmering in his chest, but made sure not to show it as he asked, “Would you be okay with me taking a look at it? I may not be Recovery Girl, but I do know a decent amount of first-aid.”

“I doubt there’s much you can do, kero. It’s probably just bruised.”

Izuku tried to give a reassuring smile as he said, “Maybe it is just bruised, but that’s no reason not to check for a break or fracture. But if you’d rather wait for Recovery Girl, I completely understand.”

She stared up at him for a moment before hesitantly offering her injured hand. He gently moved it so that he could assess the area and saw a bruise already beginning to form on the back of her hand.

“Does it hurt to flex your fingers? Don’t make a fist, but try moving each finger on their own,” Izuku instructed.

She complied and did as he said, moving each finger without difficulty but wincing slightly when she moved her middle and ring fingers.

“Well, the good news is there’s definitely no break, and if there is any fracturing it’s likely hairline. Give me a moment and I can get you something that should hopefully help,” he said, starting to move away.

“You really don’t need to do anything, Midoriya. I can deal with it, kero,” Tsu said, making him turn back to look at her.

He smiled as he said, “Just cause you can doesn’t mean you have to, remember? Besides, I want to help.”

With that he walked to the front, “Yaomomo, is everyone accounted for?”

“Everyone who should be here is,” she replied.

“Great, another question, would you be able to make a small zip-lock bag and a heated blanket?”

She looked at him with a raised eyebrow as she said, “Why would you need that?”

“Because Tsu got bruised and I need to make her an ice pack while also making sure she doesn’t go into torpor,” he replied.

Rolling up her sleeve and activating her quirk, Yaoyorozu said, “Should have lead with that,” as she created the requested items.

“I’ll keep that in mind for the future,” Izuku replied with a smile as he took the offered items.

“How are you going to make an ice pack though,” she asked as he started moving away.

He looked back at her with a smile as he said, “By getting a little more help,” before heading to the back of the room.

“Todoroki, may I make a request,” Izuku asked as he approached the split-haired teen.

“What do you want,” he replied in a flat monotone with a glare.

Izuku opened the bag and placed it on the desk as he said, “Someone was careless and injured Tsu’s hand so she needs an ice pack, and I was hoping you would be willing to help.”

Todoroki’s glare shifted to a look of mild surprise as he gazed up at Izuku. Neither spoke as they held eye contact for a moment, and Izuku felt like he was being put under a microscope and scrutinized. It took another moment before Todoroki reached out and took the bag, making some small ice chunks and dropping them in until it was half full.

Turning back to Izuku, but no longer glaring, he said, “Will this be enough?”

“This will work great. Thank you, Todoroki,” Izuku said before taking the bag, sealing it, and heading back over to Tsu.

When he reached her desk he held up the ice pack and said, “This should help with the bruise.”

Setting it down he then held up the heated blanket and said, “And this should make sure the ice doesn’t put you to sleep,” before holding it out.

Tsu took the offered blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders before turning it on. Izuku could hear her make small happy croaks as she gently placed the ice pack on the back of her hand with only a slight wince.

“Thank you for this, Midoriya, kero,” Tsu said as she looked back up at him.

“Of course, I’m always happy to help,” Izuku replied with a smile, “Let me know if you need anything else.”

He waited until she nodded before moving back to the front of the room. As he did, the door opened and Aizawa walked in managing to look more tired than he did earlier.

“Sensei, everyone is here and accounted for,” Yaoyorozu said as she presented him the list she made.

“I ensured that everyone was physically safe and any injuries were treated,” Izuku said as Aizawa took the list.

Their teacher looked with a start and said, “Injuries?”

“Apparently there was a panic in the lunchroom. Tsu got knocked down and her hand was stepped on, but I made sure it wasn’t a break and applied some basic first-aid,” Izuku explained, “Though I think it would still be best to have Recovery Girl check.”

Looking over to the froggy girl, Aizawa said, “Asui, did you get a look at who did it?”

Putting her free hand’s index to her chin she replied, “They had a blue tail, like a bull’s, but that’s all I can remember, kero.”

“Good to know,” Aizawa said before addressing the entire class, “Now, is there anyone willing to go with Asui to Recovery Girl’s office? Even though the situation with the barrier has been handled I am not breaking protocol and letting her go alone.”

Both Iida and Kendo raised their hands immediately, making Aizawa sigh before saying, “Sort out who does it yourselves.”

“I’ve got this, Iida,” Kendo said before the bluenette could say anything, “You already saved the day in the lunchroom. I can go with Tsu to Recovery Girl.”

Before Iida could object, Kaminari said to Izuku and Yaoyorozu, “You two should have seen him! Everyone was panicking when suddenly Iida goes sailing through the air and slams into the wall above the exit! Then he yelled at everyone for panicking and told everyone about how it was just the press. Everyone stopped rushing around after that.”

“Well, it was important to calm everyone as quickly as possible,” Iida quickly defended, “And I wouldn’t have been able to have accomplished what I did without Uraraka’s help!”

“All I did was give you a high-five. You were the one with the plan and info,” Uraraka said, “If it was a training exercise, you would have been the MVP.”

Iida looked stunned by her words, opening his mouth like he was going to speak but no words came out. Apparently deciding that was the end of the discussion, Aizawa spoke up once more.

“Kendo, you go with Asui. Once you’re finished there it should be time for your heroics class so report to Ground Beta directly after,” Aizawa said before looking to the still stunned bluenette, “Good work on assessing the situation Iida. The second and third years that were present apparently need to be refreshedon the subject.”

The annoyance in Aizawa’s voice as he talked about the upper classmen would have made Izuku feel sorry for them if they hadn’t been the reason Tsu got hurt.

As Kendo and Tsu left the room Aizawa addressed the class, “Until All Might comes to collect you for heroics class, I recommend taking this time to plan for your trial.”

Kaminari raised his hand and waited until he was called on before saying, “What if we’ve already completed our trial.”

“Ordinarily I would encourage you to still attend as an observer, however due to the barrier breach anyone who does not have necessary business on campus is recommended to leave,” Aizawa said.

Several people groaned in jealousy while both Kaminari and Hagakure cried out “Yes!”

Aizawa briefly activated his quirk and silenced the class before turning to Yaoyorozu and Izuku, saying, “If you two would step out into the hall I can explain your duties, then you’re free to head out.”

“Yes sensei,” they both replied before heading out with Aizawa following after.

The new responsibilities that Aizawa outlined weren’t too difficult to follow; make sure no one broke the rules, inform teachers if they noticed anything concerning about a student, act as a leader, and other minor tasks. The conversation didn’t last long, and after they had gathered their belongings they made their way out of UA. When they reached the front of the building they saw Koda, Hagakure, and Kaminari waiting for them.

“Hey guys,” Kaminari said as they approached, “We figured we’d wait for you so we could all walk to the station together.”

“That’s kind of you, I’d be happy to join,” Izuku said, knowing they probably weren’t actually planning on heading to the station if the sharp grin Koda had was any indication.

“Likewise,” Yaoyorozu said before they all began heading out of UA’s courtyard.

Izuku noticed that the front gate was badly damaged as they passed by it, with a large portion having been reduced to piles of dust. Cementoss was using his quirk to manipulate the sidewalk as a temporary barrier while Power Loader worked on the damaged gate.

After they were a block away from UA’s campus Kaminari spoke up, “So, you two know we aren’t actually going to the station, right?”

“No shit, Kaminari,” Yaoyorozu replied with deadpan look, making the blonde hold up his hands in surrender.

“Alright! Geez, I was just checking,” he defended.

“The sooner we get a plan the better,” Hagakure said, “I want to save that cat asap.”

Koda grunted in agreement, his face twisting into a glare.

Izuku figured now was as good a time as any to rip of the bandage and said, “There may be a slight issue.”

Everyone else turned to look at him as Hagakure said, “What? Don’t tell me you aren’t in!”

“It’s nothing like that,” Izuku quickly reassured, “The problem is that my mom has forbidden me from doing any… work until she meets you all.”

Yaoyorozu, Koda, and Kaminari all had looks of shock and confusion while Hagakure exclaimed, “Omg, really? She wants to meet all of us? But why?”

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck and winced as he explained, “She’s super protective and insists that if I’m gonna be involved with a group then she needs to meet them.”

“Can’t you, like, sneak out or something,” Kaminari asked.

“She confiscated all my gear,” Izuku said, “And there is no way I could sneak out without her finding out. She has access to the security footage of the building we live in.”

Kaminari let out a low whistle before saying, “Damn, so either we go meet her or you can’t go on missions?”

With a defeated sigh Izuku replied, “Pretty much.”

“Well, I’m totally down to meet her,” Hagakure exclaimed, turning to the others, “What about you guys?”

“Yeah, sure. If it means you can go on missions I’ll come over to meet her, Mido,” Kaminari said.

Koda looked apprehensive but said, “If it means you can join, I’ll go.”

All eyes turned to Yaoyorozu, who looked uncomfortable as she said, “Is it necessary for all of us to go meet her.”

“Unfortunately yes,” Izuku replied, “Especially you since, in her own words, you have the biggest target on you.”

She still looked unsure so Izuku added, “She’s willing to make food for the meeting.”

A loud growl was heard from Yaoyorozu, who covered her stomach with her hands and blushed.

They all were silent for a moment before the ravenette finally said, “You’re lucky you’re a good strategist and I’m hungry. Fine, I’ll join.”

Izuku smiled as he said, “Perfect, let me just call her real quick. She has off today so it should be fine to bring you all over, but I need to double check.”

As he dialed him mom, Izuku mentally celebrated over being able to get his teammates to come over and meet his family. He just needed to make sure that his mom approved of them and he would be free to plan and go on the mission to take down Uwabami. Thinking of how protective his family could be, he realized this was gonna be easier said than done.