Chapter Text
It had been two days since the night Izuku had chased the thieves Tinkerer and Rocket Racer, only to tussle with the Pro Hero Silver Sable and then fight the villain known as Electro. As such, he had spent all yesterday in bed, resting off the marathon of injuries he had sustained. His mother almost had a panic attack from seeing how badly beaten up he was, especially due to him getting repeatedly zapped over and over.
However, the teen did something she didn't expect. He completely complied with resting, and instantly went to sleep for several hours. Izuku would then get up to eat every once in a while, but stayed asleep most of the time over those days. And as the morning sun shone into the room on the third day, the teen woke up with a long yawn before doing a few stretches.
'Urgh...still feeling a little off.' he thought as he fully stood up, cricking his back as he kept stretching. Several minutes passed at this, the teen yawning again before going to the bathroom and doing his morning business. And as he left that little room, he went to his desk, soon glancing down at the notebook there. Taking it in his hand, he skimmed through it, looking at the entries over villains he had fought as Spider-Man.
'Still feels unreal that I'm doing this. And yet...' He came to a stop at the Kingpin's entry, only to see nothing had changed since he made it after talking to Nezu. The sight made him sigh, 'I still haven't accomplished a thing since I started working with Mister Nezu. Can I really-'
"Izuku! Breakfast is ready!" exclaimed a voice, interrupting his thoughts.
Turning to the bedroom door, he replied back, "I'll be there in a minute!"
Taking one last glance at the notebook, he closed it and put it back on the desk, sighing again as he left the room. There, he saw that Himiko was already sitting at the dinner table, almost drooling at the sight of the breakfast Inko had prepared. He wanted to chuckle at the sight before walking over and sitting down beside her. The duo soon thanked the mother for making the meal before digging in, Himiko chowing down twice as fast.
But as the meal happened, Izuku saw a certain look on his mother's face. It was one of pure determination, something she didn't show very often. If the teen was being perfectly honest, he had noticed that his mother was more...aggressive recently. Not only that, ever since he had come home after fighting the Enforcers, Izuku had noticed that Himiko had been more hesitant around him as well. He had planned to ask what was going on, but the question never left his mouth. Despite everything, he decided to continue to eat, his mind instead going over how his last few days as Spider-Man had gone. It was like a loop in his head, just failure and confusion, over and over again.
'It never changes.' he thought as he chomped down on a biscuit. 'Even with a quirk, I can't catch a break. Guess Gran Torino was right. I am unlucky.' He closed his eyes for a second, sighing before eating a bit more of his meal, 'Then again, at least I have a chance of being a hero now. I just...keep messing up.'
A few minutes of more depressing thoughts later, the trio finished their meal, Inko soon speaking up at this, "Alright you two, I need you to come with me today." They both turned to her, the mother staring at Izuku before giving Himiko a slight glance of the eyes, "We're going to FEAST. They're doing a soup kitchen today."
"But-" Izuku started, only to see his mother glare at him.
His mouth promptly came to a stop as she pointed at the teen, "Don't you 'but' me, young man. You've been running yourself ragged as Spider-Man, and it won't kill you to take another day off. Besides, Gloria told me that Uraraka and her friends are also coming to help, and it would help you both to talk to people your age."
Himiko slightly shrunk back at that, knowing how little she knew about being social while Izuku bit his lip. He waited a moment before responding, his mind trying to choose words carefully as he said, "But...what if Mister Nezu sends me a new place to check out?"
"Then you can do it tomorrow." Inko instantly replied, Izuku opening his mouth to respond again, only for the mother to flash her palm at him, "Don't. I know you've rested the past two days, but another day won't hurt you. UA and Nezu and all of them aren't going anywhere."
He wanted to respond, but Izuku knew she was right. He still had time after all. "Alright." He slowly said, his mother smiling before getting up and walking into the kitchen. The teen didn't turn to Himiko at this, instead getting up as well as he walked back to his room. But if he had, he would have saw the worried look on the girl's face. instead, Izuku just went back to his desk, his eyes glancing over to the Spider-Man mask sitting on the top of the piece of furniture.
And with a long sigh, he spun around and walked over to his closet, picking out an outfit as he left his vigilante costume hanging on a nearby chair. It seemed Spider-Man would not be making an appearance today.
A long, piercing groan escaped the mouth of a certain scraggly scarfed man named Shouta Aizawa as he stared at the papers at his desk. He was currently grading a set of essays, which were currently getting on his last nerve. The man had assigned his class to do a 500-word essay over the dangers of vigilantism, which he had spent the last two days lecturing about. And despite what he considered to be the best lectures he had ever done, it seemed as if the students weren't listening, as this fifth essay was another disappointment.
To be fair, his class had stayed a disappointment recently. No matter what he did, no matter how hard he pushed them, they just couldn't seem to learn. It had all started when he had been assigned the case to capture the vigilante known as Spider-Man. What followed was the teacher accidentally eavesdropping on his students one day and finding out they were fans. That was fine, as it didn't really matter to the hero, only for the worst investigation possible to happen. Aizawa had to go out of cover, something an Underground Hero never does, only to get insulted by old foggies who claim to be retired heroes, kicked out of buildings due to sighing about some quirkless kid, and then yanked around by his boss who for some reason was suddenly interested with a vigilante. A vigilante that was the reason everything had gone wrong with Aizawa's life recently.
Now, Aizawa had worked with vigilantes before. Granted, they were usually individuals who's quirks weren't suited for heroics, and they handled really petty crime. However, this one was different. This vigilante took on gangs, hero killers and actually did investigations. And as he had recently found out, the one called Spider-Man was someone who had been given a ton of power, and he had no idea how to use it. Not only that, he was also quirkless, which meant no ten years of experience like all his other students. That and the kid had records of being a delinquent. Lots and lots of records...that Nezu wanted to ignore.
And it wasn't just that. Aizawa had lost his best student, Katsuki Bakugo, to the vigilante. Granted, Bakugo needed a lot of work, but unlike the rest of his class, he had drive. He strived to constantly improve, something so unbelievably rare in this day and age. Instead, he had lost the kid so Nezu could get a bounty lifted and put a vigilante in his class. A vigilante that when Aizawa first met, was convinced that the kid shouldn't even touch heroics. He had no years of having a quirk, was a shaking jittering mess, and obviously needed years, maybe decades of therapy.
TLDR; everything was a mess for the hero, and in his mind, there was only one individual to blame: Izuku Midoriya, also known as Spider-Man.
Aizawa then skimmed the sixth essay, only to see it was Shoto Todoroki's. He was a...subpar student. He never fully tried in heroics class, only using half of his quirk. The only reason Aizawa hadn't kicked him to the curb was because of the kid's father, Endeavor. In other words, another problem he had to deal with.
Releasing another long sigh, he began to read the essay, only to raise an eyebrow. Despite the subject being about how vigilantism is something you shouldn't do, the words on the paper were...not exactly what he expected. The first paragraph introduced the topic, only to start talking about Spider-Man. Aizawa leaned back for a second as he continued to read, now seeing the boy go back and forth on the paper about vigilantism, mainly using Spider-Man for every example in a small written up debate.
And as he finished the paper, Aizawa sighed again and put it on a pile. But as he did this, the groan was heard by another man as they walked into the room.
"Something wrong Aizawa?" asked a voice, the teacher turning to its owner, only to start glaring.
"I'm grading papers." Aizawa growled, "What do you want, All Might?"
"No need to be rude." the skinny man replied as he sat down beside him, "I was just going to ask you about tomorrow's heroics lesson. You see-"
"I'm not helping you." Aizawa interrupted as he glared back at the essays.
The response made the hero glare at the teacher, "Now Aizawa-"
"Don't." Aizawa hissed as he glanced back at the scarecrow-like man, "I know it was you that messed up my class, so-"
"You were going too far!" All Might interrupted this time, pointing at the man, only to cough up a smidge of blood. Wiping it a second later, he continued to talk, "They're children Aizawa, and you were pushing them too far."
"I wasn't pushing them far enough, and you know it." Aizawa replied, his voice hissing and growling at the same time.
"You were." All Might responded, "They are just children, and they need to be shown the ropes. You have no need to push them into the deep end on the first year."
Aizawa rolled his eyes at this. "Tch. Figures a musclebrain like you would think that way."
"What does that mean?!"
"I mean that you're reckless. Always have been, and always will be." Aizawa remarked, his glare returning as he pointed at the man, "I don't teach reckless, arrogant snots. I teach my students to make sure that that first week they go out there and be actual heroes after graduating doesn't get them killed by some stupid punk with a knife."
All Might's already beady eyes narrowed at this, "And you believe you should push them harshly because you believe that?! That you should just lie to them every time you can?!"
"If it helps them become better heroes, yes. I'll do whatever it takes, and I won't apologize for my methods." Aizawa then leaned over at this, his eyes now narrowing, "You see, unlike you, I can't just flex my muscles and solve all my problems. I have to use my brain. And my brain is telling me I have to push these kids now, or their first week of being true heroes will end with their heads in a cold case box at the police station."
All Might's body almost shook at the response, the already frown on his face growing as he really wanted to change into his muscle form at this. But with a long sigh escaping his nostrils, he then asked, "If that is the case, why now? Why haven't you been acting like this since the start of the semester?"
Aizawa let out a small growl at this, only to glance away, "Circumstances happened."
The other hero tilted his head at this, "The Sports Festival? I know some things happened, but-"
"No. Something...worse happened. Something that involves the students and Nezu." Aizawa hissed as he looked back down at his essays, "And I will fix it if its the last thing I do." His eyes stared back at Todoroki's essay, his pupils glaring at one hyphenated word: Spider-Man.
"Well, well, well..." chuckled a certain snake-headed woman as she patted Izuku's shoulder, "Been a while since I've seen your hide around here! How you been?"
"Hey Gloria." Izuku barely replied back, the teen trying to show a smile. "Sorry I haven't been around. I've been...busy."
"I figured." Gloria giggled before turning to Inko, showing the biggest smirk her snake face could display, "That and Inko here told me how your classes ramped up recently." Inko gave her a grin back, Gloria chuckling again before glancing back at Izuku, "Still, good to see you. You too, Himiko."
"Thanks Gloria." Himiko responded while shining a fang-filled grin. Despite the girl's usual issue with interacting with...well, anyone that wasn't the Midoriyas, Himiko had found that talking to Gloria was very easy. Honestly, it was easy with any person at FEAST for her, along with the rest of the Midoriyas.
"Welp, its good to see you three, but the soup kitchen won't get started for another hour." Gloria turned to Inko while pointing to the building behind her, "We're just getting some stuff started, and Uraraka told me that her and her friends will be coming in a bit. We're waiting on them since they're such good helpers."
"Oh? It's not because they're free help?" Inko cheekily asked, making Gloria let out a guffaw.
"That too. Though we always put it under," Gloria turned and winked at Izuku, "'Hero training', so to speak."
"Yeah yeah..." Izuku replied, his face showing a slight blush before walking past the snake woman. Gloria and Inko giggled at this before following the teen, the four soon entering the building. It was here that they split up, Inko helping Gloria in the kitchen while Izuku and Himiko went into the main gym area. There, they found the usual residents of the place, Izuku sitting down at a chess game going on between two of elders, Himiko joining right beside him.
And before long, over thirty minutes passed...
It was here that Izuku and Himiko were now outside of the building, the two discussing a few mundane things when they noticed a certain group walking up to the building. At the front of Ochako Uraraka and Tsuyu Asui, the two in cheerful conversation. Right behind them was Tenya Iida, the tall boy talking to Kirishima and Mina while Jirou walked beside them in silence. After that was a set of floating clothes, signifying Hagakure, who was talking to a newcomer for Izuku and Himiko. This one was a tall girl with long purple hair and a huge grin on her face, the teen skipping in her step with a red-haired older male teen walking right beside her.
"Who are those two?" Himiko asked as Izuku now noticed the newcomers.
"Dunno. They look kinda familiar though." Izuku commented as he stood up from the chair he was sitting on. Himiko turned to him, only to see a blank expression on Izuku's face as he added, "Guess we should introduce ourselves."
Himiko glanced back at the group, her body slightly shivering before turning back to Izuku, "Um...could you go first?"
Izuku saw her expression, a small frown appearing on his face before staring at the incoming teens. Despite how much he wanted to show confidence, he knew that Himiko's reaction is the same one he usually has when meeting new people. Biting his lip for a second, he took a small breath before walking down the main steps of the building.
"Hey Midoriya!" called out a voice, the teen seeing it was Uraraka. She was waving to him as the group all turned to see the teen approaching them.
"Hey Uraraka." Izuku replied as he came to a stop at the bottom of the steps. "You're early."
The girl shined a big grin at this, "Yeah, we figured it'd be best to get her a bit before things started." She pointed to group behind her, "That and we got some new-"
"Hi there!" exclaimed a voice, making Izuku almost jump as the long purple haired girl suddenly appeared in front of him, "I'm Nejire Hado! You're Midoriya, right? Uraraka told me all about you! So, do you just volunteer here, or are you a hero student like me? What do you do here? Why do you volunteer here? Wha-"
Bonk!
"Ow!" Hado yelped as hand lightly karate-chopped her head, the girl turning to see it was the older red-haired teen, "Harry! I told you to stop doing that!"
"And I told you I would stop if you stopped harassing people."
"I'm not harassing him! I'm just asking some questions!"
The two began to bicker at this, Izuku blinking at the exchange. He hadn't moved a muscle ever since the girl named Nejire Hado had appeared in front of his face, the teen wondering if she had almost triggered his spider-sense. And as this happened, Uraraka leaned over to the teen and whispered, "Sorry about them. They're two third-years that asked to come along today."
Reality switching back for the teen, Izuku turned to her and shook his head, "Oh uh...i-i-its cool." He glanced back at the two, "Though um...should we break them up or something?"
"They'll stop bickering soon, kero." Tsuyu chimed in, Izuku now turning to her as she put a finger to her chin and asked, "How have you been Midoriya? We haven't heard from you in a few days, kero."
"Oh...right." Izuku replied while scratching the back of his head, "Sorry about that. Things have been...a bit crazy on my end."
"Crazy how, kero?"
"Can't be more crazy than with us." Jirou added as she appeared beside Tsuyu, "Especially with our classes-"
"UGH!" Mina moaned, interrupting the punk rock girl, "Don't even talk about that! I came here to not think about that!"
"Yeah, same..." Kirishima sighed, a big frown on his face.
The sight made Izuku rapidly blink as he saw no smiles on the ones that had told him they were his friends. It was here that he realized how miserable they all look. Each one looked like they had just gone through the ringer and a half, as if everything had just gone wrong in their life.
'What happened?' Izuku thought as he saw what looked like a pure fog of depression hit the other teens. He opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, only for the two that were bickering earlier to suddenly reappear in front of the teen. "Whoa!"
"Hi there! Sorry about that!" Hado chimed in, waving at the teen. She then got into Izuku's face again, "So, where do we go to start helping? Do we just go inside, or do we have to sign up somewhere, or do we-"
"Let the guy breathe." the other teen added as he grabbed Hado's shoulder, cutting her questions. The red-haired teen was a smidge taller that Izuku, and he shined a big grin as he said, "Hey there. I'm Harry Osborn, nice to meet ya!"
"Izuku Midoriya." Izuku quickly said, his whole body shaking like a leaf for a few seconds, "Um...nice to meet you."
"Same. So, you help out here, right?"
"Yeah..." Izuku slowly replied, his eyes rapidly blinking as he stared at the older teen for a minute. A click then went off in his brain, making Izuku gasp, "Wait a minute...you were the guy who won the UA Sports Festival last year!"
Harry laughed at this, "That's me! Though uh..." He began to scratch the back of his head at this, "I...got third this year. Tamaki whooped me in the semi-finals."
"Ugh. Same." Hado moaned as she stuck out her tongue, "He's just too good at fighting."
Harry started chuckling, patting Hado's side for a second before glancing back at Izuku. Hopping in place, the green-haired teen gulped before saying, "W-w-well, let me introduce you all to FEAST. Hey Himi-" He turned to see that some of the group was now talking to Himiko. "Er...guess I'll just do it." He glanced back at Harry, "Follow me please."
The introductions into FEAST went by a lot slower than usual. This was mainly due to Hado repeatedly asking everyone too many questions, a problem that Izuku had to admit he had never faced before. Granted, social interaction wasn't something he knew very well, but this was definitely something he didn't know how to deal with. As such, he mainly guided Harry through the place while Gloria and Inko took Hado and Himiko continued to talk with the girls. The sight made Izuku smile, seeing Himiko interact with others her age before turning back to Harry, Kirishima and Iida.
"Well, that's just about all that's here. The soup kitchen won't get setup for a few more minutes, so what else do you all want to do?"
The trio shared a glance, only for Harry to cross his arms and stare back at Izuku, "My kouhai here told me you want to be a hero too, right? Is that why you volunteer here?"
Izuku nodded back, "Yeah! I uh...I saw an interview of All Might and he said that heroes don't do charity anymore these days and I wanted to do something like that."
"I see." Harry shined a big grin at this, "That's wonderful!" He put his hand to his chin at this, "Sounds like something we should have learned at school...guess UA is slacking at that."
"Say, Osborn-senpai!" Kirishima chimed in, Izuku and Harry turning to the teen, "Midoriya here is super strong. You should challenge him to an arm-wrestle!"
"Oh?" Harry raised an eyebrow at that, "Is that so?"
Izuku shook his head at this, his face slightly red as he replied, "W-w-well...I kinda did beat him. And his friend the other day. I uh...I'm kinda strong and-"
"Not kinda, you are!" Kirishima interrupted while pointing at Izuku, "You could lift anything like its nothing! Its awesome!"
"I'm not that great." Izuku shook his head again, "I-"
Harry glanced between the two before patting Izuku's shoulder, making him turn to the red-head, "Well, I've trained with Kirishima here and if he says you're strong, you probably are. Would you mind if I have match with you?" Izuku stared up at him, a big frown on his face. The sight made Harry just smile, "You don't have to say yes."
Izuku blinked at this, thoughts spilling out in his brain, 'Wow. He's really nice. I...I better not turn him down.' Taking a deep breath, he nodded back, "Sure. I'll arm-wrestle you. Though uh...just to warn you, I might hurt you."
Harry let out a laugh at that, "Don't worry about me." He pointed to his chest, "I can take any pain!" He then frowned at that, "Well, almost..."
Izuku and Kirishima chuckled at that before they walked over to a table. Sitting on either side, Izuku gripped Harry's hand with his own. He instantly felt the older teen's grip. Kirishima's grip was rough and jagged, just like his quirk while Tetsu's was firm and cold. Harry's though...it was like it was heated, yet slightly shaking compared to the other two.
Kirishima put his palm over both their hands and asked, "You two ready?"
Harry instantly nodded while Izuku did a small gulp before glancing up at Kirishima. The teen's face instantly told everything Izuku needed to know. It was the same face Kirishima gave Izuku when he was about to arm-wrestle Tetsu. It was saying two words: Don't throw.
Taking a deep breath next, Izuku glanced back at Kirishima and slowly said, "Ready."
"Alright. On three. One...two....three!"
Kirishima lifted his hand a split-second later as the hands gripping each other pushed. It was like two palms slamming into a wall, both applying pressure like they were weights pushing down a person. The push instantly made Harry gasp, letting out a "Whoa!" as he felt Izuku begin to push his hand down.
One second passed as Izuku's hand began to push Harry's down, the teen already feeling his arm twist as Izuku keep pushing against him. "Urgh...he's right." Harry muttered out, "You're good." And as those words left his mouth, Harry's eyes narrowed as he added, "But I'm...better!"
Izuku went wide-eyed as he suddenly felt a push back. Harry's grip on his own hand began to tighten as Izuku felt Harry begin to push their hands back into the place they had started at. And as he began to push, Izuku felt himself bite his lip as he saw their hands go back to the start. But as this happened, Izuku's eyes went to Harry's face, now seeing a confident smile. It was a smile like All Might's, one full of inspiration, optimism and power.
And as he saw that, Izuku's face morphed into his own smile. It was the one that he wore while he was wearing the mask. The one he had on while he was web-swinging. The grin shined at this, Kirishima seeing this and smiling as well as he whispered: "So manly."
Izuku's eyes then went back to the hands that were stuck in a deadlock, only to tighten his grip. Harry slightly flinched at this, only for Izuku to suddenly push. The force instantly made Harry gasp, only to feel his hand slam into the table a split-second later.
Izuku had won again.
"Whoa!" Harry yelped as he released himself from Izuku's grip, soon waving his hand as he flinched in pain. "Yow!"
Izuku also flinched at this, soon blubbering out apologies, "Oh, I am so sorry! I-I-I didn't mean to hurt you, I-"
Harry shoved a palm in front of Izuku's face, "Don't." He put the palm down as he added, "Don't apologize."
"But-"
"Don't." Harry chuckled, shaking his head. He then patted Izuku on the shoulder, "Don't apologize for winning."
"Yeah!" Kirishima chimed in, "That was awesome! How'd you beat Osborn-senpai so quickly?!"
"I uh...well um..." Izuku muttered out, only for Harry to stare up at Kirishima.
"Don't make him nervous. He doesn't have to tell me anything." Izuku turned to Harry at this, his eyes slightly wide as Harry glanced back at the teen. Shaking his head again, Harry added, "Don't worry about it." He glanced down at his hand and flexed it for a second, "Though I gotta say, that was rough. You got one heck of an arm."
"Um...sorry."
"I told you to not apologize." Harry repeated before glancing back at Izuku.
"Still...uh..." Izuku looked away at this before muttering out, "Sorry about that. I...still don't know my strength sometimes."
Harry nodded back at this, "Its cool. And thanks for the match. Nice to know there's still someone stronger than me out there. Though I gotta say, they told me you should totally be a hero with your strength." Izuku looked back at Harry, only to see him staring down at his hand, "They're not wrong." He looked back up at Izuku, this time showing a new smile. It was one that Izuku knew he had seen before, only for Harry to say, "But I get it if you don't want to instantly go down that path."
Izuku blinked at this, only to shake his head, "No. I...I want to go down that path. I want it more than anything."
The older teen's smile grew at this, "Then you should just do it."
And as those six words hit Izuku's ears, Harry's face began to morph in his mind into another's: Martin Li's. Li had said something similar to the teen, which had pushed him to go even further as Spider-Man. The words repeated themselves in the teen's head, the face of Harry returning in his eyes before he did a small nod as two words came out of his mouth, "Thank you."
A little later...
Izuku had to admit, no matter how many times he went out as Spider-Man, helping others at the FEAST always felt just as good, if not better. Today was no different as he helped out at the soup kitchen. Him, Kirishima, Iida and Harry had mainly helped with the heavy lifting before helping give out food, the group all lining up and working in an almost perfect sync. Soon, there was a giant line, the group serving everyone they could. Harry and Nejire quickly commented on how busy it was, both surprised at just how much they had to do in such a short amount of time.
And as they served person after person for a few hours, Gloria dismissed the teens so they could have their own meal. As such, they soon gathered around a table, all eating and talking up a storm. Inko had also joined them, sitting beside Himiko as she helped the girl talk to the other girls her age.
"So, how have you girls been doing at UA? Anything exciting?" Inko asked them first, only for all the girls except Hado to frown, "Oh? What's wrong?"
"Meh." Mina moaned, "Let's just say things have been...not fun."
Inko tilted her head at this, "Why's that? Are the classes hard or-"
"No." Mina shook her head, only to let out a hum, "Then again, kinda. Let's just say our homeroom teacher has gone like...through a villain arc or something. He has been brutal recently."
"No kidding." Hagakure added, "Aizawa-sensei is so not cool."
As that name left the invisible girl's mouth, Himiko and Inko almost flinched. The shared a quick glance, having a mental conversation for a second before looking back at the girls. "So...this Aizawa-sensei. Why has he been so bad?"
"No idea." Jirou replied while crossing her arms, "Since like a week ago, he's been on our cases everyday. Especially when Bakugo left." Inko and Himiko felt their bodies trying to flinch as they heard that name, only for the punk girl to continue, "Like, I know nobody in the class except maybe Kirishima liked the guy, but...I have no idea why he's so angry that that guy left."
"Yeah." Hagakure chimed in, "I mean, its like him leaving made Aizawa-sensei go on a war path. He keeps pushing us more and more every day." The two watched the set of floating clothes scrunch up before flopping over, showing the girl was now slumped down onto the table, "Heck, some of us were thinking of quitting hero classes. I thought for sure Kaminari was gonna bail."
"Same." Jirou sighed, "Its like everything just flipped itself on its head. Makes me wish we could figure out why so we could make it stop or something."
"Meh..." Mina moaned out as she tried to imitate Hagakure, flopping onto the table, "I just want it to end."
Inko opened her mouth to respond, only for nothing to come out. She knew exactly what was going on here. After all, everything they had just said was part of the consequences of her own actions. Just hearing about Aizawa made her think back to the night when she first met him and Nezu, the argument that followed, and the obvious disdain the man had for her son. Even now, it seemed that encounter's consequences were still happening. Not only that, the mother knew that her son, the one who had no idea that she was partially responsible, was sitting just a few feet over.
Her eyes turned to the girl sitting beside her, Himiko Toga. She knew Toga would be thinking the same thing, and she was right. Himiko's eyes had now switched to Izuku, watching the teen talk to Harry and Kirishima before glancing back at the girls. Though she said nothing about the information the two had just learned, her face told Inko everything she needed to know. Izuku hadn't heard the conversation, but if he heard even one word of it, it would be a disaster in the making.
As such, Inko knew exactly what to do next: Change the conversation. And with a small bite of her lip, a bulb went off in her head, making her glance back at the girls and ask, "Well, if that's the case, let's talk about something else." She turned to smile at Himiko for a second, the girl noticing the grin before the mother looked back at the girls again, "You girls have any plans tomorrow? It is the weekend after all."
Mina and Hagakure shared a glance, only for Tsuyu to speak up, "I don't have any, kero."
"Same here. Just going to do some training." Uraraka added before turning to the others, "How about you all?"
"I've been so tired that I haven't planned anything." Mina moaned out, Jirou nodding in agreement while Hagakure's clothes did what the others suspected was a shrug.
"I see." Inko turned to Himiko again, "Sounds like they're free. And if that's the case..." The mother watched as the girl just blinked at her, her expression showing just how little she knew about being social. As such, Inko turned to the girls and asked, "You girls don't mind if I ask you a favor, do you?"
They all shared a glance before Uraraka replied, "What is it?"
Inko put a hand on Himiko's shoulder, "As you all probably know when you hung out with Izuku last time, Himiko is in the same basket as him: She doesn't have many friends."
"Wha-" Himiko tried to say, only to see Inko turn to her with a smile filled with kindness. It was the one she used all those days ago when Himiko first met the mother.
A second later, Inko glanced back at the girls, "You wouldn't mind showing her around town, would you? Maybe go shopping and such?"
The girls all blinked at this, all turning to each other and doing a small, quiet conversation. Moments later, Mina gave the biggest grin she could as she replied, "Sure! We'd love too!"
Himiko went fully wide-eyed at this, shocked as she just heard that multiple people would want to hang out with someone like her. The idea was something she believed was impossible...and Inko had just made it happen like it was nothing. The girl couldn't believe it. It was so unbelievable that water began to form in her eyes, the girl blinking the tears away.
And as Inko saw this, she mentally shook her head, 'Poor girl. She really is just like Izuku.' She turned to the girls, 'I hate doing that, as it makes it look like I'm using them, but Himiko needs all the help she can get.'
Taking a small breath, the woman began discussing with the girls with what they could do tomorrow, Mina and Hagakure perking up at the idea of having fun while Uraraka giggled at the sight. Tsuyu tried to show a smile, Jirou doing the same as they all began to talk. They began to go over what they could do, only for Hado to appear and join in as well. She had been talking to Gloria, asking the woman a pile of questions while eating at the same time.
And as this happened, the scene switched to the other side of the table as a question rang out, "So it's true? You work with X-Less?!" Izuku gasped as he saw Harry nod back at his question. Izuku leaned back at this, "Wow. Even though he's an Underground hero, his profile is known for him not liking interns."
"Yeah, he's uh...let's just say he's a rough and tough kind of guy." Harry chuckled while scratching the back of his head. "But he's really helped me out with my quirk." He let out a long sigh at this, "I just...well, my quirk wasn't enough for me to win the sports festival this year."
"Oh. I'm sorry for bringing that up then." Izuku instantly replied, his face now showing a big frown.
Harry just shook his head at this, "Eh, its fine. I mean, I won last year, so it's cool. Besides, Amajiki deserved it after kicking my butt." He leaned back at this, "Speaking of, I totally gotta get Mirio over here sometime. He'd love to help out. Heck, it might be good to have Amajiki come too. It could definitely help him in the talking department."
Izuku wanted to ask what that meant, only for Kirishima to speak up, "So Midoriya, what have you been up to? We haven't seen you since we met up at the mall."
The teen slightly frowned at that, "Well uh...let's just say I've been busy. Bunch of classes and stuff."
"Same." the teen moaned, "Like...UA is awesome and all, but its been brutal recently."
"Oh? I saw you all...react earlier." Izuku said in the nicest tone he could make. "What happened with your class? Is it your teacher?"
"Well...it's our homeroom teacher." Kirishima admitted as he crossed his arms, "I don't know why, but he's been really pushing us recently. He says it's for the final exams, but he feels like..." He did a small shrug, "I don't know. It just feels like he wants to punish us."
"I am in agreement!" Iida chimed in, chopping the air at the same time, "Our teacher has been very strict as of late." He stopped chopping the air at this, the teen slightly looking down at this, "I...do not know why, but he has been pushing us considerably. Several classmates have even been thinking of leaving."
"Wow." Izuku muttered out, his frown growing before adding, "I'm sorry that's been happening to you all."
Harry slightly leaned up at this, "Don't apologize for their teacher. Aizawa is like that with everyone." He crossed his arms at this, "Granted, I don't think I've heard of him going this far, but it's still like him."
"You've had him too?"
Harry shook his head, "No, but I heard enough about him in my first year." He then shined a small grin, "But let's stop talking about school. What else do you do Midoriya? Surely this isn't the only charity we could try."
Izuku blinked at this, only to start talking about the little odd jobs he would do sometimes at FEAST. This was followed by a new conversation, Harry suggesting that they should make a chat and see if they could meet up again. And as this continued, Izuku had to admit that Harry was probably the nicest individual he had met from UA since Uraraka.
Before they all knew it, another hour or so passed after this, the group then helping clean up most of the soup kitchen. As this happened, most of the students announced they had to leave early so they could get to the train, the people at FEAST thanking them. This was followed by Uraraka telling Izuku one thing, "We should meet up again. I'll text you later."
"Um...yeah." Izuku replied as they both shook hands.
"Yeah! Same with the rest of us." Harry added as he patted Izuku's shoulder. "That and I totally gotta have Mirio challenge you."
"Oh uh..." Izuku glanced away, his face slightly flushed as he muttered out, "Y-y-you don't have to do that."
"Sure I do!" Harry chuckled as he pointed to himself, "I'm his best friend, and I wouldn't be a good hero-in-training if I didn't recognize a good challenge." He patted Izuku again, "Cheer up man. No need to keep a frown on your face."
Izuku blinked up at the teen, the other hero students all smiling at the interaction. And as this happened, Izuku did a small nod back before saying, "Okay. Thanks Harry."
"No prob. I'm just being a good hero student and all."
As those words hit Izuku's ears, before his brain could process what he was about to say, he asked, "What kind of hero are you trying to be?"
"Who, me?" Harry pointed to himself, only for Izuku to nod. In response, Harry's grin grew as he replied, "Well, my best friend Mirio wants to be a hero that will save a million lives, so I'm gonna save a million and one as the Laser Hero: Cardiac!"
The whole group went slightly wide-eyed at this, mainly due to this being the first time they had heard of such a statement. In response, Kirishima let out a "So Manly!" cheer while the others nodded in agreement and Iida chopped the air. As for Izuku, he felt slightly elated, as he knew he wanted to be like that one day.
A few minutes later, Izuku waved goodbye to the hero students, only to feel something shift in his pocket. Blinking for a second, he reached down and grabbed his phone, pulling it out and tapping it. There, the screen shifted to a message, showing one text had been sent from Nezu.
Nezu: Good news Young Midoriya! I made contact with Ryukyu and she's agreed to let you meet Eri tomorrow. I'll give you the details shortly.
As the teen read the text, Izuku shined a big smile on his face. 'Today's been a good day.' he thought as he walked beside his mother and Himiko, the teen putting away his phone a second later. 'And tomorrow might be better.'
It was here that his mother spoke up as she saw the smile on his face, "Something good happen?"
"You could say that." Izuku replied as his grin grew, "Looks like things might be looking up."
The sounds of keys clicking on a keyboard rang out as a certain silver-haired Pro Hero stared at her laptop screen. Image after image appeared on the computer, her eyes scanning over each picture that went by. This was followed by her opening several text documents, the woman pausing for a second to sip a cup of coffee before getting back to work.
"Spider-Man..." she whispered as she continued to type, letters appearing on a document set as a report to the hero commission. The woman had to admit, the individual she had fought two days ago was not what she had been expecting. After that battle, she had reported to the commission president, the woman very angry that Sable had failed her duty, only for Sable to reveal to the president about Rose's interference. This was followed by a back and forth that Sable could only describe as...irritatingly blank.
Basically, the commission president had confirmed to Sable two things: First, Sable started by telling the president that based on what the hero had observed, Spider-Man could be recruited. She admitted the vigilante had a distinct talent, one that needed to be refined, but it was definitely a diamond in the rough. Unfortunately, this was turned down, as the president declared that if they recruited the vigilante, not only would the commission lose face if the truth got out, (Which it would eventually since they would have to at some point give the vigilante a license) but also that this truth could break their hold on the hero society. This honestly sounded ridiculous to the hero, but as she continued to talk to the commission president, she realized that it was pointless. Her boss seemed to have a distinct hatred for the vigilante, something Sable already knew about, but found it was possibly greater than she ever could imagine.
But that was not all. Despite Sable's complaints about the issue, it was the second thing that was most worrisome. Turns out, the Kingpin has interest in the vigilante, and had told this to the commission president. This was all that she told Sable, but the hero knew better. It was blackmail, something the Kingpin was very good at. At least, in terms of what Sable knew about the man.
The hero had offered to go after the villain several times, telling the president she could easily just kill the man, but it was always rejected. Despite how easy it was to insert a bullet into the man's head via sniper rifle, the Kingpin had many 'contingencies' over the commission. This of course included more blackmail, certain 'deadman's switch' plans that would expose the commission if anything happened to the Kingpin, and a bunch of other things the villain would do that Sable couldn't even begin to imagine.
In other words, the hero was stuck.
And so, she stopped typing and saved her report before opening an online video. There, it showed the vigilante she had been hunting, this video being the one where he took on the villain called Mysterio. She watched as Spider-Man slightly bumbled his way through the fight, slowly figuring out how to beat the fishbowl-wearing man.
The sight made her lean back in her chair, taking another sip of coffee before muttering, "It seems this will be more complicated than I thought." She put the cup down on the table, crossing her arms as she added, "Maybe..."
And before she could complete her thought, a small buzzing noise rang out in the room. Glancing down, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a phone, only to sigh as she saw who was calling. "Rose." She whispered before tapping the phone and putting it to her ear. Letting out a long deep breath, she responded with four words: "What do you want?"