Disclaimer: All rights to My Hero Academia belong to its creator, Kohei Horikoshi, and his affiliates. The author does in no way, shape or form claim ownership of the franchise this story is based on. He does, however, see the (more or less creative) plot of this story as his intellectual property and disapproves of any exploitation and proliferation without his knowledge. The author also reminds that he does not take responsibility for any side-effects this story may cause during and/or after consumption (i.e. boredom, hollow feeling hence to unsatisfactory ending, diabetes, etc.). The contents of this disclaimer apply to all chapters this story may contain.
So… I was on vacation over Christmas and used the days off to do what every reasonable person would do. I binge-watched this series and got captivated by it.
Before I even realized it, I was looking up the fandom on this website and two blinks after that, I sat on my PC writing away. Sadly, things didn't go as fast from there and I spent some good hours to fabricate what you are about to read. I hope you enjoy this piece of work. Please let me know if you do, since your feedback is all the payment I'll ever receive for this.
— Chapter one —
Hard as a Rock
"Attention all passengers travelling with flight JAR 2002 to New York City. We regret to inform you that boarding will be delayed until further notice due to technical difficulties. We sincerely apologize -" the monotonous female voice using the intercom carried on, but Izuku Midoriya didn't care for the rest of the announcement.
The green haired young man was too caught up in his own monologue as he made his way through the huge, sterile halls of Tokyo International Airport, slowly heading towards the exit.
"I could take a cab home, but the price would be absurd, especially considering the current rush-hour. Wait, do they charge by distance or the time it takes? The Metro would be another suitable option, but I'd have to change trains at least four times, and with all the luggage I'm carrying…" the Hero muttered quietly, earning him a few questioning looks from people who passed him.
Fortunately, nobody had recognized him as the Hero Deku yet, or there would be hell to pay right now.
Izuku stopped in his tracks as he spotted an empty bench slightly away from the stream of people he was currently caught in.
Tightening the grip on his two medium sized travel bags, he made his way over and claimed the spot, his huge backpack preventing him from getting too comfortable.
"Dammit, Deku. Get a grip on. It's your way home, not rocket science. Maybe I should just call the C.H.A. to send me a driver. It's the least they can do for me, right?"
If you're wondering what Izuku meant by that and what the Central Hero Agency, or C.H.A. for short, had to do with it… well, it all started about nine months ago, when…
"Ah, Mister Midoriya. I'm so glad you could make it. I'm sorry for calling you in at such a short notice, since I can only guess how busy you must be right now. Please, take a seat."
Izuku found himself stiffly standing in the middle of a large corner office somewhere inside the C.H.A.'s office building in Tokyo's Shinjuku district.
In front of him sat a thin, bald man in his mid-fifties, who, despite the room's already dim lighting, wore a pair of black tinted sunglasses to his well tailored suit.
He looked friendly enough… for someone who sat in a stereotypical armchair behind a just as stereotypical heavy wooden desk. Izuku was weary, despite his general trust in the government institutions.
"Oh. W-well, your… guy failed to mention that I had a choice over this meeting…" Izuku answered as he hesitantly sat down on a black leather couch the strange man had pointed at.
It didn't matter that Izuku Midoriya, at core, was a well-build, confident and disciplined twenty-five year old man with a quirk that allowed him to best as good as any challenge thrown his way. What good where those abilities when it came to his weak point – interacting with strangers?
Especially when he was grabbed off the street by a gigantic man with a federal badge, who's only response to any question asked was that everything he did was in interest of national security.
"Oh, you're probably talking about Kunio. I'm very sorry; he can be serious like that. But where are my manners? I'm Yuji Kobajashi. Although most people just call me Mister International, since I'm in charge of the International Relations Department of the C.H.A."
Izuku hesitated before he answered Kobajashi's light bow with one of his own.
"It's uh, a pleasure to meet you, sir."
With an amused expression, Mister International leaned forward in his chair, folding his hand on top of the wooden desk.
"So, Mister Midoriya… it is in my own interest to wipe that wary look off your face and tell you why you were brought here. Well, as the name might suggest, the International Relations Department coordinates co-operations between Japanese Heroes and other countries, should it be needed. And I called you here, because we just recently received a request from the European Union's office in Brussels. You see, they currently have a… situation which affects the interests of the country of Japan to some degree. This is why we agreed to establish a small task force with them to… take care of it. The situation, I mean."
Izuku interpreted the short silence that ensured as his time to ask questions, but Mister International interrupted him with a short wave of his hand before he could even start.
"I know you have questions. In fact, I know exactly WHAT questions you have. It's part of my quirk, you see" the bald man smiled mysteriously and tapped his sunglasses.
"I will answer them as far as I can. 'Why me', right? That's always the first question. Well, they specifically asked for you to be a part of this task force. How do they even know you? Come on, Mister Midoriya. You already started to make a name for yourself while still in U.A. You are rated one of the top forty Pro-Heroes, despite having achieved the status of Pro not until recently. Some even say you are a 'symbol of peace in the making'. People are bound to notice. Not just in Japan."
Izuku's eyes widened in surprise. It was as if Mister International stole the questions right off his tongue. Was it some kind of mind reading quirk he possessed?
"Something similar - not as spectacular, I'm afraid" the CHA executive answered his unstated question, further spooking Izuku.
"Let's go on, shall we? Just think about whatever interests you. Ahh, here we go. How long will this mission take? Simple. Until the situation is dealt with. Could be a few weeks, could be a few months" the man shrugged dismissively and continued.
"Why should you partake? Because there are people in need, first and foremost. You are a Hero, are you not? I can assure you that the problem at hand is… serious, even though I can't go into any more detail until you sign up. I'm sure your sense of protection doesn't only apply to the people of Japan now, does it?"
Admittedly, Mister International had a point. Thinking about it for a bit longer, it seemed almost like he knew exactly which buttons to push…
"Another reason would be personal experience. Not every country handled the appearance of quirks the same as we did. Wouldn't it be interesting to see how other nations implemented quirks into society? How the work of Heroes can differ?"
Okay, the young Hero was definitely creeped out by now. Had the plain man in front of him somehow read his childhood diary?
"Oh, who hasn't dreamed about travelling the world at some point in his life, Mister Midoriya? The last argument would be… monetary reasons. It would be foolish to act as if money played no role in this. You are a young Pro-Hero with an undecided future. Will you sign a contract with an existing agency? Will you found one yourself? I don't know and don't particularly care, but surely some start-up capital could come in handy, don't you think? And who knows if you'll ever have as few commitments here in Japan as you do now. Not to mention the probability of another chance like this ever occurring again. To make it absolutely clear, Mister Midoriya: I'm talking about a class five assignment stretching over weeks, all expenses paid. We don't get those kinds of requests too often. It shows you just how serious the EU is with this matter."
Izuku's gaze drifted to his hands he had folded in his lap. This whole situation had a certain appeal, he couldn't deny that, but it also seemed to be one of those 'offers you can't refuse' he knew from the movies, and that made him VERY uncomfortable. Could he just walk away from this, even if he wanted to?
"Oh, of course you could, Mister Midoriya. We are a government institution, not the Yakuza. Just say the word and you'll be on your way, no questions asked. But you are still looking for a catch, I can tell."
"Well, it does all sound a bit… overwhelming, to be honest." Izuku admitted, while scratching his neck, embarrassed. He only now realized that it was the first time he had spoken since his greeting.
Mister International grinned, a sympathetic look on his face.
"Don't worry, you are not the first one to be skeptical of one of my offers. My quirk doesn't make me look like the most trustworthy person, either. But let me assure you that there is no catch in this, other than the things I have already stated. Well, another inconvenience may be…" he took a long look at his wristwatch "… that your flight would depart in little over three hours, should you accept."
"Wha-what?!"
I'm sure it takes no mastermind to deduce that Izuku had accepted the offer in the end.
He had not really regretted his decision, but after all this time spent overseas… he was glad it was over.
The assignment had been very different from the typical 'punching-villains-till-they-give-up' kind of work he was used to, as well.
As he arrived in Brussels, the two other members of his task force already awaited him.
One was a rather beautiful violet-haired French woman, who went by the codename of 'Ciffre'. Her quirk 'photographic memory' made her an expert in nearly every topic, from languages over astronomy to mathematics, because somewhere, somewhen, she had read a book about it that she could remember by word.
The other member was a bald, muscular German guy, who went by the name of 'Voltbert'. He possessed a quirk called 'electromagnet' that allowed him to attract or repel objects containing metal towards or away from his body, provided he knew what kind of metal he wanted to effect.
Interestingly, both of them were no 'Heroes' in the sense of the word, but official agents of EUROPOL, since the EU had only regulated, but never prohibited the use of quirks as weapons for the purpose of law enforcement.
Deku, Bert and Chloe, as they called each other for the course of the mission, soon set out to the port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands to start their investigation.
Several leads suggested that the port was used as a distribution centre for a new drug called 'Blood Rush' that had quickly spread around all major cities in Europe.
The drug appeared to be a strong stimulant that could be used as an attention booster, painkiller, aphrodisiac – basically a remedy for everything, or so it was praised by its dealers.
Problem was, that long-term exposure often induced 'allergies' to the consumers own quirks.
And so it happened that users with fire related abilities were soon reported to spontaneously combust and painfully burn to death. Users with water related quirks drowned internally, users with ice related quirks were found frozen to death.
It had lead to nearly four hundred deaths in just one month, all around the continent.
The reason Japan was involved in the investigation, was that the morning Izuku had received his offer, police forces had reportedly seized a shipment with nine hundred kilograms of 'Blood Rush' in Tokyo's harbor – the first sighting of this drug on the Asian continent.
To make a long story short, after nine months of observing, interrogating, confiscating, beating, more observing, and finally: arresting, the task force had succeeded in smashing a cartel ring far bigger than suspected, taking forty-six big players into custody.
Thanks to their, and public educational work, the number of deaths in Europe stagnated at a low four-figured number.
'Blood Rush' never gained a foothold in Asia.
It had been mid March when Izuku had accepted this assignment and now, Christmas was right around the corner.
The Hero, still sitting on an airport bench, shook his head and pulled out his phone, only to realize that it had died on him again. For the fourth time today. Maybe a side-effect of working side-by-side with a guy that had a quirk called 'electromagnet'.
"Gah! Stupid piece of…! Oh man, I just wanna go home." Izuku groaned in defeat, letting his head fall back onto the top of his backpack.
True to the omnipotent advice 'have you tried turning it off and on again?' Izuku pushed the power button, careful not to crush the whole phone with his quirk while doing so. He wasn't in the best of moods, after all.
In effect, the screen came back to life (for now). It should've been enough time to at least check his messages… or so he thought.
The first message that popped up was a text spelling 'welcome to Japan!' by his service provider. The second message notified him that his location tracking services were now enabled again.
Just as he wanted to tap on the window that showed he had received thirty-four non computer generated messages, a big red triangle with an exclamation mark in the middle popped up, his phone giving a meaningful alarm tone simultaneously.
'MISSION ALERT C1107' it read and Izuku groaned again, this time even louder.
"Why do you hate me, world? I've not even been here for an hour!" he exclaimed woefully, but tapped on the green 'RESPOND' button, nonetheless.
He was still the great Hero Deku, and Deku never denied a contract if not absolutely necessary.
As an effect, a map popped open, showing him the location of the emergency, while in the bottom right corner, a timer started to count back, starting at eight minutes.
This was the estimated time until his arrival on scene, calculated by the Hero-app.
It was usually a rather generous calculation and should prove no problem for Deku to adhere, since it was first and foremost though for the police forces to have a rough estimate as to when they could expect support from nearby Heroes.
Izuku quickly grabbed his bags and hurried to a restroom where he changed into his hero costume. That took him a minute and forty-five seconds.
Since people now recognized him and the urgency in his step, Izuku had a much easier time moving forward.
He reached the closest information desk after three minutes and fifty seconds, where he slammed his luggage onto the counter as politely as possible.
"Welcome to Tokyo International Airport, how may I assist youOOOO-Omygod! You're the g-great hero Deku! I just saw you on the news!" the initially bored looking young woman behind the desk quite literally stood in her seat as she realized who was in front of her.
"Yeah, it's me, all right" Izuku responded with an internal cringe. So the news of their bust did make it here, after all.
"Listen, I have a very urgent matter at hand and I need you to contact the Central Hero Agency and tell them to get this stuff-" he pointed at his three pieces of luggage "to my place. To the Hero Deku's place. Can you do that?"
"O-of course, sir!" the young woman responded with a fierce blush.
"Great, thanks so much – have a nice day!" and with that he was off towards the exit at… four minutes and twenty-six seconds.
A good pace, considering he could reach his destination with the power of One-for-All in under half a minute.
Meanwhile…
"Aiko? What's with all that stuff?" a colleague of the young woman that was now in charge of Izuku's luggage asked, a cup of coffee in her hand.
She had just returned from her break when a low rumble, followed by a short yelp down the hall had grabbed her attention.
Aiko, as was her name, obviously had a hard time organizing the three large bags in her small booth.
"YOU KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF THESE BAGS AND MIND YOUR OWN GODDAMN BUSINESS, JUDY! THE GREAT HERO DEKU ASKED ME TO GET THEM TO HIS HOME AND NO ONE ELSE!"
Another big leap with Izuku's full powered Full Cowl was enough to catapult him towards the flashing lights of police vehicles blocking the street just four blocks ahead.
'C1107' the Hero repeated in his mind.
'Wasn't that the code for a hostage situation?'
He was unsure. Nine months going without the codes left a few gaps in his memory.
Izuku decided to drop the topic and focused his mind on landing gently, yet noticeably on scene instead.
His eyes immediately started searching (and finding) a police officer, who looked stressed out and kind of in charge.
"The Hero Deku! Thank goodness! I haven't heard of you in ages! I'm Sergeant Takabe with the Ota Police Department" the officer greeted, relief written all over his face.
"I was out of town for a while, but don't worry – I'm here now. What's the situation?" Izuku answered seriously, though never losing his smile, just as All-Might had preached him all these years ago.
"Four individuals stormed the Yamashita Bank ten minutes before closing time. From what we know, they have taken six to ten hostages on the ground floor. No demands were made as of yet. We don't know much about their quirks, but a witness claims that one of the suspects has some sort of blades for arms, if that helps" the officer explained.
"It'll have to do. Tell your men to keep the civilians and media at bay. Am I the only hero that responded to the ring?"
Sergeant Takabe tried to answer, but was cut short as another individual spoke up (to put it nicely).
"YOU HAVE TO BE SHITTING ME! FUCKING DEKU IS BACK?! NOW OF ALL THE TIMES?! THERE GOES THE FUCKING PEACE AND QUIET!"
Izuku flinched internally. What a nice sight to see upon his return to Tokyo.
"Hey, Kacchan."
It was indeed Katsuki Bakugo who was on scene as well. He wore his signature hero costume with the grenade gauntlets and his flare-shaped face mask.
At his side stood what looked like an intimidated young male student in a tight white-and-gray costume. Especially noticeable was the red visor he wore over his eyes and his ember mop of hair.
"He was the only other Hero to respond until now, should I send a second ring?" Officer Takabe mumbled, now seeming to sweat vigorously.
"Don't you fucking dare, officer! I can't possibly stomach more idiots now that Deku's here! Just get the hell out and let us do our job!"
Izuku suppressed a grin as he thought he heard Takabe mutter something in the likes of 'dickhead' as he wandered off.
"So, how are you doing Kacchan? Already taking sidekicks?" Izuku tried to distract his fellow Hero while nodding at the boy in the background.
"Like hell I would! And don't flatter him - it's obvious he's a fucking intern. Boss pinned him on me, because he obviously has greater things to do. EY, NERD! GET THE FUCK OVER HERE AND MAKE YOURSELF USEFUL! God, I can't believe I'm stuck here with both him AND you…"
It didn't take an enhanced-hearing quirk to hear how Bakugo gnashed his teeth.
"Soo, you got a clue why no one else responded?" Izuku asked with a nervous laugh, trying to pass the time until the intern had caught up to them.
"Do you realize what time of year it is? Most of them are probably already shitfaced on some Christmas staff party. It's why I'm stuck with Private Slug here, too. Fucking merry Christmas to me."
"Are you serious? It's not even six p.m.!"
Kacchan shot him a disgusted glare.
"You've obviously never been to one of those parties, have you? No surprise there, I wouldn't invite you if my life depended on it."
'Well, looks like I'm not the only one who didn't get invited' Izuku thought for himself.
They dropped the subject as the intern finally stood before them.
"Yes, s-sir… sirs?" he stammered and Deku pitied him. It wasn't too long ago when Bakugo had the same intimidating effect on him.
"Quit staring through women's panties and use your damn pervert eyes to tell me what you see inside that bank over there!"
'An X-Ray vision quirk, huh? Neat' Izuku pondered.
While Kacchan yelled at his intern and milked him for information, the green haired young man saw Sergeant Takabe frantically waving at him, a radio in hand.
"We just received a call from inside the bank! The four suspects call themselves members of the 'New League of Villains' and demand seven of their old comrades to be released from prison in exchange for the hostages. They gave us the names, too, but it doesn't make much sense. None of the guys they listed were very big in the old League of Villains. Some are not even associated with them at all, but serve sentences because of other offences" The officer in charge informed.
"Not a very elaborate plan" Izuku thought aloud "and why a bank? I don't believe… valiant companionship is everything that drives these guys. Can you stall them for a few more minutes? Try to give them a false sense of security." The officer nodded in agreement.
"I'll see what I can do."
Izuku went back to Kacchan and the boy with the X-Ray quirk and told them the information he had gathered.
"'New League of Villains'? What a fucking disgrace. The old one's dead and buried for ages and was already pitiful enough, but those guys are nothing but imitators looking for an excuse to get their asses handed to them. Here's what we'll do: captain naughty-eyes here deduced that two guys are hauled up with four hostages in the front right corner of the building. You take care of them. I take the two other asshats who somehow made it behind the counter where the other three hostages are. I would take them all alone, but you're already here and I'd hate to see you cry over the fact of how utterly useless you actually are."
Izuku had a hand on his chin as he considered Bakugo's plan. It was head-on and uncompromising, but it made sense. Thanks to the kid with the X-Ray vision, they knew the exact location of the perpetrators and both of them were easily agile enough to overpower the captors before they could as much as move a finger.
"Seems like a plan." Izuku agreed "We'll reach the front door undetected if we close in from the three o' clock side of the building."
Kacchan blinked in surprise, though Deku wasn't sure what caught him off guard. The fact that he agreed, or the fact that he himself hadn't thought about how to approach the building.
"I thought that was obvious. And the plan's not up for discussion. Follow it or go the fuck home. I'll take care of the entry. These morons barred it with a fucking crowbar. Do you have any idea how insulting that is? What am I, a fucking senile? Let's get this over with."
And with that, The Hero Deku and the Hero Kacchan started their approach.
"Wait, what am I supposed to do?" Kacchan's intern asked, about to be left behind.
"Your job is done. Wait here and radio me if something happens inside. EYES ON THE FUCKING BUILDING, got it, perv? And tell the police we're going in."
"Yes, sir!"
Izuku waited till Bakugo was a few steps ahead of him, then turned around and gave the kid a thumbs up while mouthing 'good job', visibly brightening the expression of the young man.
As they reached the main entrance, Deku took position on the right side of the huge wooden double door, while Kacchan took to the left side.
The latter gave a hand signal to 'hold position' as he reached for one of the grenades on his belt. Kacchan unscrewed the grenade like a bottle and poured some sort of lightly viscous fluid into his hand, before he started to cover the doors hinges and lock with it, drawing thin connection lines between the parts with his little finger.
Izuku guessed that it was a mixture containing Kacchan's nitroglycerine-like sweat. He must have come up with this especially for situations like this.
After he was done, Izuku's ex-nemesis put one palm on the hinge closest to him while starting a countdown from three with the other hand.
Just as the last finger dropped, a medium-sized explosion sent the massive two doors flying inward.
Izuku wasted no time and activated his Full Cowl ability, rushing right through the ongoing explosion. It took him two small steps to get inside the building, where he channeled his power into his left foot and catapulted himself towards the two hostiles assigned to him, who were busy threatening hostages in the far right corner of the room.
They didn't even have the chance to turn their heads before both of them were slammed into the wall with a single massive right hook.
Izuku recognized the man who had blades for arms, now unconscious on the floor.
Meanwhile Kacchan had used his explosion ability to boost himself into the room, sending him flying straight towards the other two villains behind the counter, supposedly protected by bullet proof glass.
Mid flight, he lifted both his arms in front of him and, with a wicked grin and a "DIE!" on his lips, blasted two holes through the glass, exactly where the two captors' heads were located, smashing them into the back wall by the blast of the shockwave, (hopefully only) unconscious and slightly smoking.
The hostages, who had been cowering beneath the counter, stayed uninjured.
Altogether, their seizure had taken less than four seconds.
A minute later, arrestment units of the police swarmed the building, packing the suspects in quirk-proof vests and carrying them out under medical supervision.
The hostages were brought to safety and left in the hands of psychological emergency counselors.
As Kacchan and Deku left the building, they were greeted by the X-Ray vision intern and Sergeant Takabe, who shook hands with them and thanked them for their service (even Kacchan).
Izuku decided to excuse himself as fast as possible and searched for a dark alley he could use to make a quiet getaway before the media would get to him.
"DEKU!" surprisingly, it was Bakugo who had called after him. Izuku waited until the blonde man had caught up to him with lazy steps.
"Alright, this should be the point where I tell you that I wish you'd stayed wherever the fuck you were the last months, but… let's just say, I would never have thought how low the standard would sink with you gone. Most of the other fucking 'Heroes' where a major pain in the ass to work with and nothing but an obstacle whenever they showed up, whereas you… did decent today. Don't let it get to your head, though, asshole! It still pisses me off, YOU still piss me off, but today's amount was… manageable. That's all I wanted to say."
Izuku managed a slight smile. Knowing Kacchan for so long, it must have been one of the nicest thing he had ever said to anybody. He decided not to kill the mood, and accepted the compliment with a short nod, before going his way.
"And Deku?" Izuku turned his head once more, looking into narrowed eyes.
"You know Christmas' just around the corner, right? Merry go fuck yourself."
Izuku couldn't contain a small laugh now.
"You, too, Kacchan. You too." And with a small wave over his shoulder, the great Hero Deku headed for the closest alleyway, continuing his mission to finally get home…
That's it for the first chapter. I feel like I should tell you that this, like everything I write, is a short story. Nevertheless, there's still one chapter or the other that I aim to publish, which will focus more on the core of what this story is about. I hope you still enjoyed this sort of build up episode, though. It felt like the story would have been bland without it.
Let me know what you thought about it. Until next time.
Enigm4