After reading and watching some of this very fun and very amazing series: My Hero Academia, I thought I'd give it a shot and try something with this. I don't own anything besides my OC: Ryu Soshi. NeoNazo356 has given me an oc of his for this story and his name is Kenji Matsuda.
[words] Quirks
'thoughts'
"Stop! Thief!"
At a local farmer's market near the Shizuoka Prefecture, a stand owner shouted at a homeless looking teen as he ran throughout the market place. The homeless teen, dressed in torn jeans, a faded gray hoodie with a missing right sleeve and no shoes, ran right by some people as he took an apple, some bread, and a purse by mistake to which he quickly threw it back to the person as he ran from the stand owner. As the stand owner got frustrated by the homeless kid for taking his jar of honey, he unleashed a vine out of his wrist as it followed the kid like a heat seeking missile.
The teen looked back and saw the vine as he jumped over a stand table as the vine followed and grabbed hold of something. As the stand owner felt his vine grab hold of something, he gave it a powerful tug and saw that he grabbed hold of… a mother holding onto her baby girl. "Oh god, sorry I didn't me-" The stand owner said before he received a series of smacks from the lady's purse repeatedly for causing her baby girl to cry so much. As the man was being pummeled by the mother, the homeless kid poked his head out from under the table and made a break for it before any hero showed up and tried to attack him.
After getting a block or so away from the farmer's market, the teen ran into an alleyway and hid behind a dumpster to enjoy his catch of the day, or as he would call it… breakfast. The teen pulled his hood down to reveal his light blue scale-patterned skin which was caked with dirt and grime, red and green heterochromatic eyes, a golden horn sticking out of his forehead, and sharp-looking teeth.
'Well let's see, not much today… but I can't get picky. Looks like it's apple and bread today. Wish I got some water or something but guess my luck was just bad today,' the homeless teen thought as he pocketed the honey and took a bite of the apple.
As the teen was about to take a bite of some of the bread, he heard a small cry coming right next to him. He turned to see an orange dog with black stripes on its back and legs with tufts of light orange fur on top of its head and on its chest, with a black cat with some red fur on its face and red stripes legs looked at him with sad and hungry eyes. The teen looked at his food and gave half of the white bread to the dog and some of his apple to the cat, making sure he got rid of the seeds. Both animals were happy for this and gave a happy bark and meow as they grabbed the food and scampered away.
'Nice animals... But now I have very little food left,' the homeless teen thought as he looked at the half bread and apple he already took a bite of. 'Oh well, I could probably find something else later on today. But man I'm so thirsty. Better go to the train station, they always seem to have such nice cool water at their fountains.' With that, the teen pulled his hood back over his head and carefully made his way to the train station, keeping his head low so nobody would see his face.
He didn't have the best experience as a child with people, so he completely avoided them out of the fear of what they'd do to a "freak" like him. As he made his way to the station, he failed to realize there was a growing crowd behind him, or that a transmission tower had been knocked over, falling straight towards him until-
"Hey kid RUN!" a bystander shouted, the homeless teen looking up and bracing for impact until a muscular hero jumped next to him and caught the transmission tower before it could flatten either of them.
"Kid, it's not safe, get out of here quickly!" the Hero shouted, the homeless teen panicking before he made a break for it into an alleyway.
At the same time, two middle school teens both clad in black school uniforms saw the going-on heroics in action. One had mid-length curly black hair with green highlights, large green eyes, and light skin with freckles on his cheeks; he wore a pair of oversized red sneakers on his feet. The other had short-cut black hair with dark red highlights that was slicked back with a single spit curl that refused to be tamed, lightly-tanned skin, and black eyes. While the first had his eyes completely fixated on the Heroes at work on the road above them, the second caught a glimpse at the homeless as he ran off, a knot of worry forming in his stomach as he saw the teen's attire; or lack thereof.
"Oh! Kenji! Did you see how strong Deathgoro was when he saved that kid?" the freckle-faced teen asked.
"Ah, yeah, sure he is, Izuku," the slick-haired teen returned. "So, who do you think's gonna show up next?" he asked. However, before Izuku could reply, the cheer from a throng of fangirls cut him off.
"AAAAAAAH! IT'S KAMUI! YOU'RE OUR FAVORITE HERO!" the girls shouted as a Hero clad in a black body suit with wooden gloves, boots, and helmet covering his face jumped up to the tracks, standing at the ready to take the giant shark-like Villain down.
"Never mind," Kenji said silently as he and Izuku watched the wooden Hero square off against the Villain.
"It's Kamui Woods, he may be a new Hero, but he sure is making a big name for himself," Izuku said with such excitement as Kenji understood as well. As they watched the fight take place, they witnessed Kamui's wood Quirk take effect as he stretched his arm far to avoid the smack from the villain's giant hands and run right up his arm to go for the face. But the villain attacked the hero with his other hand as Kamui used his Quirk once more and landed on top of the train station to prepare for a counter move against this villain.
"You use your powers for assault, petty theft, injury and causing traffic for these hard-working folks who are just trying to make a living. You are evil incarnate, and this is the punishment you deserve!" Kamui stated as he stretched out his right arm as it began to literally branch out.
"Kenji look, it's his special move," Izuku said to his friend as they were about to witness a heroic move to detain this villain. "It's his Absolute Preemptive Confinement…"
"Lacquered Chains Prison!" Kamui said finishing Izuku's statement as he stretched his arm out to the villain as his arm turned to branches for the purpose of holding him in place and effectively capturing him. However…
"CANYON CANNON!" a giant Hero shouted as she kicked the villain hard in the face, knocking him into the street below.
"Oh, that's gotta hurt," Kenji said as the giant Heroine looked over her shoulder, her shapely backside to the crowd. Multiple men with cameras or even camera phones soon began swarming around her, or rather, her rear as they all muttered- "Money shot."
"And Heroes wonder why people think they're a bunch of glory-hogs," Kenji said to himself as Mount Lady continued to pose for the camera, completely sweeping the rug out from Kamui's wooden boots. Looking over to his childhood friend, he saw that Izuku was frantically scribbling notes into a well-used notebook. "Making notes about the new Hero, I see."
"Yeah, gotta make sure I keep taking notes for when either of us becomes a hero," Izuku said with a smile as he worked, and then began muttering to himself in a hushed tone, a habit which had gotten him the moniker "Mutteriya" by his peers. Of course, it's not like he ever let name-calling stop him from taking notes before.
"Glad to see some things never change," Kenji said as they watched the police chain up the Villain with Capture Gear, Mount Lady soaking up the limelight all the while. He felt a little bad for Kamui Woods who was sulking off to the side, but felt a little better knowing the man still had ardent fans who were willing to say they "still love" him. Turning his attention back to the alleyway from before, he saw the homeless teen from before poking his head out of the shadows, his scaly blue-colored skin coming into view. The moment the two locked eyes, the homeless teen ran off into the alley again, disappearing from sight. Before he was able to offer some help however-
"Kenji, we gotta get going! We're running late for school!" Izuku shouted as the crowd began to disperse.
"Oh crap, you're right!" Kenji said lookin down at his watch, the two making a mad dash for their school.
"By the way, what were you looking at before?" Izuku asked as they ran.
"That kid Deathgoro saved earlier, he looked like he really needed a helping hand," Kenji answered.
"Well, the fact that you can worry so much for a complete stranger just means you'll make for a great Hero," Izuku said with a smile. Whether it was using the enhanced senses that came with his Quirk to help lost children find their parents, or help little old ladies with bags of groceries across the street, Kenji was the sort who'd lend a helping hand to anyone who needed it, just like his parents would. He'd even help the homeless whenever he could, pointing them toward the nearest shelter, even going as far as to help them along if they couldn't get there on their own.
"You don't need a reason to help those in need," Kenji recited his mother's words with a smile. His parents, Takayuki and Mirei Matsuda were a top-notch defense attorney duo who always managed to get justice even when the odds weren't in their favor, and whenever they were asked why they'd take on cases for less than their nominal fare, the two of them would always reply- "You don't need to have a reason to help those in need." Because of their heartfelt desire to help people that most others would refuse, Kenji wanted to follow in their footsteps; helping those in need as a Hero, or barring that, as a DA if he couldn't get into a Hero High school.
"Right!" Izuku replied with a smile, happy to have someone like Kenji who stood by him, even when he received the stigma of being Quirkless.
*Middle School Classroom*
"Alright class settle down," the teacher stood before the room as he held a stack of papers in his hands. "As you know, you are all third year students. And this means it's time to be thinking about your futures. Normally I would hand out these future career forms, but…" The teacher then threw the papers into the air with a smile on his face. "I assume you all want to take the Hero course."
Everyone in the class, except for three students were displaying their Quirks in excitement at the mere mention of it. Izuku held his head down while slowly raising his hand up, Kenji sitting upright with his hand up while exercising the self-control his peers sorely lacked. Apart from Izuku and Kenji, the only other student not showing off their Quirk had his left foot propped up on his desk.
"I know you all have some very impressive Quirks," the teacher stated as he looked among his students as a vast majority of them had their Quirks activated from one kid inflating his head, another with huge sharp teeth, another student with wind swirling around her arm, and finally one kid pulling his eyeballs out of his skull.
That's just gross and disturbing to see.
"But you all know the rules, no using your powers in school. You know better than that," the teacher stated before the student who had his foot on the desk spoke out.
"Hey teach, don't lump me in with all of these losers. I'm gonna go places while these idiots would end up as sidekicks to some D-rank hero," the blond-haired teen said as he gave everyone a confident and snarky sneer, the bulk of the class immediately turning on him. "Oh shut it you lousy extras! You ain't got shit on me!" the teen yelled at them again as the teacher looked over his grade book.
"Oh yes Bakugou, your test skills are indeed impressive. Perhaps you just might make it in Yuuei High," the teacher stated, much to everyone's shock.
"He's trying for the national school?"
"They only have a very small acceptance rate. And some of those people who do get in are from recommendations."
"It's basically impossible to get into."
"And that is exactly why I will get into Yuuei!" Bakugou stated as he stood up from his seat and onto his desk. "It's the only place for me to go. Hell I even aced the mock exams, so that means I'm the only one with the power to get into the school that all you extras can only dream about."
Izuku tried his best not to look at Bakugou out of fear of him turning this rant about himself into a showcase of his sheer ferocity and strength. Kenji got his attention as he made some hand signals that only he and Izuku know about. 'Really, if he didn't make explosions from his hands I could swear his Quirk was inflating his own ego.' Kenji signed in the shorthand sign language, Izuku cracking a smile at the unsaid crack. Even if Bakugou did see it, it wasn't like there was any way he could prove what was being said because the two of them used non-standard signs and gestures.
"I will become more popular than All Might himself, and become the greatest hero the world has ever witnessed! I'll be so rich that I can buy a skyscraper for my headquarters, and this will all start when I get into Yuuei High!" Bakugou finished his rant as the class looked on.
"Oh right I almost forgot, Midoriya and Matsuda, you both plan on going to Yuuei High as well don't you?" the teacher asked as he saw their grades, remembering the two talk about attending Yuuei in the past. Of course, the moment he said that, the mood in the class ground to a screeching halt, Izuku flinching back when everyone's eyes landed on him, Kenji showing slightly less unease. Moments later, the students all began to laugh, Izuku's self-confidence taking yet another hit, while Kenji grit his teeth, just barely restraining himself from using his Quirk on the lot of them in such a small room.
Also, he didn't want to get his parents in trouble because he busted another set of windows and/or eyeglasses.
"Midoriya and the Crybaby? No way would those two losers make it!"
"Grades alone won't get you two peons into that school!"
"Matsuda has a horrible Quirk, and Midoriya doesn't even have one!"
"W-Well that may be, but they got rid of that rule at Yuuei, so me and Kenji could be the very first to-" Izuku said in the face of his classmate's laughter moments before Bakugou slammed his hand on Izuku's desk sending him sprawling to the floor, shutting everyone up as the acrid smell of smoke hit those nearest to it.
"Listen up, Deku!" Bakugou shouted as he insulted the green-haired teen cowering on the floor. "Forget about these useless reject, you don't even have a Quirk, you Quirkless loser! You think they'd let someone like you step foot on campus when they could have me instead?" he growled, growing angrier by the second as no-one tried to stop him, not even the teacher.
"B-But I've always dreamed of being a hero, and I thought that I could make it there and be just like them..." Izuku tried to explain. Bakugou grew tired of hearing "Deku's" prattling, raising his explosion-clad hand up into the air. However, before he could turn his Quirk on the Quirkless teenager, a chair on his immediate right screeched out before Kenji got right in Bakugou's face, shielding Izuku when no-one else would.
"Leave him alone, Baku-baka," Kenji said through grit teeth. "That's not your decision to make!"
"Or what? You gonna cry really loud like a baby and call for help?" Bakugou taunted, sick and tired of how the "Crybaby" always stopped him from wailing on Izuku. "That's all you're good for, really; calling for help. You're even more useless than everyone else in here but me, so get out of the way or else you'll regret ever standing up to me!"
"Give it your best shot, Baku-baka!" Kenji said as he raised his voice, the students nearest to him covering their ears as the teen's decibel output spiked. Kenji Matsuda's Quirk, [Loud Voice], basically lets him amplify the sound he put out to exceed that of a stadium loudspeaker. While on-paper it wasn't as strong as Bakugou's [Explosion], at the very least he was confident enough he could bust an eardrum or two before he got any permanent burn damage from the angry teen.
"Bakugou, that's enough!" the teacher shouted before the two came to blows. "Leave the two of them alone and get back in your seat or I'll put this incident on your permanent record!"
While that didn't sound all that bad once you said it out loud, threats of that nature were actually the only way to restrain Bakugou before he actually hurt someone with his Quirk. Kenji getting rough-housed by those with stronger Quirks was actually part of the reason why all Quirk-related incidents resulted in black marks on permanent records; because the school district was afraid the Matsuda family, the best lawyers in three prefectures, would file a lawsuit for abuse on their child. Were it not for this rule, Bakugou would've been able to get away with doing much worse to Izuku than hurling insults at him.
Clicking his tongue angrily, Bakugou reluctantly went back to his seat while Kenji helped Izuku to his feet.
"You alright, Izuku?"
"Y-yeah, thank you, Kenji," Izuku replied as he went to the back of the room to get a replacement desk.
Let's just say when one of your class' angriest had a Quirk like [Explosion], you tended to keep spares within arm's reach.
*Downtown 2:30 PM*
The homeless teen from before was walking by the street where some convenience stores were positioned, since he was still really thirsty; that Hero and all the excitement from earlier had scared him away from the train station, and he was trying to find another fountain.
'Crap, I'm so thirsty. Stupid Villain making a scene and attracting so much attention from the Heroes. I got to get something in me before I die,' the homeless teen thought held his stomach. As many people passed by him without even a care or worry, only one person noticed him on the ground.
"Hey kid," a voice spoke up, the homeless teen looking up to see an overly-skinny man with sharp angular features and long skinny limbs looking down at him. He had spiky, disheveled hair with two bangs framing the sides of his face and no eyebrows. His attire consisted of a baggy white shirt and dark green cargo pants that looked several sizes too large for him, a pair of brown shoes on his feet. "You look like you could use something to eat or something," the man said, the homeless teen quickly looking down to keep his face covered. The blonde haired man saw this reaction as he inspected the boy. He looked tired, malnourished, and in need of medical help. The blonde man didn't know where to start so he decided to give him something instead out of the kindness of his heart. "I don't know why you're hiding your face, but take this, you look like you really need it. I got two from the vending machine by accident earlier so it's no bother for me," he said putting a bottle of water down in front of the malnourished teen.
The malnourished teen looked at the bottle for a moment before glancing up at the skinny man in front of him, before unscrewing the cap from the bottle and chugging it down like he'd been in a desert for days on end. At the same time, the blond-haired man felt really bad for him, deciding to go into the convenience store and get him some food he'd been planning on getting for himself.
"Th... Thank you, sir," the homeless teen said in a scratchy voice that said he hadn't talked much in a long time.
"It's no problem young man, it was the right thing to do anyway," the blonde man said as he entered the store. A minute later and the man had exited, greeted not by the homeless teen from before, but instead by a crowd watching someone run down the street.
"Thief! Stop him!" a store clerk shouted, pointing to a giant sludge villain with dollar bills spilling out of his form. However, that wasn't what the blond man was paying the most attention to.
"Don't try and stop me! If you do, I'll hurt this kid!" the sludge villain shouted as he fled the scene, a blue-colored limb briefly poking out.
"Geez, where're the Heroes?" one bystander asked as he looked at the sludge villain.
"I think they might still be busy dealing with the damage from this morning," another answered.
"This could be tricky for them. I think I saw a blue kid sticking out of him," a third stated, confirming the blond man's worst fear. Stepping back and out of sight, the once-skinny man suddenly bulked up into a more-massive version of himself covered head to toe with rippling muscles that filled out the once-baggy clothes he wore. No-one saw the transformation, save one pair of eyes sticking out of the side of the sludge Villain.
"Isn't there anyone who can stop him?" another bystander worriedly asked.
"Why, yes there is, good citizens!" the formerly-skinny man said in a now booming voice, everyone who looked upon the man smiling brightly. "And do you know why?" he asked, the sludge villain looking back in fright as the crowed parted before the blond-haired man. "That is because I am here!" he proclaimed bombastically as he took off after the sludge Villain, the surrounding crowd cheering him on all the way.
*Back at the middle school*
It was the end of the day as everyone was gathering their things to go home. Some people were making plans to hang out while others went back home to do homework. Out in one of the hallways, Kenji stood over Izuku's shoulder as they looked at his phone, the freckle-faced teen cycling through photos.
"Whoa, that fight from this morning is all over the news. Check out all of these images people took," Izuku said as he went through the captured images from the fight they witnessed. Fortunately, there were none on his stream of Mount Lady's assets.
There was a completely different website for images like that.
"Uh huh..." Kenji returned unenthusiastically.
"You still thinking about that homeless kid?" Izuku asked.
"Yeah... Seeing that kind of thing just leaves a bad taste in my mouth," his friend answered. "I mean, we live in a world where eighty percent of the populous has superpowers, and that number's growing smaller every day. Yet we've still got things like famine and drought and homelessness..."
"I see where you're coming from," Izuku returned. "Until we find that guy again, I have some new thoughts for my Hero Notes," he said holding the well-worn book up, only for Bakugou to snatch it out of his hands.
"Deku! I'm nowhere near finished with you yet!" Bakugou growled, his two flunkies from grade school behind him.
"Hey Bakugou, what's that you got in your hands, buddy?" the kid with the Quirk [Fingers] asked.
"Looks like some ratty notebook," the rotund kid with the Quirk [Wings] added.
"Future Hero Notes for Kenji and Me... Wow that's just pathetic. You actually think either one of you losers can become a Hero? You're nothing but trash next to me," Bakugou sneered.
"We'll see who the trash is when we become better Heroes than you jerks!" Kenji barked at them, his [Loud Voice] causing them to flinch back. Last time they picked on him, they'd been left with ringing ears for three hours and possibly tinnitus, and the one time they tried covering his mouth so he couldn't use his Quirk, the kid with [Fingers] almost lost one.
Suffice it to say, from then-on the three of them chose the lesser of two pains.
"Kacchan, just give it back, please," Izuku pleaded, the boy nearly jumping out of his skin as Bakugou proceeded to singe the book with his Quirk. Izuku's expression soon became fearful as Bakugou reared his arm back to throw it out the window, however, before the blond could, Kenji's hand shot forward snagging his wrist, stopping him mid-toss.
"Unless you like the sound of nails on a chalk board at full-volume, I suggest you drop the book, and walk away," Kenji growled through grit teeth.
"Tch," Bakugou clicked his tongue angrily. He knew he could take the Matsuda kid down, no sweat, but he decided to drop it otherwise his mom would get on his case again. "Let's make one thing clear, Crybaby," Bakugou said as he dropped the book, only to grind his heel onto the cover. "The only one going to Yuuei outta this crappy school is gonna be me! Not you, and not Deku! In other words, if the two of you even try to do better than me, I'll make sure neither of you even make it to the entrance exams. But hey, if you wanna be a Hero, it's very simple. Just take a swan dive off the roof and pray you actually get a Quirk in your next life," he said with a mean chuckle.
"Yeah yeah. Now run along, Baku-baka. I think I hear your mommy calling," Kenji returned, Bakugou seething before he whirled around on his heel and stormed off, his two flunkies following fearfully forthwith. "What an asshole," Kenji spit out as soon as they were out of earshot, before turning to his friend as he dejectedly picked up the remains of his notebook. "Don't listen to him, Izuku. The guy's got a personality like crap steeped in sewage. No way he'll become more-popular than All Might."
"Yeah... I suppose you're right..." Izuku said sadly as the edges of his notebook came apart in his hands.
"Hey, c'mon, it's like All Might says," Kenji said clapping Izuku on the back, the green-haired kid looking up to see his friend giving him a big cheesy grin that crinkled his eyes. "The people in this world who can smile are always the strongest!"
"Right," Izuku returned with his own smile, albeit a bit shaky. "Even if I don't make it... I know that you at least can become a great Hero."
"Don't you mean we can become great Heroes?" Kenji corrected. "Who cares if you do or don't have a Quirk? Quirks aren't what makes a Hero great, it's what they do that makes them great, and even if All Might didn't have the power he had, I'm sure he would've rescued people from that burning freeway all the same. So don't give up on your dream just yet, alright?"
"Right!" Izuku returned, feeling completely rejuvenated as he let out a big bombastic laugh not unlike his idol.
"Okay, dial back the laughter a little," Kenji chuckled. "You're nothing if not spirited, and that's something Bakugou will never have."
After that the two gathered their things, leaving the school and heading home in much better spirits. As they were passing through an above-ground tunnel on the way to their house, Kenji put his hand out in front of Izuku, a finger to his lips as he craned his head around, ears perked up.
"What's the matter?" Izuku whispered.
"I hear something..." Kenji said as he turned his attention to the wormhole.
"M-Maybe it's the sewer backing up again?" Izuku guessed. Wouldn't be the first time that happened.
"No, it sounds louder than that. Like... footsteps... and something else," he said trying to pick out the noise. Eyes widening a few moments later, he shouted- "Run for it!" -moments before the manhole was thrown upwards by a column of sludge, a pair of big yellow eyes and jagged teeth coming into view. However, before the two could get away from him, the living sludge wrapped itself around them.
"Two new bodies to hide in. I can only pick one, and this twig isn't worth the trouble he got me into," the sludge villain said as he cast the homeless teen from that morning away before redirecting his attention to his new victims. "Hmmm, decisions, decisions..." the villain hummed as he covered the two's mouths.
At the same time, Izuku's mind was going a mile a minute as he and Kenji tried to free themselves. 'My body's getting weaker by the second... Oh god... I think I'm about to die...' he thought as he desperately clawed at the sludge around his face, only to no avail.
"Meh, the freckles aren't doing it for me. Guess it's your lucky day!" the sludge villain sneered as he made his choice.
'Oh no! Kenji!' Izuku cried as the villain eyed his friend hungrily. However, right before the sludge villain could do whatever he was going to do, Kenji's airway was freed up, an opportunity the lawyers' son wasn't willing to pass up.
"HEEEEELP!" he cried out with his [Loud Voice], the sludge villain's hand going to nonexistent ears as his body rippled, the teen's voice going out in all directions causing people to turn their attention towards him.
"Shut up. Shut up! shut up!" the sludge villain growled out as he tried to pry Kenji's mouth open, only for the teen to blast him with another wave of sound completely disorienting the villain.
'Of course! Sound moves four times faster through water than it does through air, and since this Villain's practically made of water, he's feeling every decibel of Kenji's Quirk!' Izuku realized as the sludge around his face peeled away. Not even a moment later, before the sludge villain could recover from Kenji's auditory assault, a massive blond-haired man with his hair sticking up like rabbit ears suddenly shot out of the manhole, his feet leaving cracks in the ground.
"Have no fear, for I am here!" a bombastic voice proclaimed.
"All Might!" the sludge villain and his two victims gawped out, one out of fear, one with relief, and one with complete admiration. "You're not gonna stop me!" the sludge villain growled as he charged forward, his two hostages held at chest level acting as human shields, much to the Symbol of Peace's consternation. However, before the villain could close the distance, Kenji freed himself and shouted- "LET US GOOOOO!" -right into the sludge Villain's ear, the living muck recoiling and dropping the two to the ground, giving the Hero the opening he needed.
"Thanks for the help young man, I couldn't risk any harm coming to either one of you," the hero said as he reared his arm back, muscles shifting like tectonic plates as he bellowed- "TEXAS... SMASH!" -, the air pressure of his punch causing the sludge Villain to literally go to pieces, his sludge-colored mass splattered all over the ground, leaving his two hostages free to refill their airways.
"Oh god... I'm never gonna be able to get the smell out of my uniform," Kenji retched before looking over to the side. "Holy cow, you're..."
"All Might..." Izuku said wistfully before fainting on the spot.
"Izuku!" Kenji cried forgetting all about the stank of his uniform as he turned to his friend. "C'mon, I know you're not dead, I can still hear your heartbeat! Wake up or you won't be able to get All Might's autograph!"
"Looks like the lad's only in need of a breather," All Might said before turning his attention to the homeless teen from before. Pressing a finger to the side of his neck, after a few seconds he found a pulse, the Hero letting out a sigh of relief. "Ah, good, the boy is unharmed," he said just as the boy began to come do. "I still don't know why you're afraid to show your face, but at the very least I'll respect your privacy," the man said as he pulled the teen's hood over his head before turning his attention elsewhere.
"Izuku! Wake up! You're gonna miss your chance!" Kenji cried. He was certain that out of their age group, Izuku was the biggest All Might fan, no questions asked. It was certainly easy to buy birthday gifts for the guy, but if he slept through this, the boy would never be able to forgive himself for missing out on the chance for an autograph. "C'mon, wakeup, wakeup, wakeup!"
"Please, fine citizen, allow me to try," All Might said with a reassuring smile as he got down on one knee. The next moment, to Kenji's shock, All Might began lightly slapping Izuku in the face. "Hey, wake up little man, oi," he said as he continued, his efforts bearing fruit as, a few minutes later, the green-haired boy came to. "Good, you're awake. For a second there I thought we lost you," he said relieved, Izuku's eyes widening before he began to babble incoherently in the face of his favorite Hero. "Sorry you two got caught up in all this. I tried to keep up with this vile evildoer, but the nearby sewers were hard to navigate," he explained, a sweat drop on his head as Izuku continued to babble. "Anyhow... you were very brave young man. If you hadn't called out for help as loudly as you did, I might not have been able to get to you in time," he said clapping a hand on Kenji's shoulder.
"The Sludge Villain! What happened to the Sludge Villain?" Izuku cried when he found his words.
"Fear not, for the Villain has now been contained in these cylindrical capture units," All Might proclaimed as he pats two large bottles in his side pockets, each filled with sludge and a single crossed-out eye bobbing inside of them.
'I'm never gonna be able to drink bottled water ever again,' Kenji thought as he gagged, the taste of the Sludge Villain fresh on his tongue.
"Wait! Don't go yet! I still need your autograph!" Izuku cried as he scuttled across the ground looking for his notebook. "Where is it? Where is it?!"
"Here you go."
"HE ALREADY SIGNED IT!" Izuku squealed in both shock and delight as he locked eyes with the hero's titular signature.
"Where'd he even find the time?" Kenji asked with shock. Him capturing the villain and signing Izuku's notebook took way too little time to make sense.
"Hahaha! It's easy for me when you're the Symbol of Peace!" All Might proclaimed as though that answered everything. "Well, I have to get this criminal to the police, so stay out of your trouble you three. Oh, and if you could step back so I could take off, that'd be appreciated," All Might said as he stepped back, doing some stretches before leaping off into the distance.
"Wow..." Kenji said looking on in awe, never imagining he'd get to meet Japans No. 1 Hero in person, least of all not today. "Man, the pictures don't do that guy justice, do they Izuku?" No reply. "Izuku?" Still no reply.
"Uwaaag!"
"Oh crap! Izuku!" Kenji gaped as he squinted his eyes, seeing his friend's form dangling off of All Might's leg mid-flight, clutching onto it like there was no tomorrow. " . . . Well, at least he couldn't be in safer hands," he sighed.
At the same time, the homeless teen woke up, taking in his surroundings after the rather harrowing experience he'd just had. 'Where am I? How did I get here? Last thing I remember was the sludge-' he thought as he flailed about, thinking he were still trapped.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down, you're safe," a voice said above him. "It's alright, All Might saved us, you're safe now."
Hearing that and seeing no sign of the sludge villain, the homeless teen calmed down, only to realize that in his flailing he'd thrown his hood off, the student standing over him getting a look at his face. Panicking, the teen scrambled to his feet, a single word causing him to falter.
"Wait!"
Looking over his shoulder, he saw the dark-haired teen simply standing there, a single hand held out.
"I don't know why it is you keep running away, but at the very least, let me try to help you," the student stated, the homeless teen pausing, unsure what to do. On the one hand, the guy in front of him seemed like he really wanted to help, but on the other he'd been beaten up and left for dead so many times for no reason, he wasn't willing to open up to people. However, the one who ultimately made the decision for him was his stomach, which rumbled like an earthquake. "Don't need super hearing to know you're hungry," the teen chuckled. "C'mon, I know a noodle stand just around the corner that can help with that," he offered, kindly, the homeless teen mulling over it for a moment as he followed after.
For the next couple minutes, the teen followed the student in front of him, Kenji as he introduced himself, toward what he hoped was actually a hot meal and not a beating. There weren't any back alleys, only open roads much to his surprise, the two arriving at said noodle shop before his stomach could growl again. However, the noodle shop was more of a noodle cart, but in this case, beggars literally couldn't be choosers.
"Good evening, Wok-san," Kenji greeted as the two of them walked through the curtain. "Two large orders of shrimp noodles please," he requested, the old man nodding his head as he got to work with unreal speed, he and he homeless teen taking their seats. There was an awkward silence as they waited, neither of them saying anything until eventually, it was Kenji who broke the silence. "So um... Wow there's no gentle way to say this... How long have you been on the streets for?"
The homeless teen froze, pondering if he should tell this random person just because he asked, as well as because he was giving him food. However, looking at him, something about his eyes made him want to trust the guy.
"T... Ten y-years," he eventually answered, Kenji's eyes widening in shock.
"That long?!" Kenji gawped, eyes wide before he asked- "What about your family? Friends?"
"I-I'm all alone," the teen answered, the knot of dread in Kenji's stomach tightening.
"I'm sorry to hear that. Really, I am," Kenji sighed as he ran his hand through his hair, spit-curl once-more coming down over his brow. "My name's Kenji. Kenji Matsuda. What's yours?"
The homeless teen looked down before he said his name. "Ryu, Ryu Soshi."
Before Ryu could say anything more, the bowls of noodles were placed in front of them, the broth glistening like liquid gold, the shrimp like jewels in a treasure chest. Ryu's stomach growled once more, the teen shakily breaking apart the chopsticks in front of him, trying to remember when he'd last eaten a warm meal. Realizing he couldn't remember, his stomach growled once more, compelling him to eat. While Kenji ate with chopsticks, Ryu dug right in, tipping the bowl as he let the noodles slide into his waiting mouth.
"I take it you're enjoying yourself," Kenji stated, Ryu enthusiastically nodding his head before his bowl came empty moments later. "Here, you can have mine," he said pushing his bowl forward.
"R-Really?" Ryu asked even as he pulled the bowl toward him.
"I'm sure," Kenji said reaching into his uniform, the blue-skinned boy flinching back before realizing it was only a wallet. Then he flinched again when he remembered they had switchblade wallets out there, only to relax again when the only thing Kenji pulled out was a small stack of bills.
"Wok-san, keep the noodles coming, please," he requested, the old man behind the counter nodding his head as he took the money and got to work.
"Why...?" Ryu asked as he stared down at his food. "Why are you helping me?"
" . . . Do you need to have a reason to help those in need?" Kenji asked, the homeless teen feeling an unfamiliar warmth washing over him, a wetness sliding down dirt-caked cheeks. Raising his hand away from his food, Ryu realized he'd broken down into tears, his lip quivering and his shoulders shaking. "In a world filled with wondrous Quirks like ours, people shouldn't be able to go hungry like this, so go on, eat until you're full. We can talk when you're finished," Kenji said softly, the sobbing of tears intermixed with the slurping of his noodles and the fryer front of him.
Twenty minutes later, Ryu had eaten his fill, a sense of contentedness washing over him as he rubbed his belly, a stack of bowls sitting in front of him. Realizing that the tears from his eyes had made the dirt on his face runny, the homeless teen scrambled for some napkins, the uniform-clad teen sitting next to him holding some out for him.
"Was it good?" Kenji asked.
"Yeah... So tasty..." Ryu replied with a satisfied smile as he wiped his face.
"So... I'm sorry if this sounds rude, but why are you hiding your face like that?" Kenji asked, Ryu flinching as he pulled his hood down over his face.
"Because... Because I'm a freak," Ryu stated, much to Kenji's confusion. "I look like a monster... People take one look at me and they think I'm some sort of freak..." he said with trembling shoulders. "I'm just an outsider... Always looking in... Never belonging anywhere," he said as fresh tears began to fall on the counter.
"Ryu... You're not a monster, and you're definitely not a freak," Kenji argued. "I don't think you're any of what you said."
"But look at me!" he shouted as he pulled down his hood, letting his scaly blue skin come into view. "What part of this doesn't look like a monster?!"
" . . . Look at these pictures," Kenji said as he pulled out his phone, tilting it so the homeless teen could see. "What do you see?"
"I see... a girl with green skin."
"And this one?"
"A guy with a shark-face."
"And this one here?"
"Horns like a Mohawk."
"What about this?"
"A girl with a snake-head... Why do you have pictures like this?" Ryu asked.
"I don't. These are just random pictures from a search engine when I put in the word Quirk," Kenji answered. "Ryu, all those people you've met before don't reel back because they think you're a freak, or a monster. They all reeled back because people can be major assholes who don't give a damn about anyone but themselves," he said as a certain blond came to mind. "Ryu, it isn't what's on the outside it makes you a monster, it's what's on the inside, and in some cases, like with that slimeball we had the misfortune of meeting today, that monstrous outside matches a monstrous outside. And you... You're no monster. You're just a kid who's been down on his luck for a really long time, and someone should've helped you sooner."
"You... Do you really mean that?"
"Of course I do. Like I said before, you don't need to have a reason to help those in need," Kenji returned, taken aback when the blue-skinned teen leapt forward and wrapped his arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder. After a few moments, Kenji just gave the guy a pat on the back, riding out the moment until an explosion went off in the distance, causing the two to jump out of their skin.
"What was that!?"
"It came from the Tatooin shopping district," Kenji answered as he got up from his seat.
"How can you tell?"
"I heard it."
"I think we all heard it," Ryu said as everyone looked off into the distance, a cloud of smoke rising into the air.
"No, I mean I heard it," Kenji said tugging at his ears. Clambering atop a nearby fire hydrant, the slick-haired teen cupped his hands around his ears, scrunching his brow in concentration as he opened up his senses, a cacophony of nonsensical babble and gibberish washing over him like a tidal wave. His brow scrunching even further as he grits his teeth, he began to filter out all the garbage in the air, picking out key words. However, two words in particular stood out above all others.
"Sludge Villain!"
"Well... it's not my problem..." Kenji thought aloud. "Still, I should probably see how this plays out. Izuku will probably want to make some notes on amorphous-type Quirks," he said as he ran off, waving Ryu to follow after him.
The two arriving at the Tatooin shopping district moments later through a back alley, an unmistakable smell of putrid sewage assaulted the two's nostrils, the two teenagers looking on to see that the Sludge Villain from before had taken a hostage, several Heroes lined up to intervene. While the police ordered everyone back, Kenji angled his head around the crowd to see that the cur's latest victim was Bakugou. Deathgoro leapt into the air and delivered a punch to the Villain, however, it was all for naught as the Villain's liquid body made the attack completely ineffective.
"What the- My punch had no effect on him!"
'Really? I didn't notice!' Kenji deadpanned. This was the kind of guy people looked up to?
"Stay back or I'll snap the kid's neck!" the Sludge Villain shouted.
"Rrrrrgh!" Bakugou growled as he struggled to free himself. "You picked the wrong person to mess with you overgrown piece of crap! I'll burn you to a crisp!" he raged as he fired off his [Explosion].
"YOU DUMBASS!" Kenji roared out as Bakugou only made things worse, lighting a nearby stand on fire and forcing the Heroes back.
"Oh my, so much power for just a tiny human. I really hit the jackpot with this one, you're much better than those other skinsuits I tried to try on today! With your Quirk in my hands, I'll be able to have my revenge on even All Might!" the Sludge Villain ranted as though he were already victorious.
"At least it isn't me this time," Kenji sighed as he looked around for a familiar mop of green hair, and if that didn't work, oversized red shoes.
"Look! It's that new Hero, Mount Lady!" a civilian said as a tall, curvy shadow loomed over them.
"Oh crap, I need a two-lane road to maneuver about, my only weakness."
"ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?!" Kenji raged at the incompetence of these Heroes.
"This isn't good," Kamui Woods said as he saved two students. "Fire and wood don't really mix well."
'Yeah, no shit, Sherlock,' Kenji thought with a twitching eye, not feeling the need to say it out loud.
"I got my hands full with these flaming buildings," Backdraft, a fireman-themed Rescue Hero said as he shot water out of his faucet-shaped hands. "Where are those fire trucks?"
Kenji wanted to say they were still ten minutes out based on the noise, but he doubted any of them would believe him.
"I don't know, but it ain't looking good for us either," Deathgoro said trying to think of what to do next. "That Villain's body is too slippery to get a grip of, and that kid's Quirk is causing more trouble for us, it's like a minefield out there."
'Really? You couldn't think to grab Bakugou instead?' Kenji thought to himself.
"Until help arrives, we have to keep the damage to a minimum, and the people safe," Backdraft stated as more buildings were lit on fire in the wake of Bakugou's hissy fit.
As the crowd looked on, no-one noticed a super-scrawny version of All Might watching from the shadows, witnessing the scene as it unfolded. 'Dammit, so that's where he went to,' he thought, remembering how Izuku had held onto his leg for dear life and realizing that was when the Sludge Villain had gotten away from him. 'I lost track of how much time I had left. What a rookie mistake. Even after I told that kid about what it meant to be a Hero... I'm so pathetic right now,' he thought, cursing his own weakness.
*With Izuku*
At the same time, Izuku was completely down, wallowing in sadness as he thought about what All Might had said to him.
Make sure your dreams are attainable. You'll never be able to defeat a Villain without powers. Nobody needs a Quirkless loser like you trying to play Hero.
Okay maybe that last one was Kacchan... But All Might's words hurt more than anything his other childhood friend had ever said to him. Everyday, Kenji told him even without a Quirk he could become a Hero, and Bakugou told him the opposite. But what All Might had said... It hit him like a freight train, and he didn't think he'd be able to recover from that rejection. Learning the truth about All Might, for what it was, couldn't make him feel any better.
"A Hero needs a Quirk... Even All Might himself said it," Izuku muttered, tearing up. "I guess... all that effort in proving everyone wrong was for nothing..."
"Izuku?"
"K-Kenji?" he said as he wiped his tears, looking up to see his longtime friend, while trailing behind him like a shadow was a homeless teenager, his face obscured by the hoodie he wore.
"Izuku, what's wrong? Did that asshole Bakugou say something to you?" Kenji asked. "Well, whatever he said, he's getting what he's got coming now."
"N-No, it wasn't anything Kacchan said," Izuku said waving his hands.
"Well, what is it then? I've never seen you cry this bad since... since you were told you didn't have a Quirk."
"I... I don't want to talk about it," Izuku returned. "Who um... Who's your friend?"
"This is Ryu. I'm hoping my mom will let me take him in for a couple days until we can sort out a better place for him to live," Kenji answered. "Ryu, this is Izuku. He's a friend of mine, you can trust him."
"H-Hello..." the blue-skinned teen greeted nervously, still uncomfortable with large crowds, especially one with Heroes in it.
"So... I see the Sludge Villain from before has decided to make another appearance," Kenji said looking over his shoulder at the ongoing shitshow. "I don't know how he got away from All Might, we could really use the help right now," he said before noticing Izuku's sudden hitch of his heartbeat, not knowing that it was Izuku's fault, or that he blamed himself for Bakugou's current straits.
At the same time, Ryu was fidgeting nervously as he hid behind Kenji, trying to look as small as possible. The crowd murmuring among themselves, out of the corner of his eye he noticed the skinny form of All Might, just standing at the edge of the crowd and looking on. 'Isn't that All Might right there? Why isn't he bulking up and stopping this?' he thought before noticing how All Might was clutching at his left side. 'Is he... Is All Might hurt? Is that why he isn't doing anything?'
"Kacchan..." Izuku muttered to himself, once again confronted with the fact that this was probably his fault. Looking through the crowd, past the fire and the smoke and the panic, for a brief instant he saw the look in Bakugou's eyes and then...
His body just moved on its own.
Cue My Hero Academia OST - Just Say Run
"IZUKU!" Kenji tried to run after his friend, only to feel a set of hands grabbing the back of his uniform. "Ryu! Let go! I have to help him!"
"You can't! Let someone else do it! Neither of us can do anything!" Ryu argued as his friend, his first friend, continued to struggle. Not only didn't he want to lose that, but he was also afraid of the Heroes, afraid they'd think he was a villain with his monstrous appearance.
"I might've said Bakugou had this coming, but even he doesn't deserve to go out like that," Kenji growled, debating whether or not to just slip out of his jacket and run for it. "But more importantly, Izuku's my friend, and friend's don't abandon each other!"
"But if you go too, you'll get hurt as well!" Ryu shouted back, the crowd beginning to watch the byplay between the two of them.
"I'd rather help someone and get hurt than stand by and do nothing!" Kenji shouted as he finally escaped Ryu's grasp, working his way towards Izuku, who at the moment had shewn his schoolbag into the air and flung its contents into the Sludge Villain's face, gouging one of its eyes. At that moment, all the Heroes cried out as a second middle schooler ran out into the pyre, his body moving on its own. Even Bakugou was shocked by the actions of Deku and the Crybaby. As the green-haired teen frantically tried to claw away the sludge from Bakugou's face, saying something to him, the Sludge Villain raised up a gelatinous arm to strike him down. "Izuku!" Kenji cried as his heart pounded in his chest and the world slowed to a crawl. Adrenaline flooding his system like the stopper on a dam had been undone, the Quirk Factor within his body responded to his ardent will, swelling to crescendo as he shouted- "HEY! SLIMEBALL!" -, drawing the Villain's attention away from Izuku and onto him. "GET AWAY... FROM MY FRIEND... RIGHT... NOOOOOOOW!" he roared, a column of concentrated sound waves shooting out of his maw like a bazooka, striking the Villain in the shoulder and blasting it clean off. 'Wait... Was that... me?!' Kenji gawped as the Sludge Villain cried out in pain, much to the surprise of the other Heroes.
"Kenji! That was amazing! Do it again, I've almost got him!" Izuku cried as he clawed at the Sludge Villain with renewed vigor.
"ARGH! You bastard! You're gonna pay for that!" the Sludge Villain shouted as he positioned Bakugou's arm towards Kenji.
"KENJI!" Izuku cried as the blast came toward him faster than he could dodge.
"NOOOOO!" Ryu shouted as the ground at his feet exploded and he shot forward, pushing Kenji out of the way, his body too moving on its own. 'Why... Why am I doing this?' he asked as the world slowed to a crawl around him. 'Why... am I trying to save them? Kenji... I only met him just today so why... Why am I doing this?'
"You don't need to have a reason to help those in need."
'He's right... You don't need to have a reason...' Ryu realized, thinking back to Kenji, and All Might's kindness before him. 'Maybe... this is what it means to be a Hero... Maybe I was wrong about them all along,' he thought as he closed his eyes, the blast completely smothering him. Back at the end of the street, the civilians could only gawp at the display before them, their feelings contradictory.
"Damn, there's no way that kid could survive, what an idiot."
"I know; he just threw his life away for no reason."
"Oh man, did you see that?"
"Yeah! That homeless guy took that blast head-on!"
"What was that idiot thinking when he did that?"
One woman, dressed in business attire with blonde hair tied up in a bun, meanwhile looked at this in a different view. 'That boy... He rescued a complete stranger from harm, even at the risk of himself... That boy has the makings of a true Hero,' Ryukyu, the No. 9 Hero in the country, thought, knowing this fight was far from over.
"RYU!" Izuku and Kenji shouted.
"HAHAHAHA! Look at that, I got me some first blood! Now to deal with this pathetic maggot right in front of me," the Villain taunting as he grew his arm back. Gelatinous arm raised once more to strike Izuku down, before he could, a blue ray of light struck him in the same spot Kenji had with his [Loud Voice], the Sludge Villain reeling back as his arm fell off a second time. "DAMMIT! WHO DID THAT!?" the Villain shouted, wonder where a Hero with that ability had come from.
Moments later, he and the rest of the bystanders got their answer, the smoke clearing around where Ryu once stood, his hands directly in the firing lane from the beam that had just been fired. Eyes all around widened, even from the No. 1 Hero and the No. 9 Heroine, as the homeless teen from before stood defiantly of the Villain in front of him, completely unharmed save for his clothes.
"I will not... let you..." Ryu growled as his hoodie fell away, revealing his blue-scaled form to all around him. "HURT! MY! FRIENDS!" he roared, arms thrown back as the scales across his body began to harden, forming thick plates of armor all over his body. His shoulder armor was red with two spikes protruding from the back, as did the armor over armor over his forearms and the backs of his hands. The teen's once emaciated chest swelled as plates of white armor began to form, a purple gemstone appearing in the center. Over his head, a red scale-patterned helmet began to form, the horn protruding from his forehead growing in length and a long serpentine tail sprouted out of his tailbone, giving a more draconic appearance than he already had.
'These boys... Every one of their bodies moved on their own, even when they knew the consequences that would come of it,' All Might thought as he watched the young boys fight, left hand clutching his side while his right gripped the lamp post in front of him. 'I have to do something... No matter the cost!' the No. 1 Hero raged as he dug deep into the well of One for All that lay inside him, his body beginning to bulk up once again.
"So you had something like this all along, huh?" the Sludge Villain thought before narrowing his eyes. "Get ready to die then you homeless freak!" he shouted as he drew his other arm back, deciding that the body in his possession was still more than sufficient.
"He is not a freak!" Kenji shouted, catching the Villain's attention as he reared his head back, sucking in air. "NOISE MISSILE!" he raged, the same power as before spilling out of his mouth and taking the Sludge Villain's arm off, only, it was as though giving it a name had granted it greater power, the attack now tinged a deep red, the shockwaves rippling through his liquid body.
"You again! GAH!" Before the Sludge Villain could round on Kenji, Ryu had once again fired a powerful blast with both hands out, the ray of light taking out the Villain's other arm and disarming him. "Dammit that hurts so much... I'LL KILL EVERY LAST ONE OF YOU!" the Villain shouted as he willed his body to grow larger, moving in for the finishing blow.
"NO YOU WON'T!" Kenji and Ryu shouted as they both dove forward, shielding Izuku's body with their own as he struggled to pull Bakugou free. The other Heroes finally running out into the fire, a new figure rushed past all of them, blocking the Sludge Villain's strike with his arm, his other hand grasping Bakugou's arm atop Izuku's.
"I truly am pathetic."
"All Might...?" Izuku looked on, wondering how the man was doing this even though he said he'd expended his time limit.
"The lesson I left with you... I should've practiced what I've been preaching... A HERO SHOULD ALWAYS BE WILLING TO RISK HIS LIVES!" he shouted as he smacked the Sludge Villain's arm away. "DETROIT... SMASH!" he roared as he once more blasted the Sludge Villain away, the force of the wind so great that it sent nearby civilians onto their asses while Kenji and Ryu were sent against All Might's legs. Once the wind subsided, the pressure blast actually caused the weather above them to change, a light downpour beginning to descend upon what was left of the Tatooin shopping district. "Have no fear... for I am here!" All Might proclaimed as he raised his fist, the crowd going absolutely wild.
Afterwards, the Heroes and the Police managed to collect all of Sludge Villain that All Might had scattered, the Fire Department arriving to put out the last of the fires that had been started. Bakugou couldn't believe he'd been saved by Deku, the Crybaby, and some homeless kid, though all the while he received praise and accolades from the Heroes around him "for being so brave in the face of danger". As for the middle school students and the homeless teen that had lunged head-first into danger...
Izuku was completely exhausted now that his adrenaline had worn off, his uniform a little singed but other than that he was still alive. Kenji was in much the same straits, except his throat was extremely sore from how high he'd pushed his Quirk. Ryu had fallen to his knees, the armor that had once formed over his body flaking away like a snake's skin once the fighting had ended. Despite the fact that Bakugou had been the one to make the situation as bad as it had gotten, the three of them, despite their own heroism, were berated by the nearby Heroes for their reckless actions.
"What were you three morons thinking?" Kamui woods asked in the tone of a worried older sibling.
"You shouldn't have put yourself in danger like that. I mean, look at what happened to your friend," Deathgoro said as he pointed at Kenji. "Your friend threw out his voice from over-using his Quirk, and this guy," he said pointing to Ryu, the malnourished teenager swatting away the paramedics who wouldn't leave him alone. "He's completely malnourished thanks to you."
"SHUT THE FUCK UP! ALL OF YOU!" Kenji shouted having heard enough of their prattling, the nearby Heroes flinching back in shock as they held their ears. "DON'T YOU DARE GIVE IZUKU SHIT ABOUT WHAT HE DID! NOT WHEN YOU TWO-BIT CHICKENSHIT WANNABE HERO POSERS DID NOTHING BUT SIT BACK WITH YOUR THUMBS UP YOUR ASSES, BITCHING AND WHINING LIKE A BUNCH OF FREAKIN' GRADESCHOOLERS ABOUT YOUR QUIRKS NOT BEING GOOD ENOUGH!" he raged, the nearby civilians watching in shocked stupor as the middle schooler absolutely cowed the Pro Heroes, his voice audible even to the back-end of the crowd who couldn't see anything. "AAAND YOU!" he raged as he pointed a finger at the Pro Hero who had done nothing but sing Bakugou's praises the entire time. "ARE YOU MENTALLY RETARDED?! IF BAKU-BAAAKA HADN'T BEEN FIRING OFF HIS QUIRK LIKE A FOUR-YEAR-OLD HAVING A TANTRUM, THAT FIRE WOULDN'T HAVE EVEN BEEN THERE! SO DON'T YOU DARE SING HIS PRAISES WHEN HE DID NOTHING BUT MAKE THE SITUATION WORSE FOR HIMSELF! AND YOU!" By this point blood was gushing out of his mouth like a sprinkler, Izuku comparing the sight to "Thin Might" between bouts of wigging out over his friend's health, while All Might himself realized how blood curdling the sight was from the outside. "AS FOR YOU..." This time he rounded on Mount Lady, the giant Heroine shrinking back and actually on the verge of tears as the irate teenager rounded on her after ripping all the other Heroes a new one. "STOP... debasing yourself like you did this morning," he said as his rage began to evaporate. "You're better than that, you don't need to shake your butt for every horny guy with a camera or a phone to be a popular Hero. Take pride in the work that you do, and your efforts will be rewarded in the end," he said almost sagely, the woman blinking owlishly before slowly nodding her head, a few of the women in the crowd actually cheering in wake of his feminism-centric speech. "C'mon... Ryu..." Kenji said as he grabbed Ryu's left arm and threw it over his shoulder, his free hand going to the waistband of his pants and helping him up. "Let's get you home."
"Home...?" the blue-skinned teen asked, the word completely foreign on his tongue.
"W-Wait up!" Izuku said hitting the emergency exit button to the chewing-out he'd been given minutes ago, happy for an out of the "Izuku is useless" tirade he was getting from all the Pro Heroes.
He'd gotten enough of that at school, thankyouverymuch.
That evening, as the sun began to set in the distance, Kenji and Izuku walked down the back street toward their homes, one of Kenji's arms over each of their shoulders as they helped the malnourished teen forward.
"Hey Izuku... You've been quiet for a while now. Is everything alright?" Kenji asked. His voice was a bit scratchy after the chewing-out he'd given the so called Pros, but he had just enough strength left in him to speak in a normal tone.
"Oh, um... I'm just thinking how I should've apologized to All Might for all the trouble I caused today," Izuku said morosely. "I didn't have the chance with all those reporters around, so I guess I'll just leave a message on his website, hope he gets it."
"So... How was meeting with All Might?" Kenji asked, wondering how things had gone after his friend had hitched a ride on All Might's left calf.
"It was..."
"Holy cow! You've deflated!"
"...interesting," Izuku replied, thinking back to the first thing he'd blurted out as soon as All Might shrunk right in front of him.
"Huh..." Kenji returned. Izuku wasn't lying when he said that, his heartrate was steady, but there was definitely more going on than he was willing to divulge.
"Hey losers!" Bakugou shouted as he rounded the corner, a PO'd look on his face like always. "I never asked you morons to save me! As if you even could! I could've escaped all by myself!"
"What was that, Baku-baka? I couldn't hear you over the sound of that Sludge Villain face-fucking you into next month," Kenji returned bitterly, Izuku bushing at the rather vulgar description of the blond's then-current straits.
"S-Shut it, Crybaby!" Bakugou bit back. "How dare you losers take pity on me! I don't need the likes of you making me look bad, especially this homeless fucker!" he said jabbing a finger at Ryu, still hanging off of Kenji and Izuku's shoulders. "Get in my way again and I'll end all of you!" he shouted before whirling around and storming off, grumbling obscenities under his breath even as he disappeared from sight.
"I know I just met the guy..." Ryu spoke up for the first time since they'd started walking. "But he sounds like a complete douche."
"Preaching to the choir on that one," Kenji said before coughing up, a droplet of blood dribbling down his chin.
"C-C'mon Kenji, let's get you back home so we can get some honey for that throat of yours," Izuku said worriedly.
"I AM HERE!" a bombastic voice suddenly proclaimed, its equally bombastic owner stepping out from around the corner in some absurd Silver Era pose.
"HUH?!" Izuku yelped, his hair standing on end. "A-A-A-All Might, what're you doing here! You were surrounded by reporters and-"
"Hahahaha!" the muscular hero boldly laughed. "Shaking them off is nothing to me! After all, I'm All Mi-KOFF!"
"AAAGH! WHO THE HELL IS THIS FUCKER!?" Kenji yelped in wake of the Hero's blood-spurting transformation, whereas Izuku and Ryu showed marginally less shock at the sight before them.
"Oh... um... Hello there," All Might greeted nervously, realizing Izuku hadn't been as-alone as he thought he would. "I uh... I can explain," he said taking note of Ryu's reaction, or rather, lack thereof. 'When he was captured by the Sludge Villain... did he see me before I transformed?' he wondered.
"Explain what!? The fact that you've shriveled up like a sun-dried tomato?!"
"That's... certainly an interesting way of putting it..." All Might replied, having failed to plan for the possibility that Izuku wouldn't be alone when he made his grandiose entrance. 'Roll with it,' he told himself. No turning back time, after all.
"Kid," All Might begins to explain as he realized that he had to be specific on who he was talking to, "Th-the one with the freckles. I want to thank you and to revise what I said earlier… I also have a proposal."
"Wait, were you the one who made my friend feel like crap earlier?" Kenji asked the greatest hero of all time. "Kind of a dick move on your part, All Might."
"Yeah I'm sorry for that, it was kind of a crappy thing for me to do," All Might stated, regretting what he had done to Izuku. "If I hadn't heard your story… I'd have been nothing but fake muscles and insecurity." One part of that got the three teens curious as they weren't sure why he said that.
'Fake Muscles?' all three thought at the same time.
"That… no. It was all my fault that happened," Izuku explained as Kenji and Ryu looked on in curiosity as they looked at Izuku. "I got in the way of your duty and all it did was made the situation even worse than before. I don't have any powers and my friends almost got killed because of my stupid actions."
"Izuku," Kenji said as he gained their attention. "If this situation was replayed, I still would have jumped in to save you and anyone else. I didn't need a reason to help someone, so why did I need one earlier."
"Yeah, and if it wasn't for you guys helping me and such, I might still be afraid to show my face. Both of your kind acts today have given me a new perspective on Heroes and doing the right thing," Ryu explained, now thankful for meeting Kenji and Izuku.
"Your friends is right my boy," All Might agreed as he went on to explain why. "Out of all of the people at that scene, civilians and Heroes alike, a timid and Quirkless boy like you was the only one to acted! Not only did it spur me into action, but it also spurred your friends right next to you as well. That is a quality of a true Hero that is in you."
Izuku, Kenji and Ryu were shocked to hear how their actions had helped the greatest hero to push his own limits and remember what heroic actions truly meant.
"There are stories of great heroes in the past," All Might explained, telling the boys a small history lesson. "While they explain how they knew they were great at a young age, most of them all had one thing in common… They all claimed that their bodies moved on their own before even having the chance to think. And that was what happened to all three of you."
The teens all thought about that fact that they all did that earlier today while trying to save Bakugou and one another. But Izuku began to think about his past when he found out he didn't have a Quirk and how his mother apologized to him. Kenji thought about how he was constantly picked on for being useless, being there for Izuku, and trying to help people around his community. Ryu... Ryu remembered his past on the streets: Scavenging for food, trying to survive everyday, and feared for being labeled as a monster his whole life. If it wasn't for Kenji's kind actions and his words, Ryu might not know of what it felt like to have friends or that his future was looking brighter now than before.
"Young men… All three of you can become true Heroes!" All Might announced, the three of them feeling their hearts swell with joy and excitement upon hearing those words. "And that is why I have decided that you young Midoriya, to be worthy of inheriting my powers."
The joyful moment was paused when they heard Izuku was going to inherit All Might's power. They looked up at the scrawny hero and looked at him in confusion. No one knew what to say in that moment, except for Ryu as he knew exactly what to say a few moments later.
"What the f-!?"
I hoped you enjoyed this origin chapter. I have heard of many super heroes in my youth and I can honestly say that I have never heard of a hero who has started out being homeless and then going on to become a super hero. I believe this is a first for anyone.
Don't forget to leave a review on the bottom to show me what you thought of this. No flame reviews allowed.