Before you guys say anything about this chapter, I'll explain to you why this chapter is so short at the end. So, without further ado, let's roll with it!
A glimpse into the future
"Alpha team, come in! What's your location?!"
"As of now, we're currently relocating the civilians to a safer location and we're engaging the enemy as we speak! However, it's not looking good!"
"Understood, we're sending backup to your location, just hang tight!"
"Where's the fucking medic?! MEDIC!"
"We need backup, NOW!"
"Damn bastard! I'LL FUCKING KILL YOU! YOU HEAR ME?!"
"What's going on…?"
"This here is war. And this is where we belong."
Later that day
After the meeting between Rex, Sano and Jack, he went back home to his mother and told him that he was hired as a part-time employee at L&D. His mother, Inko Midoriya, was ecstatic that hear that he was hired by the restaurant where she met her husband. It was surprising to hear that the place he was working at was the place where his parents met for the first time, but when she was about to tell her the 'fun' night they had in the bedroom, he stopped her before she could get any further. In his bedroom late at night, he took out his school supplies and placed them on his desk. One of them being a letter given to him by Rex. He'd told Izuku not to open the letter until he had returned home, said something about containing sensitive information that was not meant for the public to see.
Seeing that it was safe for Izuku to open, he did so and as he opened the letter, a card fell out of the letter. He picked it up and he could see his information, date of birth, place of residence. Etc. It even had an accurate picture of him! He was shocked to see everything about him placed into one small card, but decided to ask Rex the next time he saw him. Instead, he opted to read the letter that was inside the letter.
"Hey Izuku. I heard that my old man decided to give you a crash course of what our training looked like. Bet you didn't expect our training to be that harsh huh?" That elicited a groan from Izuku as he rubbed his sore back, "Hahaha! I can already imagine the look on your face when I was writing this letter to you! It must've been hilarious! In any case, I want to let you know that you start working tomorrow after school and our training will begin after your shift is done. Now, your job is to clean the dishes in the kitchen and deliver the food over to the customers in the front. In the event that a customer should act rowdy, you let me or any other employees know. Now, as to why you didn't see anyone else in the restaurant besides us… Apparently, I had read the calendar wrong and it was a holiday for the employees and the restaurant was suppose to close on that day. Whoops." A giggle escaped from Izuku lips, "Well, whatever. You know what to do. Don't be late. -Rex."
"P.S. You know our secret. I trust that you can keep quiet about it. Don't disappoint me."
"P.P.S. Don't be surprised when you come in tomorrow. Trust me, this is normal by our standards. See ya tomorrow!"
With the letter being read and all, Izuku took the time to think about what Rex had written in the letter. Based on what he wrote, it's clear as day that he didn't want anyone knowing the Mercenaries were active and in hiding, if that wasn't obvious enough to him. Furthermore, it made him more excited to see people that didn't have a Quirk, fighting for the protection and justice of the people. Though, he was still upset about the part where they would help out the villains as well, but he'd have to see it for himself when he comes in tomorrow. With that in mind, he slept through the night, unaware the nightmare he'd have to face tomorrow.
The next day
"We need sixteen orders of beef steak!"
"I need more bacon here!"
"Where the hell is that sandwich?!"
Izuku looked at the chaos unfold in front of him as he walked into the restaurant after school. Well, it was more like he was dragged into the restaurant the minute he got the front entrance. Anyways, it was a fair distance away from his school and when he got there, he saw a long line that started from the door to the end of the street. From there, it kept going on and one to the point where a pro hero was there to at an intersection to help out with the traffic that suddenly appeared. He gaped at the long line that had formed, but wasn't until a hand popped out from the door and snagged him inside.
"Kid! Thank god you're here! Quick, take these!" He didn't get to see who took him in, on the account that something covered his head, "The lockers are downstairs and on the left! It's the second door! Once you put that on, get to the kitchen and start helping out with the dishes and food!" The person left before Izuku got the chance to see who it was and looked at what was thrown at him. It was a uniform set like the one that Sano wore when he first meet her, only the vest was a light shade of red and the tie was dyed green. Deciding that this was not the time to be questioning this, he followed the instructions of what the figure had told him to do, dressed himself and hurried himself over towards the main entrance. When he got there, he could see so many people inside, some were outrageously loud while others were content to sit down and talk with their friends or relatives.
"Izuku-chan! There you are!" Izuku turned his head and saw Sano rushing towards him with a worried look on her face.
"Sano-san! What's-?"
"No time to explain! I'll lead you over to your station, but you'll have to figure out the rest for yourself!" Sano quickly grabbed Izuku by the shoulder and lead him towards the kitchen. Upon reaching the kitchen, he saw that it was large in comparison to the restaurant area. There were so many stations stationed around in the kitchen and so many chefs coming to and fro with many dishes ready to be eaten. Eventually, they managed to get to the back of the kitchen and there was relatively large sink with a few dirty dishes and the rest being cleaned. "Alright, here's your station! If you need any help, let anyone know! Until then, good luck!" With that, Sano parted ways with Izuku, leaving him to his job.
'Well, I guess this is pretty easy… I mean, all I'm doing is washing the dishes and delivering food. How hard can that be?' Izuku thought to himself before starting his shift.
The minute he finished washing his first dish, so many people came over with piles of dirty dishes in their hand and dumping them into the sink, leaving Izuku to be very confused.
"Hey new guy! Thanks for the assist!"
"We're counting on you new guy!"
"Make us proud!"
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"
Nevertheless, he vigorously washed the dishes that he was handed by the employees and scrubbed away.
6:00 PM
"Thank you! Please come again!" Sano was helping out with the last customer for the day before she closed the door and swinging the sign to 'Close'. Once that's done, she limped over to one of the nearest tables and plopped right down onto the chair. "Hoooo, thank fucking god that's over…"
The same can be said with nearly every employee that had been in the lunch rush, including Izuku. "Shit dude. I forgot how long these rushes are…" One employee complained to the others.
"You said it. God damn… since did we get a rush that big anyways?"
"Dude, you've been working here for how long and you don't even know yourself?"
"Shut up…"
Izuku was no different as he was rubbing his now sore arms while sitting away from the group. 'Owww… I didn't think that dish washing could be so painful... I thought this would be easy…' Before Izuku could complain about his sore arms, someone else took the seat in front of him, scaring him a bit. The person that was sitting in front of him had his employee uniform on and the tie this time is blue. He had light blue eyes, blond hair and a round face.
"So, new guy, right?" Izuku nodded slowly at the person that was staring at him, "Huh, funny. I thought you'd be a big guy or something."
"...Huh?"
"Ah, whatever. Name's Kozato Rinji. Pleased to meet ya." He held out his hand to Izuku for him to shake.
"O-Oh! Izuku Midoriya! I-it's also nice to meet you!" He meet his hand halfway and shook on it.
"Pretty crazy, huh? Your first day here and it had to be the lunch rush of horror. Heh, I tell ya. When you think you've seen everything…"
Izuku sheepishly laughed at the remark Kozato made. Come to think of it, when he first came up to him, he'd expect Kozato to make some sort of witty comment or something the minute he'd sat across of him. It could either had been something about him being Quirkless or something about his appearance, anything goes really. In a way, Izuku had gotten used to the negative attention he'd received over the course of his childhood. "Uh, um… c-can I ask you something Kozato-san?"
"Well, if I wanted to make a joke, I would've said that you already did but, yeah sure. What's this you want to ask about?"
"W-well, not that I'm complaining or anything! But… why are you sitting with me? Shouldn't you be sitting over with your friends?"
Kozato looked at Izuku like he'd just ask something really stupid before his eyes widen in realization and chuckled. "Hahaha… oh man. Rex-sama wasn't kidding. You're really something, aren't ya?" Izuku tilted his head in confusion, "Right, sorry. Anyways, you look like you needed someone to be with, so I thought, 'why not me?'. And so, here I am!"
"A-are you sure? I-I mean-"
"Yeah, sure. It's no problem. Honestly, you look pretty chill to hang out with."
Izuku blushed at the compliment that Kozato gave him. Now that he'd gotten a better look at Kozato, he had this calmness around him that soothes him. The way that he talked to him and how he looked at him, it was all new to him that it overwhelming. It made his face blush a bright red, something that Kozato took notice of. "You feeling alright there? You're, uh…"
"O-oh! I'm fine!"
"If you say so… say, have you wondered where all these people come from? You know? The employees?" Izuku shook his head at that and Kozato nodded in understanding, "Understandable. Most of the employees here are a bit sensitive due to their past, but since it's your first day here, I figured that you must have some sort of past that's keeping you from talking to others."
"N-No! It's not like that at all! I just… have a hard time talking with people, that's all."
Kozato hummed in an understanding tone and talked with Izuku for the duration of their time together. It was still overwhelming to him, but it felt nice to have this moment, at least for a while anyways.
"...And so, this guy just started to ram his head onto the door and Jack-sama had to literally kick him out of the restaurant before he could anymore damage! How crazy it that?" Kozato just finished telling Izuku another story and Izuku was chuckling loudly after the story ended. It was crazy to hear that the founder of the restaurant would do something like that all just because of food. It was… quite nice actually.
"Um, Kozato-san? How long have you been working here?" Izuku suddenly asked Kozato.
"Hmmm, I'd say about five years as of now. I know that you've started working today, but why the sudden question?"
"W-well, I was wondering if you had a dream or something. You've been here for a while and I…"
"Hey, no worries. I get ya. My dream… is to change society and let everyone know the true reality of heroes." Izuku knew where this was going, but didn't stop him. He remembered what Rex told him on the day, about how the heroes were people that seek fame and fortune and how the heroes would do anything to raise up the ranks. Before he came to work, he looked on the internet to see if what Rex had said to him were only just rumors and theories that was generally told to people. He came up with several theories about the subject, but none were concrete as what Rex had told him, so he decided to ask Rex for more information when he came into work.
"Hey kid! You there?"
A voice rang out and when Izuku turned his head, he could see Rex standing in front of him and Kozato.
"Hey boss. You need us for something?"
"No, just the kid. You finish counting all the money yet?"
"Not yet. Some of us are resting for a minute from that rush we'd experienced. Say boss? I heard about you training this one. What's the occasion?"
"That's something for you to find out and for me to get going. Come on kid. Let's go." Before Izuku can say anything, Rex turn around and walked off. Izuku quickly gave Kozato a brief bow and hurried after Rex, leaving behind a confused Kozato. Once they'd gotten out of hearing range, Rex spoke. "Sorry for dragging you out of there. Can't have anyone know what we're about to do."
Izuku panted heavily after he'd just walked several stairs up before catching his breath. "Why did you do that anyways? Didn't you tell anyone that I was training?"
Rex shook his head and turned to face Izuku with a serious expressions plastered on his face. "No, I didn't want them to start a panic amongst the employees. That's the last thing I need right now."
"Huh? What do you mean? Why didn't you tell them?"
"Only reason why is that most of the employees here are people that have lost their families or their friends due to a stage fight against a hero or a hero working with a villain of sorts. I don't know the exact details for each of the employee's past here, but I don't care either way. If anyone hears about you becoming a hero, then it would be catastrophic. For now, just me, my old man and mom know about you."
"O-oh… I see… Wait, mom?"
"Yeah. When I told my mom about you, she was… quite ecstatic to hear 'a boy so young'-her words, not mine- working here. She'd even bought a plane ticket just to meet you."
"S-seriously?! All just to meet me!? Doesn't she have somewhere to be?!"
"You kidding me? Whenever she finds the person cute to cuddle with or… something else entirely, she'll just abandon whatever she's working on and come straight back. It's… pretty endearing, if you ask me." With nothing to say, Izuku opted to chuckle weakly and from there, both of them continued to walk up the stairs in silence. With everything that had just happened to him today. Izuku figured that he'd have to ask Rex about the heroes another time.
Right now, it's time for training to begin.
Four hours later
"Argh!" THUD!
"Come on kid! That all you got? I could still punch you right out of here and be home in time for dinner!"
Right after the talk between Rex and Izuku, they made it to the roof, where Jack was waiting for them. Rex explained that Jack would be helping them out until the Yuuei entrance exam. Primarily, Jack would be focusing on Izuku's muscle while Rex would be helping out with his reflexes. Once they got their schedule set up, Rex went back downstairs to help out the employees with the aftermath. When the first hour rolled around, Jack made Izuku do about twenty pullups, twenty sit ups, twenty push ups, five kilometer run and twenty weight lifts. Needless to say… it made Izuku sore to the point where he couldn't lift up his arms anymore. When the next hour rolled by, Jack made Izuku spar with him for only a few minutes, to see where the boy was in power terms.
Izuku was planted in the ground within seconds of meeting Jack halfway.
After that, Jack decided to put the spar on hold until Izuku has gained some muscles. Two hours later and this is where we are right now. "Uh, kid? You alright down there?" A groan can be heard from Izuku as he slowly gets back on his feet. "Ah, you're alive! That's good to see and hear! BWAHAHAHA! We'll take a few minutes break and get right into it!" Another groan is heard but this time it was in suffering.
"Um, Jack-san? Why did you start to run towards me? You didn't do a countdown." Izuku asked Jack after a sip of his drink-that he got from Jack-and a few minutes of silence.
"Well, what did you expect? Villains to give you the time to actually prepare before a battle? Feh, if that were true, then we'd have all the heroes and the villains giving each other courteous bows from time to time. No, the real world doesn't work like that. It's either us or them. That's how the world works."
Izuku slowly nodded in understanding and was about to go back to drinking his drink, his head shot back up in break-necking speed. "Oh yeah! I wanted to ask Rex a question, but he'd seemed busy. Jack-san, is it true about what Rex-san said? About how the heroes would do things to raise up the ranks?"
Jack didn't say anything for a moment as his eyes were being shadowed by his hair. After what seemed to be an eternity, he spoke. "Yeah, it's true. Everything you heard about the heroes and the villains is correct. The villains sometimes are people that have been accused for crimes that they didn't commit and are forced on the run and the heroes are people with quirks that would do heinous things to rise up the ranks. Whether it be staged fights, murdering innocent people to make it look like an accident, etc., they will do anything to rise the ranks. If you want proof, I can send you videos of this. Just a warning, you might not like what you see on these videos." One look from Izuku was all he needed and he sighed to himself. "Don't say that I didn't warn you. Now," Jack patted Izuku's back and walked towards the field. "Let's continue training. Don't hold back!"
Izuku quickly finished what was left of his drink and quickly gotten to his position. Needless to say, training was a lot harder than before, but Izuku pressed forward, determine to do whatever it takes to become a hero. But one thing did linger in his mind after training…
How bad could the videos be anyways?
One month down, nine more to go.
So, you're probably wondering why this chapter is so short comparing to the other two chapters. Well, it's very simple. I got something special planned in mind for Izuku, so I decided to put in what you might call a montage of how Izuku's training plan looks like. So for now, each chapter I post will be somewhat short as I want to showcase some of Izuku's modified training, along with how the world of heroes is actually less pretty than you think. Keep in mind that I will try take on the realism of how many heroes would do horrendous things to rise of the ranks. Think back to the #2 hero, Endeavor. I know that he doesn't do those things, but let's be honest here, he's kinda of a dick, ya know?
Let's also not forget about how some heroes would actually pay the villains to fight with them, only to have them in jail later on and all sorts of other things. So, if you're a bit squeamish about what is yet to come, don't say I didn't warn you.
But for now, think of this chapter as an introductory chapter for what is yet to come. Thank you for taking the time to read this story of mine and thanks to my beta readers for helping me out on this one.
See you guys later!
