I'm back - and though I might speed up or slow down releases (mostly because I have a whack job with insane hours) I promise that if I ever plan on just leaving the fic I'll try and find someone to adopt it. Because I know what I plan on doing all the way out to the provisional hero license arc - I just don't have time to write all the time.
In other news, I'm trying a new thing here - I wrote almost all of this chapter with my eyes closed just trying to remember what I had previously written as I wrote it, then back tracked to fix any obvious spelling mistakes. It's oddly calming. Anywho. It's Hero Time amirite?
Izuku stared blankly out over the rest of his class as the awards ceremony began. He couldn't really say he expected to win - because that would be both pretentious and rude to the classmates he'd struggled and trained with on the way to this point.
But he would be lying if the large silver number two hanging off of his raised platform didn't greatly disappoint him.
He looked to his left, at Todoroki on the first place dais, and the empty third place dais that should have held Yaoyorozu and wished for the hundredth time that he had a form capable of healing. Greymatter was greatly accomplished in the medical sciences - but he simply didn't have access to the parts the tiny titan of intellect would need to create anything of use.
Izuku shrugged though when he turned his gaze back to Todoroki. Something about the taller boys face was somehow... clearer. As though a great weight had been lifted from his shoulders. And, though Izuku knew that Todoroki still had many difficulties to face - he also knew that that maybe, just maybe, when things came to a head the hero Deku would be there.
Midnight sauntered across the arena towards the stage, a microphone in hand, and began waving and posing for the crowd. Izuku ignored her approach as he stared out over the collective faces of classes 1-A and 1-B. He noted scattering of other faces in the crowd, most likely the few non-hero course students who had made it to the tournament round, like Hatsume.
Iida's face was not among them.
Izuku could still remember the faces of his classmates when they'd told him about Iida's absence. They were cheerful - but strained. A facial expression that forced him to remember his encounter with Uraraka and Mineta in the tunnels beneath the arena. He let out a weary sigh and made a mental note to investigate Iida's situation via the internet and Grey Matter when he returned home.
His thoughts were momentarily cut short when he realized a shadow had fallen over him and a dainty hand cupped his face.
In the crowd beneath them, several faces froze, whispered conversations dropping and a chilly aura enveloped the stage.
Midnight ignored the goings on beneath her as she stared into Izuku's face, not with hunger, or lust as one would expect from her character - but worry.
"Don't have such a long face kid. Remember, we let you lose here in school so you can learn how it feels without real consequences. You're not a Hero quite yet." she whispered to him and winked coquettishly, turning her face slightly towards the camera as she re-engaged the crowd.
"Noooow then!" she crooned into her microphone, drawing the words out as seductively as she could. "Let's get these studs their medals now shall we? And to do that, here today we have-"
"I have-"
"All Might!" Midnight finished, posing and lifting a hand in the direction All Might had landed in his insane leap from outside the arena, directly onto the turf in front of the students. He remained in position as he landed, mouth half open and clutching three medals in one hand. Sweat began to bead on his brow as he decided if he should finish his interrupted self-introduction. Not for the first time while considering One for All, Izuku wondered if the power included some ability to redirect force. Nothing that landed with that much force from that far away should be capable of touching the ground without tremendous collateral damage - and yet All Might never seemed to cause any.
He wasn't, he promised himself, having this thought because of his loss from using Way Big. Truly. There was absolutely no bitterness at all in the thought. Izuku coughed and paid attention again lest Midnight notice his distraction - just in time to faintly hear All Might mumbling something under his voice before rising to his feet.
'I have arrived.' *cough*
"NOW THEN!" bellowed the number one hero, who turned towards the dais and gave both Izuku and Todoroki a meaningful look.
"You two certainly gave the crowd their money's worth! But next year - try not leave Cementos so much work hm?" he said, laughing heartily as Todoroki and Izuku got contrite looks on their faces. He stepped forward and placed a medal around Izuku's neck, leaning in to speak into his ear.
"I'm proud of you my boy. You may not have been first place, but no one will ever be able to say you didn't take the world by storm."
Izuku choked up, tears coming unbidden to his eyes. He had become so caught up worrying about his classmates that he'd forgotten why he was here in the first place. Only a few months ago, he would have had no chance of standing here, on the main stage of this event. He may have been a spectator, or he may even have let his dreams of heroism die and have avoided the event like the plague. But thanks to this man, thanks to All Might, he was here.
HE WAS HERE!
At that point, Izuku couldn't help but cry. It was unsubtle and unbecoming of an aspiring hero - but he didn't care.
In the crowd of neatly lined up students, Asui and Uraraka gazed gently up at Izuku. They, more than anyone, spent enough time around the green haired boy to know exactly how important this was for their friend. Around them, the boys of class 1-A looked on in disgust.
Kaminari quirked his head to the side and turned towards his fellows, honest confusion on his face.
"Whats up with them?" he asked, gesturing over his shoulder with a thumb. "They've got this, I dunno, fluffy atmosphere."
Mineta shrugged, his eyes bloodshot, and his lip bleeding where he had clearly been biting it. "Just. Ignore. It." He bit out in a shrill voice.
It wasn't as though he was jealous. He'd already crossed those two off of his list of potential lady friends anyway. But as he continued to bitterly mull over his fight with Iida, he was forced to accept that his dopey, oblivious friend was right. If he was going to be a ladies man, he had to be a powerful hero first.
His eyes returned to the clearly lovestruck faces of Uraraka and Asui as they fawned over the 'cutely' crying Izuku, and then amended his thought.
He was going to be such a powerful hero that women couldn't freaking control themselves when they saw him. This thought calmed him greatly, and he began to smile beatifically up at Izuku. The rest of his class ignored him. Several of them even taking a step away from the aura of menace that crept from him as he continued to look up at the dais. Later on - many members of the class would confide that his smile was what disturbed them so. It was entirely too similar to one another of their classmates regularly wore. And it never hailed anything but trouble.
All Might, now finished tying the medal around Izuku's neck, and no longer able to shield the boys crying face from the crowd with his body, awkwardly moved towards Todoroki.
"Todoroki my boy! You look refreshed! Congratulations, on earning FIRST PLACE!" He bellowed, a wide smile on his face as he placed the medal around Todoroki's neck. In a lower tone of voice, one not for the cameras, or the audience, he said;
"I can't say I know what was troubling you my boy, but always remember - as a hero, we strive not just for excellence in combat, but to help anyone we can." as All Might spoke, he sent a pointed glance towards Izuku on the dais next to them, before continuing.
"And you do yourself a disservice by forgetting you are surrounded by aspiring heroes." He finished, then reaching out gently he pressed the third place medal into the young man's hand. "I believe it's best if you present this to her when she is well again. Don't you?"
Todoroki blushed for a moment and then nodded. It wasn't lost on him that his first place position was purely technical in nature. Had Izuku pressed the attack in his first transformation, or if they weren't specifically limited in where they could fight, he would have lost during their last exchange. He could no longer tell himself that his behavior, his scorn, was what made him the better hero. Because he wasn't. And while that rankled, looking up at his father in the crowd, no doubt fuming at this same realization, he thought maybe, it wasn't so bad.
Nothing that irked his father could be ALL bad.
Turning back to the crowd, All Might bellowed once more; "And so I give you, THIS YEARS SPORTS FESTIVAL WINNERS!"
And like that - the Sports Festival, was over.
Two days later, Izuku Midoriya, heir to One for All and bearer of the Omnitrix found himself back in class, and no longer the center of attention for all those who he passed on the street. He was a powerful Quirk user, and had an amazing showing - but ultimately, the public interest in a student could only go so far.
These last two days, it had taken nearly no time at all to find out that Iida's brother, the hero Ingenium, had fallen victim to a vicious murderer known only as the Hero Killer. Thankfully, Ingenium hadn't been killed - but it was unlikely he would be able to continue working as a Hero.
At first, Izuku had worried Iida would range out on his own, one of a few Vigilantes that worked as heroes, but who lacked a license. Thankfully, when he returned to school, he found Iida acting well mostly normally, if oddly motivated to improve himself through study.
That knowledge in mind, he made a note not to go through with his original plans for tracking the killer. For Grey Matter, highjacking all the cameras in the city and forcing them to track an individual wouldn't have been difficult. It was just... legally questionable.
Thankfully, he didn't have to go through with it. He hadn't been overly worried about the legal ramifications when he was Grey Matter, but once he'd changed back he'd almost screamed at how the little sociopath thought. It was, in all honestly, somewhat unhealthy that he was considering Grey Matter a separate individual from himself.
"Work Experience." Aizawa repeated himself, dropping a vast pile of papers on Izuku's desk, causing the younger man to stiffen in surprise.
"Since you clearly weren't paying attention Midoriya. You can hand these out to the rest of the class. It might give you more time to think about your oh so important HERO NAME." The sleep-deprived teacher's tone was biting, clearly irked that he may have to repeat himself as he walked back to the front of the class.
"Since Midoriya wasn't listening. Let me repeat myself. Just the short version this time. You need. A Hero Name. For your workplace experience." The irate teacher's eyes bored into Izuku as he stood jerkily and began quietly handing out the paper each of them was to come up with ideas on.
It was embarrassing, but he found it hard to pay attention in class any day after he used Grey Matter to think about a problem. The grey-skinned amphibian scoffed at the very idea of wasting anything more than the minimum amount of time sleeping. Unfortunately Izuku - a human - needed significantly more sleep than Grey Matter.
The bright side was that Izuku hadn't needed much time to think of a hero name. In fact, he already had one. All he had to do - was write it down.
Far away, in another portion of the city, two old men sat at a table in a modest kitchen. One was a small man, nearly child sized in stature, a walking stick leaning against the table next to his leg, which was covered in a thick padded yellow boot. He leaned heavily on the round wooden kitchen table, tapping his fingers on the table rhythmically while he spoke to his visitor.
"Max, you know I can't help but feel like you should have retired by now."
Max - a slightly rotund man wearing a long, loose-fitting Hawaiian shirt shrugged and continued to spoon two servings of a purple substance with still twitching tentacles sticking out of it, into two bowls that sat empty nearby.
"I'll tell you what Gran Torino - I'll retire when you do," Max said absently.
"HAH! Maybe if Toshinori was a better teacher - but you and I both know that poor kids going to need guidance." grumped Gran Torino before continuing;
"So. Tell me about this 'Omnitrix'."
Izuku arrived outside the front door of the small house with some trepidation. He was aware that whoever he was going to meet, had personally trained ALL MIGHT. The sheer terror All Might had expressed when asking him to take this particular hero as his mentor for the assignment spoke volumes about how strict he must be. After the school festival, he'd been inundated with requests from big name heroes to mentor him, his unique ability to change quirks making him a perfect fit for nearly any team, and the overwhelming power of his ultimate forms meaning he was more than capable of defending himself in the event his mentor was unable to.
But there was something special about learning from the man who'd trained All Might. Someday, he too wanted to be able to pass the knowledge of 'Gran Torino' to whoever it was he chose to inherit One for All after himself. He wanted to experience as much of the legacy he had been given as possible.
And so, he had picked up his improved and repaired costume clenched his teeth, and made his choice.
His hand shaking, Izuku gently pushed the front door of the house open and stepped inside.
"U-Um. Hello? I'm here for my internship?" he yelled into the silence. He reached out and flicked the light switch that sat innocuously on the wall nearest the entryway - and nearly screamed in terror at the sight in front of him.
In front of him, laying in a pile of broken glass and blood, was an old man. He lay unmoving and Izuku instantly began to panic.
"AAAAH! A-Ambulance. I have to call an ambulance!" he yelled, dropping his suitcase and running around the room in search of a phone.
Just as he located the device, he felt a presence looming behind him and leaped to the side as a small object crashed into the ground where he'd been standing.
"Who're you and why are you in my house!?" yelled the shrill voice of an old man.
Izuku looked up from his dive and froze, confusion filling him.
"Y-your okay?!" he screeched as he stared at the old man who'd previously been laying in a pool of blood.
"Of course I'm okay! But my sausages aren't!" the old man whined, and gestured at a pile of ruined sausages on the floor where he'd previously fallen over.
The two of them stared at each other for a few moments before the old man repeated himself, shaking slightly as he spoke.
"Who're you?!"
"Oh! My name is Izuku Midoriya! I'm here from UA!" Izuku yelled as though he was speaking to a sergeant in the military.
"What!?"
"Izuku Midoriya!" he repeated himself.
". . ."
Silence returned as they continued to stare at each other interrupted only when the old man eventually yelled, still shaking with infirmity;
"Who're you?! I'm hungry!"
Izuku opted not to continue staring at the obviously senile old man. He sighed with resignation and decided to quit while he was ahead. It wasn't too late to accept a different work assignment.
It was just... such a waste. This man probably knew more about being a hero than anyone else - but there was no way Izuku could learn anything from someone so clearly incapable of rational thought. He made to reach for his suitcase, forgotten at the side of the door in his panic but found it sliding across the room away from him as a walking stick slamming into the handle and flicked it away.
Gran Torino stood next to him appearing without warning, looking up in obvious confusion.
"Who're you!? A thief?! You can't just take things from my house!"
Growing annoyed with the senile hero, Izuku straightened and began walking across the room to pick up his suitcase only to find Gran Torino there once more heralded by a rush of air - blocking his way. The old man wasn't shaking anymore. In fact, a familiar smile was on his face as he flipped Izuku's carrying case into his hand, dangling it in front of himself tauntingly.
"Who're you?" he asked again softly.
Slowly, Izuku's annoyance faded away as his pulse began to rise. A grimace spread across his face and he raised his left hand, his right hovering over the dial of the Omnitrix.
"Please give me back my suitcase - and I'll leave." he said, hoping he wouldn't have to hurt the poor old man.
Instead of answering, Gran Torino disappeared from his sight, leaping from wall to wall and rebounding off of seemingly every object in the room as he careened around the room. Clearly, he was still at least SOMEWHAT dangerous.
Izuku expected no less from All Might's teacher and slammed the dial on the Omnitrix.
His legs bent backward as their joints reversed, and green chitin spread across his entire body. Thick, ridgelike hunks of chitin gathered around his forehead producing an almost hammer like protrusion.
And just like that, Izuku had become -
"Crash Hopper!" he yelled in a shrill voice. He bent his legs experimentally and began trying to track Gran Torino's quick moving form with his eyes for a moment. Seconds later, once he'd ascertained the pattern Izuku uncoiled his leg in a powerful jump that sent him on a crash course for the old man as he flew towards a nearby wall.
Sure of his victory, and hoping he didn't hurt the old man too badly, Izuku was greatly surprised when Gran Torino seemingly stopped in mid-air and flipped over Izuku's still moving form. He felt another burst of air above him, accompanied by the sudden impact of something hitting his back. Quick as a flash, Izuku found himself laying on the ground beneath the now menacing shape of Gran Torino.
Gently, as though carrying a child Gran Torino placed Izukus suitcase on the ground and popped the latch with his walking stick, stabbing the wooden end of the stick into Izuku's costume.
"Who. Are. You?" he asked, now slow and deliberate.
Izuku smiled, dazed by the older heroes prowess. Perhaps there was something he could learn here; he thought as he replied.
"Deku 10."