I don't own My Hero Academia or any of the characters.
A passion project of mine, will be posting at least monthly, what happens if Izuku walks a different path with a different support group. A group he now becoming more and more entwined with.
We hope you enjoy what we have been cooking up...
Chapter 2
Giving it a few more weeks for his blog to get a believable following, so he could be 'discovered', Izuku set to work on other avenues he wanted to explore. After school, he trained with Toga, building up his fitness and combat skills. Despite still being a little clumsy still, his drive kept pushing himself to try and keep up; though she did force him to rest when he began overdoing it. While at school he soaked up all the knowledge he could, if he was going to have to work as a quirkless non hero then he needed to learn as much about everything as he could. One thing he had picked up from the Broker, was that knowledge was power, when used in the right way.
He kept churning out the notes and updating them, he was aware that within a month he had passed two million Yen in the stash the Broker was keeping for him. Despite what he had heard of none hero circles, the Broker was known for being honest, everyone knew that when dealing with her, the letter of the contract would be followed; which lead to her being the biggest negotiator in the underworld. From what he found out, crossing her was a bad idea, but as long as business dealings were kept professional.
Izuku quickly became friends with her, at first his patron was bemused at an innocent teen, a former hero worshipper no less, being dragged into the criminal underworld. The nicer end, but criminal nonetheless. She also came to have an appreciation for his mind, he soaked up information like a sponge and found new ways to use it she would never have thought of. She quickly took to feeding him random tidbits just to see what he could come up with, his thought process proving to be too fascinating to her to not test it out.
It normally took longer, but within two weeks Izuku had been allowed into the Brokers inner sanctuary. Getting him to work directly on her system sped things up and gave him more information to play with. He was quickly expanding and soon able to offer suggestions for people to improve their quirk ability and strength and even suggested partnerships; depending on what their goal was.
He started with Toga, at her request, they experimented with what exactly her quirk limits were. Using his blood, plus that of volunteers in exchange for his training, they were able to work out exactly what they were. With a steady supply, they were able to practice more, improving her speed and even getting her to the point that drinking blood gave her a brief regeneration boost.
Training with him and others that were screened and sent to them, her speed and combat abilities rose too, there were still limits to what she could do, but she had truly become a fearsome fighter with a wider range of opponents to fight. His fitness, agility and fighting skills had also increased, while still possessing no quirk and lacking her experience, he was shaping up to be a decent fighter.
He had an idea how to further help, but it would require breaking into a couple of places. All in the name of levelling the playing field of course, not just to repay what he considered a debt to her, but the perfect opening would be brief and not for another six months.
His fifteenth birthday had come and gone, while concerned with the change, his mother was happy enough when his All Might collectables were slowly sold off and he focused more on his non-hero work. When he got the 'job offer' she was overjoyed as he would be able to use his interests not only for work, but would be well paid if it worked. The company studied peoples quirks and made job recommendations based on them, something the Broker had set up as a sideline but also as cover. Toga even gave him a hug as his birthday present, though she had to snap him out of shock afterwards. Despite seeing her most days and adjusting to her hyper personality, he still wasn't used to physical contact yet, though was adapting better to positive reinforcement after a few false starts.
On agreement with Toga, and to further their goal of converting him to their side for good, the Broker made sure that the people Izuku came into contact with were as sympathetic as possible, to make it easier for him to connect with them. The handful of people sent to him for training suggestions were the same, a diverse number of quirks often overlooked individuals. It helped that he seemed to genuinely care for Toga, considering her as his savior, which while she found it adorable, wasn't always sure what to do with this new found devotion. That didn't stop her from teasing him about it, giggling when he blushed and flailed his arms around.
One of the first he worked with, possibly his greatest success, was a young man with short, spiky black hair, known as Rai Kita, aka Battery. A man who would be the first of his new recruits.
To keep his age and identity a secret, they made him a suit, a black and green combat uniform with a full helmet and voice scrambler. It took him a little time to get used to moving in it, not used to wearing an outfit like this, being more used to his baggy clothing or the gym outfit he wore with Toga. The first three students he was sent they met at the training place Toga had set up, as it was one of many she used. She was there just to keep an eye on things, while he put them through their paces. Besides Battery, there was one with a leg speed quirk and one with a stretching quirk. They built a series of fitness machines to build physical strength and stamina, while linking them to a generator for Battery to practice his quirk on. He didn't understand why his training involved standing there, but the reason became clear when demonstrated properly.
As his name implies, his quirk let him absorb and store electricity. At first he could hold enough to power a lightbulb, but after a month, he was able to absorb a much higher charge and hold it for longer. Izuku quickly learned that the main problem was the ban on public quirk use. Without any way to legally use their quirk, private spaces being hard to find or expensive, though with weaker quirks were at risk of being arrested if they tried training. While martial arts training was available publically, this was heavily regulated and monitored, so Izuku threw in some basics that might give them the upperhand in a pinch; at the very least
The speed and stretch quirk users were quick to sort out, they just needed to keep using their quirk to strengthen it, but Battery was another matter, Izuku was excited at the possibilities. He quickly earned Kita's loyalty, plus the respect of the others he worked on as his approach was almost unheard of in the underworld and it made them feel like people; some for the first time in their life based on their quirk. He was dismayed when it was revealed he was following a fifteen year old, but like others it was Izuku's intelligence and drive to help that lead to him working under the teen, contracted out on jobs through the Broker and earning good money for it; further cementing his loyalty. The kid had opened up a whole new world of possibilities to him and helped him achieve a level of power he never knew was possible. Despite being six years older, Battery had no problems willingly following his new 'boss'.
Toga was confused how Izuku had managed to earn the loyalty or appreciation of low level villains so easily, but the more time she spent around him, the more she got it. While he had been lured to the otherside, for now at least, he still burned with the same passion and drive that could have made him a great hero, which people responded to when it was directed at them. His open, honest smile helped, though she was one of the few people who got to see it thanks to his mask, but his very body seemed to radiate it when he was in his element. Much like himself, a lot of the people that were sent to him were using to nothing but dismissal or abuse, in a way they were building each other up to reach new heights without even realising it at the time.
By the time he had finished school a few months later, he had incorporated himself into the Brokers inner circle, trained around twenty in quirk usage and compiled notes on hundreds of quirks. While the last few months had not been enough to rid him of his nervous disposition, he was certainly more comfortable in the shadowy court of his benefactor than elsewhere. It had taken some time for the others in her employ to get used to his presence, though most of them only saw him with his costume on, the impact he had had was well known to them and even the most volatile members knew to stay clear. As a rule, the Broker preferred her employees to be stable and consistent, so there were few regulars that were any real threat to the teen even without knowing he was off limits.
Toga had been by his side the whole time, watching and guiding him, sinking him into her world slowly until he was more villain than hero and he hadn't even noticed the difference. He didn't question the increased time she spent around him, coming to appreciate the company as it eased his loneliness and helped give him confidence in this new world he was navigating.
Having started his new 'job' out of school, he was unaware of how he had been manipulated, his new 'coworkers were chosen specifically to keep enforcing the idea that they were the misunderstood anti heroes; though most of the ones working in the office were doing legitimate jobs. Increasingly believing that heroes weren't all they claimed to be and that he had misjudged them, he was sliding into the grey middle ground and becoming increasingly attached to his new friends and colleagues. When he was starting to plan heists, his backers were keen to see what he had come up with, the line having been successfully blurred for him.
He had quickly found out, it wasn't just Toga, but a number of people were shunned for the basis of their quirk, the one thing they had no control over, especially blood based ones. The first plan he put into action during the summer break was one to help them, especially Toga, who couldn't believe how far her new partner was willing to go for her sake. She had picked up plenty of work from the Brokers group, plus she had to admit, the time spent training and working with Izuku had been fun, seeing him reach new heights and his growing confidence in himself triggered emotions in her she hadn't felt in years.
Especially when he came up with a plan to rob a blood bank, both for her and to sell. It was the greatest thing anyone had ever said to her.
Through the people he had helped and the Brokers connections, he was able to get a small team together with the aim of not only robbing a delivery truck, but getting access to the vault itself. Due to the variety of blood that quirks had resulted in, they had specialist systems or equipment to deal with distribution and transfusions; while Toga was happily able to drink anyone's blood, a couple of other blood based quirk users had to be careful when using blood that wasn't theirs. Due to the heavy regulations involved, even those who needed it to live didn't get much and often no more than enough to survive; the exception being heroes of course.
They were initially confused as to why he was so willing to help them, until they realised it was his sense of justice. People vilified for what they were born with fed his belief that heroes were sustaining an unjust system; especially with his new social circle purposely feeding him stories of heroes who were in it for themselves and not to save people which he hated, as well as the tales from those around him of how they had been abused by the system for accidents for birth.
The group was initially surprised, then bemused, then curious when he put the plan to them. Thanks to all the data the Broker collected, on the off chance it might one day be useful, he had been able to track the routes the trucks took. Using Battery, he planned to cause the truck to break down by temporarily having its power drained, one of his increased abilities let him absorb electricity from a greater distance. Then one of the blood based villains he had recruited would fake a robbery, his quirk giving him increased physical strength after drinking blood, pretending he thought a money truck had broken down before making his escape. The guy wasn't the best actor, but Izuku hoped it was enough to fool and distract any passersby from their real goal.
While the driver was distracted with the 'failed' robbery, Toga would then ambush him and take enough blood to shapeshift long enough to get into the main building. The speed quirk guy who had trained with Battery, would then grab as much blood as he can, while Toga would manage to 'fix' the problem with the van and drive off, any lost stock would be written off as damage from the botched robbery.
Toga was then to infiltrate the central building, installing a dongle to allow the Broker access to a currently closed system, then get out before she ran out of blood, calling in sick afterwards to mud the waters.
If everything went to plan, the driver would wake up with a headache and assume he had fallen ill when he checked at work. A driver calling in sick then not remembering what was going on would earn him at least a week off to recover. Otherwise, there would be limited, if any, damage, no loss of life and a healthy stash of blood packs to use. Izuku funded the whole scheme with the money he was getting from the sale of his notes, the Broker shrugged when Toga asked why, as it wasn't their problem what he did with his money. She didn't know how to respond when the cyborg commented there were cheaper and easier ways to get a girl's attention, deciding to flee the building in embarrassment instead.
When it came to the actual plan, Izuku walked the route and found it passed a wooded area, which caused him to change the plan to ambush the truck there as it provided more cover. The habit of double checking his work was one he hung onto and had helped him so far, this job was too important to him to fail.
When it came to the day itself, everything went smoothly, until the part about breaking open the back of the truck, when Izuku got hit by one of the racks thrown out the back, knocking him down and splattering him with a faceful of blood. In the end this provided a more useful distraction, the truck was waved off with Toga in charge, while the heroes who appeared eventually were more concerned with the would be villain or the kid screaming and covered in blood as he tried to get it off him.
It took an hour or so to clear things up, his story of having his lunch under a tree when it all happened made him a witness. When he was identified as quirkless, any suspicion of his involvement was dismissed; who had heard of a quirkless villain, let alone one so young. The added damage helped speed things up, Toga got in and out in record time, claiming the attack had left her shaken and was told to take the rest of the week off to recover. They even grabbed more packs than expected, the chaos making it all the easier to work unnoticed and the damaged ones that drenched Izuku was all the excuse the bank needed as to why so little made it. You can't account for bad timing with villains after all.
They had established a small office as part of Izuku's cover, at least that's how it started, when the business proved profitable they decided to make it a legit business instead of just a front. It still had hidden areas, was staffed by members of the Brokers circle who used it as a sideline and for laundering, but to the outside world it was another novel business in an increasingly strange world. A growing core of people for whom it was a proper job helped sell it as they expanded. The heroes had taken him to hospital for a checkover, once he was given the all clear he was dropped off by them at the office, greeted by Toga, in her normal form, standing in as the building manager.
The hero escorting him had a quick look around, claiming to be curious about their business, but most likely checking his story really did check out. Satisfied, he left not long after, while Izuku collapsed in a chair, releasing a breath he had been holding in for hours and took deep breaths until he had calmed down again.
They had built a small shower area for cleanup in the back, so he headed straight there afterwards, arranging for some clothes to be delivered while he bathed; just wanting to be clean again. When Toga followed him in, he paused in surprise, seeing her wide eyed and breathing heavily as she locked the door behind them.
She traced the blood stains on his face with a finger, licking her lips and leaning close. He froze, unsure what was happening, or what to do, before she ran her tongue up his cheek, wiping the blood off and moaning softly.
"You have no idea how good you look, covered in blood, taking charge and fooling those heroes. You did so well today…" she had dropped to a whisper, licking his face clean, soft moans as she tasted him, leaving Izuku in a state of confused arousal. "My Zuzu…" she whispered, pressing against him, her tongue tracing the blood on his neck, only stopping when he let out a barely suppressed moan as she nuzzled his shoulder. "Hmm, too soon for this yet, get cleaned up, I'll be out front."
Her lips had ghosted over his ear as she left him with that parting comment, bloody lips pulled back in a grin with fangs on full display, as she looked back at him before closing the door. He was going to need a long or cold shower after that surprise, but wasn't sure which. While she had mentioned her blood lust before, he had not expected it to express itself in that way.
After several minutes of being frozen in place, he opted for the long, hot shower. He had blood caked into his skin and hair and could do with a good scrub. It looked like the showers saw regular use, as there were dozens of different bottles on the racks, Izuku trying several different ones, scrubbing himself down each time, until he felt clean again.
Wiping the steam off the mirror, he checked to make sure he had gotten it all. When he had confirmed he was clean, he took a moment to study himself. While he didn't look any different from yesterday, he almost seemed to carry himself with a little more confidence, he stood a little taller. Years of being told he was worthless would take time to counteract, but this was a good start. He had passed the first real test set for himself and it felt… good.
After drying off, bagging up his bloody clothes and getting dressed in the new ones, he sneaked back into his office. Shutting the door behind him, he sat behind his desk, tossed the bag in a corner, and regarded Toga and Kita sat across from him. He managed to suppress his blush as she smirked at him, he was still adjusting to her increasing physical affection, but until today it had just been hugs, not whatever that had been.
"So, how did it go?" he asked them, pulling out a small whiteboard to jot notes on, to avoid leaving a paper trail while still being able to work things out.
"Like a dream, boss," Kita replied, grinning and leaning in, "we managed to get one hundred and five bags. Blood dude, Vam I think he called himself, wants to know if he can keep one fifth of the haul, or just the fifteen we agreed on? The running guy is happy to sell his share to us for the agreed price, as am I. So how do you want to split it? They waited patiently while Izuku muttered to himself and scribbled on his board, totting everything up and scribbling extra notes before setting it aside.
"Give Vam twenty, he did a good job, but I didn't appreciate being splashed. Even if it did give me the perfect alibi." He sighed and thought for a moment. "I will arrange with the Broker to sell your shares of twenty, Toga gets hers and what's left of mine, after covering costs. We came out a lot better than expected, especially when the second half kicks in."
"Oh wow, I'm used to working with people who take a much bigger share…" Kita was stunned, pulling off a job like this and giving away his share was unheard of in villain circles.
"It's just step one, got a long way to go, this is just helping Toga and setting up a steady supply to keep the more… unstable blood quirk users under control. Today went well, but we got lucky, we will never be able to control all the variables, but we can stack the deck." He paused, from the expressions of the other two, he had begun muttering to himself again, so cut himself off. "Look, I get more money than I need from the quirk analysis, I wouldn't have been able to pull this off without you guys, so just wanted to show my appreciation."
"So what now?" Kita was curious, he had heard about this big plan, but hadn't been around when most of it was formulated, so was still missing a lot of pieces. That the boss was happy to reward even this early on was a good thing to him, but did want to know how far this was going to go.
"Part two will need to wait for a couple of months to get the right time frame. In the meantime, we will need to build on today, if it plays out how I hope, then it will give us more support and funds."
"Wait, when you said I would be entitled to five percent of the profits from your first business, that was this?" the electric quirk wielder distracted from his previous questions when he realised what his boss was setting up.
"Oh yes, if it works, then we will be catching up to the so called heroes in more ways than one…"
"You know, I did not expect you to come this far so quickly," the Broker admitted, as they finalised the sale of the blood packs. "Now you said you had more to show me? Relating to the remote access dongle I gave you?"
"You now have access to all of the blood donation information, technical specifications and manifests." Izuku told her, handing over the tablet it had connected to, grinning as he saw his patron's face light up with a smile when she realised what he had just handed over.
"I take it you have a plan in mind for this? Going for a bigger load next time?" she queried as she went over the new data, already calculating how much this would be worth.
"Not quite, I want to know how easy it would be to replicate the setup for us?"
"Replicate, you mean…"
"Yes, it can help with our supply problems as well as provide a new source of revenue, without having to rob a truck every month. If you have contacts who would be able to duplicate this, then we can begin to undermine the trust in heroes further by offering a cheaper alternative, if they shut us down, then it will make them look bad."
"You're serious, huh, kid," she responded after a few minutes of staring, "really think you can change this broken society?"
"Over the last few months I've met people who have been failed by society in various ways, if I can help even a few of them, then it will mean something. Even if it's just to me."
"Hmm, so what's your next step? I don't see where setting up a blood bank will lead you…"
"That was proof of concept and for Toga's benefit. Oh, also if you know someone with a dehydration quirk, could you get them in touch? The next part will require a lot more help and I need your assistance to pull it off. The money from my notes should more than cover the start up funds." He pulled out a roll of pages from his backpack and spread them out between the pair. "This is what I need to do next."
"Oh Izuku, you certainly don't think small…"
One of the Brokers contacts she thought might fit his requirements was contacted and a meeting arranged for the following day. They both went over Izuku's charts and plans after that, his idea for a black market blood bank could prove lucrative indeed, but if he could pull this one off, well, she would have more information than she would know what to do with.
This kid really was worth his weight in gold, but seeing how far he went, having been wound up and let loose, that could be very informative and entertaining.
Toga found him later that day, having concluded his meeting with their boss, sat back at his office desk working away on case files and quirk notes. He had proven himself capable of more than they realised, more than he probably realised, and he was back to doing paperwork. Some days she just didn't understand what drove him, everyone in his position she had ever known avoided the stuff like the plague..
"Shouldn't you be out celebrating, Zuzu?" she grinned, leaning over his desk, "everyone else has already gone home for the night."
"I know, but there's always more work to be done, having to travel so far each day doesn't help…" Izuku was muttering to himself, closing one case file and reaching for another, before Toga grabbed his hand and stopped him.
"All work and no play makes Zuzu break" she whispered, pushing him back in the chair, settling herself in his lap, her arms around his neck and cuddled up to him.
"Toga…" he gasped in surprise as she purred against him eventually wrapping his arms around her while blushing deepened. She giggled and kissed his warm cheek, watching as he turned a brighter shade of red. I lick blood off him and he freezes but otherwise doesn't react, now from some simple affection, he's turned into a tomato, how interesting, she thought. Smiling and nuzzling his neck, the memory nearly overwhelmed her, but for now she just wanted to do something nice for her hero, after everything he had done to repay her and more.
"Just rest here for a little while Zuzu…" she whispered to him, calming down for a moment and looking at him seriously. Feeling him finally relax, pulling her closer, she hummed in approval and sat there with him for a while longer; giggling happily to herself.
The next day he suited up and met with the dehydration quirk user, known as Dust, explaining what he was trying to achieve, which got them chatting about the applications of Dust's quirk while Battery watched in amusement. A deal was struck, he would look into creating the item Izuku required, in exchange for quirk training.
He was also very receptive to potential new ventures the teen proposed, a chance to use his quirk to get some cash was always welcome, especially one that was as specific as his set of skills.
The next several days followed as normal. Work in the office until he ran out of case files, train with Toga, in a hidden training ground near his work, and working with others on improving their quirks and combat abilities. They were making good progress, but Izuku was getting impatient, counting down the days. He was also waiting to hear back from the Broker, to find out if his proposed idea was even possible.
Toga and Battery watched over him still, both concerned and growing fond of the green haired teen and the drive to help them that had helped secure their loyalty. The topic of their time in the bathroom and the later cuddling had been left for now, Izuku not sure how to bring it up and Toga finding it adorable when he considered it and started floundering and blushing.
Having spent enough time around him the last few months, they were also able to help with the training, rather than just watching over him. It even led to them finding and recruiting a fourth member of the group, Miku Hinami; the delivery villain Sky Board.
Miku has been recommended to the group by the Broker herself, who made frequent use of Miku's services when needed. She was fast, had some maneuverability, but otherwise had no idea how else to apply her quirk. It manifested as a mass of air around her feet, which she shaped into a board, then using her surfing experience to form it into a board shape she was comfortable with.
She could fly at high speed with it, so Izuku started her with low speed on the ground, riding the semi derelict building they used for training as the wave and getting her to ride the ground. This quickly broke her habits of maneuvering like she was on the water, within a week she was able to use her quirk to hop from surface to surface using the air pressure of her board; rather than just racing through the sky. She also became better at directing it, using it to change her direction and speed quicker, spending her nights racing around the city and surrounding countryside and loving every second of it. The last thing he got Sky to try, was splitting the board and skating instead, which lowered her speed, but raised her maneuverability. Learning to rapidly shift between the two forms to throw any pursuers off.
Running it past the Broker first, Izuku also made further suggestions of ways to apply her quirk. If someone needed a fast extraction, Miku could be in and out before anyone who lacked super speed could stop her. With further training, she might even be able to unleash blasts of air to scatter and disorientate any heroes trying to intercept her.
Battery had come on massively in the months since he had started. He was able to hold a much larger amount and drain from a longer distance away, use his fists like tasers, stick to metal surfaces with an electric field (Izuku was proud that one had actually worked) and even fire off small blasts once he had built up enough charge giving him extra flexibility.
Toga continued to increase her combat abilities at a tremendous rate, fighting against dozens of different opponents gave her experience she had lacked previously, preferring hit and run or ambush attacks, but now able to fight at such a high speed everyone else was barely able to keep up. Izuku was also coming along, but without a quirk, he was mostly trying to keep up with her and advance his ideas; still unsure of what exactly she wanted from him after the robbery.
His plan needed at least a trio of flexible, mobile quirk users to work with down the line, Battery and Sky Board made up two, now he needed someone with a more physical quirk. At least to start with.
He sat staring out across the training ground, chewing on a sandwich, knowing he needed to eat but was too excited after the last conversation between himself and his patron. Thanks to Toga and her contacts, in eight months he had transformed not only himself, but a small part of the world. If All Might wants to look down on him for being quirkless, abandon not only himself, but dozens, if not hundreds, of others to be ground under the system, then he would prove them just how bad a miscalculation that was.
"So how exactly do you plan to change or overthrow the system? Heroes are outnumbered yet they keep coming out on top.
"By levelling the playing field," Izuku told the Broker, "our main advantage right now is we operate in the shadows. They have the law, the money, freedom to use their quirks as they please, the support structure, teamwork and training; the entire system is built to support them. So we build our own system, weaken theirs and we do what they do best, build teams of well trained individuals. We know where to hit them, as long as we keep engaging in hit and run attacks, wear them down, they can be beaten. If we can just assemble a large enough group..."
"You make it sound so simple, but they have All Might, they are training constantly their whole lives, what makes you think a few months of training will make us a match?"
"Oh, I know how to deal with All Might, don't you worry about that." Izuku said it with such confidence, a teenager declaring he knew how to take down the greatest hero who had ever lived. Why, she knew someone who would be interested in that little tidbit if it was true, but for now she just gaped in astonishment at her young prodigy.