Disclaimer: I do not own My Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.
Bakugo Expelled
Chapter twenty-four: Devious deals done darkly
The students of class 1-A at U.A. High School were relaxing one evening after classes were done for the day; they had the next two days off of classes, so things were a bit relaxed. The girls of the class, as well as those over in class 1-B, were especially relaxed as Minoru Mineta had been expelled from U.A. recently, due to his involvement in the incident during the class 1-A field trip to the States a while ago had been revealed. As the unrepentant pervert was no longer around, the girls didn't have to worry about him creeping on them anymore.
…But at the same time, some of the girls wished that Mineta was there, because they wanted to hurt him, to make him suffer. Because of Mineta, five boys who were in class 1-A were killed, never to return to the comforting embrace of the life at U.A. Those girls, as well as the boys, all missed Tenya, Ojiro, Tokoyami, Kirishima and Kaminari. They were friends to all, no doubt about that. But to some of the girls, the boys aside from Tenya were something much more.
The official points were those of Hagakure and Tsuyu, as they were actually dating Ojiro and Tokoyami respectively at the time. Kyoka still felt terrible guilt over her harsh treatment towards Kaminari prior to his death; they technically were able to reestablish some modicum of friendship, but the blow-up never would have happened, Kyoka would have known and got to enjoy something truly wonderful, if it hadn't been for Mineta using Kaminari, and the other four boys as well, as scapegoats.
And Kaminari was supposed to be the short-statured teen's friend, if that word could ever have been used in regards to what relationship where was between Kaminari and Mineta.
The students of class 1-A, now just twenty-four, were all gathered in the main area of the dorm building, watching TV because the actual official rankings for the hero billboard charts JP were being announced; the most recent rankings that had everyone excited were tentative rankings that were necessary due to the sheer number of heroes who were killed during the monster siege on the city a while ago. An event like that had to be accounted for, after all.
The rankings that were being televised right now were the true rankings that were firmly established and would stay as such for the next half year. Everyone was excited for the main event, as it showed the official top ten pro heroes in Japan. The parading of the pros caught the attention of a lot of the 1-A students, as the first couple of top ten pros were not only the same ones from the tentative list, but they were all in the same spots as well.
Best Jeanist, now officially number ten, was still MIA, so the same sidekick from before accepted the honor in his boss's place. Fat Gum was likewise officially number nine, and at the number eight spot officially was Mt. Lady, retaining her rank from the tentative list. Some of the students took note of an unamused and slightly disgusted look on the gigantification hero's face, but they had no idea why she looked so unamused.
Gang Orca kept his tentative spot at number seven, a number seven ranking that was now official. Yoroi Musha stayed at number six officially, and during the armored hero's official placement at number six, Izuku spotted Aggro Ace in the audience standing up to applaud the samurai-esque hero. Being much a samurai himself, the Samurai Hero seemed like he'd naturally be very amused to see a hero he could relate to place so high in the rankings.
Things continued on being a repeat of the tentative rankings; Hawks remained at number five, Mirko remained at number four, and Edgeshot remained at number three. Edgeshot's remaining in the number three spot, since he's been a bit busy with his work at U.A., was especially notable, and the class 1-A students applauded him. Edgeshot was another top ten pro hero who Sengoku greatly applauded.
The 1-A students noted that Mirko, much like Mt. Lady before her, also had a look of unamused disgust on her face, but before they could wonder just why two of the female pros looked so disgusted the official number two pro hero in Japan was announced as Ryukyu, the Dragoon Hero who had tentatively been number one. Just like Mirko and Mt. Lady, Ryukyu had a look of unamused disgust on her face as she walked out.
This came as an especial surprise to Uraraka and Tsuyu, who both knew full well that there's no way the pro hero who employed them as interns would be displeased with something like her ranking; she once said that she'd have withdrawn from it if possible. Before anyone could have begun to wonder just why the now official number two hero was so upset, the announcing of the top ten reached a fever pitch when the new official number one was announced.
It was Endeavor.
Many in class 1-A, Todoroki especially so, were very upset to see that bastard of a man, the very man who harshly trained them to the point he was being straight up physically abusive, had gotten back into the position that he coveted so. There was a bit of a sneering look on Endeavor's face as he walked out to the cheers and hand-waiving of the people celebrating him regaining his spot at the very top of the charts.
The billboard announcements went on to cover a few other things, mostly the rankings of others outside of the top ten. Aside from a few noted changes that showed that tentative ranks from last time were now official higher, like Manual placing at number eighty, things were more or less the same as the tentative rankings list. Eventually, the ceremony ended, but it had done so in a way that left a sour taste in many the mouths of class 1-A students; there was no doubt that those in class 1-B felt the same.
"That…that bastard was actually rewarded…" Todoroki said, the look of shock on his face very much unmistakable, "…He did so much to all of us, to me, to Reiko…and he not only got away with it all, but he got back what he wanted the most."
"Show of hands," Uraraka began, "Who here felt that Ryukyu should have remained as the number one?" Right away, every last person in the room raised their hand, Uraraka herself included. Those who interned under the Dragoon Hero alongside Uraraka, such as Tsuyu and Eunice, all agreed with the gravity girl. Todoroki was also among those who strongly agreed with Uraraka, mostly because he felt that Ryukyu was far more deserving of the honor than Endeavor ever was. Hell, Todoroki could pick any of the other top ten heroes at random and pick an option that was more worthy of being number one than his father.
Bakugo scoffed incredulously at the sheer injustice of the Flame Hero not only getting away with what he's done and will most likely end up doing, but also how he's been rewarded with the re-bestowing of his coveted position on the hero billboard charts JP. Bakugo even went so far as to claim that Sengoku was more worthy of being the number one hero in Japan than Endeavor, a bold statement to be sure, but it was still met with a lot of agreement on part of everyone that was in the common area of Heights Alliance.
Flumping back in his seat on the sofa, Todoroki let off an annoyed huff. "Well great. This is just fan-tucking-fastic. My father gets everything he wants handed to him on a silver platter, and suffers no repercussions for what he's done. He's continuing to get away with whatever he wants to do, whenever he wants to do it."
"How do you think that I feel about all of this, Todoroki?" Yaoyorozu asked as she turned to face him, "My father will most likely use the official rankings as an excuse to convince your dad that pushing you and me together more is now justified."
"If there's one good thing that can be said about Fumikage and the other boys not being alive, then it's that none of them had to put up with this farce kero," Tsuyu said as she gestured to the television, drawing nods of agreement out of Kyoka and Hagakure.
Getting up from the sofa, Bakugo turned to face everyone else who was in the common area with him. "I don't know about you guys, but I'm going to go pack it in right now. Good night." A lot of the other class 1-A students could tell that the explosive teen was pissed by the turn of events in the official rankings list from the hero billboard charts JP, and that Bakugo was using going to bed as an excuse to get out of there.
Many of class 1-A decided to follow in Bakugo's example.
The morning following his reclaiming of the rank that he utterly coveted, Endeavor was escorted through the large and stately home of Ryoga Yaoyorozu. The Flame Hero, now once more the number one hero, had some business to discuss with the wealthiest man in Japan. Business that concerned a deal that was made between the two of them, a deal that would benefit not just Ryoga but Endeavor as well, as the deal, when officialized and carried out, would connect the two of them in a way that would help them boost one another.
Setting up an arranged marriage between Ryoga's daughter Momo and Endeavor's son Shoto.
"I have to admit, I was a bit worried that I would have officially lost the number one spot to that draconic quim," Enji remarked with a sneer, an overall bored look on his face as he sat in a chair seated in front of the large, stately desk in Ryoga's private study. Seated at the desk was Ryoga himself; although not as big or physically imposing as the now official number one hero in Japan, Ryoga still exuded an aura of sheer power and authority. Given that he was the wealthiest man in the nation, that was to be expected.
Japan's wealthiest man gave an amused hum that sounded like a chuckle. Gesturing to who he would refer to as a 'personal business partner', Ryoga said, "Well it's a good thing for you that I've been having a lot of my empire of business push the name of Endeavor." Ryoga gave off an amused chuckle. "…You'd be surprised how much push can be offered by one of the wealthiest men in the entire nation."
"Indeed," Endeavor agreed with a single nod, "Anyway, I believe you would like to discuss the matter that you mentioned over the phone to me earlier this morning, about an hour or so before I came here to meet with you."
Ryoga gave off a laugh this time, clapping his hands a bit as he did so. "Indeed I would, but before we get into that, I believe that we ought to celebrate your reclaiming of the number one spot on the hero billboard charts." Gesturing to a liquor cabinet in his office, Ryoga said, "How about a toast to start off? I have the finest bourbon you'll ever have the chance to drink."
Endeavor gave off a bit of an amused smirk. "…I never really had bourbon before, as brandy is my preferred alcohol of choice when I make a toast. But sure, I'll gladly take you up on it."
The following afternoon over at U.A., Aizawa and Hizashi were in Gym Gamma watching as Edgeshot was going over a few basic exercises with class 1-B. In a surprising twist, Aggro was in Gym Gamma as well, standing next to Aizawa and Hizashi. "So it's to remain a surprise, then," the Samurai Hero said as he and the others watched the official number three hero train his students in a few basic drills.
The underground hero nodded a few times in the affirmative. "Not everything is fully ready, considering that we're roughly at only forty percent of the way right now. We'd like things for our students to wait until what we're working on is one-hundred percent ready."
Aggro nodded a few times in understanding as he continued to look out over Gym Gamma as class 1-B went through the drills. "I don't suppose you and Hizashi-sensei would be interested in hearing about the progress being made into the investigations into this Mysterious Benefactor fellow who's been funding the villains, would you?"
"Wouldn't info like that normally be classified?" Hizashi asked, more curious than anything.
"What I do intend to share isn't sensitive information, so it should be okay for me to divulge," explained the Samurai Hero, "Anyway, this is just a suspicion that Detective Naomasa had on the matter, but he has reason to believe that-"
Aggro was cut off when some doors at the front of Gym Gamma were thrown open, making everyone stop short in what they're doing to turn and see what was going on. To their piqued curiosity, Yaoyorozu was briskly walking towards Aizawa, Hizashi and Aggro. Following along behind the wealthy girl were Bakugo, Izuku and Todoroki. It was very easily notable that both Yaoyorozu and Todoroki looked extremely upset with something.
That alone worried Aizawa, who was their teacher.
When his students got up to him, Aizawa asked, "Is there something the matter?"
"Todoroki and I were just informed that our respective fathers had officially arranged for the two of us to be married," Yaoyorozu explained, looking very upset.
This announcement from the ponytailed girl got everyone in Gym Gamma talking; Reiko even started to break down crying because her boyfriend was being forcefully taken from her. With all eyes on her, Yaoyorozu turned to look at Aggro, drawing a curious and mildly apprehensive look from the Samurai Hero in the process. "This is where you come in, Aggro," Yaoyorozu said as she used her quirk to create a Tanto knife, complete in a holster.
"I plan to commit seppuku. I want you to act as my second."
"Woah, woah, woah, let's call time here!" Aizawa exclaimed, making the T-symbol with his hands as if he were calling for a time out. He walked up to Yaoyorozu, confiscated the conjured tanto from her. After he confiscated the weapon, Aizawa was about to speak up, but he was cut off when some noise from the class 1-B students distracted him. Looking over, he saw Tetsutetsu and Monoma wrestling Ibara to the ground in Gym Gamma, with Monoma shouting that Ibara was to keep her mouth shut.
While Monoma and Tetsutetsu were trying to subdue Ibara for some odd reason, Aizawa and the other teachers plus Aggro all turned their attention back to Yaoyorozu. "…I'm sure that you are by no means amused by what your father and Endeavor had just set up to occur between you and Todoroki," Aizawa began, a sympathetic look on his face, as he addressed his wealthy student, "But don't you think that performing ritual suicide as a form of protest is a little ex-"
"I'm sick and tired of how my father's been trying to control every last aspect of my life, Aizawa-sensei," Yaoyorozu said, cutting the underground hero off as she looked like she might start crying at the drop of a hat, "And now, forcing me into an arranged marriage with someone who I don't even like romantically, all because he wanted to secure some manner of alliance between our family and Todoroki's, it's…" Yaoyorozu stopped short, gently shaking her head as she tried to regain enough composure to at least finish what she wanted to say. "…It's the final straw, Aizawa-sensei. I just can't take it anymore."
Aizawa let out a troubled sigh as he, Hizashi and Edgeshot regarded the wealthy girl, while behind them Togaru and Shihai joined Tetsutetsu and Monoma in keeping Ibara wrestled to the ground in Gym Gamma. Walking up to his student, Aizawa placed a hand on her shoulder in a comforting, reassuring gesture. "…I have next to no idea how things work in the families of Japan's wealthy elite, so forgive me if I'm lacking in a few details," Aizawa began, "Even so, I feel that you trying to get out of an arranged marriage you want no part of by killing yourself is a little bit extreme."
"Umm…Aizawa-sensei's got a point, Yaoyorozu," Todoroki remarked, getting her to turn to face him, "I was going to suggest that the two of us simply play along with what our fathers are forcing us into doing while we secretly pursue the relationships that we really want." Arching a wry eyebrow, the two-toned boy said, "Unless you for some reason would rather that I not cheat on you with Reiko."
"I'd rather that you'd be free to be with whoever you wanted to be with, Todoroki," Yaoyorozu remarked sadly, "That's another one of the reasons why I hate it that you and I are being forced into an arranged marriage with one another by our respective fathers. Not only am I being stripped of my freedom to be with who I choose, but the same unfairness has been forced onto you as well." The ponytailed girl gently shook her head as tears gently raced down the sides of her face. "…I am so sorry about what all has been forced onto you and Reiko, Todoroki."
The senseis, Bakugo and Izuku looked on at Todoroki and Yaoyorozu, ignorant to the chaos that was going on behind them as now Juzo and Manga had joined Monoma, Tetsutetsu, Togaru and Shihai in keeping Ibara wrestled to the ground. Yosetsu was about to join, but he was distracted when he saw that Yaoyorozu was crying. Concerned about her, as well as being partly driven by the crush that he has on the wealthy girl, Yosetsu proceeded to turn to face the group and walk over to them, zeroing in on the crying Yaoyorozu.
When he reached Yaoyorozu and the 1-A boys that had shown up, Yosetsu asked, "Umm, hey Yaoyorozu, are you okay?"
"You heard how she and Todoroki had just been forced into an arranged marriage by their respective fathers, right?" Izuku remarked, "Yeah, that's why Yaoyorozu is so upset, as well as why she had just asked Sengoku to help her perform Seppuku."
Aggro gave a gentle shake of his head, a somber, resigned expression on his face as his arms were crossed. "…Although I am trying to style myself as being as much of a samurai as I can manage, assisting in a Seppuku is one of the last things that I want to do."
Yosetsu nodded a few times in somber understanding, a bit upset to hear that the girl that he was in love with wants to end her life just to get out of an arranged marriage that she, as well as the boy she had been set up to marry, wants no part of. "…Yeah, I can see why Yaoyorozu wouldn't want that," Yosetsu remarked, "Being stripped of her freedom to choose who she can be with. I'm a bit upset by it as well, but then again my being upset stems mostly from the fact that I was hoping to get Yaoyorozu to like me, and her being arranged to marry someone else means that she's effectively off limits for me and-"
The welding boy of class 1-B was cut off by Bakugo, who said, "Wait, wait, wait, hold up a minute there. Did you just say that you have a thing for Ponytail here?"
Realizing that he had just admitted his crush on Yaoyorozu out loud without even realizing it, Yosetsu began turning a bright shade of beet red, his blushing was that much. "Well, I, umm, you see…yes," Yosetsu admitted after a few seconds.
Ryoga was sitting in his private study at his family's expansive mansion, kicking back and relaxing after a hard day of his dealings in the world of business. He felt very much successful with what all he had accomplished today, most of all securing a multi-family alliance with the Flame Hero Endeavor that would ensure that the various businesses under the umbrella of the Yaoyorozu conglomerate would see a notable boost in reputation, given that the name of the number one hero in Japan was attached to Ryoga's family name.
Ryoga was sitting in a high-backed arm chair placed in front of a fire place, looking into the burning fire within as he relaxed and sipped from a glass of bourbon. As the wealthiest man in Japan sat and contemplated future dealings, the door leading into his private study was opened, drawing his attention. Ryoga saw that one of his servants came in, looking mildly apologetic for disrupting his alone time.
Bowing to the wealthy man, the servant said, "I sincerely apologize for disturbing you, sir, but I got some news from U.A. High School concerning miss Momo's behavior."
Ryoga arched a wry eyebrow as he regarded the servant. "…What did my daughter do?"
"From what one of the plain-clothes guards you sent to secretly keep an eye on Miss Momo had been able to observe," the servant began, "She tried to arrange to commit Seppuku, even asking a visiting American quirked hero to help her. Miss Momo then abandoned that plan when some no name boy in her class's rival class confessed to her that he was in love with her, and is now actively cheating on Endeavor's son with the rival class boy who confessed to her. The plain-clothes guard has reason to believe that Miss Momo is doing all of this to spite the plans that you and Endeavor had set up."
To say that the wealthiest man in Japan was a bit ticked off at his daughter's defiant behavior would be a massive understatement. Still, he was able to keep his cool long enough to allow the servant to finish the story. "…On a related note," the servant finished, "Endeavor's son is still pursuing a relationship with that one poor girl he had become smitten with, in clear defiance of the arranged marriage that you and Endeavor had set up between him and Miss Momo."
"My daughter and Endeavor's son do realize that they don't really have a say in this matter anymore, do they?" Ryoga asked casually, "I mean, at least Momo should know that. My word should be law to her. And I'm very much certain that Endeavor won't allow his son to work to actively disrupt the arranged marriage."
The servant gently shook his head, showing that he was at a bit of a loss on the matter. "I think that it is something of a problem with youth in the age group of Miss Momo, sir. They tend to do what they feel is right, instead of letting their older, wiser relatives find the true right path for them to go down."
Ryoga nodded in agreement, knowing full well that what he and Endeavor had set up was right, and whatever flights of fancy Momo and Shoto were both doing were ultimately wrong. The wealthiest man in Japan knew that he had to meet with Endeavor to go over what all had just been brought to his attention by the servant. Their respective children were both working to try and throw wrenches into the arranged marriage between them. If word of Momo and Shoto both actively cheating on each other were to get out, especially since their arranged marriage had actually made the news already to some extent, then it would smear mud on Ryoga's name.
That was something that he would never permit, regardless of who was doing it.
END, CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Author's notes;
Well this chapter has kicked off the 'Downfall arc', setting more than one ball into motion. The main one, naturally, is the chaos that had sprung up due to Ryoga and Endeavor arranging for Yaoyorozu and Todoroki to be married, in the wake of the official rankings list for the hero billboard charts JP in which Endeavor officially regained the spot as number one. The Flame Hero regaining this spot will be a plot point for this arc, especially considering some of what had gone into making sure Endeavor got his coveted position back.
Another ball had also been set into motion, but it's not as obvious as the main one. It will get a bit more light shed onto it as time goes on in this arc. The side-ball that has been rolling is part of the reason why Sengoku agreed to stay in Japan to, among other things, help clean up what is left of the villainous taint that is besmirching the land of the rising sun. The only real thing left for Aggro to help clean up is what all the villains had going on with their 'Mysterious Benefactor', although an extra side-quest or two may pop up for the Samurai Hero to help the Japanese pros take care of.
You'll see what I mean in the next chapter, where at least part of a certain video clip that had been previously recorded in secret gets leaked.