Chapter 7; Exam Arc pt.7
Disappointed Sceptical, you've stopped doing obligatory swearing warnings. For shame-The Beta
Maybe I was just giving you the chance to do one, ya ever thought of that-The Top Bitch
Monday Afternoon, 233 Days until U.A. Entrance Exam
"How long has he been doing this?" A tired voice asked.
"About three hours." Toshinori weakly chuckled as he watched his pupil dash around the beach, small arcs of green electricity dancing across his skin.
"So, what exactly were you wanting me to try and teach him again?" The tired voice asked again, a note of agitation underlying it.
"Really anything that could help him become more dexterous." Toshinori shrugged, "Just showing him some pointers should be enough,"
"I'm not just going to come out here and half-ass something like that," The voice grunted in agitation. "Just make sure you make it worth me coming down here."
"I have a meeting scheduled with Nezu Saturday morning, don't you worry." Toshinori chuckled, "Your plan for a new entrance exam will get my vote, Shota." The skeletal man coughed into his hand. "And my financial support, if it's needed."
"Good," The disheveled teacher gave a long-suffering sigh as he turned to go down the beach, "The exams are too inefficient as they are…"
"Because they put people with non-flashy quirks at a disadvantage, I remember the lecture Shota." Toshinori brushed off the man, leaning on the ramp overlooking Dagobah beach. Despite agreeing with him, Toshinori had a hard time getting past the younger hero's exaggerated persona, "Just make sure not to break my pupil!"
"It would be foolish of me to promise that." Shota deadpanned.
"Of course, it would be." Toshinori let his head drop as he shook it, suppressing a chuckle. "Now I wonder how big of a 'donation' I'll need to make for Nezu to build those Dorms."
"Do I really need to put this on?" Izuku hesitantly asked as he loosely held the outfit, keeping it as far from his body as he physically could.
"This is a sacred garb that has been tied to this art since it's very inception," Shota growled, "To not wear it would be an insult to a centuries-old tradition."
"Do they really still wear this?" Izuku cringed as he looked at the neon-colored jumpsuit in his hands, "All Might, you went to America, what's your opinion?"
"Oh, this does bring back some memories of my time in the Bronx." Toshinori chuckled, "But I have seen several dancers still don this garb when they're in a classical mood."
Izuku sighed, reluctantly accepting that he'd have to look like a neon rainbow puked geometric shapes onto a jumpsuit and decided to call it fashion.
"So how is learning to breakdance going to help me become more dexterous?" Izuku asked as he fidgeted with the jumpsuit.
"It teaches you how to move on other parts of your body besides your feet, and how to keep your balance while on those parts of your body..." Shota zipped up his own jumpsuit, "Now we'll start with some Top Rock movements to get you warmed into this."
"Top-what?" Izuku dully asked, trying to process how his newest teacher could look serious while resembling a geometer's LSD trip.
"Move while on your feet, I need to see your sense of rhythm before I have you try and attempt any transitions or foot works." The scruffy man explained as he popped a disc into a retro-style sound system. "Now follow my movements."
Shota stood up straight, crossing his arms and bringing his heels together, feet shaped into a V shape.
'Simply enough,' Izuku thought as he mimicked the scruffy hero.
Shota shifted, shifting his balance to his right leg as he crossed his left in front, angling his body with his left leg and raising his arms out to assist in keeping his balance.
'A bit tougher,' Izuku managed to copy the man with only a little wobbling.
"Those are really the only two moves you need to know for a start," Shota slouched back into his poor posture, meandering his way over to the speaker again, "make sure to start from move one, and to shift back to it after step two, if you want to try having some fun just flip step two every time you do it."
"I was expecting this to be a bit harder!" Izuku was excited, he didn't have much experience with dancing so learning how to do any type of dance was a fun prospect.
"Well if it's so easy let's try something high pace," Shota grinned manically, "Now stick with the beat, I'll be keeping track of your performance…"
Izuku barely had a moment to process the ominous statement before the music started to play.
'Okay, I can do this,' Izuku started from step one, sliding into step two, shifting back to one, and into a mirrored two.
"Pick up the pace, your racking up missed beats!" Shota egged on.
'Shit,' Izuku tried moving faster, 'One, two, one, two, one-'
He felt the world go sideways as he shifted too far, falling to the ground.
"I'm a little disappointed Toshinori, I thought he would last longer than a minute." Shota dryly chuckled as he crouched over the fallen Izuku, "I'm going to have to teach him a couple of other things while I'm pounding some rhythm into his head."
"That's between you and the boy," Toshinori smirked, "Although his mother would probably like to know if you want to do anything extreme."
Toshinori's smirk fell as his face paled, "Izuku my boy, please don't tell her about what we did in Mikawa Bay."
"What you did in Mikawa Bay?" Shota asked in a vaguely interested tone.
"He strapped weights on me and dropped me into the bay," Izuku answered as he pulled himself off the ground.
Shota turned a blank stare onto an uncomfortable Toshinori.
"To be fair," The scrawny blonde started to defend himself, "We took precautions to make sure he was safe."
"Right." Shota deadpanned, "I'm sure what I'm thinking of will be significantly tamer than that."
"We're done for today," The eraser hero rose and turned off his boombox, "Your homework is to work on some balance exercises at every opportunity you can."
"What kind of balance exercises?" Izuku asked as he all but tore the jumpsuit off him.
"Simple things to start, standing on one leg, walking on the tip of your toes," Shota shrugged, "If that's too simple, then try handstands or walking on your hands."
"Is that all?" The emerald haired teen asked, making a mental note to incorporate those into his routines.
"Yeah, you're only allowed to wear that jumpsuit until you can appreciate it." He added, glaring at the teen. "An exception being your school uniform."
"Please tell me you're joking."
"I don't make jokes."
'Shit.' Izuku sighed, glaring at the abominable suite.
"You should be glad that Items can't lower your stats in my system."
"Because this would put your charisma in negative double digits"
'I'd deserve it.' He gripped as he resigned himself to his fate.
Monday Evening, 233 Days until U.A. Entrance Exam
Izuku sighed as he sat down at his computer, shifting uncomfortably in his jumpsuit.
He could still hear his mother's good nature chuckling even from the other room.
"You'd be laughing too if you saw someone dressed like that."
"I didn't laugh at Mr. Aizawa,"Izuku grumbled his counterpoint as he signed into the chat room he had accidentally ignored for a week.
"That's because he looks like he would end you without a moment's hesitation."
He sighed, unable to argue that point, and turned his attention back to the monitor.
Mightyfan#9: [Sorry I disappeared for two weeks, what did I miss?]
DustBunny: [Not much around here]
Igucci-gang: [Me almost losing a hand doesn't count as much to you?]
DustBunny: [That's your fault for playing with knives]
Igucci-gang: [You misspelled 'training with a katana']
Mightyfan#9: [Oh wow,]
Igucci-gang: [Yes, while you were off piddling with school work I was studying the blade]
DustBunny: [If you're expecting that to be taken seriously your sorely mistaken]
Mightyfan#9: [I thought it was cool]
Mightyfan#9: [Did anyone else do anything interesting?]
F*ckEndeavor: [I got to set a car on fire, that was fun.]
NotDeadpool: [I've been contemplating if we're here by cosmic coincidence or if there's a god out there with a plan for us, so nothing noteworthy really.]
I'mFeelingstabby: [I've been meeting a lot of cuties lately!]
I'mFeelingstabby: [Also you were right about me making objects and copying quirks, if I ever meet you I'll make sure to give you a proper 'thank you~']
Izuku never expected a message could send shivers down his spine, a part of him really hoped that the user wasn't an overweight middle-aged man.
DustBunny: [Speaking of him being right, did you ever figure out Stains pattern?]
Mightyfan#9: [It took me a couple of days, but I think I figured it out last week...]
Mightyfan#9: [I have a couple of ideas where he's probably going to strike next, Dathomir currently the strongest possibility and he'll probably go after whoever's in the local news that week.]
Izuku uploaded the list of places he'd determined into the chat. He saw little harm in it since it was unlikely that any of the people in the chat could find The Hero Killer even with knowing what city he's in.
DustBunny: [If you end up being correct you know that'll put you one step ahead of the police right?]
F*ckEndeavor: [What, like it's difficult?]
Mightyfan#9: [If I'm right then I probably got lucky lol.]
Mightyfan#9: [But I also used a lot of information that they would have to go through verifications to use, so that probably slows them down]
Igucci-gang: [Not to mention the paperwork nightmares that come with.]
Mightyfan#9: [Exactly, so the only way to test this is to wait and see where he strikes next]
DustBunny: [Oh I can think of a couple of other methods to verify…]
BOT-chan: [DustBunny and I'mFeelingstabby have left the chat ]
Mightyfan#9: [Does anyone else feel like that was a bit ominous?]
NotDeadpool: [Nah, that's the normal level of ominous with them.]
NotDeadpool: [It's weirder they left at the same time.]
Izuku leaned back in his chair, scowling at the turn of events. 'I hope they don't hurt themselves, some of the areas I suspected were fairly high crime areas.'
"You don't think they'll be able to find him?"
'I should get several points in intelligence if any one of them does use my list to find him.' Izuku scoffed at the notion, 'Seriously the odds that I'm right are super low.'
"For cracking the code of a psychopath's method, you gained 9 Intelligence Points."
'Shit.'
Sunday Evening, 227 Days until U.A. Entrance Exam
"Can you explain why we are going to Dathomir again?" Izuku asked as he fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. He was vaguely aware of the city, being one of the most crime-riddled cities in the country.
How Shota had managed to convince his mother to allow this he'd never know.
"It's a part of what else I'm going to teach you," Shota grunted as he scowled out the train's window, "Most heroes are obsessed with the public part of their career, sponsorships, interviews, merchandising, etc."
"Very few keep themselves grounded or are willing to get their hands dirty like me." The scruffy hero turned to Izuku, "So I'm going to make sure you learn something of that part of this line of work before you start thinking All Might is the only example you'll need."
"Alright…" Izuku slowly nodded as he mulled over the man's impromptu speech, "But why does that mean we're going to Dathomir?"
"The quickest way to get your hands dirty is by shoving it into a pile of shit." Shota turned back to the window, "That and I have a friend here who owes me a favor."
Izuku was silent for a moment, "So, what kind of things will he teach me?"
"You know how to pick a lock?"
"No?"
"You will soon."
"Oi Hanryang, wake up." Shota nudged what looked like a pile of discarded clothes with his foot, causing it to groan.
"Jeez, what do you want this early in the morning Shota?" A man with purple-tinted brown hair grunted as he pulled himself into a sitting position, plopping an old hat on his head.
"It's almost night," Shota dryly corrected, "And I want to call in a favor."
"If it's about Mira, I've already told you I'm not telling-" Hanryang started to growl, grip tightening on a long thin staff, only to be cut off by the eraser hero.
"You've made your stance for the witch very apparent." Shota sighed, "I was going to see if you'd help me teach this brat about the NHA."
"Well, why didn't you start with that!" The homeless man cheered, pulling himself to his feet. "How far do you want him to go?"
"As far as we can in a week." Hanryang looked surprised for a moment as Shota smirked, the homeless man's expression matching the hero's worryingly quick.
"Hey kid," Hanryang looked over at Izuku, one of his steely grey eyes peeking through his matted hair, "What's your name?"
"Izuku… Izuku Midoriyia…" The green-haired teen hesitantly answered.
"Then by the power invested in me by absolutely no one," The homeless man tapped his staff on both of Izuku's shoulders before swatting him on the thigh, "I hereby make you an honorary member of the National Homeless Association."
"Your membership will only last this week, I won't repeat myself so listen close and listen well," Hanryang turned and started gathering his junk, "lesson one is how not to get stabbed in your sleep."
'Why do I get the feeling this is going to be a very stressful week?' Izuku internally groaned.
"Probably because it will be."
"Don't forget you have your semester Finals next week"
'Crap baskets'
Tuesday Night, 225 Days until U.A. Entrance Exam
"He made it sound like he'd have a lot to say with his "I won't repeat myself" nonsense," Izuku grumbled as he rearranged a pile of trash bags next to a dumpster, "And then they up and abandoned me a few hours later!"
"Can you believe that, Mandalay?" Izuku turned to his new furry companion he had found that day, a brown cat of some breed he couldn't identify. All he knew was it was fluffy, friendly, and soft.
The cat mewled in response, sitting on the dumpster as if it was a throne.
"Thank you!" The green-haired teen sighed as he pretended that the cat agreed with him.
"You got some really good stuff out of that couple of hours though"
Izuku had to begrudgingly agree with the system, he'd actually gotten a perk out of it, his first that he hadn't started with.
Hobo training LV1;
You have received the ancient wisdom of the hobo's, granting you great knowledge of urban survival.
'I'd be upset at how vague it is but it gave me six skills' He had to admit to himself as he settled into his bed of trash for the night, 'Although 'Pick-pocketing', and 'Lockpicking' sound like useful skills for some more city-based hero work and, 'Stealth', 'Urban Disguise', and 'Urban Network' seemed like good skills for reconnaissance'
'But why the hell is 'Dancing' a skill?'
"Believe it or not, some planets have been saved by an idiot dancing."
'I really don't want to believe that.' The green-haired teen sighed as he let his body slowly begin to drift off to sleep, his new cat curling upon his chest and serving as a mini-heater.
It was almost peaceful, listening to the dull hum of the city's nightlife under the pale moon.
If he could forget that he was in a crime-riddled hell hole that he was pretty sure Stain was going to visit this week, he could see why some people would choose to live like this.
"Well, well, you're younger than what I'm used to." Izuku tensed and shot up as he heard a girl giggle from over him, idly making sure to catch the startled Mandalay. He frantically looked around the small ally he found himself in as he ignored his cat's protestant mewling.
"How does a kid like you end up homeless?" The voice asked again, this time above Izuku.
His head snapped up, green eyes locking with golden eyes that almost seemed to glow on her silhouetted face. He couldn't make out much detail besides her eye color, the fact her hair was in two messy pigtails, and that she was currently standing in a dumpster,
"Uh…" Izuku struggled to respond as he rose and put some distance between him and the girl, hair standing on edge at the way she stared at him, he could feel an almost predatory curiosity radiate from her. "I'm ah… not?"
"If you weren't homeless then why are you sleeping in the trash?" She giggled, her amusement twinkled in her eyes, tainted by something malicious.
"Would you believe I'm training to get into UA?" He asked as he bumped into the wall on the opposite side of the ally.
"Seems like weird training." She pulled herself out of the dumpster and stepped more into the light, allowing Izuku to get a better look at her bare, bloody body. "But a guy aiming for UA helped me figure out a fun thing with my quirk!"
She flicked her wrist, a lump of flesh-colored goop shooting into her hand and reforming into a long knife, "Isn't this neat?" She asked as she held it entirely too close to Izuku's face for him to feel comfortable.
"Y-yeah…" Izuku managed to squeak out as he tried to process the situation, "W-why are you covered in blood?"
"Oh, it's not mine." She answered as if that didn't make it worse, "My quirk runs off digesting other people's blood, so the last guy I was with helped me with that."
Izuku's thoughts screeched to a halt as his mind jumped back to a very ominous message he had received a few weeks before.
"He sure bled a lot, but he's still alive!" She waved the knife in as if to brush away the topic while muttering, "No idea how considering how many holes I put in him…"
"He was a cool guy, really full of himself though, and seemed really hung up about the girl he was painting." She tilted her head in thought, resting the tip of the knife against her lower lip, "He also said something about "You're a real demon now" and "I hope you enjoy burning in the sun" so I'm pretty sure he gave me something."
"Would you happen to use the name "I'mFeelingstabby" on message boards?" Izuku hesitantly asked.
"How'd you guess?" She asked with a tilt of her head, cutting the bottom of her lip deep enough to send a dribble of blood down her chin, "Oopsie!"
"I'm in one of those boards, I'm "Mightyfan#9", I think I gave you the idea that you could do that," He gestured towards the knife, hoping that would put him enough in the girl's good graces to keep the blade from his internal organs.
"Oh wow!" The blonde brought her face entirely too close to Izuku's, "What a coincidence we ended up crossing paths!"
"Or maybe it's not a coincidence," Izuku really did not like the hungry look in her eyes as her voice fell to a breathy whisper, "Maybe its fate~"
The green-haired teen tensed as the girl wrapped her arms around him and closed the gap between them, pressing her body into his, "I did say I would have to reward you for what you did, but I'd like what I have in mind to be somewhere more… special."
"So I'll settle for this." She muttered against Izuku's lips, pressing hers against his and causing the hero in training to freeze up as his brain shut down.
"For getting [?] to willingly kiss you, you received 100 exp"
"For getting your first kiss, a 2.5x exp multiplier has been applied."
"Level Up."
Izuku could barely process the tongue that darted in and out of his mouth for a moment, let alone the three floating screens. The thing that finally broke him from his stupor was the feeling of a knife grazing across his cheek.
"You took 7 slashing damage"
'When did that become a thing?' Izuku thought as he frantically shoved what just happened into a box to deal with later, raising a hand to cover his now bleeding cheek.
"I update in the background a fair bit."
'That's a problem for later.' Izuku turned to the blushing blonde, her lips red with her own blood.
"My name's Toga, by the way," She giggled, "You look really cute when you bleed, I hope we meet again."
Before Izuku could respond, Toga dashed out of the alleyway and into the night.
"How does it feel to have your first kiss?"
"Oh fantastic, it's just how I always hoped it would be!" Izuku deadpanned, petting Mandalay in an attempt to keep himself grounded, the cat purring under his administration, "In the middle of a slime-covered ally with a complete stranger!"
"Yeah, you wanted it to be Katsumi, didn't you?"
"That's not the point!" Izuku growled, spitting the coppery taste out of his mouth a moment later, "I really hope she didn't give me a disease."
"..."
"I swear if she gave me aids I'm going to be pissed"
"...You actually got a perk from that..."
"...And a quest…"
"Game," Izuku took a deep, calming breath, "Please tell me they're not what I think they are."
"Depends on what you think they are."
"I promise I won't get mad at you," Izuku said as he tried to keep his composure, "So please be straight with me."
"Alright, I think you might want to sit down first."
"And get comfy while you're at it."
"Alright, that's a good idea." Izuku sat down in his garbage pile, bracing himself for whatever the game was going to drop on him.
"You comfy?"
"Yes, what do I have to deal with?"
"I'll tell you when you wake up tomorrow."
"Sweet dreams!"
"Wait, wha-" Izuku barely had time to react before his eyes slammed shut and he slumped back into his bed of trash.
Wednesday Mid Morning, 224 days until U.A. Entrance Exam
"I'm not going to let you get away that easily!" Izuku shouted as he lept over a street barricade, chasing after a fleeing Hanryang.
Izuku could just barely keep the man in his sights as the actually homeless man made his way through the crowded sidewalks.
He slowly managed to close the ground between the two, almost to the point where he could grab the mains coat tails. When he felt close enough, Izuku lunged at his 'teacher.'
"Think fast!" was all Izuku heard before he found the flat tip of a pole smashing into his head.
"You took 9 blunt damage"
Izuku tried to blink the stars out of his eyes, finding a smirking Hanryang standing over him.
"Good job keeping up with me," The homeless man gently tapped the end of his staff on Izuku's head, "Now it's your turn."
"I'll give you half an hour, then I'm going to chase you." Hanryang smirked, "Your job is to not let me grab you before sunset,"
"Ciao," He gave a quick salute and disappeared.
"Great," Izuku grunted as he pulled himself off the ground.
"I think this is the training you were complaining about not getting."
'Yeah, but I was hoping for something more direct than a city-wide game of hiding and seek.' Izuku thought as he tried to blend into the crowd. 'Are you going to tell me about the perk and quest yet?'
"Only the quest, the perk comes with some nasty drawbacks that you do not need right now."
'What kind of perk comes with drawbacks?' Izuku asked as he dipped into one of the many ally's that dotted the city.
"The kinds that need to be balanced for being really good."
"That, and because of thematic relevance."
'Strangely specific.' Izuku mused, 'So what's the quest?'
Hot blooded Passion!
The hunt is on! Track down and develop your relationship with Toga!
Requirements
Get Toga to hold your hand.
Get a consensual hug from Toga.
Get Toga to kiss you.
Get Toga pregnant.
Convince Toga not to stab you.
Rewards;
Various Exp per task completed.
Better relationship with Toga.
Improved "Transform" for both parties.
Izuku stood silently for a moment, 'Am I going to get a lot of these?'
"You do remember you have a perk called "Harem Master", right?"
'So what, a minimum of three?' Izuku looked up and scratched his chin in thought, 'am I going to have to complete these quests?'
"It depends on which kind of harem you're building, because the harem itself may not actually start until you marry four or more people"
"And you technically don't have to complete any quests, but you'll miss out on some useful rewards."
'That's good to know.' The green-haired teen thought as he continued his way down the alley. 'You think I could convince Toga to stop stabbing people if I went out with her?'
"That is a horrible reason to date, someone."
'I'm trying to think of the greater good here!' Izuku tried to defend himself.
"..."
"You have a thing for blondes."
'I'm serious!' Izuku sputtered at the accusation, 'If I can get her to keep her attention to me I'll probably be saving a lot of people from her!'
"You didn't deny it!"
Izuku chose not to justify that with a response. Not that he really could deny it with the petabyte sized "Homework" folder on his computer weighing in the back of his mind.
'So do you have any suggestions for hiding from Hang-' Izuku started to ask as he emerged from the alley, only for his thought to be interrupted by a collision with another person.
"Hey watch where the fuck you're-" Izuku tensed on the ground as he felt a spike of murderous rage, only for it to fade into surprise, "Oh, it's you Izuku."
"Help him up Kurogiri," The green-haired teen barely had a moment to think before he was enveloped in darkness, only to emerge from that darkness a moment later with his feet unsteadily on the sidewalk.
"Not what I meant, but that works." Izuku looked up to who he bumped into, finding red and puffy eyes looking at him in curiosity.
"What's a guy like you doing in a place like this?" Shigiraki asked with what Izuku assumed was an attempt at a casual smirk, although it looked more like a grimace to him.
"Would you believe I'm training?" He answered after a moment. "What are you doing here?"
"That's some weird training, you look homeless," Tomura grunted, "And I decided to check how accurate your guess was for Stain showing up here."
"Isn't that dangerous?" Izuku asked worriedly, he knew the chances were slim for Tomura to run into Stain even if he had been right, but Izuku's conscience wouldn't let that console it.
"It'll be fine," Tomura brushed off Izuku's concern, pointing to the tall black cloud in a suit that seemed to be with the blue-haired man, "Besides, if it gets too hairy then Kurogiri can warp me and him across the country."
"I believe your faith in me may outpace my abilities." The wispy man calmly said in a deep voice.
"I wouldn't have shared that if I thought multiple people from the chat would come looking." Izuku sighed dejectedly, "But I guess I can't stop you now"
"Multiple people?" Tomura asked with a raised brow.
"I ran into 'Stabby' a couple of days ago." Izuku elaborated. "She's kind of crazy."
Tomura blinked in confusion before his eyes lit up realization, "Oh yeah, she was really into Stain!"
"I wonder if I'll run into her?" Tomura mused as he scratched at his neck.
"Be careful if you do, she almost stabbed me." Izuku gave a dry chuckle. "I should get going, I need to avoid my teacher until sundown."
"Want some help?" Tomura pointed to Kurogiri, "He can easily drop you anywhere within a kilometer of here."
"Uh, sure…" He wondered for a moment if that was the wisest idea, but he felt no malice from either man, "you think you could drop me at Kujet street?"
"Easily," The man held out a card that seemed to float in a whispy hand, "Do come by our bar sometime."
"I'm not old enough to drink," Izuku said as he looked down at the card for the "Quitecloud bar."
"You probably know someone who is," Tomura pointed out, "Besides, there are other things besides alcohol there."
"So just think about it," Tomura turned to Kurogiri before Izuku could respond, "Now let's stop wasting his time and drop him."
"You're not-" Izuku started to object, only to be swallowed by darkness and dropped in the dingy street of Kujet. "-wasting my time..."
"I hope they don't run into Stain," Izuku muttered to himself as he looked up and down the busy street, "Now where to hide…
-Omake: Tomura's Lesson-
'He must be desperate if he's hiding out in a shitty place like this.' Tomura thought to himself as he made his way through the decrepit building, what wasn't covered in mold seemed to be nearly rotten through or covered in enough dust to choke a man.
'Maybe I can convince him with decent living conditions.' The man dryly cackled to himself.
"Behind this door, young master," Kurogiri said calmly as he appeared next to Tomura, the blue-haired man long since used to such actions from years of exposure.
Stain had been no easy mark to hunt down, even with some helpful hints from his teacher Tomura had still wandered through Dathomir for most of the day searching for the man.
But if he could recruit him, then Shigiraki's plan would be guaranteed for success.
"Make sure he doesn't escape, would ya Kurogiri?" Tomura dryly asked as he fidgeted with the hand on his face, first impressions were important after all.
He didn't need to look back to tell Kurogiri had disappeared, he knew that the abyssal cloud would do his job and make sure to protect him if things went south.
Although Tomura was sure he could take Stain if need be.
Tomura raised his hand and rapped his knuckles across the ancient wood three times. After a moment of silence, he pushed the door open.
"You're a tough man to find Sta-" Tomura began the speech he had rehearsed to himself a dozen times, only to be cut off as a knife tried to make its home in his eye, the blade ending in Kurogiri's warp entirely too close to Tomura's face for the young villains liking. "That was rude."
"So is entering uninvited." The hero killer growled, he seemed mostly relaxed except for the fact he was clutching a jagged katana in one hand.
"I have an offer for you," Tomura pushed back his growing annoyance, this already wasn't going the way he wanted, but hopefully, he could salvage the situation.
"Make it quick," He grunted, turning his attention to sharpening the katana in his hand.
"I want you to join my League," Tomura had to bite back the flash of anger he felt at the Hero Killer deeming him a little enough threat to focus on something so trivial. "You'd be a perfect fit."
"And why should I do that?" Stain asked without looking up, his indifference fouling Tomura's already worsening temper.
"We both want the same thing, we want to tear down this foul society and everything it stands for." Tomura was starting to reconsider if he should even be offering this prick a spot in his league at all.
He pointed to the Hero killers mostly bare chest, a patchwork of reddening bandages stretched across it. "You'd have access to greater resources than you do, like new equipment and a decent place to recover."
"You'd be able to rampage against the hero's all you want." Tomura felt a grin spread across his cracked lips, "And in less than nine months you'll get the perfect opportunity to strike at the heart of it all!"
Stain stopped in the middle of sharpening his sword looking up at Tomura with suspicious curiosity.
Tomura could barely contain his excitement, he had a hook in the Hero Killer, now to real him in.
"Yes, you'll get your chance to strike the embodiment of everything wrong with this society, the worst perpetrator of the violence against those this society has been labeled "villain" and thrown away like trash!" He was sure his look was manic now, but Father kept it hidden from view, "In less than a year the league will kill All Might!"
"You don't know why I fight." Was all the warning Tomura received before a blade embedded itself in his shoulder.
"What the hell-!" Tomura was barely able to get out before Stain was on him in a flash, knocking his feet out from under him and pinning him to the ground with a boot on his chest, a katana to his neck.
"You speak like a politician," Stain hissed, "You're trying to tell me what you think I want to hear rather than persuade me with your own ideals."
"Your rhetoric is hollow." The Hero Killer growled, inching the blade closer to Tomura's neck. "You have no conviction, it would be a mercy to kill you now."
"Oh don't act all high and mighty," Tomura growled, pissed that the situation had escalated to this point, and pissed Kurogiri hadn't caught the blade currently in his shoulder. "We both want to destroy the status quo, what else matters?"
"To destroy without reason is inherently meaningless," Stain glared down at the blue-haired man, "And that without meaning will be forgotten quickly, as it should be."
"I wish to change society, to cull the false heroes that have corrupted their roles in society," Stain leaned down, applying pressure to Shigiraki's chest, "That is my conviction, and I will strike down all those who stand before me."
"And should I be struck down, others will carry on my legacy." Stain raised his Katana to cut across Father.
"That's enough," Tomura growled, grabbing the Katana with a full grip, causing the blade to rust away quickly.
"Why should I care about something as bullshit as 'legacy' or 'conviction.'" Tomura glared at the Hero Killer through Father's fingers, "I want to destroy everything that pisses me off, and nothing pisses me off more than a self-righteous asshole."
Stain studied Tomura for a moment, the two falling into a tense silence.
"So you do have something driving you." Stain stated simply, leaning back and removing his boot from Tomura's chest. "You have the will to enact your ideals, but you're unable to understand what drives you."
"If you leave now, I will spare you." Stain turned away, returning to his original spot to sharpen his other blades, "Come speak with me when you know why you wish to kill, and then I may consider joining your League."
"Don't turn you back on me, you piece of-" Tomura snarled, lunging at the man's mid-sentence, only to find a black portal opening in front of him.
"-shit!" He finished before he slammed into the wooden floor of the bar he spent most of his time in. Tomura hissed and clutched at his shoulder.
"That certainly could've gone better." Kurogiri intoned as he manifested next to Tomura, a first aid kit in his hand.
"Why the fuck did you let him stab me?" Tomura hissed as he ripped the knife out of his shoulder.
"That would be my doing Tomura." The monitor mounted on the wall at the end of the bar crackled to life, "Pain is the best teacher, and this was an important lesson."
"I was going to intervene if there was an injury that would cripple or kill you," Kurogiri added on.
"Stains a dead end." Tomura spat, trying to ignore the sharp pain of having his shoulder stitched back together by the cold and gasly hands of Kurogiri.
"Why do you say that?" His teacher asked although Tomura had a feeling he already knew why.
"He's got a stick up his ass." The blue-haired teen spat, "He went on and on about "rhetoric" and "conviction" and shit."
"What do I need something like that for?" He growled.
"Don't be so quick to denounce such things my young student," his teacher chuckled, "A great many villains I've viewed as peers were driven solely by what you are currently rejecting."
Tomura was silent for a moment. "What drives you sensei?"
A hearty chuckle echoed from the small screen, "I'm a poor example I'm afraid."
"I came from a time where might made right, and I was able to give and take might in equal measures, where the desire to destroy could make you the king of the criminal world." Tomura could hear the smile in his teacher's voice, "But I'm afraid times are too stable for that approach to work."
"So what should I do?" The blue-haired man scowled.
"I'm afraid I cannot tell you the answer to that," The screen crackled for a moment, "It is something you must figure out on your own."
Tomura sat silently in thought, wincing as Kurogiri repaired his shoulder.
"If I may make a suggestion?" Kurogiri rumbled as he picked up the first aid kit, turning to the screen, "I believe the best place to start for the young Master would be to research the ideals of your peers, would it not sir?"
"I'd hoped Tomura would realize that himself, but I believe that would be optimal." Tomura felt a small pang in his chest for disappointing his teacher. "Luckily I've kept a good stock of their manifestos over the years, at least for those who wrote them down."
"Whose work would you recommend first?" Tomura asked, eager to make up for his perceived failure.
"How about a recent one?" His teacher asked happily, "The work of Destro may be the most appealing to you, "Meta Liberation War" was quite a page turner if I remember correctly."
Alright as I'm typing this I'm on the fast track of being a month and a half late with an update, but I did warn y'all and I tried to make this a bit bigger as an apology.
There's another Omake after this to give some more weight to this chapter, although I will admit it's a pilot for a story idea I've been sitting on and making notes for, although I have jack shit in terms of a plot set up. But everything I have in notes can and likely will show up dungeons later, so I'll just say this is here for future context.
Anyway, tell me what you think and Have a good whatever now!
-Omake: Gnarled Roots Pilot-
Inko was at her wit's end.
She'd spent the better part of a year researching any and every possible method to giving her son a quirk. She'd long since passed the point of hoping for a quirk that could set him up to be a hero like he so desperately wanted, she just wanted to give him a chance to not be considered an outcast in society.
She wasn't so desperate as to endanger her son mind you, (She'd seen far too many websites that advertised highly dangerous methods like feeding her son bleach or injecting him with spider venom) but she was certainly desperate enough to put her hopes in rumors of people who could give quirks.
Which is how she found herself in a shady back-alley doctor's office somewhere in Tokyo early in the morning with her five-year-old son asleep in her lap.
"So what can I do for you, Miss?" The doctor asked as he seated himself in front of Inko.
Inko looked him over, He seemed too young to be a doctor in her eyes, although he was well built with shaggy long white hair that obscured his eyes.
"I…" She hesitated, what she was about to say still sounded absolutely insane to her, "I heard you could give people quirks."
The man froze in his seat, "It's been a while since anyone's asked about that."
"Is it true?" Inko would be lying if she said she wasn't suspicious of the man.
"In a sense." He nodded, "I don't so much as give people quirks, but I activate latent quirk factors."
"Explain," Inko ordered.
"So you know how sometimes a kid can have a quirk that's more like one parent than the other?" The Doctor asked, to which Inko nodded, "Well the other parent's quirk is in the child's genetics, just as a recessive trait."
"So what my quirk can do is activate latent traits, depending on how much work I want to put into it I can activate quirks all the way back to the first generation." He smiled, the light hitting his teeth just right to cause it to twinkle, "Although the more factors I activate the more chaotic and fused the final quirk will be."
Inko looked down at her son in thought, "So you could give my son either me or my husband's quirks?"
The doctor frowned, "Lady, I just said I could give your son his great-grandmother's quirk."
Inko scowled, "That won't be necessary." She'd rather her son be quirkless than have her quirk, and she was sure her husband would agree when it came to his grandfather.
"Well, regardless" The man clapped, "Your son is still a pretty good age range for my quirks effects, although the younger they are the better."
"How can I trust this is legitimate?" Inko asked, she had her doubts and she wasn't going to take any more of a risk than it took to come here.
"That's a little difficult to prove," The man sighed, earning a glare from Inko, "But the procedure is rather simple."
The doctor reached into a drawer and pulled out an unused syringe, "The worst part of it is that I need to get a blood sample from your son."
"That's it?" Inko asked in disbelief.
"Well, if you wanted a quirk from outside your family you'd need to provide a blood sample with it too," The doctor shrugged, "But if it's from your family I just need to study his DNA to make sure I know what to activate,"
"So I'll take a blood sample, take a day to look it over, and when you bring your kid in I'll just bop him on the head." He gave a reassuring grin, "Although how long it'll take to manifest is a variable."
"...How much will this cost?" Inko asked if it wasn't a fortune to do this she could convince herself to go out on a limb.
"It depends on how many factors you want activated, and how difficult it will be to do so." He shrugged. "If it's either you or your husband's quirk, I'd say four thousand yen a quirk, the further back you go is another thousand on top of that for each generation."
"But I also have a refund policy if he doesn't manifest any quirks within when I determine." The doctor tilted his head, a red-eye peeking through his hair, "Does this sound agreeable to you?"
'Eight thousand yen for both of our quirks sounds too good to be true…' Inko thought to herself, "Do I need to sign anything?"
"I have a contract right here," the man reached into a separate drawer and pulled out a small stack of papers, "Feel free to take it and look it over, you only need to sign it if I apply the quirks to him."
He shook the syringe with a small smirk on his face, "If you'll allow me I can take some of your son's blood and get started on it soon."
Inko pursed her lips as she thought the situation over.
"...Go ahead." She finally allowed. Before the man could break the skin with the needle, Inko added, "If there's any way this will harm my son, you should know no place in heaven or hell would protect you from me."
The doctor's smirk grew as he eyed her through his hair, "You remind me of a woman I once knew because she told me that same thing."
"Of course her son ended up being the one I needed to hide from." he continued as he filled the syringe with the sleeping Izuku's blood. "Let's hope this isn't a repeat."
"Anyways, Look over the contract." He said as he put an All Might themed bandaid on the sleeping child's arm, "and come back in thirty-six or so hours and I'll be able to apply the procedure."
Inko looked down at the contract, and back up to the man. "I don't think I ever got your name,"
"Oh yeah, I'm Dr. Dean S. Exy" The man stuck a hand out, "Nice to meet ya."
"Inko Midoriya," Inko shook the man's hand, having the distinct feeling he was a foreigner.
"Now not to be rude," He smiled, "But if you want me to get this done I'm going to have to ask you to leave."
And in a flash Inko found herself ushered back onto the streets, blinking in confusion.
"Please," she whispered as she made her way back to the motel room she had rented for this trip, "Let this be real."
Dean looked down at the blood sample he had collected, a smirk growing as he looked at the history of quirks that rested in that small quirkless boy's DNA.
Oh, how Ironic that two of the people who had hated his gifts and everything they stood for the most would've ended up contributing to the creation of such potential.
Quirks have always been on a spectrum, some have been unfortunate enough to get truly lame abilities all the way back in the first generation, and even with the continuous growth in quirk powers, a good portion of the population had terrible quirks.
But some quirks have always been powerful, some quirks that could've let rule like gods, like his elder son, or two of his most powerful products.
Some groups of people strove to make quirks grow in power, all but breeding desirable traits and arranging for their children to continue the tradition, even in the first generation.
But some groups strove to do the opposite, to breed quirks to be weaker or even out of existence.
Much like the lineage that existed in that boy's veins right now.
Dean cackled, Oh how he would enjoy spitting on all of their hard work.
The boy was lucky.
He wanted to be a hero.
His mother wanted him to fit in.
And Dean…
Dean was going to make him a god.