Yeah, so I know I said I was going to post weekly, but my laptop died, so I had to save up the money to get it fixed. That means I'm giving you the new EF chapter a day earlier than usual! Yay!
In other news, I have made a Discord Server ( /tRjqFV7NRx), which I will endeavor to be on frequently, so come chat to me :)
As it stands, I'm going to be trying to post EF and EC each alternating week, so next week will be EC with any luck.
Anyway, love you guys, stay safe, and enjoy the chapter.
Grey OUT!
Izuku sighed as he leaned back on the sofa in the common room, staring at the ceiling. He had no idea who to go to for his work study, and it didn't help that Vlad King had straight up refused to take him again. Dejected, he let out another sigh.
"Jeez man, you're gonna blow the roof off this place if you keep up like that," Kirishima said as he sat beside Izuku, "What's up?"
"Oh, I'm just thinking about who I could go to for the work study," Izuku replied, sitting up as the red head grinned at him, "I know a lot about Heroes, but I have no idea who to go to."
"Well, I managed to talk to Amajiki-senpai earlier about who he's taking his work study with," Kirishima said as his grin widened, "And he said Fat Gum!"
"Oh, he's an excellent Hero!" Izuku said, perking up as he pulled a notebook out from somewhere, leafing through it, "His quirk, Fat Absorption, allows him to suck in objects and even store kinetic energy in his body, and release it again by burning his fat off! He's a defensive based Hero, so a perfect pick for you!"
"Exactly!" Kirishima's grin somehow managed to grow wider as he stared at Izuku, "Sounds kinda like someone else I know!"
"Huh?" Izuku muttered, hand going to his chin, "Someone else? But who? Not Kacchan. Maybe Ashido? No, that doesn't make sense…"
"I'm talking about you, genius!" Kirishima laughed, "You drink blood and, like, "burn" it off to strengthen yourself, right?"
"Oh…uhm, something like that, yeah," Izuku replied.
"So, then come with me to do our work study with Fatgum! I'm sure he can teach you a bunch about conserving your energy and stuff!"
Izuku stared at the red head in surprise, before nodding.
"Yeah, you're right!" Izuku grinned, showing off his fangs, "Thanks Kirishima!"
"Hey Pipi! Come sit with us!"
The bat girl looked up as she heard the shout, blinking as she stared at the table. All of the 1-A girls were sitting at it, along with her best friend, Amaya, who had shouted to her. Shrugging, she walked over.
"Hi," she said softly as she sat in the one empty seat beside the grey-skinned girl.
"Hello Vesper-san," Yaoyorozu said kindly, "Thank you for joining us."
"So," Mina suddenly cut in, grinning widely as she leant over the table, pushing her face close to Pipi's, making her blush slightly at the closeness, "Do you know who you're going to for the work studies?"
"W-what?" Pipi muttered, "Uhm…no. Not yet."
"It's like I was telling you," Amaya laughed as she ate her food, "It's pretty hard for us to get internships because we didn't get to show off in the Sports Festival, but UA is working on that, especially due to the special nature of our classes."
"Special nature?" Toru asked, "I didn't know they were special? I mean, apart from the whole Underground Hero thing."
"That's just it," Amaya hummed as she pointed her chopsticks, "We're training to be Underground Heroes, the UHC exclusive kids even more so. I mean, we still have our usual lessons for each of our departments, but we also have extra Hero training and work now as well."
"Oh, wow," Mina said, "I had no idea you guys had so much work."
"It's really not that bad," Pipi replied.
"Says you, point-dexter," Amaya huffed, before grinning and grabbing the bat girl in a tight hug "You've always been smart, and your Support course work is mostly practical, so you have a ton of spare time!"
"I do not!" Pipi squirmed in the sudden hug, trying to push the larger girl off her.
"Ooh, are you a bat?" the question made her blink as Pipi looked up at the tall girl standing beside her, a quizzical look on her face as she twirled a lock of light blue hair between her fingers.
"Oh, hi Hado-senpai," Ochako said as she greeted the girl, "Did you need something?"
"Can you fly?" the now identified Hado seemed to ignore the question as she suddenly bombarded the stunned Pipi with questions, "How? Do you have wings? Where are they?"
"I…yes?" Pipi squeaked, "I-I can fly. Sort of. And my arms turn into wings."
She held up her hand, the fingers lengthening slightly, a thin membrane growing between them, before stopping and shrinking back down.
"So, you can fly?" Nejire hummed, tapping her chin.
"Y-yes?" Pipi replied.
"And you transform?"
"Yes?"
"You're just like Ryukyu!"
"I'm what?" the bat girl asked, staring at the older girl in surprise, "What do you mean by that?"
"Congratulations!"
"Congrat-? For what?" Pipi said slowly, looking at the other girls at the table in worry.
"For being an intern with Ryukyu!"
"I'm a what now?" Pipi blinked as she watched the blue-haired girl spin on her heel and walk off, a bright smile on her face, "Hey! Wait!"
She paused when a pair of hands landed on her shoulders, looking back at Tsuyu and Ochako as they leaned over the table to grab her.
"Don't bother," Tsuyu sighed, "There's very little chance of changing her mind once she's made a decision, kero."
"Yeah, the same thing happened to us," Ochako hummed as she nodded.
"The same thing…" Pipi muttered, "What have I gotten dragged into?"
"Yeah, sure!" the rotund Hero laughed as he stamped the two forms, Izuku balking at him.
"S-so easy?" the green-haired teen gasped.
"So manly!" Kirishima shouted.
"Yeah, well Tamaki recommended you, and I like your spirit!" Fatgum laughed, taking a bite of Takoyaki as he did, "I think you two'll make an excellent addition to our agency!"
"Thank you, sir!" both teens said as they bowed, accepting their work study forms back, "We won't disappoint!"
"So, tell me what you see," the older man said as he stood beside the boy.
Negumi shifted slightly in his new costume, still not quite used to wearing it, adjusting the deerstalker hat slightly as he took a deep breath, opening his eyes as wide as he could. The world seemed to ripple for him as he activated his quirk, everything becoming more defined and sharper as his brain began flooding with information. He quickly and carefully began picking through the rush of details, finding any and everything that he thought could be relevant about the case.
"Start with the most basic details first," the Pro Hero said softly, Negumi nodding as he snapped his eyes shut.
"It's a drug den," the intern started, looking up at the man, "Selling and allowing for the use of a variety of drugs. There are signs of a recent struggle, the damage to the building is somewhat obvious."
"What is the damage?" the Pro asked.
"Scratches on the walls and circular cracks on the floor, as though the surfaces were struck with extreme force, most probably from a mutation or strength enhancing quirk," Negumi replied, "The damage is recent, most probably happening in the last day or two. Is that okay, Sleuth-san?"
"Good," Sleuth hummed as he nodded, "Considering you don't know exactly what happened here, all of your deductions are perfectly acceptable. However, the damage occurred only a few hours ago. It is now time to interview some of the witnesses. I believe you know them?"
"I do?" Negumi muttered as they walked out of the room, his eyes going wide as he spotted the two figures standing off to the side, bandages wrapped around the head of the blue-clad boy, as the girl seemed to be shivering, her belly-dancer-like costume jingling slightly as she held her hands over her ears, "Mizutoko! Kagaro! You were involved?"
"Hey Taro," the boy chuckled weakly, "Yeah, we were."
"Calm yourself, Holmes," Sleuth hummed as he gently grabbed Negumi's shoulder, "You must conduct the interview calmly."
"R-right, I apologize, Sleuth-san," the teen muttered, clearing his throat as he looked at his two "classmates", "I apologize for my outburst. Would you be able to tell me what happened?"
"Sure," Aoi sighed, "We were helping Spinneret-san with a simple raid on a drug den. It was just supposed to be a quick thing. Go in, capture the people inside. I was supposed to hold them while Spinneret-san wrapped them in web, and Kagaro was to listen for anyone hiding."
"Okay, but there was evidence of a fight inside," Negumi hummed, "Did it not go to plan?"
"Yeah, some guy managed to inject himself with something just as we burst in. Whatever it was, he suddenly went crazy," Negumi noticed as Kogome began shaking harder, small tears gathering at the corners of her eyes, "He attacked us, suddenly smashing everything around him. I tried…I tried to lock him in place, but…"
Negumi watched as his friend looked down, before glancing to the ambulance behind them sadly.
"I couldn't."
"What do you mean you couldn't?" Negumi said softly, gently touching the other boy's shoulder, "Please, explain what you mean."
"So, you know that I mostly control people's blood with my quirk, right?" Aoi sighed, "After he injected himself…I couldn't hold him. He just…ripped himself free of my quirk. I panicked. Spinneret had to block the guy from attacking me…She…she won, but he messed her up pretty badly."
"That's…" Negumi stopped, glancing over at Sleuth as the man nodded back, "I'm sorry to hear that. Is there anything else you can tell me?"
"Yeah, Kagaro was trying to write something when the cops were talking to us before, they couldn't make heads or tails of it," Aoi said as he pulled a piece of paper out of his back pocket.
Negumi took it, looking down in confusion before showing it to his mentor, the man shaking his head a moment later. The three looked at the shakily written letters in confusion, before turning to the still shivering girl.
Sound of discord. Sound of blood. Hate, pain, and fear.
"So, you got a problem in packed places?" Fatgum asked as the four of them walked through the crowded night market, the Pro eating from an entire tray of takoyaki as he watched Izuku take deep slow breaths, "Must be hard, Shinku."
"A bit, but that's why I agreed to join you here, I need to train myself to withstand it better," Izuku smiled weakly as he, Red Riot and Suneater walked beside the rotund Pro, "It's one of my biggest weaknesses right now."
"Good to know," Fatgum grinned back at him, patting the cloaked boy on the back, "I'm sure you'll get over it soon enough!"
"Hmmph," Suneater sighed as they walked, "I get it too. People can be scary. It must be even worse when you can smell them like that."
"HAHAHA!" Fatgum laughed loudly, "Don't worry, Suneater! You'll make a great Hero once you get over that fragile psyche of yours!"
Tamaki recoiled like he'd been hit, clutching his chest as he gasped, "He's always like this! I'm sure he scouted me just so he could have someone to torment!"
"I wouldn't say that Senpai," Izuku chuckled, "I think he's just-."
"IT'S A FIGHT!" someone shouted, cutting the Vampire off as the four of them turned towards the source, seeing a group of men bolting from an alleyway, a larger man storming after them.
Fatgum jumped forwards, capturing most of the fleeing men in his fat in an instant, Suneater capturing another in octopus tentacles and smacking him in the head with his hand, transformed into a clam. Kirishima and Izuku watched in amazement as the two of them didn't hesitate, taking out the bad guys in an instant. They were caught off guard when Fatgum shouted.
"GET DOWN! GUN!"
The gunshot rang out, the crowd going into hysterics as Suneater recoiled, clutching at his arm as his quirk suddenly deactivated.
"Run for it, Aniki!" the criminal shouted as he aimed the gun again, "I'll get 'em for you!"
Izuku blinked, his head swirling at the sudden wave of fear that had consumed the crowd, Kirishima jumping from his side before he could react. The second shot was followed by the sound of the bullet hitting stone, Red Riot's head jerking back as he skidded to a stop on front of Suneater.
"Shit! It bounced off?" the gun man shouted, backing away as Red Riot glared at him, a streak of red running down his face.
"YOU'RE MINE!"
Around them, the crowd was in hysterics, the people who'd crowded around to see the fight suddenly pushing and trampling each other to get away from the shooter. Izuku's head swirled as he fought against the building sense of panic in the air, the smell of the emotion permeating deep into him.
"ℂ𝔸𝕃𝕄!" the shout echoed through the air, the young Hero gasping as he felt a large portion of his stored blood boil away.
He looked around, the crowd stumbling slightly as they looked at each other in confusion, the sense of panic quickly fading. Izuku grimaced as he looked up, spotting the back of Kirishima as he took off after the fleeing gunman. Trying to follow, he stumbled, a large hand landing on his shoulder to help him stay up. He looked up at the concerned face of Fatgum, the Hero watching as Tamaki-senpai desperately tried to activate his quirk, to no avail.
Kirishima…no, he was Red Riot right now, raced after the gunman, the man screaming at him to stop chasing.
"Then quit running!" he shouted back, "Or was all that stuff about saving your bros just talk!"
The man shrieked as he ran down an alleyway, staring at the dead end in front of him, spinning around and slashing his arm across Red Riot's face, the short blades piercing through his clothes. Red Riot didn't even hesitate as the sharp knives extended from the man's arm, scraping across his hardened skin, countering the attack with a solid punch.
"I held back some," he panted as he looked down at the man, quiet sobs coming from him, "Huh? Are you…crying?"
"It's so unfair!" the man sobbed, rolling over, "All I got is some blades that can't be longer than ten centimeters, that's barely a box cutter! I just wanted to get stronger!"
"Hey man, I get how it feels," Kirishima said as he helped the crying man to his feet, blinking as the stranger pressed something into the side of his own neck. The hypodermic needle gave a quiet hiss as it injected him.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" he let out a wailing scream, his eyes going blank as he stared at the sky.
"Hey! Hey, what was in that injection!" Red Riot shouted, shaking the man.
"B…b…b," the guy burbled, his body shaking as Kirishima watched the small blades that had lined his arm suddenly fall off, clinking against the ground, "BLOOD!"
The man bit down on Kirishima's arm, the teen just barely able to harden it in time, the skin warping and cracking under the pressure. How was this guy so strong suddenly?
"BLOOD!" he shrieked again, trying to leap past the teen and attack the people behind him. Kirishima wrapped his arms around his waist, locking his wrists together as the man began raining far too powerful blows against the teen. His hands going bloody, the man shouted, raising his fists high into the air, Kirishima watching as the broken skin healed itself, before slamming both fists down on the young Hero's back, driving him to his knees.
"NEED BLOOD!" the man shouted, still struggling to escape, Kirishima grimacing as the blows continued to rain down.
"Then you're like my friend," the teen muttered, "And you'll eventually go to sleep…as long as I hold you DOWN!"
"Just being able to stand through anything makes you crazy strong. Stop with the negative bullshit. If you gotta reach someone, then just charge right through. Gotta stop someone, just stand there and grab 'em!"
Bakugo's words rang through his head as he forced his quirk to the maximum, his body hardening more and more as the attacks kept coming.
"I'm not letting you go!" Red Riot shouted as he stood back up, tightening his grasp on the man, "RED RIOT: UNBREAKABLE (CAPTURE MODE)!"
The man squealed and shrieked as he slammed his hands against the hardened teen, fists bloodied, bones breaking, a finger landing on the ground behind them. Suddenly, the man gave a low wail, his strikes getting weaker and weaker, until he finally fell still, his eyes rolling back as his body suddenly seemed to thin, becoming strangely emaciated.
"Huh?" Kirishima grunted as he dropped the man, panting as his body softened, wincing as the cracks in his skin left tender spots on his back and shoulders, "What was that?"
"Red Riot!" the shout surprised him, turning as Fat gum barreled down the alleyway, forcing the other people to squeeze around him, "You got him?"
"I think so," Kirishima said, looking down at the unconscious man, his body already thinner than it had been before, "He just…kind of passed out after a while. He took some drug and now…"
"I'll call the police," Fatgum said, patting Kirishima on the shoulder, "You did good, kid. Made a real splashy debut!"
Kirishima blinked as he turned around, the people in the alleyway all cheering him as they waved and smiled.