"Earlier today, it was confirmed that Korea reached out for help to several countries, such as America, Germany, Russia, China, Japan, and many more. All refused to aid the Koreans, who finally succeeded in their Raid of Jeju Island just a month ago with the help of Japan's newest S-Rank, Izuku Midoriya. Thankfully, evacuations are already underway and all of Korea's strongest Heroes are at the scene, willing and able to fight to the bitter end."
Izuku looked up from the Holy Water of Life, seeing footage of a smartphone sweeping across the area under the Gate with shaking hands. He recognized Cha Hae-In, Choi Jong-In, Baek Yo-Hoon, Ma Dong-Wook, and Lim Tae-Gyu and A-Ranks as far as the eye could see.
"It's not gonna be enough."
Izuku looked up to see Miruko, dressed in more fashionable clothing than her hospital gown. "It depends, a Gate's size doesn't always match up to its strength. So it could be weaker than expected."
Miruko smirked, "You're still gonna go." It wasn't a question.
Izuku nodded, "I've got nothing else planned."
"Then give the brat his medicine and let's get to work."
"Huh?"
"That thing's gonna heal him, ain't it? It's either that or your personal stash, but I don't take you to be a drinker."
Izuku scoffed and shook his head with a grin, "It's not alcohol."
"Then why are you waiting to give it to him?"
Izuku lifted the bottle up, displaying its ornate design, "There are five of these left and once they're gone, they're gone forever."
"So?"
"So?" Izuku's eyes narrowed and he decided to let slip a little more than he usually did, "They're the only things that can cure the Eternal Slumber. If my mother, or Sakura started slipping into an Eternal Slumber, or anyone else I knew that developed the sickness, then I need to be ready and have as many of these saved up as possible."
"So if they're the only things that can cure Eternal Slumber, I bet they're also the only things that can cure this guy's coma, or the only thing that can cure cancer, or the only thing that can cure a million different untreatable diseases around the world." Miruko sighed, "There's never going to be enough of those, regardless of how many you save up, so you might as well use them where it matters." She gestured roughly to Bakugo, "Yaoyorozu told me a bit about him and your relationship with him." She smiled, "He sounds like a dick." Izuku couldn't argue with that, "But you've also known him since you were kids. Regardless of how much of an asshole he is, you care about him, because you're a good person."
Miruko turned around to leave, prepared to leave the decision in his hands. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she said, "If you don't give it to him, you're probably going to regret it for a long time… I'll be at the Agency when you're done here, we've got a bunch of applicants arriving in a couple of hours."
Izuku nodded, his eyes still trained on the bottle, "I'll see you there."
Miruko gave him a concerned glance, but shrugged and walked out of the room, leaving Izuku with only the company of his Shadows and a comatose bully.
"Shouldn't we reschedule this for the Boss?" Camie asked, walking through the Agency hallways as they headed for the main office. "Isn't he heading to Korea after all?"
Miruko handed the secretary a thick folder, filled with the resumes, "The Gate doesn't open for another like six days. Before he leaves we need to get this Agency up and running with some actual Raids. Since he's the test, we need to do it now." Three new platforms had been added to the sparring building so that four people could be tested at once, speeding up the process.
It was still a few hours until everyone was scheduled to arrive, but Miruko and Camie had a few other bits of paperwork to take care of, so they switched on the TV, intending to get to work, but an urgent broadcast from the Agency Association interrupted them. All Might, who was barely skin and bones, stood at a podium, in front of several dozen reporters. They all whispered amongst themselves as the public was finally shown skinny All Might, confirming their suspicions that something had happened to him before Jeju Island, preventing him from participating. He had shown himself a few times in public, but no one truly recognized him as All Might, supposedly Japan's strongest Hero.
"I understand that these are confusing times, so, before I can address the issue of Korea, I would like to address the issue of All Might." Camera clicks and flashes accompanied each word. "My name is Toshinori Yagi, most of you know me as All Might. Years ago, I was grievously wounded in an intense battle with a Villain. That wound has been draining my power since that day and just over a month ago, that power disappeared completely." Of course, that wasn't the whole truth, but All Might doubted the world would believe him if he spoke of Rulers and Monarchs. "For that reason, I was absent at the Jeju Island Raid and for that reason, I will not be able to lend my own strength to Korea… nor will the Association."
Cries of despair echoed throughout Korea, all of the countries had turned them down, so their sole hope had rested in Japan, the country that arguably owed them the most but even they still turned them down.
"We've already lost too many Heroes to recent S-Rank Raids," Nobody had trouble guessing about the Raid he was talking about. Jeju Island had taken too much from both sides. "That is the official Association position, but…" The reporters from Korea perked up, "We will not stop any individual who wishes to help. And… one Hero is indeed willing. Just as he took my place at the Shie Hassaikai incident, he will take my place in Korea." The crowd held their breath, "Three days from now, he will board a plane and be flown to Korea, where he will stand alongside the other Heroes of Korea… his name is Izuku Midoriya."
"I think it's a bit dramatic, but I guess subtlety isn't one of All Might's more prominent characteristics."
Camie looked away from the TV, "Hey Boss!"
Izuku looked like he had showered off before coming here from the hospital. Dressed in a brand new hoodie, and his disheveled hair cleaned up, he looked like a new man. But it wasn't just his clothes that made Miruko think that, it was that gleam of relief in his eyes.
"So, did you stick around for the brat to wake up?"
Izuku shook his head, "He'd probably end up mad if he realized that I was responsible for saving him. But Kirishima was on his way to visit him, so he gets to deal with Bakugo for now."
"Kirishima? Eijiro Kirishima?" Camie asked.
"Hmm? Yeah, why?"
Her glossy lips upturned into a smile as she lifted one of the resume sheets, the picture on the front showing off the redhead's smiling face.
"He's applying huh?"
"It looks like half of your entire school is applying. In fact, we've gotten at least fifty more applications since this morning's Raid. We're fast tracking all the strongest applicants and your classmates to arrive today."
Izuku nodded, "Speaking of this morning's Raid… are you okay?"
Miruko rolled her eyes, "Your time would be better spent worrying about Ryukyu."
"She that bad?"
"She's great at hiding stuff on the outside, but on the inside, I can tell she's trying not to break down."
"I didn't think they were that serious."
Miruko shrugged, "They had a lotta history."
"Can you think of anything that we could do to help her?"
"Short of tracking down Dabi and saving him from whatever that Baran thing was, then I think the best thing we can do for her is leave her alone and let her do a few low-level Raids to get everything outta her system." Miruko frowned, her bunny ears drooping a bit, "But it'll take her a while to be back to any semblance of normal."
Izuku had no idea what to say to that, so instead he sat down at his desk and pulled out his phone, scrolling through forums about All Might's recent announcement.
'It's about time the Japanese helped out! Especially after that stunt Endeavor pulled!'
'I'll never forgive the Japanese!'
'Is he even going to be any help with a Gate that big? I feel like everyone's overhyping this guy. If we really wanted to close it, then get the Americans involved!'
'Nah he's OP, people just don't really recognize it yet. I mean, he cleared an SSS-Rank Gate basically by himself.'
'Midoriya for Smash!'
'I'd still body him with Link.'
'Mipha best girl!'
'What the hell is this comment thread?!'
Izuku scoffed, "Why do I ever bother looking at places like this… it's completely useless."
"You nervous at all, Boss?" Camie asked as they walked to the sparring center. They were on the second floor, so when they emerged into the building, they would be overlooking the group on the first floor. Izuku would have to address them all.
He scratched at the back of his neck, "A little bit to be honest. How many people did you say were going to be here?"
"We've got about forty applicants for today, mostly high-ranking."
"Hmm, how do you think I should open it?"
Miruko shrugged, she wasn't typically one for public speaking. She was blunt and honest, something that could be a good or bad thing. "However you want to… you're the boss after all. They're here for your publicity and power, probably not your leadership."
Izuku frowned at this, but before he could say anything more, the doors in front of them slid open, allowing them onto the overlooking balcony and greeting them with the loud din of chattering hopefuls.
Izuku gave Miruko a look, they hadn't noticed him yet and he was still unsure of how to start. She just gestured out to the forty-some people, offering no advice. He sighed and stepped forwards pressing almost up against the railing. He thought about yelling, but that seemed unprofessional, he could use his Shadows to line the room and draw their attention, but that seemed contrived, so instead, he simply cleared his throat, raised both hands into the air and slammed them together just once.
Using a bit of his superhuman strength, the clap became just barely quieter than a gunshot and many of the applicants flinched. Everyone looked for the source of the sound, finally settling on Izuku as they all grew quiet.
"Welcome to the Thanatos Agency!" Izuku spread his arms wide, "We appreciate you placing your interest in us and we will do our best not to fail you, however, before you get the opportunity to work for and with us, you'll need to prove your worth." Izuku was thankful that Beru had been obsessed with mythological literature as of late, he'd gotten great at public speaking. He still included the occasional "peasant" here and there, but Izuku made sure to filter that bit out of their telepathic conversation.
"This will not be like your average interview, however! Instead of a test of magical energy and a spoken portion, we will only be focusing on your practical abilities." Izuku was surprised as he picked out a few familiar faces in the crowd. Kaminari, Shoto, Iida, Uraraka, and many more.
Izuku called up Igris just to the right of him, fitting in between him and Miruko, "After determining your magical energy, I will assign an equal opponent for you from one of my Summons." Izuku went on to explain the same rules he had given to Nejire when she was first applying. Deal what would be a fatal blow to the Shadow or push them out of the ring. The Shadows would stop just short of dealing a fatal blow to the applicants, or could push them out much in the same way. "They will not be holding back, they will be fighting with their all, as anything less would not accurately emulate the actions of real Villains." Technically this wasn't true, as Izuku had purposely held back his Magician's magic from becoming too varied against Nejire, but they didn't need to know that. "Similarly, you will be allowed to use your own weapons, so if you brought something just in case, you made the right choice."
"We'll be calling four at a time so that you're not here all day, those not participating at the time will have the opportunity to observe their enemies. I'll start with those names now, so listen up." Camie handed him the folder and the first name shocked him to near silence
"Shota Aizawa?" The tired teacher stepped forwards, taking his place on one of the sparring platforms. "Mister Aizawa? What are you doing here?" The exchange was less than professional, but Izuku's curiosity outweighed his concern for his appearance.
Aizawa shrugged, his movements slow and lethargic, "UA's closed until further notice, but I have a duty to go where my students go, and most of them came here."
"Brief as always." Izuku nodded, "I'd be happy to have you join us. Come Forth."
One of the Nomu from Jeju Island appeared. It looked more like Beru than Izuku had expected it to, after all, Beru was the result of Overhaul's experimentation to create the perfect being. "This one was probably a failed subject."
Aizawa was a C-Rank by Awakening standards, but with his Quirk compounded on top of that, his true worth was hard to calculate. Being able to restrict Mana flow was an amazing ability, so Izuku had given him a far tougher opponent than any normal C-Rank would receive. The Nomu was a Knight Grade, making him a mid-tiered A-Rank.
Izuku planned on accepting in Aizawa regardless of what happened, he was too valuable to lose, but he also wanted to test his limits as a C-Rank.
"Kiara Touhou!" Izuku called out a name he had never heard before. Apparently she was an A-Rank, but could, in particular situations, be evaluated as an S-Rank. Unlike with Aizawa, he simply called forth his Shadow, one of the Angel Knights that had recently achieved the Elite-Knight Grade.
The girl, looking to be in her twenties, stepped forwards. She had waist long black hair, deep red eyes, and some sort of symbol tattooed on the right side of her face. Her top was close to that of a business suit, with a coat over a white dress shirt, golden strings pulling the coat together over her voluptuous chest. Her bottom was a black skirt and thigh high boots.
She smiled with excitement as she eyed the Angel Knight, resting her hand on the black pommel of a thicker katana resting in its sheath on her belt.
"Eijiro Kirishima!" Izuku paused, but he didn't see the redhead step forwards. "Did he forget, or is he simply late?"
The universe was apparently listening to that last thought because Kirishima came bursting through the doors seconds later, slightly out of breath. "Sorry! Sorry! I was busy dragging this guy over here!" He nodded over his shoulder, Bakugo's wrist grasped in his hardened hand.
"Give it up Shitty Hair! I don't wanna apply to Deku's stupid-"
Kirishima's hand was removed from Bakugo's wrist as Izuku got between the two of them, his green eyes glowing as he stared into his old bully's soul. "I tolerated that name up till High School for one reason. We were equals. Both of us were students, at the same level. I had no right to demand any more respect from you than you could from me. But now… we are not equals. I own an Agency and am being considered for a position on the Top Ten. In here," He pointed to the group behind him, "They will refer to me as Midoriya, respectfully. I will allow you to call me by my first name, only because we are childhood friends… but I'm through tolerating your garbage." Izuku wasn't a huge fan of this sort of cocky and brash persona, but he knew it was the only way to get through to Bakugo.
Unfortunately, he just scoffed and began walking away, "Like I said, I didn't want to join your shitty Agency anyways."
Izuku chuckled, "If you think it's so shitty, then why don't you prove it? Take the test. I'll put you up against one of my Shadows. If you win, you get to do whatever you want and continue calling me Deku… but if you lose, you have to join my Agency, and drop that bullshit attitude."
"And if I don't take that challenge?"
Izuku shrugged, "Then you're a hypocrite. When we were younger, you told me I'd be nothing because I had no power and power was everything. If it really is everything, then why don't you show us?"
Bakugo growled for a moment, his back to the gym. But no matter how much he detested the idea of working for Izuku, he couldn't refuse a challenge like that. He turned around and stomped back over to one of the platforms.
Kirishima wasn't there for the announcement of his name so he just looked around, confused, until Izuku pointed out his platform where a Shadow Ice Golem was waiting for him. It was Knight Grade, perfect for an A-Rank like Kirishima.
Izuku leapt back up to the second floor, looking over the four sparring areas once more as he considered who he should assign to Bakugo. It took only a moment of debate before he decided, "Igris."
The Knight nodded and jumped off the balcony, landing nimbly on the other side of Bakugo's platform. The blond squinted, getting an intense aura off of Igris. It was a Shadow that certainly surpassed S-Rank and anything Bakugo could do. Despite this, he still got into a fighting position.
"Oh my Liege! It does my heart good to see you putting that insolent creature against one of your strongest. He deserves every bit of the beating that is about to come to him."
Izuku smirked and nodded, "Are all parties ready?" The Shadows let out growls of acknowledgement and the Heroes nodded. "Begin!"
As soon as he shouted, the battles kicked off and almost immediately, he felt like barking out a laugh. In a mere ten seconds, Aizawa restricted the Nomu's Mana, wrapped his capture device around its neck and swung. Using his body as a lever, Aizawa flung the Nomu out of bounds, showing off his incredible skills. He couldn't fully cut off the Mana in stronger beings like he could with weaker Villains or Heroes, but he knew how to take down an opponent quickly and efficiently.
Of course, this easy victory for Aizawa made the others assume their bouts might not be as difficult. Unfortunately for them, they simply couldn't see the skill gap between them and the teacher.
Kirishima was the next to finish his sparring match, though it took considerably longer, five minutes, in fact, to wear down the outer armor of the Shadow enough to punch a hole straight through its head, dealing a "fatal" blow and winning his match. It was pretty boring compared to Aizawa's, but gave them something more to look at.
Five more minutes passed and by then Kiara had gone from being pushed back repeatedly, to equal footing with the Angel. It was an astonishing thing to watch, an A-Rank fighting equally with a low S-Rank, but Izuku knew the true cause of this phenomenon and it wasn't willpower.
Kiara's Quirk was called Trance. The longer she did something, the more skill and power she had with that one thing. For example, her current fighting style, that of dodging and making quick nicks at the Angel's weak points, got progressively faster and more advanced. It reminded Izuku a lot of his own growth, but unfortunately for Kiara, hers was a temporary boost, but that was all she needed to carve a neat line through the Angel's neck. She had finally built up enough speed to surpass it, pushing her golden blade through its Shadowy flesh.
And then, there was Bakugo. From the moment the battle started, the winner was clear. Everytime he got close to throwing an explosion in Igris's face, the knight moved faster than most eyes could track and batted aside his hand, avoiding the explosion completely.
The Genesis Blade sat idly on Igris's hip, after all, it was far too powerful to use. It would cause some serious burns, even to the S-Rank Bakugo.
As Bakugo attempted to land his next explosion, Igris rushed forwards, getting too close for one of Bakugo's explosions to be effective, and jabbed his outstretched fingers into multiple pressure points on Bakugo's arm in quick succession. The arm instantly went limp and Igris backed up to his side of the platform, showing off his more chivalrous nature as he allowed Bakugo to process his new temporary disability.
"Piece of shit!" Bakugo yelled, gripping at his immobile and pained arm.
"I bet you're regretting healing him now, huh?" Miruko asked, abhorred by Bakugo's earlier behavior. Like she said, Yaoyorozu told her about their relationship, but the Rabbit Hero didn't expect Bakugo to really be that much of an ass.
But Izuku shook his head, "If I didn't revive him, then I wouldn't get to watch Igris beat him up like this."
Miruko expected there was more to it than that, but left it where it was.
"Dammit Deku!" Bakugo yelled as he lost another three engagements with Igris, "You worthless piece of-" Igris swung a devastating right hook, crashing into the left side of Bakugo's face, fracturing his cheekbone and causing him to spit up a globule of blood as he fell to the ground, his vision dizzy from the punch.
Izuku didn't know it at the time, but the 600 hundred plus Shadows resting within him were practically roaring in approval. It almost physically hurt them to hear anyone speak about their Liege that way, so to see Igris abandon all his gracefulness for that one punch was pure ecstasy.
Bakugo was still for a few moments. Izuku began to wonder if he had been knocked out, but he soon stirred, attempting to use his one good arm to push himself up. He got to his knees, but he felt too weak to push himself any further. Igris's Shadow looming over him was even more incentive to give up. But… he couldn't do that, even if he had to kill himself, he wouldn't let Izuku win another battle with him.
Then, that sensitive and annoying voice filled his ears. "Do you know the state you were in when you were recovered from the Villains who kidnapped you?"
"Who gives a-"
"You were comatose, your mind broken by the resistance against a foreign creature trying to take over your body." Izuku crouched down, right in front of Bakugo, so that no one else there could hear him. "You were not going to wake up. You were not going to recover. And then… I walked into your room and healed you, at quite an impressive personal cost."
Bakugo's eyes widened. He had not been told that he was expected to remain comatose forever after waking. He walked out of that hospital, dragged away by Kirishima like nothing bad had ever happened to him. "What?" He whispered, too quiet for anyone to hear, or at least he thought.
"That's right. So for once in your goddamn life Katsuki Bakugo, show some respect and gratitude, or get the hell out of my Agency."
He wanted to respond, to tell him to piss off in the most vulgar way possible, but the pain of his left cheek was still fresh. Instead, he remained silent and agonizingly attempted to get up.
Izuku scoffed, "I would've had Beru heal you, but I think I'll leave those wounds to heal on their own." He called up two Angel Archers, "Take him back to his house, safely." Izuku was slightly afraid the Shadows would try to figure out a way to "accidentally" kill the teen on their way to his parent's home.
As Bakugo was carried outside, nearly unconscious, Izuku bowed to the remainder of the group, who were still mostly unaware of the beef between the two, "I apologize for that display… but I believe it was a necessary evil." Straightening out, he nodded solemnly to the group, "Now, I believe we should get back to the examinations."
Upon climbing back over the railing of the balcony, Izuku found Miruko smirking at him, "What?"
"When you were considering whether or not you should give him that bottle, you weren't considering if it was the right choice to save it for your family, you were considering if it was the wrong choice to wake him with it so you could teach him a lesson."
A blinding smile overtook Izuku's face and he had trouble not laughing. "Do you have any idea how long I've been waiting to be able to do something like that? To finally show him the other side of the coin without being looked down on by authority figures. It may have been Igris that punched him, but it felt just as cathartic."
Miruko nodded, satisfied, "Then I suppose it's about damn time."
"The only question then… is he actually going to learn from this?"
Thanks for reading! Quick little note here, next chapter will have some more of the matches between Shadows and the applicants, so there will be more of UA coming soon! In addition, I wanted to let people know that I haven't forgotten about the fact that I mentioned Uraraka planting the plastic explosives back at the end of chapter 40: Six. I have some stuff planned out for that bit of information I threw out there, likely coming up next chapter, so I hope to see you then!
