Chapter 63: Public Relations
Summary:
Izuku, Momo, and All Might have an image to save.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Izuku and Momo lay in their bed cuddling around noon. "Ugghhhh it's today isn't it? I don't wanna get up, I don't wanna do this stupid interview." Izuku whined to his girlfriend.
"Izu I hate this as much as you do, just thinking about how tragic the last one went is giving me shivers." Momo replied in equal pain.
"Think another team of government agents is gonna get called on us?" Izuku sarcastically laughed.
"I think the fact we've had that done once to us is already bad enough, I don't think the average person ever has that happen to them." She booped her boyfriend on the nose.
"We both know we're not normal, with our quirks it was never really in the cards for us." Izuku paused for a bit. "You think One For All would let me borrow Blackwhip?" Izuku wondered allowed.
"I'm going to go with a probably not Izuku, even if I think the other users like you, although I haven't actually heard from them in awhile. Why do you want it anyway?" Momo was gently ruffling the boys hair while they talked.
"It looks really fun and I kinda wanted to see if I could take somebody's quirk from a distance like how All For One was able to forcibly activate quirks from a range with that weird red tentacle quirk." Honestly Izuku really just wanted to try tossing stuff around with it, it looked like it was fun.
Momo noticed the mischievous smile on the boy's face and giggled. "Are you sure that's the only reason you want it?"
Izuku sucked in a breath in fake disdain. "Momo do you think I'd dare lie to you?"
"Yes I do you dork." She giggled again.
Izuku looked up to the ceiling and had a dreamy face on. "Soon you're going to be able to punch hard enough to change the weather Momo, hell I watched you deadlift a bus the other day." Izuku paused a bit before kissing her and whispering in her ear. "That was super hot by the way."
The girl turned a bit red but was used to her boyfriends antics by this point. "Oh? Prove it." Momo whispered back.
The aggressiveness of the girl surprised him a little but after what she said the night of the party he wasn't entirely shocked. Izuku slowly reached under the girl's shirt before making sure she was okay with where this was going.
Momo weakly nodded grabbing Izuku's hand pulling it under her shirt and onto her right breast.
Izuku gave a few tentative squeezes before pulling the girl in deeply and kissing her as a small moan left her lips.
Momo didn't want to let her boyfriend do all the work so she started moving her hands downward toward the object she felt poking her.
They were both interrupted when a small girl and All Might opened the door to their room.
...
The next few seconds were the quietest Izuku had ever been forced to endure, you could've heard a pin drop on their carpeted floor. The boy was the first to form even some form of verbal response even if it was just a gulp. "It's not what it looks like?"
"Right ... Eri you should go downstairs." Toshinori instructed the girl.
"Are they wrestling? Can I join in?!" The little white haired girl yelled excitedly.
Toshinori spluttered a little bit as he coughed. "Yes, wrestling, right, maybe later Eri."
"Aww okay." The ex unicorn pouted.
Toshinori strode into the room once she was gone, quickly shutting the door behind him and locking it. "So care to explain? I trust the two of you not to do something foolish, were you at least you know, using uh." He coughed, this was an incredibly awkward conversation to have.
Momo was just hiding her red face under the covers, honestly Izuku didn't blame the girl. "If it got that far?"
"Good, good, the interview is in like an hour I came by to see if you wanted lunch with myself and Eri, but I suppose we shant be doing that. I'll uh see you later." Toshinori quickly fled the room both because of the oppressive atmosphere and because he won the bet, suck it Midnight. The man quickly pulled out his phone.
Group Chat Opened
All American Hero: Midnight you'll never guess what I just found two of our students doing.
Seductress: You can't be, no, they, they weren't!
All American Hero: Oh but I can, poor little Eri thought they were wrestling. It seems like you might be on the losing end of our little bet, time for you to pay up.
Speakerhead: What no way! I refuse to believe it, the two lil listeners aren't that stupid.
Eraserhead: Tell me why you all are betting on the sex life of our students?
Seductress: Because I don't have one!
Eraserhead: That sounds like a personal problem Nemuri. My date went great by the way.
Speakerhead: How does the R rated hero not have a date but freaking Eraserhead has one?
Seductress: Stop! I'm literally crying!
The Rat: Please do not bully the other faculty. I fully reserve that power for myself and nobody else.
Fastest Gun in the West: Didn't know the lil pardner had it in em.
Eraserhead: Can we please stop talking about this?
Speakerhead: Nahhhhh that'd be boring, but if you insist we can talk about your sex life instead?
Eraserhead: And I am officially done with this conversation.
Eraserhead has left the chat.
Speakerhead: Like hell that's going to stop me.
Speakerhead has left the chat
Aizawa groaned into his scarf, god he just realized they could have kids, the problem children having problem children and god with their quirks too. If their children ever show up at U.A.'s doors and Aizawa was still somehow working here it'd officially be the day he handed in his resignation.
Izuku and Momo felt like they were doing the walk of shame as they went downstairs to the common room, the mood had basically been ruined after that little 'event'. "Izuku how did you forget to lock the door?"
"I'm sorry okay?" Izuku further moped. "Next time I'll make sure to lock it."
They were brought out of their collective pity party by their heterochromatic friend. "Midoriya, Yaoyorozu, are you two alright?"
"Never better." Momo was visibly straining to sound like she wasn't about to break something.
"...Right." Todoroki was working on a paper for Art History and had been looking up videos regarding the subject on Youtube, the brief distraction his friends caused stopped him from preventing autoplay from happening.
The video revealed a man shakily holding a teacup as it's contents spilled out, Todoroki was slightly intrigued so he let the video keep going. "Personally I opt for a spot of tea before and after every job."
"Job?" Todoroki thought out loud.
Izuku noticed the boy's questioning gaze and walked up behind him, Momo joined him seconds later.
"I choose the variety based on the scale of the job." The figure gestured to the cup he was holding. "This one? High quality, Royal Tip's Imperial." The figure pulled the cup back, revealing his face. "Can you comprehend what that might mean? If not it implies my next video will serve as a wake up call. Not just for you, my viewers, but for the whole of society. I hope you've prepared yourselves."
The video suddenly cut. "Who was that Todoroki?"
"The account says it belongs to some guy named Gentle Criminal, although looking at the counter, these videos are all kinda disliked into oblivion." Todoroki scrolled a little bit further. "Seems he goes around pulling small acts of villainy then posts them on youtube, claims he's spreading a message and acting for the good of society. Weird."
"Huh that's not dangerous or scary at all." The ninth said sarcastically. "Has he killed anyone? Also I know that tea, it's some of my favourite, Mom always sends it to me when she gets the chance."
"No, like in this video he just robs a convenience store before beating up four heroes and fleeing, he didn't kill them or anything, didn't keep the money either." Todoroki said as he kept scrolling.
"Huh so like a Robin Hood, except he doesn't actually give to the poor and he doesn't actually steal anything. So basically discount off brand knock off Robin Hood. Maybe that's why we've never heard of him?" Izuku wondered aloud.
Todoroki just shrugged. "I'm going to get back to Midnight's assignment."
Probably a good call Izuku thought, he needed to get on that one as well.
All Might came and collected them shortly afterwards. "So are you two ready?" All Might asked as they were whisked into his car. The man was trying his best to keep the awkward meeting from this morning out of his mind but it was a daunting task.
"Never better." Izuku said donning his mask, he gently rubbed Eri's horn for a bit. He could probably give it back to the girl, it wasn't at risk of going off since he'd used it recently.
"And you Young Yaoyorozu?" Toshinori continued.
Momo silently glared at her mentor for a bit. "I just hope it goes better than last time."
"Well it should in theory, we're using a more trusted news station this time, plus everything's already been leaked anyway, how much worse could it possibly get."
Izuku shrugged agreeing with the man. The drive was roughly thirty minutes and then they were there.
A short woman in business attire and black hair came out to greet them. "Perfect you're all here, just on time too." She looked at her watch briefly. "I'm in charge of this interview, names Ochiko, let's get a move on, we have a few things to cover, and oh All For None, lose the mask. People have already seen your face it really doesn't change anything, and popularity polls have shown they prefer you without one, it makes you less intimidating." The woman started walking urging for them to follow.
To say the woman was abrasive would be an understatement. "Uh sure? I can take it off once the interview starts I guess."
"Good, Deva, people like you, you're going to lead the interview for the most part. You've got a much better quirk to market, people already associate you two as a hero duo, just like the Water Hoses used to be. So that's how were going to sell it, you balance out All For None so to speak." The woman continued. "All Might you're here because people love you, Tae told me to thank you for the last interview by the way."
Toshinori spluttered a bit, it seems the HSPC made sure this interview would go better than the last one. "I simply wish to help my two proteges."
"Good." Ochiko turned back to the duo. "Also you two can deny it all you want but everyone knows you're dating, it's you're personal life so I won't force to reveal that little fact but it would go miles for helping your image. It humanizes you two to the average person."
The rapid fire questioning of the woman was jarring the pair. "I guess we could?" Momo turned to Izuku.
"I mean, I'm okay with it if you are?" Izuku turned to Momo.
"Settled, now the main topics for today's interview, the battle with Overhaul, the League of Villains, your quirks All For None, and lastly a fluff piece about you two, people eat that kind of thing up. All Might feel free to jump in whenever you want to, however do keep things in a positive light." They continued briskly walking down the hall until they reached a door, Ochiko opened it and ushered them inside. Tons of people were frantically running around shouting orders as the busily did their tasks. "This is the backstage, we'd do makeup normally but as heroes it's better received if you don't use any, otherwise you'll end up looking like Uwabami or something. Anyway I'm going ahead, All Might will be called out first, then you two will be 'surprise' guests. We're on in five." Ochiko left the trio stunned.
"So that just happened."
"Indeed it did my boy, she's quite the character."
"Character is certainly a nicer word than I had for her." Momo added.
That caused Toshinori to chuckle. "She seems to be good at her job at least."
The next five minutes passed in silent agony before All Might was called out, leaving the duo behind.
"Nervous?" Momo asked as she squeezed his hand.
The quirk giver was thankful for her support. "Depends what about, nervous that I have some 'evil' quirk and am probably gonna get booed off the stage, not really. Nervous about the fact the last time I interacted with the media I dropped an ocean on them, also no. Nervous about outting us, extremely. People could start targeting one of us to get at the other, like Hagakure kind of did."
Momo pulled off the mask he was wearing and gave him a light peck on the cheek. "Izu, we're strong, we can handle it, and if one of us can't do it alone, we'll do it together." She slid the mask back over his face.
"Thanks Mo, you're always there for me, I only hope I make it somewhat bearable being with me."
"Barely, but I love you anyway you dork, now let's get out there, I think our time is coming up."
"Thanks for that wonderful piece All Might, it's good to hear about what goes on behind the scenes at U.A., information on Japan's foremost hero school is extremely hard to come by." Ochiko looked at her watch before giving All Might a nod.
Taking the hint. "I think I can do one better Ms. Ochiko, I thought you all might like to meet some of my students so I asked them to come along with me today."
The crowd started whispering amongst themselves as two figures sauntered out, the pair was instantly recognized. Izuku winced as he heard various insults being tossed at him, he wasn't particularly surprised to be honest, who knows maybe a relative of someone whose quirk he'd stolen was amongst the crowd. He just waved at the people after removing his mask and smiling, trying to drown out the voices. Izuku was surprised when Momo stopped and grabbed his hand holding it, 'I suppose that's one way to do it' Izuku smiled at her as they walked hand in hand to the extra chairs on the main part of the stage.
Izuku definitely heard some men complaining that she was taken, or that he'd forced her to be with him by threatening to steal her quirk. Honestly, it hurt a bit, it really did, but Izuku knew something like this was going to happen, it didn't make it any easier though.
The quirk stealer did his best to not let it show but Momo could easily tell that it was affecting him. They both separated before sitting in the two seats next to All Might.
Izuku tried to make a joke out of it once the crowd had been silenced. "Seems I'm not the most popular." All For None chuckled.
"I wonder why that is All For None?" Ochiko asked.
"Well my quirk isn't exactly something most people are happy exists. People are defined by their quirk, and since I can just rip it away, it's almost like I'm taking a part of their very being. Not to mention the last time I met with any of the press I kind of dropped an ocean on them." Izuku explained to the host.
Izuku heard someone in the audience scream, 'Yeah you fucking freak!'. God people are idiots, if I turned into a villain what would stop me from just walking right up to him and yanking his quirk out as an example.
"That makes sense, with that kind of power it's more a primal fear of what you could do, versus how you'd use it." Ochiko replied.
"It's fine I'm used to the discrimination though, besides I use the give far more than the take. Of the hundreds of quirks I've taken I've only kept like 10ish and even those change occasionally. For example this quirk I just got, it belonged to a serial killer, the man used it to disassemble a seven year old girl over and over just so he could use her body for parts." Izuku let the crowd drink that in before he placed a hand on the floor remaking the tile into a flower. "I can fix that later if you want me too, but I felt that was a good way to demonstrate what it's capable of."
"All For None has never taken a quirk from any of our classmates without giving back, so frankly I don't understand why the public dislikes him so much." Deva added.
"Fear of the unknown probably." Ochiko mused. "Speaking of, that quirk came from the villain known as Overhaul yes?"
Izuku's face turned to one of rage for a brief second. "Yes the man was a monster, he kidnapped two U.A. students, tortured them, terminated any gang that challenged his Yakuza, not to mention he distributed a highly addictive and dangerous drug known as trigger. On top of all of that he was also a child abuser. This was in addition to all of the other crimes he committed that I'm not allowed to discuss. If there was a person who didn't deserve a quirk, it was him."
Some of the crowd seemed to murmur in agreement at that statement.
"You said you use the give more than the take, can you elaborate further?" Ochiko asked.
"Well I've actually been enhancing the students and teachers at U.A. by giving them extra quirks lately, I can't tell you everything about my quirk I have to keep some secrets after all." Izuku let out a small laugh. "For example this horn is extremely volatile, the previous user hurt someone they cared about with it, I took it so they didn't have to live in fear of hurting anyone anymore. And before you ask I can't tell you who I've given quirks too."
"I would never dare to do such a thing, that violates so many confidentiality agreements. So what was the result of your battle with Overhaul? The only footage we got was some grainy images of you two flying about."
"I think Deva should answer that one, she's the one who won the battle after all." Izuku gestured to the girl.
"Well we shut down one of the worlds largest suppliers of trigger, saved the kidnapped U.A. students, we had zero casualties amongst the civilians and heroes, and there was only very minimal property damage. So I think we did a good job, my only regret is not stopping Shigaraki and the league when they attacked Overhaul's police transport." Deva added looking sad at her lack of foresight.
"Ah yes the League of Villains, they now stand as the biggest threat to society as we know it do they not?"
All Might jumped in to tackle that question. "As it is an ongoing case they can not talk about any of the fine details Ms. Ochiko, however they can talk about things not regarding to the investigation itself."
Izuku took the cue. "Their current leader absolutely despises me as I've foiled his plans numerous times, not to mention I'm directly responsible for his mentors imprisonment. I promise you we'll be dealing with them in the future, it's honestly unavoidable at this point."
"Ah yes this All For One, he has the same quirk as you yes, and he's related?" Time for the killing blow Ochiko thought.
"If you call being a sperm donor related, me and that man have nothing in common. He used his power to take, to control. I use mine to help, if I was really some evil being hellbent on taking over, I promise you I would definitely not be here right now." Izuku gave another bright smile and a wave to the crowd.
The crowd seemed as if they were beginning to slightly warm up to him, as there were no detractors openly voicing their opinions on the subject.
Deva stepped in. "I actually met All For None when I was ten, he never even told me his quirk, let alone use it on me. It's been near six years since then so I can promise everybody, he really isn't someone you should be scared of ... Unless your villains that is, in that case I'd be running for the hills if I were you." Momo also lightly chuckled.
"It seems our Deva can also be quite ruthless when she wants to be, and I thought she was the nice one." Ochiko jokingly added.
"Mr. Greenbean over here has a tendency of wearing off on you. Seriously he's somehow befriended every single person in our class, even the ones who and I quote said "I'm not here to make friends." It wasn't an isolated case either, he's done it, hmmm three times now?" Deva pondered.
Izuku was confused, who was the third? Shinsou and Todoroki obviously, but who was the third. Momo seemed to notice his confused glance and winked back at him, oh of course, it's been so long but how could he forget. Momo was the third one. Izuku sheepishly rubbed his head before continuing the interview. "I was once told that the true mark of a hero is sticking your neck into situations where you weren't asked to help. They looked like they were crying out for someone to save them, and I couldn't just say no, you know?"
"I suppose not, is that what drew All Might to you in the first place?" Ochiko turned to the man.
"Haha you'd be surprised actually, I was scared I had another All For One on my hands. I'd barely defeated the first one but here was another potential All For One rising up. I'll be honest I'd never been so nervous in my life. Then I discover this scared small child quivering in his boots talking about how he wanted to be a hero despite everything he'd been through. Had I not helped him I would've kicked myself in the teeth for failing to do the basic duty of a hero, helping somebody when they needed it." Toshinori smiled at Izuku as he spoke. "I've never been happier with a choice I've made in my life though. He turned out greater than I could possibly imagine, and I want you to know I've never been prouder of you my boy, that includes you as well Deva."
The pair in question started tearing up a bit, having their familyesque dynamic being waved on live television was forgotten as they just basked in the warmth that is All Might.
"My my, you're going to make this old lady cry." Ochiko smiled, they had the audience hook line and sinker at this point, no one could possibly call them evil anymore. Not to mention she had a sponsorship deal and royalties banking on this interview, ah she was going to be rich.
Izuku rubbed a tear from his eye. "Please don't we already have enough of that going around at the moment. So did you have any other questions you wanted to ask?"
"Ah just a couple." The woman examined her clipboard, League of Villains check, Overhaul check, Quirks check, now time to really sell that fluff piece. "Can you two talk about your school life or is that prohibited?"
Deva coughed trying to refocus herself. "Well we can't talk about training, or the entrance exam but we can talk about other things. Did you have anything specific in mind?"
"Well I was thinking about how you two interact on a daily basis with your class? How's dorm life? Are there any funny moment's you'd be willing to share with us?
"Well the majority of our class are pretty social, and they've been making leaps and bounds since the beginning of the year. I'd like to think of us as a family of sorts at this point, we've been through so much together. The USJ, the sports festival, the Summer Camp, All For None being kidnapped, defeating the yakuza. We've had a really troubling year but we all came out of it stronger than anyone could ever expect. We push each other to grow and back each other up when they need it. 1-A is honestly one of the best things that's ever happened to me in my life." Deva concluded.
"And that's why your the favourite out of this hero duo." Ochiko quipped.
Izuku feigned anger. "Hey! Just because I know it's true doesn't make it hurt less."
Ochiko let out a loud bellowing laughter. "I think that's all the time we have folks, I hope you've enjoyed our little interview with two rising stars of the hero world. You'll be sure to see them in action soon, until then you all have a wonderful night."
Ochiko ushered them into the backstage once more. "You both did wonderfully, they were eating out of the palm of our hands. Don't worry you'll be seeing a paycheck in the mail for your contributions but I am a very busy person and must be off." The hostess was dashing away by the time she finished talking.
"She reminds me of Aizawa in a weird way." Izuku thought out loud.
"I can see that Young Midoriya, they both have no idea how to stop working." Toshinori added.
"At least Aizawa cares about us." Momo darkly thought.
"Yes, yes he does." Izuku whispered to himself.
Notes:
Current Quirk List
Izuku Midoriya: Kuroe, Breath of Life, Tempo, Ultra Sight, Muscle Augmentation (Renamed to Muscular), Warp Gate, Galeforce, Rewind, Quirk Enhancer, Confession, Overhaul
Bakugo Katsuki: Explosion, Pyrokinesis
Tenya Iida: Engine, Air Step
Jirou Kyoka: Earphone Jack
Koji Koda: Animal Speak, Voice Throwing.
Mina Ashido: Acid, Liquid Manipulation
Sero Hanta: Tape, Minor Fire Resistance, Fire Breath
Yuga Aoyama: Navel Laser, Photokinesis
Kirishima Ejiro: Hardening, Shunpo
Yaoyorozu Momo: One for All, Creation, Blackwhip
Shinsou Hitoshi: Thunderclap, Brainwashing
Denki Kaminari: Electrification, Lightning Rod
All For One: Unknown
Kurogiri: EMP
Eri: Zero Gravity
Nedzu: High Specs, Silence
Uraraka: Air Cannon
Mirio: Permeation
Sato: Sugar Rush
Eraserhead: Erasure, Super Strength
Setsuna Tokage: Lizard Tail Splitter, Vitality Stealing
Kinoko Komori: Mushroom, Float
Jurota Shishida: Beast, Mute
Quirk Bank: Molecular Manipulation, Minor Regeneration
