Welcome back.

So, just a heads up, this will be a shorter chapter than usual for me. I'm gonna make the next chapters longer to compensate, I just knew where I wanted to end this one.

… And, with the writing of my next chapter, I'm gonna be approaching a new form of writing.

Writing a sex scene. Yes, you've been forewarned. I'll be writing a Lemon and I'm both excited and anxious about it.

I'm worried as all hell on how well it'll be written so you all have the heads up. It'll be pretty obvious when it happens.

~NRK~

Her hands trembled as the dish within them fell to the floor, green eyes misting over as she stuttered in total shock.

"O-O-Obito-kun?" she muttered as she fell to her knees.

~NRK~

"Midoriya!"

"Oi, oi, oi! Calm down! Deku! NERD! IZUKU WAKE THE FUCK UP!"

It was no use, Katsuki grit his teeth as he picked up the knocked-out boy.

"I'm taking his ass to the nurse's office!" the blonde shouted before taking off towards his destination. 'Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!'

What the hell was happening?! What was going on?!

Why the hell was Obito-ojisan fucking laying in a pool of blood on TV?!

The blonde paled some before gritting his teeth.

No, no, no, no! He'd never believe that shit!

Not until saw that shit in person1

~NRK~

The car blasted down the streets, the driver's teeth grit and hands clamping over the wheel to the point that he was sure he'd deformed the wheel.

He didn't care. No, not right!

"Sir! We've already set up a police blockade!" Centipeder said from the backseat. "Bubble Girl! I know this is bad but you have to focus on all the information coming through!"

"... I-I…" Her blue skin was far paler than Centipeder was happy with. "..." She swallowed before shaking hands trembled over each key of the laptop in her lap.

He rested his hand on her shoulder. "Breathe… Just do that. Breathe and focus on the task at hand. If we're to help him, we must know, Awata-kun!"

She swallowed once more, head down as her senior sidekick sighed, ruffling her hair some.

"We all need to help him in our own ways."

~NRK~

She sat there frozen until the heroes regained their courage to rush over.

She didn't move when they asked her rapid-fire questions about what had happened.

She was stone even as the ambulances arrived.

Ryuuko Tatsuma didn't move until she was already in the back of the ambulance with Obito, the man on a stretcher with his entire body covered.

Her eyes dilated as they trailed over his body before landing on the reddening part of his body.

Her breaths came in quick bursts, eyes trembling as her hand reached out towards him, her.

It was odd… Usually, his skin and her own weren't that different in color… Why was his so pale?

What had happened? W-Why was there red everywhere on his left side?

W-What had she d-done?!

Her hands came around her head before she felt a hand on her shoulder, trembling, watery, eyes peeking up to stare at the hero who'd come to handle the villain, Muscular.

That had been that bastard's name! He was the guy that caused all this!

ALL OF IT!

He was part of the bullshit she was in now! All because he was a dick to some guy who'd been helping him!

A-And now, her friend was-

"Breathe, breathe," small circles were rubbed into the middle of her back as a feminine voice pierced her eardrums. "... I don't know how you're related to him but I have a feeling you two were close."

The only answer the female hero, in uniform, got was a shaky nod as Ryuuko's hands gripped her hair.

The ride was silent as the hero adjusted her red life vest with small white pauldrons on each shoulder. Her helmet, a white frame with a black visor that hid the upper half of her face but left her sad frown open to the world.

'This shouldn't have been like this,' she thought as she palmed her visor. 'I and Hiro should have been here faster.'

Her white-gloved hand tightened as the ambulance came to a stop.

They had arrived.

He ran into the Han Medical Hospital with a firm frown on his face and his sidekicks at his side almost six hours later.

Going up to the front desk, the woman saw him.

"Where is the patient, Obito Uchiha?" he asked quickly, the woman nodding quickly as she looked at a chart.

"He's in room 213-Hey!" She barely said the room number before the group ran to the elevators. "..." the nurse winced as she remembered just how bad that man had been.

They powerwalked down the hallway, reaching the supposed medical hall to see none other than Ryuuko sitting on the benches outside the surgery room.

Next to her… "Harumi Izumi, yes? The female half of Water Hose," Nighteye said as the woman in question looked up, helmet off.

Light brown hair came down to her nape and similarly colored eyes looked back at the entrance of the Nighteye agency. "Oh, I'm surprised to see you here, Sir Nighteye."

"The man in there is my secretary," the older hero said as his group came up to the window before peering in. "..." Nighteye's fists tightened.

Centipeder's hands twitched at the robots and doctors within working needles and the like into the quirkless man's shoulder and the like.

Bubble Girl's breathed out a shuddering breath, Centipeder's hand finding her own as she squeezed back for all that she was worth.

"This way, ma-Oh," the group turned as one to see Inko Midoriya at the door along with a nurse. "I wasn't expecting you all to be here."

"Apologies," Nighteye nodded to the nurse as Inko came forward, red eyes turned to focus on the surgery within the room. "... This may be rude, ma'am-"

"Inko," Inko said softly, weakly, something that Nighteye chose to not focus on. "Inko Midoriya, Obito's… sister-in-law," she said with a sniffle.

"I see, you're the one he spoke of, the one who his brother married," Inko nodded. "He's told me of the changes you all had on his life. Thank you for that."

"Us?" Inko looked confused as she wiped her eye. "... Obito always seems to help us, not the other way around, I sometimes wonder if he's getting equal treatment out of this relationship of ours."

"I think that would be where you're mistaken," Nighteye said with a kind smile. "It may have only been recently but Obito-kun told me a lot about himself. The way he sees it, having you all around makes him want to do better."

Inko blinked at the hero before her eyes, inevitably, trailed to the currently-in-surgery Obito.

"W-What did the doctors say?"

"The intense shock from losing his arm likely caused him to lose consciousness before he killed Muscular," the area was silent as Harumi said it like it was. "Yes, this is the case, this young quirkless man killed a notorious villain who's slain more than enough heroes to call everything about this into question."

"H-Huh?" Ryuuko's head snapped up. "What do you mean?"

"She means that Obito's feats are not going to go unnoticed," Nighteye explained. "While he was in the right, there was likely no other choice, the fact remains that this quirkless man killed a villain who has a horrid, but potent, history. People are going to want answers that likely won't even make them happy."

"I-I don't get it," Bubble Girl said with a frown. "Obito… dealing with Muscular was a case where he had to."

"Correct but we're not talking about the morality of this issue, Bubble Girl," Centipeder explained. "Obito's an anomaly. People have, being blunt, looked down on quirkless individuals for most of history, ever since quirks started to become the more accepted norm."

"With this event, that changes, even if it's just Obito-kun," Nighteye picked up. "The news is going to find his records soon, it's only a matter of time. With Obito's quirklessness being known, people going to want to know how."

"I don't really get it and I, also, want to meet with the man in here," Harumi said as she jabbed a thumb at Obito. "Then again, I'm one person, a hero at that. I know how to pick my battles. Reporters, on the other hand…" she grimaced.

"W-What are you saying?" Ryuuko asked with a growl. "What's the point?"

"The point is that Obito may never know rest after this," Centipeder said, getting odd looks from Kaoruko, Inko, and Ryuuko. "Obito-kun has show his, for lack of a better word, power. People are going to do to him what typically fans do. Theories, speculations, rumors, stalking, invasion of space, bad PR, and so on. Obito will have to deal with all that because of this."

"..." Ryuuko's pupils shrank. "T-That's…." she bit her lip in thought. "When did becoming a hero become so difficult?"

"Hm, hm, for a while," Centipeder said kindly. "To protect the populace, to have out rankings, to just make enough money to feed our families, every facet of our lives will be judged one way or another should step far into the spotlight. Obito is a case of being thrust into it without wanting to."

"So, what you're saying is that Obito is going to be treated like a top-rank hero?" Bubble Girl asked curiously, rubbing her eyes. "... It's better than the other ideas I had."

"... You thought they were going to dissect him, weren't you?" Centipeder asked with his fingers all on his forehead as the younger sidekick didn't look him in the eye. "Kaoruko-kun, we've literally been trying to not have this happen."

"The villains who hurt Ryuuko-chan, yes?" Inko asked, getting nods all around. "How will this change things?"

"?" Ryuuko's head lifted towards the woman before shooting back down.

"Obito's location is now known," Nighteye said with a frown. "They know he's here and, by proxy, Ryukyu. Though that may not be likely. The fact remains that Obito is going to need to be looked after."

Ryuuko felt all the eyes on her, hands gripped together even as the seat on her other side, opposite Harumi, dispelled some air.

"... Ryuuko-chan," Inko's voice reached her ears and all the dragon hero wanted to do was plead with her about how sorry she was. "This wasn't your fault."

The dragon hero froze, breath hitching as she looked at Inko with wet, trembling, eyes.

"W-What?"

"I can see how you're trembling," Inko explained. "You can't beat yourself up about this-"

"WHY NOT?!" the dragon screamed and the hall was silent. "Obito… Obito told me to interfere when he was in danger! A-And yet, I couldn't! I didn't know when! And now-!"

"Stop that, young lady," Inko's words cut through her tirade as she got up before crouching and looking up to see the torn-up heroine's face. "... Obito always… He typically knows how to plan things through. No matter what, no matter what he's planned, he always knows what his words are supposed to mean."

"... She's right," Centipeder said. "On occasion, Obito-kun's helped advise some portions of our investigations. He always seemed to understand how all pieces of the crimes would work. And, on more than one occasion, he's helped coordinate our own sets of movements. He knows what our jobs are… So, with that in mind-"

"He knew?!" Kaoruko looked alarmed. "He could have died!"

"And, yet, he's not," Nighteye spoke up, mouth set in an impressed frown as his eyebrows shot up, hand on his chin. "... If I'm right, the only thing he couldn't have planned for was the villain's increase in power. Normally, there'd be a limit but Muscular had more power than anyone could have imagined. Obito couldn't plan for that and ran towards the villain at that moment."

Ryuuko bit her lip.

"Obito-kun has always been the fastest when it came to on-the-fly thinking," Inko bit her own lips. "He had to have made the best possible decision in that moment."

"..." Ryuuko's head fell. "I-If I had… I had just run, he wouldn't be in this situation."

"You were worried," Harumi said. "Despite how he's proven to be stronger than he comes off, he's still a civilian while you're a hero. Maybe he would have been fine, maybe not, I know you can't see into the future."

"S-Sir, please, stay down!" Came a voice from inside the surgery room, getting the group to freeze.

They all turned and stood up, to see Obito's currently sat-up upper half, the man's eyes half-lidded as he looked at the doctor's horrified expression before his gaze went to the group.

Ryuuko froze his eyes locked onto her.

"... Good, you're safe."

It was all he said before going back down but Ryuuko's body froze.

W-What… What?

Inko breathed in before breathing out, a watery-eyed smile on her lips.

"I-I told you, you shouldn't," Inko wiped her eyes. "He wouldn't want you to."

Ryuuko bit her lips as her eyes widened before misting over.

Maybe ten minutes later, a small woman came through the door to the operation room.

Her skin was riddled with wrinkles and her dark grey hair was tied back in a high bun.

Wearing a white dress with red, with yellow borders, on each side and secured by a belt, she walked in with her doctor's coat strung over her shoulders with her pink boots on.

Her walking cane clacked against the floor of the room as all the doctors looked at her in shock.

"Recovery Girl?!" One of them said in shock as the old woman nodded.

"I was called over by an old friend of mines," she said as she saw the man on the operating table. "... What a reckless, if not heroic, young man. Goodness, and he's supposed to be the civilian!" Recovery Girl said with a chuckle and shake of the head. "Obito Uchiha was it?"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" the doctors formed a line for her towards the table.

She walked over to the side of the table, looking at the Obito's calm sleeping face, she nodded.

"Has the arm been fully reattached?"

"We're just about there," one of them said. "Thankfully, morbidly speaking, the bones were only bruised in the… severance," the heroine nodded. "The flesh is what was harmed the most along with the muscles within. It seemed odd, honestly… It's like he dislocated the arm at just the right time to have it be far easier to heal."

Nighteye, Inko, and Centipeder noted that fact on the opposite side of the window.

Obito may very well have been more outstanding than either of them had thought.

"I see…" the old heroine nodded at that, looking impressed. "Very well, we'll see how my quirk works, shall we?"

Many nodded within, and outside, the room.

She leaned forward before kissing the man's cheek, listening in as her quirk went to work.

Moving around to the injured arm, she raised a brow at the shifting shoulder, the stitches in them holding strong even as the muscles ungulated beneath his recently-patched-up skin.

She blinked as the man moaned a bit, the wounds fading away with more ease than she expected in a quirkless person. What she was seeing confused her as she pressed her fingers onto the man's arm.

Feeling up and down the reattached limb, she blinked.

For the amount of force needed to remove an arm forcefully, even if it seemed like this young man had dislocated it with precision to ease the process, she was confused at how few tears she could feel.

She'd given him about 5 times higher healing factor with some caution but it was scary to think that his body was so… optimized, for lack of a better word.

What kind of person was this quirkless Obito that he'd made his body an odd marvel? Outside of one individual, she could say this.

He had a perfect body.

Recovery Girl performed a few more sets of checks as the other doctors followed behind her.

"I-It's almost fully healed," one of them said with awe. "Oh, we could have methods that worked so fast!"

"I'd suggest that you be careful with such thoughts," she said as she messed with the man's fingers, testing each to see if something had healed incorrectly. "My quirk may be strong but if this young man hadn't been so fitting for the healing increase, he could have ended up in a worse condition. Please be careful with such thoughts."

"Yes, ma'am!"

She nodded to them before looking at the glass window of the room.

"How quickly can I get out there?"

"You work is as immaculate as always, Recovery Girl," Nighteye said with a boy alongside Inko and Ryuuko. "Thank you for coming here."

"Hm, when I was called by our mutual friend, I was a little surprised," she said. "That said, seeing what happened, I had little issues coming over on the meathead express."

While the others look confused, Nighteye nodded as a grand figure entered the hall.

He was a hulking tall being, wearing muscles that seemed to fit perfectly on his frame to emphasize his sheer height. His blond hair set in its recognizable slicked back form with its twin antennae.

Wearing some spandex that was colored blue, red, white, and yellow, his cape settled as he walked up to the group. Behind him were two teen boys, Katsuki and Izuku.

Inko watched both ran up to her, eyes moving to the glass in front of the group

"M-Mom?!" Izuku swallowed as he pressed against the glass with a shuddering breath. "I-Is uncle-"

"H-He's fine!" Inko said as she nodded. "Recovery Girl-san healed him five minutes ago," the mother said before turning back to the small hero and bowing once. "Thank you!"

Izuku didn't hesitate to follow his mother's example. "T-Thank you, Recovery Girl!"

Katsuki breathed out a breath as he rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah, thanks."

"Hmph," the old heroine chuckled a bit. "I'm glad I could help though you have to thank these two for getting me here fast enough," she said gesturing to Sir Nighteye and All Might himself. "I work at UA, after all."

"A-All Might helped?" Izuku asked in admiration but also confusion. "T-Thank you, sir… B-But, how do you and my uncle know one another?"

"I helped him and Ryukyu-san with their recent hospital visit," Ryuuko's eyes widened. "I helped Nighteye reach you both to tend to you."

"T-Thank you!" The dragon hero bowed as low as possible. "Thank you for helping us!"

"I-It's fine!" the Number 1 Pro Hero said with a blush and a hand rubbing the back of his head. "What he did today may have been reckless but he took up the mantle of the challenge, I can't help but admire that."

"Tch, uncle's a tough bastard," came Katsuki's words as he grinned. "But it's kind of crazy that even the No.1 can say this about a quirkless person."

"Yes, I'd heard about that," All Might said with interest as Nighteye nodded. "And he's just your secretary?"

"Yes, he's had no aspirations to become a hero," Nighteye said as Izuku's eyes nearly bugged out. "That said, he's helped us on more than a few occasions when it came to planning and information handling."

"H-He's also helped me as well," Ryuuko added. "Obito's helped me handle all my reports ever since I went pro."

"I see, he's familiar with the paperwork, very curious."

"Hmph, for now, he needs rest," Recovery Girl said with a huff as the tallest in the room rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "You can talk to him as he awakes, he's certainly going to need a life coach when it comes to the paparazzi."

"Ah, the age-old downside to heroism," the blonde man said as Nighteye adjusted his glasses with a nod. "We'll see if I can."

"Come, I'll cover all these events in small debriefing. We can use one of the personal rooms. Is that no issue, Recovery Girl?" Nighteye asked.

"No but, then again, I don't run this hospital," she said as she walked off. "Then again again, I typically have a personal room in all of them. Come along now," she said to the two before turning back to the rest of the group. "Keep an eye on how things go and you're welcome."

The three walked off and the female half of the Water Hose hero team got up.

"I'll need to also go and see my husband. Take care and, well, tell him a good job if nothing else."

Harumi Izumi left with that, leaving the group to be composed of Inko's family, Katsuki, Ryuuko, and the Nighteye agency sidekicks.

Taking their own seats, Katsuki and Izuku looked at Inko and Ryuuko.

The blonde teen spoke up first. "We saw what happened on TV in class. What happened?"

"..." Ryuuko breathed in a long breath. "We were going to go out and eat-"

"Ah, a date, I get it," Bubble Girl said sagely as the dragon hero burned bright red. "Hm, hm, hm, just kidding!"

"W-Wait, I thought you were dating," Izuku asked as Ryuuko burned a brighter red, Inko giggling a little bit at her son's words. "T-That is, y-you're not?!"

"Heh, nerd," Katsuki smirked as Izuku scrambled for words. "Some adults can do that, ya know, they don't all live together just cause they'd want to date."

"W-Well, that is!" Izuku blushed. "S-Sorry!"

"N-No, it's fine! W-Well, that is, uhh!" Ryuuko fumbled with her own words. "Um… W-What happened was, we were going out to eat, not date!" She shot Kaoruko a look as the sidekick giggled. "Then that bastard dropped in out of nowhere."

"From what we learned, he was hiding before being found by a hero team. He lashed out and injured them before getting away to that shopping district."

"Yeah, so we tried to get away but he was too fast," Ryuuko said. "Obito dodged him a few more times before making a deal with him for a fight if the villain let me get away."

"I see," Inko nodded. "Obito's a kind man, he'll protect you if he can."

"Y-Yeah, I became aware of that for the past month and a half," Ryuuko said. "Then Obito fought him."

"That's when we saw that on the TVs," Izuku said. "I was shocked to think Uncle could even fight like that… He always told me that being agile helped with being a hero, as well as close-quarters combat,"

"That surprised us as well," Centipeder said as he looked at the stream showing Obito's fight. "Fighting is a part of the job, I know this, but Obito's style isn't familiar to me. I believe that he mixes his martial arts, especially his knifeplay."

"Heh, yeah, that's what was on the best display," Katsuki said as he remembered the fight before grimacing. "It was either the villain or him, uncle made the right decision."

Now that truth bomb hit the group.

"... Yes, he did," Ryuuko agreed. "In UA, it's made clear that you can't always stop the villain normally but you should do everything in your power to make sure the alternative never happens," she told the boys. "But, when people's lives are a faction in the equation between them and a high-powered, destructive, villain, you have to protect them."

"I…" Izuku grimaced as he gripped his knees. "I… I don't think I could have done that in uncle's position. It may be kind of weird but I don't want to take lives as a hero."

"Hm…" Katsuki's eyes narrowed as he leaned back in his seat. "In the end, you have to win or people are going to die, Deku."

"A-And I… I think I get that, at least," the moss-headed boy said. "I… I want to make sure that no one's life is taken to save the day. Is… Is that selfish?"

"A bit," Centipeder said, getting a snort from the blonde while the moss head slumped. "But it's the proper mindset. No one wants to take a life but it's simply the luck of the draw for most people. Probably the only few who don't get as many opportunities to deal with this situation are All Might or Endeavor."

"The big guns, basically," Bakugou said. "Hmph, I'm gonna be a big gun, too, no one's gonna force me to do nothin'!"

"Glad to see you so excited," Kaoruko said. "... Curious question, what's your quirk?"

"Bubble Girl."

"Sorry, sempai!"

Inko smiled a bit. 'I'm glad that Obito has such people around him.'

Whenever she and Hisashi brought up Obito's singleness, he always seemed to have him in high regard.

"Obito's always thinking about helping people I sometimes worry he won't do so for himself. So I believe he'll need a woman who'll focus on him enough for the both of them. I'm never worried that Obito would ignore his wife, he loves people too much."

Inko always wondered if Obito thought about his relationships. As far as she knew, he'd never been in one as he grew up. He never focused on them, it seemed.

But, when it came to Hisashi, Obito was all forms of ready to help his brother date! Hm, hm, it was funny listening to the brothers having pep talks back when she and Hisashi had barely dated.

Obito was wise to the ways of the heart and yet never took it upon himself to find a woman to marry. Oh, Inko wasn't ignorant to how some people didn't want to be married, she understood.

Yet, she also knew that those same people also basically lived the marriage life to such a 'T' they simply didn't have it called that.

When Obito had told them he was living with a heroine, she'd zeroed in on that fact and wondered if he wasn't hiding something important! Oh, she'd been so happy for him only to be heartbroken by the platonic nature of the two's relationship… But, right now, as she looked at Ryuuko's emotions over the past month…

The blushes, the stammering, the worry, the self-hate, the smiles, and more so when she and Obito interacted or were accused of more than platonic feelings. Even Obito showed more signs of attractions than she'd ever seen him do.

Inko guessed that living under the same roof could break even Obito of his unawareness of the opposite sex.

So she was sure of two things.

One, they were, in fact, attracted to one another.

Two, Ryuuko, on the other hand, was far more than attracted. Chances were high she was, possibly, in love with Inko's brother-in-law.

So she was glad that Obito might be more okay than she ever expected.

~NRK~

He was moved to an actual hospital room after thirty minutes of assessing after Recovery Girl's quirk was used.

Kaoruko had informed Nighteye of where they'd been and the three heroes had come back to join the rest of the group in Obito's hospital room.

Inko, Izuku, and Katsuki sat the closest to his bedside with Ryuuko in the immediate chair to his other. It'd taken some maneuvering on Inko's part but she'd gotten the dragon quirk user to take that seat.

Bubble Girl and Centipeder had left to grab them all some lunch while Recovery Girl checked out Obito once more as All Might and Nighteye considered the man before them.

'Make him my successor?' All Might considered the proposition that Nighteye had proposed to him.

Obito Uchiha had been considered the perfect candidate, physically. He was skilled, smart, quick thinking, and had a willingness to help others despite the insane harm upon himself.

Not just that but he was willing to do what it took to defend others to no end. He was commendable in so many ways, inspiring in many others…

But All Might needed to speak to him to know exactly what this man was like.

Nighteye, on the other hand, considered many other things.

Obito and Ryukyu's situation was one.

Obito possibly being All Might's successor was another.

The upcoming internship programs were another and main thing.

He'd been observing more, possible, candidates for One for All, All Might's power. Among those he'd been observing, one stood out.

A teen by the name of Mirio Togata. A boy with a permeation quirk.

He'd watched his progress as he became more able with his quirk ever since the UA festival the year before. Oh, he'd embarrassed himself something fierce, having his clothes fall away leaving him naked, but Nighteye saw the potential in the boy's ability.

Not just his Permeation quirk but his ability to never stop trying, to keep on going, to keep on smiling.

Yes, Nighteye was going to be looking forward to mentoring him for the next half of the school year.

The time spent in the room had been done casually, Izuku and Katsuki asking the heroes the usual questions and even some interesting ones.

"Yes, it does allow for quirkless people to enter," All Might explained. "It was something that, from what I understand, allows for those with actual possibilities to come and try. There are safety measures for all involved but, with a quirkless entry, I believe there would be even stricter rules about that."

"It only makes sense if ya weak, yer weaker. Most quirkless people aren't uncle or, at the very least, Deku," Katsuki said as he jabbed a thumb at Izuku who blushed before nodding with vigorous nods. "I bet most would barely pass the first part of the test."

"I don't remember mentioning a partitioned exam."

"You didn't," Bakugou said with a grin. "But there's no way that a school like yours wouldn't have a two-part, at best, exam. If we wanna be heroes, just going in and doin' a test ain't just it, I bet."

"It's true, having only a single exam for UA would be a harsh misstep for the school," Nighteye said. "I won't let you know how many but it is, in fact, more than a written test."

"Hehe~"

"K-Kacchan, please don't," Izuku said nervously before looking at All Might. "... All Might, is it alright to ask you a question?"

"I see no issue with that."

"Well, how are you and Sir Nighteye connected?"

"... Hmmm," All Might considered his answer. "... Nighteye used to be my former sidekick."

"Huh, him?" Bakugou said in confusion as he looked at the glasses-wearing hero. "He looks like a salaryman!"

"It is a comfortable wear," Nighteye said immediately.

"How do you pop, though?!" Katsuki would die on this hill. "Where's the explosive energy?! All Might comes on a scene and he dominates everything!"

"PfffA-Ahem!" the No.1 almost laughed before coughing into his fist at his former sidekick's look. "Y-Yes, while important, pazazz isn't all it's meant to be. There are probably many heroes who aren't on the public rankings that work under the night."

Ryuuko blinked at that. "..."

"Those are hero specialties, right?" Izuku asked. "Heroes who handle investigations like Endeavor and Nighteye, Heroes whose work mainly contain combative natures like All Might and, say, Ryukyu," Ryuuko rubbed the back of her neck. "And more heroes like Recovery Girl who step into different fields of work. I guess there's an even larger type difference between heroes."

"W-Well, I haven't really figured out my own niche, I guess," Ryuuko said.

"Really?" Bakugou raised a brow at that. "You're a dragon. A big one at that. I doubt doing undercover work will work out."

"Well… That's not wrong."

"Being a dragon might be useful for, like, support items and stuff," Ryuuko blinked at that idea as Katsuki continued. "But, with you quirk, you'd be better off with just fightin' villains like All Might. It's what your quirk fits the most. Unlike you, my quirk allows me to do it all!" the teen said as he allowed small explosions to pop up from his palms.

"Heh heh heh, well, I wouldn't have put it like that but Kacchan's right in that some quirks aren't fit for certain jobs," Izuku said. "Hmm, Obito-ojisan… I wonder what category of hero work he'd take if he was to be one?"

"That's easy, investigation work," Katsuki said.

"Hm, it's true that Obito-kun is intelligent in a manner that deserves praise," Inko said as Nighteye nodded.

"I know nothing but what others say about him," All Might began. "But from what Nighteye tells me, yes, this is his most suitable field."

"W-What about administrative work?" Ryuuko asked, getting a group-wide blink. "Obito's also good at dealing with documentation, Centipeder even said as much."

"Wait, there are heroes who do that sorta thing?" Bakugou asked in confusion. "... I mean, I guess?"

"Another realm of hero work," Izuku muttered to himself as he pulled out a mini-notebook and wrote in it with a pencil he pulled from his decently large head of hair. "Hmm, perhaps those with high-information quirks? Calculative, high-speed reading, fast writing…" More fell from his lips as he wrote down the information.

With his hero books, his uncle had even asked him about what he planned to use them in the middle of training, one day.

When asked… Izuku had answered to fight villains.

When asked 'how so?'. He hadn't had a good answer other than 'To save people like All Might.'.

Obito's answer to that had been for him to look at all the information he had in his books and formulate ways for his body, at any moment, to handle them.

Izuku may have been writing down the info but he made no use of it for his future instead of in maybes and/or ifs.

So, ever since, Izuku had worked on applying these quirks mentally to situations. It'd been rather easy at first, douse out the fire or acid villain, electrify the water villains, and so on.

Obito had then informed him of the fact that he was thinking with quirks and not his body. If he wanted to be on the front lines and not the support sidelines, he had to build his body to handle this… As well as his tool repertoire.

And that had led Izuku into the field of seeing if he couldn't make his own equipment as a hero outside of the support course.

"All Might, Sir Nighteye, do people in the Support Course of UA ever go on to become heroes?"

"Yes," Nighteye answered. "There is a hero teaching a support class who did as much, Power Loader."

Izuku's eyes widened as he searched through his phone, his digital recreations of his notebooks something he and Obito had made an app for.

On a note, Obito had said that Izuku should have such an app on the Hero Net, a hero-personal website, to give more help to them for a bit of money.

Izuku considered it for the future.

"Power Loader, he's the one with the excavator parts on his head as a helmet, right?"

"Yes, he built that for his hero costume," All Might said. "He handles support items, upgrades to costumes, such as bracers, and helps teach at the school."

"That's amazing," Izuku said. "... I want to try and do that with support items I can make," he chuckled a bit. "Obito-ojisan said that if I want to help people, I'll need the tools to do so. Just like he has his three-section staff or knives."

"Ah, yes, we recovered that," Nighteye said. "I have it in my car. Once he awakes, I wish to give them back and see who makes them. Those blades are too high-grade for him to have just purchased them off the street."

Bubble Girl and Centipeder came in at just the right moment.

"That's because I made them myself," came Obito's voice as he sat up in his bed, rubbing his eyes. "You won't find such knives anywhere else."

"...?!"

"...?!"

"... OBITO?!" Ryuuko stared in disbelief, mouth dropped as her housemate sat up and cleared his eyes. "W-When did you?"

"A bit from now, I was making sure all my limbs worked," he said as she flinched, looking down at his left arm. "Mmmm, someone with a healing quirk did this, didn't they?" Obito said as he looked in front of him at the Recovery Girl.

"You'd be right," she said as she walked over before prodding his biceps and triceps. "Please, flex for me."

He did and she tapped his arm all over before nodding with a hum.

"So I was right, you do have an odd body," the others looked confused outside of Nighteye and All Might. "Hmm, well, you all may not notice but everyone has what could be called an imperfect body. Most of the time, you won't notice it but it's little things in you that stand out."

Izuku and Bakugou considered one another. "... Well, Kacchan's right eye is a slightly lighter shade than his left."

"And the nerd has uneven freckles," Bakugou said.

"Exactly," Recovery Girl said as she stopped prodding Obito's limb. "Obito, meanwhile, has no such imperfections. I checked his medical history and there are no other oddities. The only other person I know of like this is All Might over here."

The No.1 hero cupped his chin, observing Obito. "I see…"

"And you know something because of this?" Obito asked as he raised a knee. "Or is it simple curiosity?"

"A little bit of both, simply trying to make sense of your recent actions," Obito shrugged. "Hmmm, that's unimportant for now, I suppose. You have people who were worried about you."

"Yeah, sempai!" Bubble Girl said with a happy smile as Centipeder rubbed her head. "W-We were so worried a-and-"

"We're glad you're awake and sound," the centipede hero said with a nod as Obito frowned before nodding back.

"I'm sorry you all went through this…?" Obito blinked as he looked in front of and to his side. "? Why is All Might here? Also, Izu-kun, Katsu-kun, Inko, when did you all get here?"

Inko smiled as Katsuki grunted and Izuku followed his mother in action.

"When you were… predisposed," Inko found the words. "We came. It's been almost eight entire hours since the incident."

Obito frowned as he closed his eyes. "... Did that villain survive?"

"No," Nighteye answered. "The knife ended his life in the same breath as the fight ended from what I've seen in videos."

"... Good," Obito said simply as he and Izuku locked eyes, the boy looking shocked and then conflicted. "I know that this probably isn't what you wanted to hear or see, Izuku."

"I… The pros talked about it earlier with us," the boy said. "I… I don't know if I'd be able to do that if I was put in that situation," Izuku's green eyes tightened. "I don't want any conflict to end with lost lives! I have to do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen!"

All Might's eyes widened as he stepped forward. "Those are big words to usher, Midoriya-shounen."

"H-Huh?!" Izuku stuttered. "U-Um, that is, I understand why he had to do it, I do, I just… I don't want my uncle to have to do that,' Obito nodded. "If it's within my power in the future… I want to make sure that such things don't come to pass for anyone! Hero or villain."

"?!" All Might's eyes widened. '... He's quirkless just like I was…'

He already knew that he liked the boy's conviction. He still wished to meet with the boy's uncle but from what he knew, he had a feeling the man would deny it. Even if it seemed like his body was perfect for One for All, Obito Uchiha also knew that his mindset was too far away from that of a Symbol of Peace.

It was sad, in a way, All Might had a feeling that, if he was right about this, if he'd never met Izuku, he would have been fine with Obito taking his mantle. The man was just perfect.

"That's a fine conviction to have, Izuku," Obito said with a nod before finding his hand encased by something soft and small, his eyes softening. "... Can you all give me a moment?" he asked before he swung his legs over the side of his medical bed,

All eyes in the room widened as he removed the IV drip from his arm before taking Ryuuko out of the room entirely.

"O-Obito?!" the heroine balked at his behavior, finding it odd. "I-Is something wrong?"

"... No but it's something I need to correct," he said as he stopped by the bathrooms. "One second."

He went in and came out in less than thirty seconds, mouth cleaner than it was a moment ago.

"Come, let's go to the Personal Family Room. If Inko and the boys are in my hospital room then that area should be clear."

Ryuuko didn't reject his gentle pull as they walked, reaching the supposed room quickly.

It was empty. "That's convenient," he said as he released her hand before turning to her. "What's wrong?" Obito asked.

Ryuuko blinked at him as he faced her, half-naked as he was, she usually would have been a blushing mess… but she couldn't now, not right then.

Not when her stomach was still turning over itself as she replayed that moment from earlier.

Her eyes trembled as her gaze fell only for gentle hands to grasp it and lift her head.

Confused but worried black eyes stared back at her.

"Ryuuko-san?" he said softly as if beckoning her emotions. "Please, look at me. What's wrong?"

"... W-W-What's wrong-g, huh?" she said slowly, shoulders shaking as she grit her teeth. "Y-You… A-Are you serious?!" Ryuuko hated this feeling.

She didn't fully get it, she wouldn't lie, and yet she knew exactly what she wanted to say.

"You almost died," she said, shoulders dropping completely. "I basically caused you to literally almost die and I can't handle it."

"... I'm sorry, I…" Obito may have underestimated his effect on her.

They were friends, he'd admit that much, but only that. They'd only really known one another for basically two months… So why?

Why did she feel so angry with herself? Why the tears? Why the sadness?

Why'd his heart rebel against his merely holding her chin? What was this feeling of wanting to protect her?

The nights in the past two weeks came to the forefront of his mind, the times of resting in the same room, talking randomly, learning together, and just existing in the same space… It'd all come to him and yet he didn't understand why.

… But, as he said before, his being was against this bare contact of theirs.

Ryuuko's head fell as he removed his hands.

He must have bee-

Her eyes widened as she was brought into a hug that her mind spasmed at.

At how warm he felt. At how he smelled of cinnamon and spices. At how she was a seemingly perfect fit in his grip.

Her hands flew around him, encasing a bare back in a pair of arms that perfectly contained them.

Obito held Ryuuko for however long he felt was right, the woman's shoulders shaking as she gripped him harder, his head tucked by hers, the smell of fresh earth in his mind.

Something was barely on the cusp in his mind as they separated but only so far as arms' length.

He wiped away her tears with a finger, looking at her sadly.

"I'm sorry I… I don't understand, I know that I might sound like an idiot right now but… I'm not used to this, there have only been few people in my life who I know would cry over my possible death. I should have paid more attention."

"I… I know this is weird, too," she said, blushing as she pressed herself back into him, Obito accepting easily enough. "I… I think I'm the same but I know I didn't want you getting so hurt because of me."

"I had planned to try and keep you out of it," she huffed a bit as he chuckled. "You couldn't handle the maneuvers necessary to take him down, not the way that would have kept him so," Obito said. "And, being honest, I was sure that I had him dealt with. I didn't expect his muscles to become the size of a small child."

She blinked before chuckling, sniffling one last time. "D-Dammit, don't make me laugh. I need to blow my nose."

"There's a tissue box in the corner of the room," Obito said simply, getting another chuckle out of her as they separated.

The warmth was very much something both wanted back so she hurried and blew her nose in a corner of the room before ridding herself of the filth.

"I-I should go and wash my hands," she said with a flush as he nodded, the both of them walking back the way they came.

"I just thought of something rather morbid."

"What is it?"

"Why would they keep a box of tissues in the Personal Family Room?"

"SNRT?!"

When the two returned, the group inside Obito's hospital room looked up in unison.

Obito rubbed the back of his head. "Apologies, we had something to sort out," he admitted with a slight flush as Ryuuko giggled.

"... I'm so happy for you right now!" Kaoruko said as she and Inko stood up with cheers.

"Yes!" the mother cheered as Izuku and Katsuki blinked at the two's reaction.

"Kacchan, what's my mom happy about?"

"Do I look like I fucking know?" Bakugou countered. "Even my mom gets like this too when uncle's involved, they're all just fucking weird."

Despite how rude that was, Izuku agreed.

Women were weird.

Ryuuko shook her hands. "No. no, no, it's not like that… I think," the woman said nervously.

"I've no idea what you're talking about," Obito said with confusion as Inko and Kaoruko balked at him. "Ryuuko?"

"Ummm!" She laughed nervously. "It's kind of a girl thing!"

"I see," Obito nodded slowly. "I assume it's because you aren't sad anymore?"

"Y-YUP!" she agreed. "Totally because of that, it's just a girl thing! Hahahahahahha."

All Might and Nighteye blinked as Centipeder shook his head.

Obito shook his head at the three before noting `Ryuuko holding her side a bit.

"... Recovery Girl," the old hero looked at him. "Could you also heal Ryuuko?" he asked, getting the room to stop.

"... That's perfect, isn't it?" Centipeder said with a little shock and a clap of the hands. "We'd kind of forgotten due to how injured you were but, if she's willing, this would make all our lives easier."

Recovery Girl raised a brow.

"I'll pay what is necessary, please heal Ryuuko."

"Boy, do you take me for a villain or somethin'?" she asked as Obito rubbed the back of his head. "Of course I'd heal her, I'm a doctor, it's my job to help everyone, heroes and civilians like yourself."

"... Apologies."

"None of that, you're probably the first one to even think of that this entire time," she said as she walked over to the dragon heroine. "It may seem odd but I need to kiss her skin to ac-"

Obito didn't hesitate, lifting Ryuuko with ease before kneeling with the now red-in-the-face dragon woman.

"OBITO!"

"She needs to heal you."

Recovery Girl giggled a bit. "Goodness, well aren't you a charmer?" she said before her lips extended and tapped Ryuuko on the cheek, receding after their work was done. "There."

The recently gone pro hero winced a bit as she felt the wound beneath her bandages close. Knitting together before the area warmed up a good bit.

"O-Ooooh, okay," Ryuuko said as Obito stood with her in his arms, redder in the face. "D-Down!"

He did as ordered. "It was just for the healing, you can't let stuff like this phase you," Obito said with a raised brow at her blushing state. '... Whelp, that's actually cute.'

God help him, living with her was going to be a nightmare like this.

'Why? Because you'll carry me more often?' Are the words that were in her mind but she didn't say them, lest Obito get any ideas. "... Whoa," she said after some thought, pressing her hands onto her bandaged portions. "I-It feels great."

"Hmph, I'm not surprised, your quirk likely comes with more life energy or 'stamina', as I call it," the shot heroine said. "You should be good to go. How long has she had that wound?"

"About a week and some days," Nighteye explained.

"Then she should be good to go," Recovery Girl said before turning to Obito. "You, on the other hand, need to focus a little more on resting. I healed you but you'll need a few more nights of good rest to fully be up and running."

"Thank you, ma'am. I will," Obito bowed to her fully and perfectly. "Guess we've switched places," he said to Ryuuko who blinked before chuckling.

"Guess so but, this time, we're both fine and you're the slightly sleepy one."

Obito smirked.

"Now that that's taken care of," All Might walked up to Obito. "Could you and I talk?"

Obito eyed the hero for a moment before nodding.

"Sure, let's."

Whatever the No.1 Hero would say, surely it wouldn't be all that crazy.

~NRK~

You know what's up here and what will be happening next chapter.

In this chapter, we had the 'personal' fall out of what Obito did. We've still got the 'public' version to watch out for. It's gonna be interesting to see how many characters react to this.

Never mind that we have All Might noting both Izuku and Obito as potential successors. With Nighteye unaware, his hat thrown in with Obito, if he were to find Izuku with the quirk… Well, I'm not comfortable with saying how.

You all should know, by now, that I'm anxious about the next chapter.

See ya whenever it happens.

Words: 8.8k+

~NRK Out~