Chapter 7
Midoriya stood at the foot of the massive skyscraper in front of him. When he arrived in Karaudo City, he had seen it towering above the other structures, yet he didn't expect it to be his destination. He double-checked the front of the building, which displayed the name of the company in big, mirrored-glass letters: Hanei Advertising. This is the place.
It had been about two weeks since Izuku had met with Bakugo, who, true to his word, showed up the next day to help with the construction project. Finally having the whole group back together was a big morale boost for everyone, and work sped up rapidly. While I would much rather be back helping the others, I need to take my role as agency founder seriously. If this Kensetsu Reigei can offer us any help with getting off the ground, then I need to put in the effort to make it happen. As he entered the building, a receptionist waved him over to a welcome desk in the middle of the wide-open lobby.
"Welcome to Hanei Advertising, where we strive to reflect your best to the world. How can I help you today?" the young woman asked in a chipper voice. Her friendly smile and upbeat attitude put Izuku at ease.
"Hi, miss. My name is Izuku Midoriya. I have an appointment with Mr. Reigei."
"Oh! Mr. Midoriya! Right this way sir." The level of formality was foreign to the young man, but it did make him feel valued as a potential client. The receptionist led him to a glass elevator in the back of the lobby. "Mr. Reigei is waiting for you in his office on the top floor. I'll let him know you're on your way up." She opened the elevator door and motioned him inside. She then returned to her desk after pushing the floor button.
As the elevator began to rise, Izuku looked through the glass at the floors passing him by. He had expected to see a lot of office space, but there were also conference halls, gyms, rec rooms, and a food court. About halfway up the structure, he began seeing something he wasn't expecting. Hero agencies? Hmm. The names that I recognize are smaller agencies. I wonder why there are so many here? His train of thought was derailed by the stunning view of the landscape behind him. The sprawling city beneath him in juxtaposition to the nearby mountains and forests had him so distracted that he didn't hear the elevator door open when he reached the top floor.
"Ah, there he is! Welcome, Izuku Midoriya!" Izuku turned to see where the voice had come from and was greeted by a very spacious office taking up the entire top floor. The room was completely encased in windows, allowing a panoramic view of the surroundings. In lieu of 2 more floors, the room stretched up into a tall, domed roof. Toward the far side of the room, a man sat behind a desk that, while large, was dwarfed by the scale of the room it occupied.
"Thank you for the warm welcome," Midoriya said as he exited the elevator. "And thank you for seeing me on such short notice, Mr. Reigei."
"Oh, please! No need for formalities. My friends call me Ken, and any friend of All Might is a friend of mine!" He moved to shake Midoriya's hand as he approached.
"Well then, it's a pleasure to meet y-" Izuku stopped short when Ken reached the other side of the desk. What caught him off guard was not Ken's piercing blue eyes, his almost translucent white hair, or his porcelain complexion. It wasn't the angular features of his narrow face, the sharpness of which was matched only by the blue business suit he wore. No, what caught him off guard was the fact that Ken was in a wheelchair.
"That reaction never gets old," Ken said with a chuckle.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Izuku said frantically as he bowed apologetically. "I didn't mean to stare."
"No, no, it's fine," Ken patted him on the shoulder. "You get used to it after a while. I know it's unusual to see an otherwise healthy person in a wheelchair these days, what with society's medical advancements and technology- even Quirks in general, although that didn't quite work out for me."
"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.
"I don't want to bore you with the details, but to make a long story short, my father's Quirk gave him the ability to manipulate glass, and my mother had the ability to vibrate the cells in her body on command. The universe decided to give me cells with all the properties of glass- brittle and fragile being the most prominent ones. I can't tell you how many bones I broke doing normal things growing up."
"That must have made life challenging." Midoriya thought about Aoyama and how his body couldn't handle his Quirk, or Todoroki's estranged brother and the conflicting aspects of his. "I guess Quirks aren't always as positive as we make them out to be."
"It's a fact of life, Midoriya. We can only play with the cards we're dealt. I wasn't able to do anything that normal kids did, so I studied. Psychology, art, science- you name it. As soon as I got out on my own, I started this company. I figured that, if my Quirk wouldn't allow me to help on the front lines, then I could use my ingenuity to help alleviate some of the burdens heroes face. It's a dog-eat-dog world out there, and the public is fickle. Heroes should be focused on saving lives, not saving face."
"I know All Might benefited greatly from your services," Izuku said. "He never seemed to have any issues with public relations."
"All Might. Now there's a hero that got it," Ken said wistfully. "He did everything for the right reasons. Never had to worry about a scandal with that one. Actually, the biggest surprise from him was when his true form was revealed in Kamino, but the public ate that up. I can't say I blame them. As someone who personally struggles with physical frailty, knowing that the No. 1 hero faced similar challenges was truly inspiring."
"He was amazing," Midoriya agreed. "It's a shame that he's gone now."
"Ah, but his legacy can live on through you," the man said as he spun his wheelchair back over to his desk. "I'm glad you found my card. When All Might said he wanted his royalty money to go to you, I said to myself, 'If All Might sees this kid's potential, then I'm going to keep an eye on him.' I'm so honored to be able to assist you."
"And I really appreciate it. It's been a whirlwind of activity getting everything set up."
"Yes, getting a new agency up and running is no cakewalk, but I know you and your friends will do a great job," Ken said as he began typing on his keyboard. His response caught Izuku off-guard.
"How did you . . . ?"
"I told you, Midoriya. I've had my eye on you." A holographic screen appeared behind Izuku which displayed all of the information about the upstart agency, including profiles on all of his friends.
"That's . . . thorough." Izuku was a little unsettled by the amount of information Ken was able to gather so quickly.
"What can I say?" he shrugged in response. "I like being prepared for these meetings. Keeps things efficient. Now let's go over the details. Looks like you've got a location in progress. That's good to see, although I am a little disappointed you won't be taking advantage of our office program."
"Office program?"
"Oh, our clients have the option of setting up their agency in the building here at no additional charge. You may have noticed some of them on your way up."
"Now, that you mention it, I noticed quite a few."
"We've had an uptick in heroes taking advantage of the perk ever since Jaku, which is fine by me. I want these guys cleaning the streets, not sleeping on them." Ken said with a laugh. "I actually reserved a whole floor for your group. I'll keep it available as a backup. You never know when something could go wrong."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind. Thank you."
"Don't mention it. Now, on to your team," Ken said as he scrolled through the list. "With the exception of Melissa Shield- nice job bringing her on board, by the way- all of these people are your classmates from U.A., correct?"
"That's right," Midoriya said with confidence. "We've gotten really close over the years and work well together."
"Synergy. I like it," Ken responded enthusiastically. "It's quite the lineup for a new agency. Most heroes take a while to get even one sidekick."
"Actually, we're all equals in this," Izuku corrected him. "They're all heroes just as much as I am.
"Hmm," Ken thought for a minute. "Okay, we can work with that. Who's going to be the face of the agency though?"
"I thought the team as a whole would be enough." Midoriya wasn't sure where this was going.
"Alright, as your agent, I'm going to have to advise against that strategy. Some teams can pull off the group image approach, but they're usually much smaller than your group, and even then, they don't get as much recognition." As he was talking, Ken pulled up a chart on another hologram. "If you look at the rankings over the years, one of the things that the top slots have in common is that they all have a centralized figure for the public to latch onto. Take All Might for example: do you think he would have been as recognizable as the Symbol of Peace if he had twenty other heroes on his team getting equal time in the spotlight?"
"I guess not." Izuku felt a pit in his stomach. Kacchan's words about overshadowing the others echoed through his head.
"Now, I'm in no way saying that you need to make everyone your sidekicks. I'm just saying that, if you want the agency to carry on All Might's legacy, you're going to need to pick a front-man for the public to rally behind."
Midoriya stared at the hero chart and then at the list of his friends. "I'll have to talk this over with the others. I can't make that decision without their input."
"Of course, of course. Take your time." Ken nodded. "Your loyalty to your friends is admirable. You don't see that too often these days."
"I just don't want to let them down."
"I'm sure you'll do just fine, Midoriya." Ken gave him a reassuring smile. "Well, I think that about wraps up the initial review. Why don't you head on back and finish up that building, let me know when you've made a decision on the brand image, and I'll start working on an advertising strategy to get you guys moving."
"Thanks again for all of your help, Mr. R- er, Ken, sir." Izuku turned and began to walk toward the elevator.
"Oh, one second, Midoriya. You're Quirk allows you to fly, correct?" Ken grinned and pushed a button on his desk. The domed ceiling began to turn as an aperture opened to the sky outside. "No need to use the elevator."
Izuku bowed in appreciation, then leapt into the air. He activated Float once he had cleared the roof, and, with a flick of his finger, he sped off toward the construction site. As he soared through the air, he thought about the meeting, about Ken's advice, and about what he personally could do to help get his friends and the agency off the ground.