Disclaimer: I do not own Hero Academia/Boku No Hero Academia, or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

My Hero Academia: Entreri Gaiden

Chapter thirty-five: Talks of happier times

The latest round of internships had started, and Fuyuki Midoriya was out on a patrol with his father Izuku on one well enough morning into the internship. The number one hero Deku was explaining how things were going to be handled while the three factions, a collection of three gangs that are made up of the remnants of Minoru Mineta's gang, were still an active threat. Izuku said that while he would permit Fuyuki to help handle some of the lower ranked thugs that were rank and file, the three faction leaders were off the table for Fuyuki and his classmates.

Even though one of said classmates is the younger sister of one of the faction leaders.

Still, Fuyuki was curious about them, and Izuku saw no problem in explaining things to his son so that he would know exactly why the three faction leaders were only for the pro heroes to handle. "Yeah, aside from your classmate Hikari's older brother Makoto," Izuku said, "There's also Takuya and Hochu. Unlike Makoto, both Takuya and Hochu are quirkless. However that by no means makes them any less dangerous."

Fuyuki nodded in agreement as, while he had been working under the now exposed exposed Mineta, he had never used the quirk that he had, viewing it as more of a curse; as such, many in Mineta's gang who had heard of Entreri assumed that he was quirkless. And yet look at how far he had been able to go during his run as an assassin-style thug. His contributions had helped Mineta's gang become as big of a threat as it was before it had ultimately been taken down.

"First off, there's that Hochu fellow," Izuku said, "Despite his age and how he's quirkless, Hochu is by far one of the most dangerous people who had been working for my disgraced former classmate. Our best bet is to defeat him from a distance, because getting within sword range of an old master swordsman like Hochu is only asking for trouble."

Nodding in understanding, Fuyuki said in a monotone voice, "I think Toya's dad would be best in that case. He can just blast that Hochu fellow at a distance with ice and fire. Uncle Katsuki could also get the job done well enough."

Izuku nodded once in agreement. "Yes, my thoughts exactly." Going on, Izuku explained, "The second faction leader and the other one who's quirkless is Takuya. He's an assassin-style thug similar to Entreri, and is more focused on looking for a way to get Mineta out of jail and back into leading the gang, whereas Hochu is equal parts focused on getting Mineta out and finding the female thug who betrayed Mineta in the first place."

Fuyuki knew that his father was concealing the truth, that it was really Entreri (meaning Fuyuki) who had betrayed Mineta, as part of a deal that resulted in the pro heroes and police finally getting their hands on Mineta and taking down his criminal empire once and for all. But Izuku didn't know that Fuyuki knew. Still, it wasn't like Fuyuki was in any rush to let anyone know who he was during his time as a runaway.

Looking up at his father, Fuyuki asked, "Well what about the third faction leader? What about Hikari's older brother?"

Izuku was about to speak up, but he was cut off when, as he and Fuyuki rounded the corner, they heard Hikari call out, "Fuyuki? Mr. Midoriya?" Fuyuki and Izuku turned to see Hikari, who was with Ochaco on a patrol for the internship, looking right at them. Fuyuki still wasn't exactly in a good mood to deal with his mother, but the circumstances being what they were, he had to put up with her for the time being.

And there was no denying that Fuyuki saw a chance to talk to someone who could give some valuable insight on one of the faction leaders. "...Would anyone here object to a lunch break?" Fuyuki asked dryly, surprising everyone.

It didn't take much to convince his parents to the lunch break idea, especially when Izuku and Ochaco realized that Hikari really could help build the profile that the pro heroes and police had on her older brother Makoto. The combined four of them relaxed a bit at an outdoor cafe, with Fuyuki only getting a drink of some kind. Once all of them were settled, Fuyuki proceeded to ask Hikari the question.

"What can you give the heroes on your older brother?" Fuyuki asked, "Anything that would help with figuring out what he's like? Why he would go this far?"

Hikari looked down at what she got from the cafe, looking a bit sad. "...Makoto has always valued our family," Hikari began, "You see, I'm from a fairly large well-off family, similar to how well off our classmate Tengoh is. Our family is big enough so that it has to be divided up into various branches. Makoto and I, as well as our late sister Kolulu, belong to the main branch of the family, meaning we're in the part that runs the whole show."

The adults and Fuyuki all nodded in understanding to show that they were following along. "An interesting way to manage a large family," Ochaco commented.

Hikari nodded once. "Makoto being not only first born out of me and my siblings but also the only son made him first in line to succeed our father as leader of the entire family. He had the skill for it, and given how much the family means to him, there was no doubt that he would be doing right by all of us." Hikari looked sad, but she was smiling at the same time. "...I remember the last Christmas season before Kolulu's suicide. The good cheer shown by Makoto back then is a prime example of what I'm talking about..."

(FLASHBACK, A LITTLE BIT OVER SEVEN YEARS AGO)

A much younger and still chubby Hikari watched as her older brother Makoto, accompanied by a still alive at the time Ryumaru, was going about decorating a room at the main Veldora family estate for the holidays. "So, umm, Makoto my good man," Ryumaru began, "How is...umm...how is your sister doing?"

A look of mildly piqued interest appeared in Makoto's expression. "...You mean Kolulu? Because you hardly know lil' Hikari over there."

Ryumaru nodded in the affirmative, a mildly embarrassed blushing on his face. "Yes, I'm asking about Kolulu-chan."

"Well she's out right now doing some shopping," Makoto began to explain, "What would you like to know about her?"

Ryumaru gulped nervously as he blushed harder, prompting a look of wry amusement to show up on Makoto's face. "If she...well you know...has any sort of...interests?"

"You got the hots for Kolulu," Makoto said with an amused knowing expression, "Don't you?"

"Well come on!" Ryumaru replied, "I mean just look at her! She's friggin' cute as all get out!"

Makoto nodded approvingly at how his friend was expressing appreciation for his little sister. "Yeah, Kolulu is proving to be a model girl that I'm sure our father will try to find the right boy for her to marry when she's of age." Giving a wry look to Ryumaru, Makoto went on, "A budding hero student to be who had gained even the seal of approval from friggin' Deku of all people might be one such person my dad would be interested in giving Kolulu to as a wife."

Ryumaru looked away out of embarrassment. "Dude, it's way too soon to even talk about that sort of stuff." Blushing a bit harder, Ryumaru added, "...But I do like the sound of being able to wake up next to Kolulu-chan every morning."

Shrugging, Makoto said, "At least you're interested in Kolulu and not my temperamental cousin Ichimichi. Seriously, that cousin of mine can fly off the handle at frig-all whatever time at any provocation. Usually it's when someone insults her cooking which to be fair is rather poor. Yet another good reason you're interested in Kolulu, given that her cooking is fantastic."

As Ryumaru nodded in the affirmative, Makoto went on, "Seriously. I think I've developed the ability to resist most poisons due to how many times Ichimichi had gotten me to eat her really horrible and shi-"

Makoto was cut off when a door was kicked open, showing a young slender teen girl standing in the door way with an angry look on her face. She had a single pointed, slightly curved upwards black horn growing out of her forehead, her light purplish hair was in a single ponytail, and she was currently radiating a lot of anger. "Oh, so my cooking lets people develop the ability to resist most poisons, eh Makoto?!" the angry horned girl snarled.

"Oh crap, Ichimichi heard me!" Makoto exclaimed in panic, "Run Ryumaru, run!" The two boys then proceeded to run away from Ichimichi as she chased them in a circle. While all of this was going on, Hikari was unable to help herself as she laughed.

(FLASHBACK OVER)

Hikari looked down as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. "...That was one of the last happy moments I have of my family before Kolulu had hung herself, before Makoto took off on some personal quest for vengeance. He really didn't like how our family had been messed with, how our sister had been goaded into committing suicide. I'm not sure what all can be done to stop Makoto, once he's set on something."

"Another person descending into villainy over Kolulu's suicide," Izuku said grimly, "Mineta's turning out to have done more and more damage as things keep going on here, it would seem."

Perking up a bit, Ochaco said to Hikari, "Hang on, you said your cousin's name is Ichimichi?" After Hikari gave an affirmative nod to her pro hero mentor, Ochaco turned to face Izuku and said to him, "Izuku, Ichimichi is one of the sidekicks employed by your agency. You've got her working for you right now."

The number one hero looked to be thinking about the matter for a few moments before he looked to have gotten it. "Aha! Now I remember! She's known as the Ogress Hero: War Oni. Her quirk is called Kijin Dreadnought, which if I recall correctly is a variation of the Kijin Constitution quirk that Hikari has."

Hikari nodded in the affirmative. "Yes. Kijin Dreadnought is similar to Kijin Constitution, but lacks the aspect that protects one's health from all manner of issues, meaning Ichimichi has to put in effort to take care of her health. However, in return for the lack of protection to health, Ichimichi has greater physical strength than what Kijin Constitution would have granted her. As a side note, Ichimichi is pretty good at covering her health and taking care of herself."

Izuku had a serious look of consideration on his face. "...Your family seems to have more of a connection to Mineta than I would be comfortable with I'm afraid to say, given how your older sister's suicide a few years ago has caused so much more than what can be anticipated." Giving Hikari a wry look, Izuku went on, "I may want to talk to your folks at some point, because I get the feeling you'll be dragged into a lot more of me and my wife's disgraced former classmate."

"Oh, my father is actually a rather big fan of yours, Mr. Midoriya," Hikari said, looking a little bit surprised, "I'm certain he'd welcome you as an honored guest."

"The perks of being the number one hero, dear," Ochaco said slyly to her husband, making him blush a bit out of embarrassment, prompting Ochaco to laugh. Hikari also laughed a bit, but out of nervousness. Fuyuki kept silent, allowing what all he got out of his classmate to sink in. The son of Deku saw that his dad had a point; the Veldoras seemed to be connected more and more to Minoru Mineta, whether they want it or not.

This would require some serious investigation, it would seem.

Meanwhile, at an undisclosed location somewhere, Makoto was standing in an office room by himself, looking at himself in a mirror that was standing on the floor and affording him a full body view of himself. He wore baggy studded cargo pants held up with a belt, a red haori long coat that was closed in the front and was also sleeveless, a pair of well-made durable boots, and a pair of han kote gauntlets that were red like his coat.

Makoto looked to the one corner of the room, where an odachi leaned in the corner while in its scabbard; the blade itself was thirty-six inches, and the hilt added about another ten. The blade was in excellent shape, as when Makoto took off from his family several years ago on his quest to avenge Kolulu's suicide, he brought with him two loyal family servants, one of which is a man who is an expert blacksmith of the highest skill.

The first born and only son of the Veldora family's main branch dreamed regularly of using his odachi to lop of Minoru Mineta's head.

Makoto was brought out of his somber looking at himself in the mirror when he heard a knock at the door, so he turned to look. "Come in," Makoto called out. At that prompting, the door opened and in walked a guy who looked like a humanoid lizard and a girl with green skin.

The lizardman guy had long black hair combed and brushed straight, his scales were a purplish color, and he wore a baggy hockey jersey, a pair of cargo pants held up with a belt, and a pair of sneakers. The green-skinned girl had a (very mildly) somewhat bulbous nose, pointed ears, had vibrantly royal purple hair in twin buns, and she wore a loose-fitting tank top, tan cargo shorts held up with a belt, ankle socks and white loafers.

"Yo, Makoto," the lizardman fellow said in a tone of casual greeting, "When will we carry out the big plan that you said you had in mind?"

Makoto casually hummed in an amused manner to himself. "We're still a bit of a ways off from that, Jun. The special event that some of the lady heroes are planning according to my spy is at least a week and a half off from this point."

"I can't wait to have fun and play with everyone at the big event," the green-skinned girl said, a bit of craziness to her, "Oh, you think they'll like it if I introduce my new hunting knife to them? I got it because I wanted to be more like Entreri-kun!"

Pointing at the green-skinned girl, Makoto said in a firm and knowing tone, "Chill thyself, Juri. Keep your hunting knife in its sheath."

As the green-skinned girl, apparently named Juri, pouted like a child, the lizardman fellow, apparently named Jun, turned to look at Makoto. "I still can't believe that the boss of the gang was that Mineta guy you told me and Juri you were looking to track down and kill."

"That slippery little turd of a bastard was good at keeping his secrets," Makoto remarked bitterly, "I had no idea that for years I had been working for the very man I had wanted to kill."

"If your plan is successful, then you'll get Mineta out of jail and make him an open target," Jun pointed out, "But keep in mind that the other two factions are still loyal to the man."

Makoto nodded in agreement. "Hence why I'm going to let the pro heroes and police wear the other two factions down. Those guys Hochu and Takuya are especially worrisome, as they're both quirkless yet have done more than most quirked members of the gang prior to the raid that the police and pro heroes did to take it down." A mildly wondering look appeared on Makoto's face. "...I'd like to meet the girl who ratted the boss out to the authorities. It's thanks to her that I now know who Minoru Mineta is."

"Entreri-kun has done more than both of them combined," Juri pointed out, "And no one knows if he's got a quirk or not."

A look of suspicion crossed Makoto's face. "...No one I know of in any of the factions has heard hide or hair about Entreri in a while, but chances are he'd side with either Takuya or Hochu. My guess will be the former, as he and Entreri are both assassin-types. Regardless, Entreri will most likely be an enemy, so we need to keep an eye out for him so we can kill him if need be."

Hopping up and down while holding her right hand up, Juri said, "Oh! Oh! Can I stab Entreri-kun? I learned a lot from him from what I heard about him, so I want to show him how far I've come!"

"He's a dangerous individual, Juri," Makoto replied, "I'd rather that we wait until we can get him cornered into a trap before killing him with a large group, preferably with people who can hit him at a distance with quirk attacks." Once more, Juri pouted as if she were an annoyed child.

Looking at his faction's leader with an amused smirk, Jun said, "Well if there's anyone in our faction who's tops at using quirk attacks, it'd be you Makoto. Sure, that odachi of yours is by no means just for show, but you're truly devastating with your quirk."

Makoto looked down at the palm of his right hand, then conjured a small flare of black and purple fire. The first born and only son of the Veldora family's main branch looked at the small but sinister looking flame before willing it to go out. Makoto then turned to face Jun and Juri, giving the both of them a wry look as he spoke.

"...Maybe I'll consider first giving Mineta a taste of what he's going to be in for after I lop his head off."

Later after the day for the pro heroes and their interns was done, everyone was able to go home for the evening. The internships weren't quite done yet, as there are a few more days left, so it would be picking back up tomorrow. In the meanwhile, families would be able to relax for the evening. As an example of this, the Midoriya family were settling down for dinner, even though things were still a little bit tense due to Fuyuki still being untrusting of his mom.

Even so, he was able to be civil towards his parents. "...So today was interesting," Fuyuki said, "Some insight on one of the three faction leaders was gathered."

"Yeah, the pro heroes and police will be able to build more of a profile on Makoto thanks to what Hikari was able to provide to us," Izuku noted, then with a look of mild wondering added, "Also, I think that getting Ichimichi to contribute could help as well. She is Makoto's cousin, after all."

Fuyuki nodded in agreement, then wore a look of mild regretful sympathy. "...For what it's worth, I think it sucks that Hikari has to deal with her older brother being a villain, even though he had been driven into it." Looking more concerned, Fuyuki went on, "I'm also a bit concerned over how Hikari has lost more weight than she should have."

Izuku and Ochaco shared silent looks with one another, as they know the full story due to what they were told by their old teachers. They were not sure if they should tell Fuyuki that Hikari had gotten as thin as she is due to how guilty she feels over her part in how Fuyuki had been treated prior to his exoneration. They weren't sure if they should tell him that Hikari has been starving herself out of guilt for 'betraying him' as Hikari had put it.

They weren't sure if they should tell him that Hikari is acting as she is because she's in love with him, and that she has been punishing herself for ever having suspected Fuyuki as not being who he really is.

"The teachers are trying to help Hikari deal with how she's feeling," Ochaco said, "And myself and the other pro heroes working at Faerun in one way or another are also going to be doing our part to help her recover."

"It would be nice if you and your classmates would also help Hikari try to feel better," Izuku began, "She has gone through a lot, is going through a lot right now."

Fuyuki looked like he was considering what his dad had said. "...Right." Looking up from his dinner to his parents, Fuyuki asked, "So do the pro heroes and police have any leads on any of the three faction leaders yet?"

"Your uncle's hero agency has a decent lead on Hochu, so chances are that he'll be the first of the three faction leaders to go down," Izuku began, "Thus meaning his faction will be the first to go down. After that we'll only have to worry about Takuya and Makoto."

Fuyuki nodded in understanding, remembering enough about what he had heard about Hochu to paint himself a decent picture of the man, mainly that Hochu is a quirkless man in his early sixties. Quirklessness was viewed by some folks today as a handicap, as everything nowadays revolved around those marvelous powers. In fact, the quirkless are still to this day discriminated against, simply because they don't have quirks.

As such, a quirkless man like Hochu, who had been able to achieve skill and power in his own way, was able to throw a wrench into the cogs of the machine that was the Japanese pro hero society. Hochu is a living antithesis of everything that the citizenry of Japan at large had been led into feeling, believing. Simply by being who he is, simply by having accomplished what he had been able to do, Hochu was an example of something that Japan at large was not all that in the mood to hear.

Having a quirk isn't everything.

...

Over at an undisclosed warehouse at an undisclosed location, Hochu was breathing a bit hard out of exhaustion, the way his skin glistened with sweat making it clear he had just finished a workout. He wore a white-colored men's kimono top that was worn off, hanging around his waist and only being held up with a belt. He also wore matching men's kimono leggings, white tabi socks and zori straw sandals.

His kimono top being down showed his bare upper body, very well-toned for a man of his age. He stood before a straw practice dummy, holding a simple white wood bokken in his right hand. Feeling that he had worked out enough, Hochu straighten up, proceeded to walk to the side of the room he was in. He leaned his bokken against the wall, picked up a towel to towel off some of the sweat, then threw his kimono top back on.

"...I will be showing that the boss," Hochu spoke aloud but to himself, as he was alone, "That Minoru-sama, is not one to be messed with. He will be liberated, returned to power. And it will be me, who everyone but Minoru-sama has discounted due to my status of being quirkless, who will be the one responsible for seeing things set back to how they were." Hochu, feeling satisfied with his workout, decided to turn in for the evening.

END, CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Author's notes;

The three factions are all gearing up to carry out their wills, putting the pro heroes and police on their toes due to having three separate factions to deal with. The faction led by Hochu will be the first that the heroes will have a run-in with, and the older man himself will prove why exactly you shouldn't not count someone just because they're a little over sixty and quirkless.

Sometimes, all you need is to be really, really good with a sword.