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 forty-two: Family, part one
The remaining pro heroes from the hero course of UA's legendary year met with President Mera of the Hero Public Safety Commission to discuss the current situation in regards to the factions that are made up of the remnants of the Fine Wine gang after the gang's leader Fine Wine, who turned out to be the heroes' old school mate Minoru Mineta, was exposed and had been taken down in multiple raids on various properties that he had owned.
At this point, the factions respectively led by Hochu Sunoni and Takuya Moononi had been taken down, with most of the factions' respective members including their respective leaders having been caught and arrested. Takuya was in fact caught and arrested yesterday in a dual raid and rescue mission that resulted in the rescue of Faerun High student Ichigo Mineta, the daughter of the disgraced former UA student who had led the biggest gang of the modern era.
As it is, the only faction composed of remnants of the Fine Wine gang left is the one led by the only faction leader who actually has a quirk. Makoto Veldora, the first born child and only son of the Veldora family's main branch, was going to be a challenge to deal with. As such, all of the pro heroes had gathered to discuss how to deal with him, starting with what all that they had on the young adult man.
"First off," Tenya began, "We know that his quirk, Kijin Flare, lets him conjure and manipulate black and purple flames for fighting. It's basically a recolor of more powerful fire quirks, like the kind you see in Todoroki's father's side of the family." Todoroki nodded grimly at that, knowing that the comparison was going to be made eventually.
"We also got it that he carries an odachi as a weapon," Setsuna went on, "That big ass sword, combined with his red sleeveless long coat, his gauntlets, his quirk and the horns growing out of his head, lets him give off strong demon samurai vibes."
Placing a file on the table, Itsuka said, "We also got info on some choice members of Makoto's faction. Jun Iguchi, Juri Hokota, Kanehira Hoshi, and Junichi Kitaeru. Jun and Juri were both seen during the attack on the training camp the other ladies and I took UA's class 1-A to, but the other two weren't seen as they're both family servants that Makoto took with him when he had left on his quest to find and kill Mineta."
The heroes passed around the photos of Makoto and his faction's choice members, with especial regards placed on Kanehira and Junichi. Kanehira had grayish hair, a somewhat big nose that had a purplish hue to it, and his skin was green like Juri's. From what could be seen of his body below the neck (all photos were profile pics), Kanehira had a fairly well-toned body, a sign that he possess some degree of physical strength.
As for Junichi, he looked like a completely normal guy, aside from how he had a pair of small, somewhat stubby pointed white horns growing out of his head. A lot of the guys, Mera himself included, felt that just by looking at Junichi, he seemed like he'd make for the perfect drinking buddy. After all of the photos were returned to Itsuka, she said, "Although Kanehira and Junichi are both family servants and have a lack of actual fighting experience, they still shouldn't be underestimated due to their quirks."
"I see that Junichi has horns similar to members of the Veldora family," Momo stated.
Itsuka nodded in agreement. "Indeed. While my agency and I were researching what all was available on Makoto and his followers, I discovered that Junichi is actually a distant blood relative of the Veldora family and as such, he has one of the Kijin quirks. In his case, Junichi has Kijin Dreadnought, same as that Ichimichi girl working as a sidekick at Izuku's agency. Aside from being a family servant following Makoto, Junichi is a notable blacksmith who maintains and actually had crafted Makoto's odachi."
Bakugo nodded in understanding. "That big ass katana that Veldora wants to use to cut off Grape Head's head. Yeah, it looks like a wicked weapon alright." Turning to look at Itsuka with a curious expression, Bakugo asked, "You're saying that the distant blood relative of Veldora's actually made that damn thing?"
"Not only that, but I was able to confirm that Junichi also has notable woodworking skills that, combined with his blacksmithing, allowed him to craft Ryumaru's kanabo," Itsuka explained. Right away, the mood tensed a bit at the mentioning of the villain Ryumaru Okami, who had used that wicked bludgeoning weapon of his to kill multiple people. Among those confirmed to have been killed by Ryumaru's kanabo are the heroes' late colleague Yugo Aoyama, and Toru Ojiro's late daughter Rem.
"Blacksmithing like that requires some physical strength," Tetsutetsu pointed out, "But since Junichi has one of the Kijin quirks that grants enhanced physical strength, he's bound to be a wiz at forging weapons. Maybe prioritize capturing him before he makes more?"
Tokoyami and his sentient quirk Dark Shadow both held hands up to cut Tetsutetsu off. "I want to ask more about this Jun Iguchi fellow first. His name sounds familiar."
"We learned that Jun, as well as his younger sister Rumi who was captured during the training camp attack, are related to the villain Shuichi Iguchi, otherwise known as Spinner," Itsuka said, "Although it's a somewhat distant relation. Similar to their distant relative, Jun and Rumi both have quirks that make them resemble humanoid reptiles."
Kyoka nodded in agreement. "I actually got a bit of info on Rumi. Her quirk is called Lizardoid, which makes her look like a humanoid lizard and gives mild lizard related traits. In terms of overall power and utility, Rumi's quirk is about on par with Spinner's quirk." Kyoka let out a sigh that showed some concern. "...Jun's quirk, however, is on a much greater scale."
"Yes," Itsuka agreed, "Jun's quirk is called Dragonoid, considered one of the pinnacles of quirks among the Iguchi family. In addition to having somewhat more potent variations of the traits that his younger sister has, Jun can also at will sprout and retract wings that let him fly. He can also breath fire, similar to a dragon."
"Unlike the master-servant relationships that Makoto has with Kanehira and Junichi, the ones he has with Jun and Juri are more akin to friendship," Momo said, "Hence why Jun and Juri have a more casual air with Makoto."
"As for the quirks that Kanehira and Juri have," Juzo spoke up, "They're called Goblin King and Hobgoblin respectively. Both give Kanehira and Juri their green skin, with Kanehira getting higher physical strength from Goblin King, and Juri getting higher dexterity from Hobgoblin."
Ochaco and Tsuyu looked at the photo of Juri for a bit. "...I'm getting strong Toga vibes from this Juri girl," Ochaco remarked in a mildly unsettled tone.
Itsuka nodded in agreement. "Yeah. I got it down that similar to how Toga had something of a fondness for the Hero Killer Stain, Juri is something of an Entreri fangirl."
"A Toga type being an Entreri fangirl?" Tsuyu commented, "That's a disturbing thought kero."
Izuku looked at the photos of the villains pulled from the Makoto file, with Todoroki joining him. "...Makoto, Jun and Juri, huh?" Izuku said somewhat somberly.
"Kind of reminds me how my older brother was part of something of a trio with Spinner and Toga back in the day," Todoroki commented, "With Makoto himself having fire powers and a big deal with his family."
"But unlike with Dabi, who hated his family due to issues wrought mainly by Endeavor," Mera said, "Makoto has no such issues. His family never did anything to scorn him. They all love him, were looking forward to seeing him take over as head of the Veldora family one day. And in return, Makoto's family meant more to him than anything else. After all, the tragic suicide of his younger sister Kolulu, an act Makoto wants to avenge, is the catalyst of his fall into villainy."
The heroes looked somber at the presenting of Makoto's reason for becoming a villain, for wanting to track down and kill their disgraced former classmate Mineta. It was also something of a parallel to the villain Dabi; whereas Dabi was a villain mainly because he hated his family, Makoto is a villain mainly because he loves his family. Makoto never would have gone down the path of villainy in the first place if Mineta had not jeered Kolulu as badly as he did.
The same could also be applied to Ryumaru, who was romantically in love with Kolulu and also had the main desire of finding and killing Mineta for revenge.
Letting out a sigh, Momo said, "I believe that Izuku said that he has a plan that would get Makoto to surrender peacefully."
"Yes, although it's a bit risky," Izuku said, "The plan is to appeal to Makoto's love for his family by having my sidekick Ichimichi, who is Makoto's cousin, try to talk him down. I feel that also adding Hikari who is Makoto's sole remaining younger sibling would also work but at the same time be just as risky if not riskier." Looking to everyone, Izuku went on, "Provided that we're able to successfully get Makoto to yield, I'd like to put him in the reform program I had started up a couple of years ago."
Mera nodded in understanding. "Ah yes, the reform program. It takes captured villains interested in turning over a new leaf and molds them into true pro heroes. A few such reformed villains had actually been able to achieve some degree of respect and fame now that they're working on the side of the law rather than against it." Mera arched a wry eyebrow at Izuku. "...How's the new recruit into the program working, Deku?"
Izuku gave a smile and a nod. "He's actually just about finished. I may even be able to field him to help with subduing Makoto."
"And seeing a former villain now be a hero could further convince Makoto to peacefully stand down," Tenya remarked, "An interesting idea that sounds just crazy enough to work."
Nodding in agreement, Mera said, "We'll try Deku's plan to get Veldora to stand down without having to use physical violence first. Getting his cousin and little sister to try talking him down, as well as use the reformed villain to give him further incentive that he could go back to how things used to be to a degree. Hopefully Veldora can be convinced, because I'm not sure how much force it will take to make him stand down by force."
"We'd probably have to rush him with as many of us in the top ten as possible," Setsuna said, drawing some nods of agreement out of most of the other heroes at the meeting. Once the last details of Izuku's plan had been ironed out, the heroes were ready to implement the plan as soon as Makoto was located.
...
As all of the heroes got down to the ground floor of the HPSC building, Ochaco had met up with Izuku. The pro hero Deku saw that his wife had a somewhat downcast expression on her face. "What's up, dear?" Izuku asked, sounding concerned about how his wife looked notably upset.
Ochaco merely shook her head, let off a resigned sigh. "...That meeting we just got out of went to further remind me how I had screwed up as a mother."
"Ochaco..." Izuku said.
"I'm serious, Izuku!" Ochaco cut her husband off, sounding and looking like she was going to start crying at any moment, "I screwed up big time! I had been tricked into turning on our own son over a stunt that he had no responsibility for! I'm less family to Fuyuki than Makoto is to Hikari because he's never stopped loving her!" The hero Uravity then proceeded to break down and start crying, Izuku rushing to throw his arms around his wife to comfort her.
Izuku held Ochaco lovingly, gently swaying a bit. "...It's going to be alright, Ochaco. You'll get through to our son eventually." Ochaco continued to cry for a little bit more, with Izuku holding her the entire time.
Later, Fuyuki was relaxing at home, having just woken up from a nap; he and the others in his homeroom class still had the rest of the week off that would have been spent on the training camp had it not been for the Takuya and Makoto factions butting in. The son of Deku looked a bit bemused to see that he still was back to using his old bedroom. Regardless, he got up and proceeded to stretch a bit.
After that, Fuyuki proceeded to go down stairs, feeling in the mood for a snack. About halfway down the stairs, however, Fuyuki heard a knock at the front door, so he made a detour to go and answer the door. To his mildly piqued interest, his friends Tengoh, Toya, Aizawa, and Samidare had come on by to see him. "Hey man, we just wanted to check up on you," Toya said, "You did look pretty rattled to see your aunt take that hit for you back at the training camp."
Fuyuki gave a silent nod. "...Yeah, I have been thinking about how my Aunt Pony had almost died a few nights ago." Not wanting to let his friends remain outside, Fuyuki had all of them come on in and hang out.
...
"So you've come to ease up on your aunt, is what you're saying," Great Shadow said as he hung out of and next to Samidare while the boys were all talking.
Fuyuki nodded in confirmation to what Samidare's sentient quirk said. "More or less. I mean there is no way that someone who hates and scorns me would go and do something like that, now would they?"
"I would say that no one in your family hates and scorns you," Tengoh spoke up, "But given the precedent that's been set due to Rem's deplorable trick, I can't honestly blame you for coming to such a conclusion." The son of Ingenium looked firmly at Fuyuki. "I trust that you'll soon come to accept your mother and your cousin as well within short order?"
"If they can prove to me beyond a shadow of a doubt that they don't think I'm a lewd, panty stealing pervert, then yes," Fuyuki said dryly, "But neither of them has made any such move to show me that they've changed their ways of thinking." The boys accepted this, saw that their friend had a valid reason.
Toya looked like he was about to speak up, but got cut off by a knock at the front door. Fuyuki got up to answer it, and to his surprise it was his classmate Hikari. The horned nerdy girl no longer looked starved, but she still had a slender body, a sign that she had recovered (or was in the process of recovering) from her self-imposed starvation torture. "Umm, I h-had something I wanted to run by your m-mom, Fuyuki," Hikari said, stammering a bit out of nervousness as she didn't expect her crush to answer the door, "S-She is the hero who employs m-me as an intern.
"Sorry, but my mom's not in right now," Fuyuki explained, "She and the other heroes from her year of UA's hero course are probably still at a meeting." Seeing Hikari looking down, Fuyuki got an idea. "...Why don't you come inside, Hikari? Tengoh, Toya, Samidare and Aizawa are all already here." Hikari was a bit surprised, considering that her crush had just offered to her to come hang out with him and his friends.
Naturally, Hikari accepted the invitation, not wanting to let such an opportunity slip on by.
...
"So Mr. Midoriya is planning on using your cousin, and maybe you yourself as well, in a plan he has to try to make your older brother stand down peacefully," Toya said as Hikari explained to the boys what Izuku had in mind for dealing with Makoto.
Hikari nodded in the affirmative. "Yes. Mr. Midoriya believes that Ichimichi and I can talk Makoto down and get him to surrender peacefully, to stop it with his burning desire to avenge our sister Kolulu's suicide from a few years ago. The plan basically involves appealing to Makoto's love for us, for our entire family."
"It may be a difficult plan," Fuyuki pointed out, "After all, if your older brother cares for his family as much as you say he does, then he may be a hard person to sell the idea to of stepping down from his quest to avenge your sister's suicide. It'll be the interests of one part of his family right up against the interests of another part of the family. At least, that's how I'm figuring your older brother may see it."
Tengoh had a firm look of grim consideration on his face as he thought about what Fuyuki had just pointed out. "...Fuyuki has a point. Hikari, your older brother may not surrender as easily and as peacefully as the heroes may be banking on right now. He'll probably lock up out of internal conflict over whether to honor the wishes of his living family or avenge the suicide of your sister from a few years ago."
Hikari nodded in understanding. "...Yes. It's part of why Ichimichi and I think that we're simply going to be a distraction at best to keep Makoto from trying anything else while the pro heroes get into position to surround him and keep him from escaping. Deku said that if the peaceful route of his plan doesn't end up working out as he hopes, then he and the other pro heroes will take Makoto down by force."
"There's also the faction that Makoto leads," Aizawa pointed out as his right cat ear twitched a bit, "From what my dad told me, your older brother's faction is about as big as the other factions that have already been taken down. Your older brother's faction also has a handful of notable persons of interest, mainly that dragonoid dude and that goblin-looking girl. There's no way that your older brother's faction, especially the notable members, will simply stand by while the pro heroes surround and capture your older brother."
Once more, the horned nerdy girl nodded. "That's why Ichimichi told me she got it from Deku that a portion of the pro heroes being allocated to the task of taking down Makoto's faction will be focusing on the actual faction." A look of consideration appeared on Hikari's face as she gave the matter some thought. "...If I recall, the plan is for Deku, Shoto, Red Riot, Ingenium, Battle Fist, Mudman, Creati, Lizardy, Hitoshi and Pinky to be the pro heroes who will surround Makoto while he's focused on seeing me and Ichimichi in front of him. Maybe a few others along with them."
"All of the top ten heroes," Samidare remarked, "Some of which are the parents of a lot of us guys here." Fuyuki, Tengoh, Toya and Aizawa all nodded in agreement. Gesturing to Hikari, the son of Tsukuyomi said, "That sounds to me like it's a bit overkill, that many notable pro heroes surrounding just one lone person."
"Given how dangerous he is if given half a chance, that kind of force may be necessary to cow Makoto into submission if the peaceful route doesn't work out ultimately," Tengoh pointed out, "Keep in mind that Makoto, regardless of how tragic his story is and how said story never would have happened otherwise, is still technically a villain, one who both is armed and has a notably powerful fire quirk."
Seeing that Hikari looked sad, Fuyuki gave a gentle sigh. "...Which is why I'm hoping that the peaceful part of my dad's plan will work out." Everyone turned to look at the son of Deku as he began to speak his mind. "I'm still having issues with my family as we speak. I've barely come to have any respect again for my aunt period, and I'm still pissed at both my mom and my older cousin. I got a pretty good idea what having issues with one's family is like, and far be it from me to wish the same onto others."
The other boys looked surprised at Fuyuki, and Hikari was both surprised and touched by the words her crush had to say on the matter. It made her feel all the better, made her feel all the more confident that her older brother can and will be convinced to stand down peacefully from his mad quest to free Minoru Mineta from jail so that he can kill him. Hikari was about to speak up, but she got cut off by the front door opening.
The teens all turned to see that Izuku and Ochaco had walked on in. The Midoriya parents were a bit surprised to see that their son had all of his friends over. "Oh, the boys came to see me to check up on me, and Hikari wanted to talk to mom about something," Fuyuki explained.
"Yes," Hikari said as she turned to look at Ochaco, "Umm, my dad said that he was interested in a report from you about my performance thus far as an intern you're employing. I'm not quite sure how that would work, though."
"I can write up a report and hand it to your father, or simply meet with him to tell him how you're doing in person," Ochaco replied, "Although either way, you've done splendidly. I'm sure that he will be happy to hear it."
Fuyuki had a look of consideration on his face before he spoke up. "...Hikari also gave me and the boys here the gist of dad's plan to peacefully make Hikari's older brother surrender. I hope that it works out personally."
Izuku and Ochaco both nodded in agreement with their son. "Yes, I'm hoping so as well," Izuku said, "I can tell from what Hikari had told me, what you kids had observed at the training camp when he showed up, that Makoto is still a good person deep down. All he needs is some help, and I'm figuring that his family would be the best to help him."
Fuyuki nodded in agreement with his dad. After a few moments, he spoke up again, the look of consideration on his face carrying a bit of an embarrassed hint to it. "...If you and mom will allow it, I have an idea on something that I can do to help augment the plan to make Makoto stand down peacefully."
The Midoriya parents looked a bit curious over what their son said. "...Augment your dad's plan to make Hikari's older brother surrender peacefully?" Ochaco asked, "What do you mean by that, Fuyuki?"
Turning to look at his mother, some dryness entering his mildly embarrassed expression, Fuyuki said, "That depends, mom. Are you willing to trust me?"
"Well your mother and I would like to hear what you want to contribute first," Izuku said.
Fuyuki nodded in understanding. "...Fine. It's just that...that it's a bit embarrassing for me is all." Izuku and Ochaco both looked even more curious about what their son had in mind, considering that he said that it's embarrassing for him. Even so, if his contribution that he had in mind will help with making Makoto surrender peacefully, then Fuyuki's parents were both willing to hear what he had to say.
END, CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
Author's notes;
This chapter focuses on family, on how Ochaco realizes that a villain is better family to his little sister than Ochaco herself had been to her own son. There's also Fuyuki's friends coming to see how he's doing, and Hikari who is no longer starved (a sign she's recovering) letting the boys in on what the heroes have in mind to subdue Makoto. Fuyuki also came up with something that he can contribute to Izuku's plan, but what that something is will have to wait until next time.
Later, skaters.