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 fifty-one: Rubedo

The students of UA's class 1-A had finished setting up the memorial project dedicated to those of UA, students and staff members alike, who had lost their lives in the siege on UA. At the invitation of Faerun High's Principal Mithral, the memorial was set up in a common area in the reception area or Faerun High's main building. After the memorial had been set up, students of UA and Faerun were allowed to visit it.

Shouta and Hizashi stood off to the side with Fuyuki and his group of friends, watching as those who lived were paying respect to those who died. "The eulogies delivered earlier in the special assembly in the auditorium were a nice touch, Sho," Hizashi remarked, "Although the one that was for Kababah had her come off as a blatant misandrist if one dug into matters a little bit."

"She was a blatant misandrist, Hizashi," Shouta said dryly, "Despite that the eulogy for her had to look nothing but good on the surface, it doesn't surprise me that mini-me here and his friends were able to word it to also give hints as to the true nature that Kababah had."

Hizashi nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Hiyami could have been a better person. Hell, I've lost count of the number of time that Kababah while she was still alive made me wish we didn't lose Nemuri way back when." The older underground hero nodded in agreement with his co-worker and close friend.

Fuyuki and his friends all turned to look at Shouta and Hizashi. "Nemuri?" Fuyuki said in a tone that conveyed curiosity, "Who's that, Aizawa-sensei?" The rest of Fuyuki's group all looked at the two older men with curious looks of their own.

Shouta sighed in a troubled, mildly resigned tone. "...Nemuri Kayama," Shouta began, "Otherwise known as the pro hero Midnight, was a fellow co-worker of mine and Hizashi's who we worked with at UA for a number of years. She had taught one of the classes that your parents and the parents of most of your classmates had during their first year at UA."

"Nemuri was killed sometime prior to the end of your parents' first year at UA," Hizashi explained to the teens, "During the paramount liberation war. I believe that the first ones to find her body were Pinky, Red Riot, Creati and Sugarman."

"So Mrs. Sero, Mr. Kirishima, Mrs. Awase, and the late Mr. Sato," Tengoh remarked, drawing an affirmative nod from the older loud pro hero.

Looking to his godfather, Aizawa asked, "What was Nemuri-sensei like, sir?"

Shrugging, Shouta said, "Well unlike with the late Hiyami who blatantly favored the girls at the expense of you boys, Nemuri was very much fond of all of the students. Granted, she could be just a tad invasive towards cheering for the boys, but she had always meant well. Also, Nemuri was a lot less willing to get sharp-tongued with the students than me, both today and especially back when Nemuri was still alive."

"I bet that Nemuri would have joined a lot of the moms in doting on lil' Komaru," Hizashi said, "They all seem to think he's a little angel, and being nice to him like that is something that would have been right up Nemuri's ally."

As Shouta nodded in agreement with Hizashi, he and the others heard some commotion over at the memorial. Looking over, the two older teachers and Fuyuki's group saw Inko having a bit of an altercation against Ichigo, with Inko's old crew standing by and watching. "You have no right to be here, Strawberry short-bitch," Inko snarled at Ichigo, "Given that this memorial never would have been necessary if it weren't for your bastard daddy."

"As much as Inko had been a bitch herself as of late, she's got a point," Marley said as he looked at Ichigo with a wry, cautious look, "What, are you showing up to brag about how your dad took down UA, ruined many lives, taking many lives?"

"Hey, what my dad did has nothing to do with me!" Ichigo defended, "I'm just as disgusted with what all he had done as all of you and everyone else is! Not only that, but I'm feeling a sense of shame that no one else aside from my mom can feel, given that we're related to the man that had been the country's personal nightmare for a little over a decade and a half! Can't you cut me some slack already?!"

Ragna scoffed as he shrugged indifferently. "Even if we do let you off the hook for being demon spawn, there's still the fact that, even with you being under scrutiny ever since you daddy had been revealed to be Fine Wine, you still insist on acting like an ultra-thot."

Gesturing to herself, Ichigo replied, "Well can you blame a girl like me for wanting to scope out all of the hot eye candy that UA brought with it when it started being hosted by Faerun?"

"See?! You still insist on acting in the manner that causes people to be pissed off at you!" Inko snapped, "I know people are just as pissed at me, but at least I have the decency to be ashamed about what I had done to piss them off!"

"I just told you, I am ashamed of what my dad did!" Ichigo snapped back.

"We're talking about how you're a legendary slut!" Marley snapped at her, "Why aren't you also ashamed of that too?! Just like how girls don't like it if a guy pervs on them, guys won't like it if a girl acts that way towards them!"

Ragna, for some odd reason, pulled out a wooden crucifix, which was roughly thirty and a half cm long, from his school bag and held it before Ichigo. "Begone, thot!" Ragna declared as he brandished the wooden crucifix at Ichigo.

Seeing as how things were starting to look like they might get out of hand, Fuyuki and his friends followed Shouta and Hizashi over to watch as the older pro heroes went about trying to diffuse the situation. "Alright kids, settle down," Shouta said, "There's no need to act like this in front of the UA student and staff memorial."

"And is that one of Vine's crucifixes, Sero?" Hizashi asked as he regarded the son of Cellophane.

As Shouta received the crucifix (i.e. he confiscated it) from Ragna, Marley explained, "We were just trying to make Ichigo back away from the memorial is all. She's got no right to be here, given that her dad's responsible for the siege on UA, which the memorial has been set up for in the first place."

"Yes, her dad is responsible," Fuyuki began pointing out, "Not Ichigo herself. She did nothing to play a part in the siege, only having the unfortunate bad luck of being related to the guy who is the mastermind of the whole unfortunate event."

"And who are you to decide if Ichigo has or doesn't have the right to visit the memorial?" Tengoh asked, "If anything, having the daughter of the man behind the siege on UA visit the memorial here in order to pay respects to those lost in the siege, acting in apology for what her dad had done, may help somewhat with the healing process."

Inko, her arms folded over her chest, gave Tengoh a wry look. "I think that Marley and Ragna's got a point. Even if Strawberry short-bitch is acting as you think she may be, there are still going to be some people who will be offended by her visiting the memorial, if only due to what Fuyuki said about how she's got the hard luck of being related to the little turd who is responsible for it in the first place."

Letting out a resigned sigh, Shouta remarked, "Regardless of what people say about Mineta here, she does have the right to pay respects at the memorial for those who lost their lives in the siege on UA. But even so, she ought to make it quick, lest a line forms."

Hizashi nodded in confirmation. "It's true. Lines can be very vicious. Why, I remember when Sekijiro and I took Sho here and Emi to the carnival, and Emi got into a fight with this really fat blonde lady while we were standing in line to get funnel cakes and-"

"That's enough out of you, Hizashi," Shouta interrupted, his tone stern, "The kids here are far too young to hear that story." At Shouta's insistence, Ichigo was allowed to pay respects at the memorial that had been set up, although Inko, Marley, and Ragna weren't exactly amused by it. After things were taken care of, everyone went their separate ways.

Inko was about to go off, but she stopped when Marley called out to her. "Today was the first time in a long while that you've made sense, Inko," the son of Chargebolt said, "You're starting to build back up. It's still going to take a long ass time, but the building blocks are there."

The other two boys nodded along in agreement. "Yeah, you still have a big ass mess to clean up," Ragna commented, "So it's about damn time you found a broom."

Komaru looked down, not quite sure if he could look up to Inko right now. "...You still need to make things up to Fuyuki. He was hurt by you more than anyone else because of what you did. But if he is able to find it in himself to take you back, then it's a sign that others should be able to do so as well."

Inko was surprised by what her friends who had distanced themselves from her were saying. If what their words were implying was true, then they'll take her back eventually. However, it won't just be handed to her; she has to earn it. What Komaru said about earning back Fuyuki's trust is a good starting point, so the daughter of Dynamight will start there. Granted, she was going to start there regardless, but now she has even more reason.

Gaining not just her family back, but her friends as well. It won't be easy, but Inko will do what she has to in order to gain back the confidence of those she cares about.

Meanwhile, over at Van Nicolas's cubic zirconium creating plant, the man himself was talking to Momo, Mina, Kirishima, and Tenya. Things were clearly meant to put pressure on Van, given that four heroes in the top ten (albeit Mina is unofficial) were visiting him. Even so, he knew full well how to play things well. He also knew how to bluff and not mess up, so all he had to do was act natural and he could avoid suspicion.

"So Creati, I talked things over with your father as you pointed out to me," Van said in a casual and conversational tone, "And the partnership is now a go."

Momo nodded in understanding. "Well I'm glad to hear that, Van. We just need to-"

"AHH!" Tenya cried out, interrupting Momo in the process, as he tripped a bit. His glasses fell off in the process and fell to the floor, with the bridge breaking and the left lense popping out and breaking into two pieces. "Damn it," Tenya muttered as he bent down to pick up the pieces of his now broken glasses, "I can't believed that happened." Looking up to everyone, Tenya said, "Sorry about that, everyone. At least I have back up pairs at home."

Mina let off a huffing laugh. "Yeah, we all know your history with having backup pairs of glasses out the wazoo."

After Tenya got up with all of the pieces, Van held his hand out. "May I see?" Van asked, "I can very easily fix your glasses for you, provided that you and the other heroes here won't give me flack for using my quirk even though I lack a licence." Curious, Tenya handed all of the pieces of his broken pair of glasses over to Van. The pieces rested in the palm of his left hand while he held his right hand over it all.

A flash of energy engulfed the broken glasses, and when the light faded, the heroes were amazed to see that Tenya's glasses were fully restored. Van handed the now restored glasses over to Tenya, who put them on. "...I can see perfectly," Tenya said.

"Woah, that was amazing!" Mina said, "Hey Van, what's your quirk called?"

"My quirk is called Equivalent Exchange," Van proceeded to explain, "It allows me to do a number of things, mainly converting materials into whatever I want to make so long as I have enough of the necessary materials to make what I want." Gesturing to Tenya, Van said, "My quirk is particularly useful in fixing broken items, such as Ingenium's glasses just now."

Momo had a serious look on her face. "It's a very fascinating quirk, for sure." Looking up at Van, the pro hero Creati asked with some suspicion in her tone, "You don't use your quirk to convert certain things into precious metals and stones like gold and diamonds, do you?"

"I can understand why you'd think that," Van said, "A lot of people, where they in my position, would give into temptation. I know full well that I could potentially wreck the economy, so I refrain from working with precious metals unless I'm repairing a necklace or ring like how I had repaired Ingenium's glasses just now. As for diamonds, well, why would I when I'm already in the business of cubic zirconiums?"

The wealthy pro hero was confident that Van was sincere, putting her at ease. "Just wanted to make sure. As someone else who also possess a quirk that could wreck the economy should it be misused, I just want to make sure things are kept in check."

Van nodded in understanding. "Fair enough. Now, we're taking this meeting to my office on the top floor, right?" The heroes nodded in agreement as they followed Van through the doors that led into the warehouse floor, before heading over to the elevator. When Van approached the elevator, Number One who was sitting at her desk saw them all approach, so she got up from her seat to greet them.

"Do you wish for me to accompany you, sir?" Number One asked.

Gently shaking his head, Van replied, "That won't be necessary. This is a business slash social meeting. Nothing to be worried about." The homunculus (not that the heroes knew that she was one) nodded in understanding before sitting back down and getting back to work. Van and the four heroes got onto the elevator, the doors closed, and Van pressed the button that would take them to the top floor.

As the elevator went up, Momo, Mina, and Kirishima all felt like they had experienced a blast from the past, one that made them sad and caused a tear to well up in the one corner of Mina's left eye. Even so, all of the heroes were mentally fortified to take care of meeting with Van to talk over a few things. After a few moments, the party had reached the top floor, and made their way out of the elevator.

There, the heroes and Van walked through a floor holding mainly cubicles in which employees working for Van were working on their computers, with some even answering calls. "Ah yes, we have been able to hire some people to fill the necessary roles the company was sorely lacking ever since the partnership between my company and Creati's family went through," Van said to the heroes as they made a beeline to his office.

Mina looked very confused by seeing such an office setting in a cubic zirconium creating plant of all places. "I never thought that all of this would be necessary for a business like yours."

"Oh ho, you'd be very surprised by what businesses need varying from business to business," Van replied with a hint of a chuckle in his tone. Eventually, the group reached Van's office on the top floor and made their way inside. The office was big and spacious, with a large and ornate wooden desk at the end about two meters from the large, floor-to-ceiling windows. There was also a sofa facing the right hand wall (if you enter the office) with a coffee table in front of it, and two armchairs on the other side of said coffee table.

There were also some shelves and glass display cases up against the walls. As the heroes made their way to meet around Van's desk, Mina out of curiosity decided to go look at what all was in the display cases. "...It's a lot of hero merch," Mina said as she looked into one of the display cases, "There's also some newspaper clippings of stories from newspapers." Taking a step back, Mina went on in her curious tone, "And all of it is around Nemuri-sensei."

"Yeah, I actually rather admired the pro hero Midnight," Van confessed, looking and sounding a bit embarrassed, "It stems mostly from how she had saved my life when I was way younger. I've sort of followed her ever since." Van looked a bit resigned when he added, "I was a bit upset to hear she had been killed during the paramount liberation war years ago."

"Wow, I wasn't even aware that Nemuri-sensei had any fans," Momo remarked in an honestly surprised tone.

Turning to face Momo, Kirishima proceeded to explain, "Yaoyorozu, Nemuri-sensei despite how we knew her primarily as one of our teachers was still a pro hero. Every pro hero has at least a handful of fans."

Van nodded in agreement with the number three hero. "Indeed, Red Riot. As a matter of fact, I do believe that you yourself have quite the fan base."

Kirishima blushed a bit in embarrassment. "Heh, yeah. I wasn't counting on me trying to set an example of what it truly means to be manly to make me as popular as it did, or make me all that popular at all."

"Those six boys who are UA third years are a primary example of how you're as much of an inspiration to others as you are, Kirishima," Tenya pointed out, "You're genuinely a good natured person who does right. An example that many want to emulate, similar to how people want to take after the example that Izuku has set."

"Well Deku is the number one hero," Van pointed out, "In fact, if what I remember hearing about Deku is true, then he himself was inspired by a previous number one hero."

Mina and Momo chuckled a bit. "Yeah, I got it from Ochaco that Izuku's home office at their house is decorated with a lot of All Might merch," Mina said, "He's always been a big All Might fanboy, and will probably remain as such until his dying days."

"Well a lot of us are still fans of past heroes," Kirishima remarked, "I still think Crimson Riot is tops, and if I recall correctly, Tsuyu's younger brother is still a big Ryukyu fan." Momo and Mina both nodded in confirmation to what Kirishima guessed.

...

The meeting went on for a bit longer, then after enough points had been addressed the four heroes proceeded to take their leave. However, Van asked Kirishima to stay back a bit, given he was interested in offering the number three hero something. Kirishima, his interest piqued, said that he'd at least hear what the business man had to say. And so, with all of the other pro heroes having taken off to go home, Kirishima turned around to talk business with Van as the man wanted to do.

"Is there anything that I can help you with?" Kirishima asked, a curious look on his face.

"Actually, I wanted to offer you something," Van replied innocently enough, "I also follow the heroes from your class to an extent, enough to know that the anniversary of your marriage to Shemage is coming up soon."

Looking mildly embarrassed, Kirishima replied, "Yeah, it's already made the news believe it or not. I never in my wildest dreams would have seen it that people would be excited over me and my wife's wedding anniversary."

"Hence why I asked you to stay back," Van said, "I was planning to offer to create a piece of jewelry for you to present to Shemage as a gift. My company can very easily do so, after all."

Kirishima's eyes widened a bit out of surprise at that. "...It would actually save me trouble in trying to go out and find something for Kinoko, now that I think about it," Kirishima said, looking down with a look of consideration on his face. Looking back up to Van, Kirishima asked, "Would a cuff bangle be out of the question? Kinoko said that she's always wanted one, and she doesn't have one in her jewelry collection yet."

Van nodded in agreement with the number three hero. "It won't be any problem at all, Red Riot. As a matter of fact, I can retrieve a guide that shows a variety of styles of jewelry to choose from, and there are several styles of cuff bangles to choose from, with even a few aimed at men as well. Allow me to go get the guide first, though." Kirishima nodded in the affirmative to Van, agreeing to wait in the office for Van to return, effectively left alone.

As he waited, Kirishima decided to look at the glass display case Mina saw earlier, the one that held all of the stuff related to the late Nemuri. There were a number of merchandise items, like an action figure and a(n unopened) set of hair clips, and framed newspaper clippings of some of Nemuri's actions as the pro hero Midnight. It struck Kirishima as weird, and a bit creepy, that someone was so fond of one of his old teachers from UA, and one who Kirishima had found laying dead on the ground, in a mangled manner no less.

Suddenly, Kirishima felt a bit out of it, like he was having trouble staying awake. He walked in a rather sloshy manner over to the sofa in the office and fell into it, glad he had something soft to lay on right before he passed out, his tired mind too tired to try and process what exactly was going on. Soon enough, Kirishima passed out, his eyelids too heavy for him to keep up and see what all was going on, although he thought for some odd reason he saw traces of violet mist in the air as his eyes closed.

The number three hero never saw it when a man with snow white hair and jet black skin walked into Van's office, wearing a small gas mask over his mouth and nose, carrying a device used to extract and hold a sample of blood.

Down in the deepest reaches of the cubic zirconium creating plant much later, Van placed a container that held about 3/4 of a pint of blood extracted from the pro hero Red Riot into his safe of dark treasures, on the very top shelf next to the sample of comparable amount of blood taken from the Kababah homunculus. The four samples occupied the whole of the top shelf, in a dark place of honor.

"Red Riot is still passed out in your office on the top floor, sir," Number One said as she stood respectfully behind Van, "And Number Twenty-Four made sure to apply what products would be needed to assure that Red Riot will never be the wiser to the fact we extracted 3/4 of a pint of blood from him. The very slight blood loss, combined with how the effects of my quirk are still working on him, should leave him out cold for a while."

Van nodded in agreement. "Yes. I can very easily claim to slash convince Red Riot that he must have passed out while waiting for me to get back. If he says anything about potentially seeing the mist your quirk makes Number One, I can simply tell him he must have been seeing things. It would probably help if I mention the glass display case that Pinky drew attention to, use that to further convince him he was seeing things."

The man then looked to where the safe of dark treasures, now safely closed, held the four blood samples that would serve as the main components of his ultimate goal, with the various samples of blood from folks with augmentation and enhancement quirks serving as the extra piece needed to give said ultimate goal the true oomph that it would need. Van offered a small smile, one that held a hint of sinister amusement.

"I am ready, Number One. I have all that I need to get started on crafting my ultimate goal. Soon I shall possess a power greater than anyone or anything before. No one will be able oppose me, and I shall stand above all in a spot that not even Fine Wine was able to reach. With the fruit that my great work shall produce, I will become more powerful than even Deku." Van placed his right hand against the door of his safe of dark treasures, a loving and sincere gesture.

Van smiled wickedly, darkly. "...Get the set up ready to run, Number One. I'm going to be getting started on crafting my Philosopher's Stone."

END, CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

Author's notes;

This chapter shows the memorial set up for those affiliated with UA who had lost their lives in the siege on UA, with some people making a noise over Mineta's daughter trying to pay respects at the memorial. Ichigo was allowed nonetheless, and some hope was shed for Inko potentially regaining the confidence of her friends.

Meanwhile heroes meet with Van Nicolas, and after some notice was paid to what was basically a shrine to the late Nemuri, the heroes aside from Kirishima left, with Kirishima soon falling victim to Van's secret Dracula-style work to gather what all he needed to help with the crafting of his ultimate goal, which at the end of this chapter is revealed to be the Philosopher's Stone, the ultimate goal for any alchemist.

This is part of why Lord Wolfe's story Apotheosis is cited as an inspiration for this part of the story. Shout outs to him again for being cool with me taking some inspiration from his work.

The next chapter will see things continue on as the heroes will be struggling with some blasts from the past. However, what none of them will know is that it will be nothing more than a bit of a diversion, meant to distract them and occupy their time so that Van will have the time that he needs to craft his Philosopher's Stone. How this will play out for everyone will need to be waited for in order to see.

Later, skaters.