The next day, after class had ended and all of them were on their way back to the dorms for the evening, Izuku flipped through the pages of ideas for Class 1-A's part of U.A.'s School Festival. Muttering to himself as he continued on his way, Izuku found his thoughts turning back to what Aizawa-sensei had told him about what was happening to Eri and Niseko, and how the both of them were doing. He'd also told Izuku that Niseko Sezu had been born in Deika city, fully aware that Izuku would know what that kind of thing actually meant.
He'd even met someone named Kagami Sezu, who he thought might have been Niseko's mother, the last time he, Dad, and the rest of their family had been in Deika.
He couldn't help the urge to do something for the both of them, something that would take their minds off of what had happened to them; the fact that the class seemed to be coming to a consensus about the dance party that Ashido-san had been so adamant about suggesting did give him at least some kind of idea about what he would be able to do for the both of them. Waving to Kacchan as he made his way into 1-A's dorm for the night, Izuku stopped off in the kitchen to warm up some katsudon for himself while he worked.
Not only on finalizing the plans for what class 1-A was going to do for their part of the School Festival, but also on the written homework – he could almost hear Tenko-nii making a cheesy joke about the way it was still called homework when none of them were actually going home – that he'd been given during the course of the previous day. Once he'd made it back to his room, Izuku settled down at his desk, straightening the papers with the ideas that the rest of class 1-A had thought up for their part of the School Festival, setting them aside so that he had the space to work.
Once he'd finished with his homework, Izuku turned his attention to the compilation of ideas that he'd written down during the course of the meeting they'd had in class.
~MHA~
"My dear, how has our latest video been performing?"
Manami Aiba sighed, looking for a long moment at the Like / Dislike ratio, before looking back up at the man she had come to care so deeply about. "It's trending well with all the Hero fans out there, but we still haven't managed to top the ranking of Sushi'-chan's Daily Vlog for today."
"Botheration," Danjuro-kun grumbled, folding his arms as he looked over her left shoulder, as she sat there staring at their latest video's page. "Well, I suppose competing directly with adorable feline antics was always something of a pipe-dream."
The comments were nice enough – most of them, anyway, since there were always a few people online who were mean just for the sake of it – and there'd been more than a bit of discussion about just who or what Stendhal had been after when Danjuro-kun had caught up with him. And some about just what Stendhal might do, if Danjuro-kun happened to get in his way. She knew that Danjuro-kun wouldn't ever do that kind of thing during his interviews, but there was still the speculation.
It'd always been more than a little annoying, really.
"The U.A. School Festival is coming up soon," she said, logging back onto their internet connection and finding the information almost waiting for her. "If we play things right, we just might be able to find something to give us the edge."
"Indeed we might," Danjuro-kun said, nodding as he leaned close to the screen. "It seems as though we will have a chance, so long as we find some way to stand out."
Danjuro-kun was so cool; as long as she stayed to help him, Manami knew that she'd be able to make a place for herself in the world. A place beside her beloved Danjuro-kun.
~MHA~
They'd all managed to settle on holding a concert for their part of the School Festival, and now all that remained was to get Jiro-san to let them use the musical instruments she'd brought to the dorm with her; it didn't seem like she was too eager about that kind of thing, but…
"Nerd, the door," Kacchan said, lightly punching him in the left shoulder to get his attention, as the pair of them continued on their way up to the main building.
Izuku laughed, sheepishly ducking his head. "Right, we can all talk more about this after class."
Kacchan nodded, his attention clearly taken up by something else; Izuku wondered for a moment what it was, but then Kacchan would probably tell him if it was anything really important. Or if there was anything interesting he was missing, at least. The day was pretty much as normal as anyone could ask for, with Tenko-nii calling role and then turning them over to Aizawa-sensei, that Izuku found himself settling back into his usual daily routine with more than a little relief. Really, pretty much everyone was pleased to doing something that normal kids at normal schools did.
All except for Kacchan, but then his old friend always had been more of an adrenaline-junkie than anyone else in their family.
Once class was done for the day, and he and the rest of 1-A had made their way back to the dorms, they all gathered together in the main sitting room so they could all talk about what they were going to do. Or really, just to see if they could convince Jiro-san to let them use her musical instruments to put on the concert that they'd all settled on.
"If we do want everyone to have a good time at the party, we should really play a song that they can all dance to," Jiro-san said, as soon as the last member of their class had settled down on one of the couches around the room.
"What kind of music would that be?" he asked, finding himself wondering if he should have asked Bambaa-chan about that kind of thing; she seemed to know more about music than Izuku had ever learned, himself.
Or, he'd at least seen her enjoying it more often than he did; Izuku would be the first to admit that he really didn't know much about music.
"It'd probably be best if it was a hardcore, four-on-the-floor club mix," Jiro-san, and Izuku tried to smile even as the ensuing explanation went completely over his head; he was really going to have to ask Bambaa-chan what she was talking about.
Not about the kind of music they were all going to play, but just about music in general; Bambaa-chan would probably know a lot more about everything that was going on. Still, even the fact that he was Class Rep didn't quite mean he had any less make-up work, for the time that he'd spent at Uncle Mirai's Hero Agency; for the time that he'd had to skip while he was mentally recovering from the fight against the Yakuza remnants, in particular.
Still, once their meeting had concluded, Izuku made his way for the protected set of rooms, set deep within the Class 1-A dorms, knocking on Bambaa-chan's door.
/Hey, Izu-chan,/ Bambaa-chan said, ears perking forward as she took in his appearance. /Was there something you wanted?/
"Can I ask you about something privately, Bambaa-chan?" he asked, not wanting to be in the way of anyone who might want to get to the other side of the dorms; it wasn't something that a Hero should be doing, doubly so for a Class Rep, and since Izuku was currently both, it was all the more important that he behaved the right way.
/All right,/ Bambaa-chan said, stepping aside as she let him into her room.
Smiling as he found himself amid all of the astronomy and space-related paraphernalia that Bambaa-chan kept in her room, Izuku made his way over to her desk so that the pair of them could talk.
/What was it you wanted to talk to me about, Izu-chan?/
"Jiro-san, from my class, really likes music," he said, settling down on a chair she pulled out for him. "And, we all started talking about it, and… Well, there was a lot of stuff that I didn't really understand," he said, carefully stepping around the subject of why all of them had been talking about music in the first place; he didn't know how much she'd end up suspecting, given the subject he'd brought up, but there wasn't really any real helping that.
/Well, if you really want to know more about music, you could always go here,/ Bambaa-chan said, bringing up a page full of what seemed to be videos about music.
"Wow, thanks, Bambaa-chan," he said, as he copied down the address in his phone. "That'll help me a lot!"
The pair of them stood up again, hugging each other tightly, and Izuku waved as he left her room. He already knew that he was going to need at least a few new notebooks, to copy down the information in all of those videos that Bambaa-chan had been kind enough to direct him to. Smiling as he made his way back to his room, Izuku put in an order for a couple of notebooks with his phone, before making his way back to his room again.
~MHA~
Just as she was about to start getting ready for bed, Bombalurina heard the familiar sound of a text – the 'bing' of an unassigned number, rather than one of the custom sounds that she'd set for Papa, Mama, Izu, and Tenny – coming through on her phone. Looking down, she found herself more than a little surprised to find herself in contact with someone who seemed distinctly familiar.
Unknown contact: Kitten, would you like to come over for a supplementary lesson?
Jake: Doctor Ujiko?
Unknown contact: Yes, Kitten, it's me. Would you enjoy coming over for another, supplementary lesson?
Jake: It's almost my bed time, she texted back, feeling more than a little amused; she'd gotten the feeling, while the pair of them were working together, that Ujiko didn't have the best sleep-schedule in the world, but having it confirmed was pretty funny.
Unknown contact: Ah, yes, I suppose I haven't been keeping track of time as diligently as I should.
Jake: Can it wait until tomorrow? Or are you going to handle this right away? Whatever 'it' is.
Purring softly, as she found herself imagining Dr. Ujiko, sitting in his lab late at night, not even looking at a clock until the sun had gone down and everyone else – at least in this particular hemisphere, anyway – was getting ready for bed, Bombalurina settled back down on her chair in front of the computer she'd been using while she showed Izu the channel that she'd gone to more than a few times when she wanted to learn about music. She hadn't known that Kyoka was interested in music, too, but considering what she'd just learned, maybe she'd talk to Kyoka about that kind of thing.
Still, for the moment she was waiting for a response from Dr. Ujiko, and while she was waiting she named her new contact and assigned a distinct sound to it so she'd know if Dr. Ujiko was trying to contact her in the future.
Dr. Ujiko: I suppose I could ask them to wait for you, but I don't know how either of them would react.
Jake: You're working with people? What're you doing?
Dr. Ujiko: There are those who wish for the kind of aid that only your father can provide for them, Kitten.
Jake: You mean Papa's Quirk?
Dr. Ujiko: Yes, Kitten. These men have no desire to retain the Quirks they were born with, and so they called upon your father to rid them of what they considered a burden. However, I suppose I might be keeping you from your sleep, yes?
Jake: Yeah, you kind of are, she texted back, purring softly, as she made her way over to the closet where she'd hung up the clothes she'd brought from home.
Dr. Ujiko: Well then, I suppose I should allow you to get your proper sleep for the night, Kitten.
Purring softly as she wished the doctor a good night, and good luck with whatever it was that he and Papa were going to be doing together, Bombalurina dressed in the light clothes she used for sleeping, then made her way to bed for the night.
~MHA~
Disconnecting from the kitten's phone, Dr. Garaki folded his arms, considering just how he could better support the kitten in her efforts to become just the kind of successor that would be able to give aid to her father when he himself was no longer able to. Perhaps a stamina-boosting Quirk of some sort, he mused, even as he made the final preparations for Sensei's arrival. The sight of a familiar Warp Gate irising open brought a certain sense of both relief and anticipation, and the sight of Sensei himself making his way through prompted a smile.
Sensei was, of course, wearing the full regalia of the persona that he had adopted to live in the world as it was – to use not only the Quirk that he had been born with, but also the Quirks that he'd collected during the course of his long life – and Dr. Garaki greeted his old friend as soon as the Warp Gate had closed and he'd made his way fully into the laboratory.
"So, what have you managed to find out about these men and their Quirks?"
"The first of them, Hikaru Nurikabe, possesses what seems to be some kind of Gigantification-type Quirk," he reported, making his way toward the treatment portion of his laboratory, Sensei following in his wake. "It seems to be triggered by light hitting the man's eyes, or at least that seems to enhance the effects," he said, looking back down at the notes he had made for a long moment. "However, given the changes made to the man's body, I suspect that the Quirk is passively working on at least some level while in any kind of light."
"Interesting," Sensei said, a pensive expression overtaking his ageless face, lips curling into the serene smile that had attracted Garaki's attention in the first place. "That sounds like something Machia might benefit from. What about the other one?"
"Soramitsu Tabe possesses an enhancer-type, though a rather interesting one, given the fact that it seems to be focused on the digestive-system in particular," he said, making his way into the elevator that would bring the pair of them back to the above-ground sections of Jakku. "Everything, from the teeth to the efficiency of the digestive enzymes seems to be enhanced by the Quirk, however, it seems as though the drawback to such a thing is a constant craving for sustenance," he paused for a moment, narrowing his eyes in thought.
"It sounds as though both of them would be of at least some use to Machia, particularly considering the way that they seem to compensate for the others' weakness," Sensei said, as the pair of them made their way up to the door of the room where Tabe-san and Nurikabe-san were both waiting for them. "What were the changes you were alluding to, with regards to Nurikabe-kun?"
"His entire digestive-system, in rather stark contrast to Tabe's, seems to have degenerated to the point of complete uselessness," Garaki said, pausing for a moment to punch in the code that would allow the pair of them inside. "Truly, if you were to take his Quirk without any preparation or support, I expect he would be dead by the end of the day."
"His body uses energy that quickly?" Sensei asked, turning a curious expression on him.
"His cells process the energy his Quirk gathers from light, but they don't seem to store it with any efficacy," he said, opening the door so that he and Sensei could make their way inside at last.
Tabe and Nurikabe were laid out neatly in a pair of medical beds, awaiting both his further attention, as well as that of Sensei himself. As Sensei made his way over to speak to the pair of them, offering comfort as well as drawing out the information that he wished to possess about the Quirks that both men held. For the moment, at least.
Adjusting his goggles as he watched Sensei at work, calming the men and gaining their cooperation for his efforts, Dr. Garaki made his way over to the medical bed that held Nurikabe.
"If you truly wish to be rid of your Quirk, Nurikabe-san, you're going to need to stay here while I restore your digestive system to proper, working order," he said, folding his arms behind his back as he looked down at the blind-folded man in the bed.
"That's all right," Nurikabe said, his voice as soft and weak as it usually seemed to be.
He suspected the man had lost himself to his Quirk some time ago, given the way that he seemed not only disdainful but also fearful of that part of himself. Sensei seemed to understand that, as well, given how gentle his old friend made his voice while he was talking to Nurikabe. Inserting the IV that would support Nurikabe, even as Sensei pressed his palm to the man's forehead to relieve him of the Quirk that seemed to unsettle him so much, Dr. Garaki taped the needle down and stepped back once more.
Once he and Sensei had left Tabe and Nurikabe behind, he took a moment to ask his old friend if he would allow him to replicate the pair of Quirks that he had taken from the pair of former Yakuza; both Quirks would make truly worthy additions to the collection that he had built up during the course of the time that he and Sensei had worked together.
~MHA~
The next day, just like most of the ones before it, brought more music practice, and the sheer fun of watching the nerd trying to learn to dance. If there was one thing that Katsuki could say that he truly enjoyed about the whole School Festival idea, it was watching the nerd make an idiot of himself while he was trying to learn to dance. Raccoon Eyes seemed to enjoy teaching the nerd, at least, so that was something.
On his way back from class for the day, he caught sight of some of those extras from General Studies, they seemed to be talking about Sis, so Katsuki drifted closer.
Listening in as subtly as he could, Katsuki found that they seemed to be interested in trying to help Sis, too. Sis was the only one who'd come to them from Rosaru, after all, but given what that fucking bastard Overhaul had done to Sis' original parents – what'd led her to getting adopted by Auntie and Uncle 'Sashi in the first place – he wasn't surprised to hear them talking about the rest of the extras with Mutation-type Quirks. Sure, the fact that Uncle 'Sashi and All Might had kicked the asses of that particular group of Yakuza meant that Sis and the others were safer than they could have been.
But, there still might have been other people like that out there; and besides, Sis really would need the cheering up, considering everything that'd happened.
Making his way back into 1-A's dorm, the place where Sis and a couple others from 1-C were taking shelter with him and the rest of 1-A – since they were the ones with stronger Quirks and actual Hero training – Katsuki passed the nerd at one of the tables in the main room, rolling his eyes as he caught sight of just how many things the nerd was trying to do at once.
"Nerd, there's multi-tasking, and then there's being insane," he said, making his way over to poke the nerd in the head; seriously, the nerd was trying to eat, write something in one of those notebooks of his, and do the make-up work he'd been assigned after the Hero Work Study course he'd been a part of.
"Oh!" Zuzu exclaimed, turning to look back at him, blinking in surprise as he ate the piece of katsudon – because of course – he'd brought out to the table with him. "Hi, Kacchan. What's up?"
"Apparently, your blood-pressure, nerd," he said, poking him in the head again. "Seriously, how many things do you think you have to do at once? The hell are you trying to impress, nerd?"
"Ah, well this is the last of the make-up work that I have to do for class," the nerd said, glancing down at a particular stack of papers, before turning his attention back to Katsuki again. "So, I won't be doing all this for too long."
"Yeah? And what about the other shit?" he asked, not particularly impressed with the nerd's reasoning, but still wanting to know just what in the hell was in his head.
"Bambaa-chan showed me a page where I could find videos about music," the nerd said, and Katsuki rolled his eyes.
"And so, you figured you'd learn everything you could about that, if only so you and Lobes had something to actually talk about," he said, cutting in before the nerd could really start going off; I should've figured, Katsuki mused, rolling his eyes. If there was anything you could count on the nerd for, it was nerding out over Heroes, and going entirely too far when presented with the opportunity to learn something new.
~MHA~
Smiling as he looked down at the kids he'd been escorting to class 1-A's dorm, Mirio found his smile growing all the wider as he watched the way Eri was holding Niseko's coat sleeve. Eri had still seemed scared of what her Quirk was capable of, and while Niseko was clearly trying to comfort her and make friends, he was also kind enough to want to put her at ease while the pair of them were together, so he'd offered to let her hold his sleeve rather than his hand. They didn't think her Quirk could affect clothes, so she and Niseko would probably be safe.
It sounded like Niseko had grown up around Quirks, even though he didn't have one of his own, but the boy didn't really seem to like talking about where he'd grown up, so Mirio wasn't going to ask.
"Hey, we're almost there," he called, smiling widely for the pair of them; he'd have tried to play a bit of a prank on whatever students were out in the front-room of the dorms, but he didn't want to make Niseko feel bad about not having a Quirk of his own.
Mirio didn't want to make him feel any worse about not having a Quirk, anyway, since it was clear that being from Deika city – a place that Aizawa-sensei and his friend both seemed to know more about than he did; a place that neither of them seemed to approve of – had already made him feel bad enough about being Quirkless, so Mirio wasn't about to add to that.
"Heyo!" he greeted, grinning happily at Katsuki Bakugo, who seemed to be the first to do a lot of things for class 1-A. "I brought some people to meet you!"
"Yeah, sure," Katsuki said, glancing down at Eri and Niseko, before turning back around to call to the rest of his classmates.
"Come on, kids!" he said, keeping a happy grin on his face as he guided the pair of them into the main room of the dorm that class 1-A shared with some of their classmates from 1-C. "Let's go say hi!"
Neither of them really seemed to know how to react, especially when a big group of class 1-A students came down to the main room to greet the three of them. There was also another student – one who seemed to be from class 1-C, given the fact that none of the students from class 1-A seemed to know her that well – who seemed to be interested in meeting the both of them. She had shimmery, bluish green hair, and what seemed to be a small pair of green-feathered, fluttering wings sticking out above her temples.
She moved up to the back of the group, smiling gently as all of the class 1-A students who'd come out to meet Eri and Niseko all gathered around the both of them, and Mirio kept half an eye on her as she sat down on the right armrest of a nearby couch, seemingly content to wait her turn while all the other students had their chances to meet up with Eri and Niseko.
~MHA~
Niseko didn't really know what to make of all the Hero students gathering around them, and he didn't know what any of them would make of him, once he told them he was Quirkless. He knew that he was going to have to make sure they knew that, before any of them started to like him too much; before he started to think that any of them would want to be his friends.
"You are precious!" the girl with the brown hair and the pink cheeks – he didn't know what kind of Quirk she had, but since she was in a Hero course, it had to be really strong – said, smiling widely at Eri.
None of them really seemed to know what her Quirk was, but since it was really strong, all of them would probably really like her, once they found out.
"You look a lot like my little brother," one of the girls – one of the two with advanced Mutation-type Quirks; this one looked kind of like a frog, while the other one was pink with golden eyes and horns – said, smiling as she reached out to pat his head.
"I," he said, ducking his head as he felt the girl patting his head again. "I'm Quirkless."
"Aw, that's not so bad," the other girl with a Mutation-type Quirk – the pink one with the horns and the golden eyes – said, and Niseko forced himself to open his eyes; it didn't look like she was making fun of him. "You're still nice, and you look really cute."
He really wanted to believe that she wasn't; he wanted to believe that all of these people would be kind, and also that they wouldn't treat him like Chisaki-san had. He really didn't want to end up like that again.
"Yeah, you're okay," another girl – this one with a less extensive Mutation-type Quirk than the other two; she just had small, fluttering wings on the sides of her head, just above her temples – said, making her way over to where they were all sitting together. "You're from Deika, though, aren't you?"
Niseko nodded, not quite knowing what it was that the other girl was getting at.
"Yeah, they really don't seem to like people who don't have Quirks there," the girl said, looking at him and seeming more than a little sad. "That's why Mom and Dad decided to move away; it really doesn't sound like that great a place."
"That stinks!" the pink girl with the Mutation-type Quirk said, pounding her right fist against her right knee. "Don't worry, no one here is going to be mean to you, just because you don't have a Quirk."
"Thanks," Niseko said, looking down slightly; he really hoped that all of them were telling the truth.
He really hoped, also, that none of them would treat him like Chisaki-san did.
~MHA~
Watching as the kids who'd been invited over to meet them all tried to get along with the rest of their class, Katsuki couldn't help but notice just how closed-off the both of them were. He also noticed that the Quirkless kid – Niseko, though he didn't know the kid's last name, or where he'd come from; sure, he'd heard that the both of them had been rescued from that bastard Overhaul, but given how the bastard had felt about Quirks, he'd have figured that a Quirkless kid would have gotten the better end of that kind of deal – seemed to be trying as best as he could to protect Eri. The kid was going so far as to use himself as a shield, when one of his classmates tried to get close to her.
It was a hell of a thing to watch, and kind of sad, when you thought about it.
As he, the nerd, Mini Might, and the two kids all began making their way deeper into the U.A. campus, Katsuki made sure to keep an eye on the pair of them. Eri seemed to be getting kind of overwhelmed, considering the way all of their schoolmates were gathered together in this place, each and every one of them working on some part of the School Festival. Raising an eyebrow as he caught sight of Mimic, Fake Kirishima, and a couple of their other classmates carrying what looked like a bunch of props, Katsuki stepped forward.
He wanted to be sure he was close enough to deal with Mimic if he started trying to harass the nerd again.
"Hey, partner!" Mimic said, grinning widely as he came up to where the nerd was standing, with the kids looking up at him even as they tried to press in close to the nerd and Mini Might. "Did you get hired to babysit?" Mimic laughed. "I should've known; if there's one thing everyone knows about you, it's how hard you're always working!"
Rolling his eyes as Mimic, Fake Kirishima, and the rest of the extras all left, probably to find the rest of their class, Katsuki tagged along as they showed the kids around, making sure that the both of them weren't going to end up getting overwhelmed by everything that was going on all around them. Sure, Niseko seemed to be trying his best to look after Eri, but he was just a little guy himself. It wasn't good for someone that young to try looking out for someone on their own.
Really, it was something the nerd would have tried, so at least Katsuki knew to look out for it when he spotted it.
As their group continued on their way through U.A., meeting up with their fellow students and introducing the kids around, Katsuki made sure that he and the nerd were on both sides of them. If only so that they'd be able to ward off anyone who started making the kids uncomfortable. Neither of them seemed to have had good experiences with people, which pretty much figured, given the kind of shit that someone who'd been stuck with the goddamned Yakuza for as long as it sounded like Eri had been.
And that wasn't even mentioning what kind of shit a Quirkless kid who'd been born in Deika would go through.