The midday sun beats down on the hero below. Despite her inclination to laze about, and soak up the heat, she keeps her eyes narrowed, looking out onto the street below her.
"Any sign of him?" her companion says, looking away in the other direction.
The Dragon Hero: Ryukyu sighs in frustration. "No, and we've been up here for four hours."
"Figures. Little lizard must be hiding under a rock," Ryuzu responds. Then with a slight smirk he says, "We could have hit a movie instead."
The woman laughs. "And miss all the excitement? No thanks. Besides, you just want to get into someplace dark in order to try out some other dumb moves those idiots you call friends suggest."
"Well, maybe if you'd accept a date more often," he suggests.
Ryukyu snickers again. "Is my company alone not good enough for you?"
"Always is," Ryuzu says in response, swatting at her posterior. "Now, keep an eye… oh, hello? That's a surprise."
"Found him?" she says, turning.
He shakes his head. "Nah, one of my students. Didn't expect to see him this far from campus. Wonder what Tomura is up to."
"He's heading into a building. Know what it is?" Ryukyu asks.
Ryuzu checks and nods. "Arcade. Some banner over the front says it's running some kind of tournament today."
"He's a gamer, I take it?" she says, a hint of jest in her voice.
Touya laughs. "Good way to put it. Loves phrasing things in gamer terms. I swear, the kid's dorm room is total gamer fanboy."
As the two of them relax, movement catches Ryukyu's eye. "Hold, target spotted. Heading east."
"I've got him. Yeah, that's Iguchi alright," Ryuzu says, using his helmet's optics to zoom in. "He's not carrying any obvious weapons. Rounding the corner now."
As the pair watch, they suddenly grow nervous as they realize his destination.
"He's heading to the arcade!" Touya points out.
She spits, "There are dozens of people in there. We can't just snatch him."
"Well," the Dragon Head hero considers, "it's an event. Could go inside ourselves."
"You want us to sneak into a video game tournament and follow a lead? And they say romance is dead," Ryuko says, smiling.
Touya flashes his signature lazy smile of his. "I do know how to charm the ladies."
Stepping into the darkness of the arcade, the two heroes are immediately hit by the noise. Digital bells, electronic tones, and video tunes of all types clash in a cacophony of sound.
Once their eyes adjust to the dim lighting, it's easy to spot their quarry, standing right next to the last person they want them near.
"Oh, hey Mr. Ryuzu! Um, Ryukyu! Are you here for the tournament too?" Tenko Tomura asks, waving to them as he stands next to the man with the gecko quirk.
Touya waves back, "Nah, was out with Ryuko here and saw you. Got curious, what is this?"
"This? Oh, it's for 'Put Your Hands Up Karaoke'. It's the semifinals for this region. Winner here gets to go to the finals next month, where Present Mic hands out the final prize," the student says.
The fire wielder laughs. "You never struck me as a singer, Tomura."
"Nah, I'm not here for me. Supporting my little sister. She's up next. See, that's her next to the stage, the blonde next to that green haired boyfriend of hers," he points in their direction.
Taking note, Ryuzu nods, recognizing how much more danger they're in, turning to Iguchi. "Oh, I'm being rude. I'm one of Tomura's teachers at UA, Ryuzu. This is…"
"I know who she is," the man growls out. "Ryukyu, from the Dragoir clothing line."
"More like they license my likeness," she admits. "I have little to do with it beyond that."
"Hey, cut the chat. Himiko's up," Tenko hisses, turning to watch the stage.
As the girl starts to sing, Touya listens, and observes, "Good voice."
"Heroes shouldn't be used for marketing," Iguchi grumbles, recoiling a bit.
Ryuko considers, then says in a low voice, "You're absolutely right. They shouldn't have to. Every minute spent helping with ads is a minute they can't stop villains. Unfortunately, if they don't, they can't do their jobs."
The gecko quirk user quirks an eyebrow up at that, clearly disbelieving her.
She explains, "Running a hero agency is expensive. You have the salaries of the staff, lawyers, insurance, all the bills, it's ridiculous at points. And the stipend from the government is less than you'd imagine. The options are to get a sponsor, or to engage in merchandising. Some heroes have to do both. Considering that sponsorship comes with strings attached, and the chance for unscrupulous sponsors to exploit a hero for their own benefit, merchandising is the best option I had."
"So, what brings you here, Iguchi? Going to serenade us?" Touya asks with a lazy smile.
The lizard man looks around the room. "A few reasons. Tomura and I play together on a few online games."
"And the other?" the teacher subtly presses.
Iguchi sighs. "Doesn't matter, she's not here. Stupid fake can't even show up where she's supposed to."
"Oh, sorry to hear that." Believing the man has been stood up for a date, Ryuko immediately sympathizes.
As the song ends, Touya nods and pulls out a card. "Well, glad to meet…"
"It's Ryuzu and Ryukyu! Two dragon heroes, here!" an excited voice calls out. Turning, the two heroes spot the green haired boyfriend, Tenko's sister tethered behind him.
Tenko rolls his eyes. "Himiko, Midoriya, meet my teacher, Ryuzu, and his patrol partner, Ryukyu."
"Ohmygoodnessyoutwoaresocool!" comes the word vomit from the boy.
Laughing, Himiko injects herself in front of him, "He's a little bit of a hero fan, and I am certain will calm down if you would autograph his notebook that he's always carrying."
Pulling out the book from his shoulder pouch, she holds it out along with a pen to Ryukyu, who can't help but chuckle to herself.
"Tomura said your name was Midoriya, yes? Well, here you go," she quickly scribbles something out and shoves it into Ryuzu's hands, which also fills it out before handing it back.
Tenko gestures to the stage. "This round's score is about to go up, Himi-chan. Find out if those judges are tone deaf or not."
"Ahh!" Izuku manages as the girl nearly pulls him off his feet in her eagerness to find out the score.
Touya laughs. "Cute kid. So, Iguchi, I was wondering…"
When he turns to face the man, he finds the spot empty. Both he and Ryukyu look around, to find the shadow of him exiting out the front door.
Rushing outside, the two heroes growl their irritation.
"Too late," she says, looking around for the distinctive man.
Ryuzu points out, "He can't have gone too far, let's split up."
As both heroes rush off, each in their own direction, Shuichi Iguchi watches, clinging to the wall above the doorway.
The pedestrian traffic barely looks up, nobody noticing the man clinging to the side of the wall aside from a single child, who babbles to their mother something about a "funny man on the wall."
Once both heroes are safely out of sight, he climbs up to the rooftop and secures himself back inside through the rooftop stairs.
Walking back to Tenko, he asks while looking around, "Where'd they go?"
"Oh, Iguchi? I thought you left," the white haired boy says.
With a wave of his hand, the vigilante Spinner dismisses the idea. "Nah, had to hit the can."
"Oh, well, they rushed off. Didn't catch why," the boy admits.
Iguchi nods. "Well, your sister isn't up for another 10 minutes. Want a round of BattleFighters?"
"You're on!"
Half an hour later, and the two heroes meet up at their designated rendezvous point.
"He's a slippery one," Touya admits as he sits down at the bar.
Ryuko sighs, and holds up a finger to order a drink. "Think he knows how much trouble he's in?"
"I'd be shocked if he didn't. He's the only point of reference for these 'Sons of Stain'," he admits.
She sighs, taking the beer and taking a swig. "The man has some kind of charisma, that's for sure. Pity we have no idea who he is. Iguchi is the only lead we have to find his identity."
"A serial killer with charisma, such a pain," Touya states. "Why couldn't he have been an unlikeable asshole."
"What, like you?" Ryuko jokes.
He gives her a glare before taking his own beer, grumbling his protest.
"What bothers me is that this Stain just stopped his killing, published this video manifesto, and we still don't have a clue who he is. It's like he was wiped from existence suddenly, with only the video left behind," she moans in annoyance before looking around. "Where did you find this place anyways?"
"Here? Eh, saw it while on patrol awhile back. Literal hole in the wall, seemed like a perfect spot to meet up," Touya says as he sets his bottle down again and gestures to the bartender for another.
The mist man reaches into his cooler and pulls another bottle out, setting it down before the hero, the glow from his yellow eyes floating among the inky black clouds of his face.
"Well, I like it. Nice and cozy. Quiet too. Will keep this in mind next time I pull Kamino for my patrol," Ryuko says. "Another, if you would, sir bartender."
The hand made out of living smoke sets another bottle down before her before returning to the position he had at the end of the bar.
"So, what's the plan for the entrance exam this year? That's next Sunday, right?" she asks, switching to complaining about work mode.
He smirks a bit. "Obstacle course, customized for each applicant group. And yeah, Sunday. We've tightened the requirements for getting in, and with smaller groups, less chance for another incident."
"Any of the kids look promising?" Ryuko asks.
Touya considers. "Well, I only processed a hundred or so of them, but my group had a few interesting ones pop up. You know how my brother, the youngest one, is applying this year too? Kept seeing these kids and wondering if any of them would be friends with him. Training kids to fight, and I'm more curious who Shoto will take to prom."
She laughs. "That's called being a good big brother."
"But, yeah, a few of them look really good. Of course with that new hero school, it's going to be harder to get the best of them. But, I think we'll do well. One of the kids I had to process is this martial arts prodigy, tournament trophies and all." He takes a drink, mulling over his words a moment. "You know what is odd, Nedzu actually hand selected one of them before handing the rest of them out."
Ryuko blinks at that. "Any idea who?"
"I got a look, yeah. Remember that battle back in April between the two gigantification quirks that nearly squished a train? He grabbed the file for the kid which pulled the train out from under them," Touya informs her.
She nods in understanding. "So, Nedzu has his eyes on some kid with a vigilante record?"
"Kid actually had permission to use his quirk for it. Apparently has been training with Majestic for years. And he used his quirk to move the train, rather than attack anything," Touya explains.
Ryuko smiles. "Disciplined, experienced, and clever? That would get the rat's attention, alright. Can't wait to meet him."
"That's the funny thing, you just did. Remember Tomura's sister's boyfriend back at the arcade? That's the kid," the teaching assistant tells her.
She laughs again, a delightful sound in the fire quirk users ears. "Well, now that's a small world."
As the two heroes laugh at their poor day, Kurogiri observes silently, noting their behavior and conversation to inform the Doctor later.