Chapter 5: Dark Warriors
"What exactly is that supposed to mean, Mt. Lady?!"
"It means that I won't allow you to do anything to Kiryu as long as he is under my watch." Takeyama was calm, but firm with her words, which only served to make King Vlad's blood pressure rise.
"You're willing to stand by that man, even knowing that he's a part of the yakuza?" The pro hero asked, baffled by the young woman's stance on the issue. Takeyama simply nodded her head in acknowledgement, her face determined.
"Kiryu isn't a villain, much less a criminal." She stated. "He's been an upstanding citizen ever since he came into this world. I would know because he was under my watch."
"He's been in plenty of fights however, aside from his encounter with Amon." Thirteen brought up. Takeyama opened her mouth to retort, but surprisingly, Midnight beat her to it.
"Kiryu only fought in self defense, even in cases where his actions brought on a fight. He's never gone out of his way to needlessly start a fight." The older woman turned towards the blonde. "Right?" She asked, almost trying to test the giant heroine.
"R-right." The younger woman half stuttered. Even she wasn't fully confident that Kiryu's fights were completely justified, especially when she couldn't account for every encounter since she wasn't always with him.
"I understand your concerns Vlad, but I'm certain Mt. Lady wouldn't stand up for him if it turns out he was a criminal." All Might reasoned, but King Vlad wouldn't back down.
"It's still a yakuza around our students! He's a danger to them!"
"He saved my life!" Takeyama suddenly exclaimed, gaining the attention of everyone.
"What?" The blood hero asked, bewildered. The heroine took a deep breath, calming herself before she continued.
"Yeah. He saved me. I was attacked today, by another member of the Amon Clan. She had a quirk, a strong one at that. She had me backed into a corner, if it wasn't for Kiryu, she would have killed me."
"An Amon member attacked you?" Cementoss asked, a look of concern on his face.
"She had a quirk?" All Might questioned next. Mt. Lady nodded.
"Her name was Ko Amon, I think she was sent in to specifically target us, anyone with a quirk that'll prevent No Amon from getting to Kiryu." The room fell silent shortly afterwards, no one knowing what to say.
"We seem to be in a tricky situation." Nezu finally spoke up, bringing the attention to himself. "It looks like we've caught the ire of the Amon Clan. We knew they were dangerous, but now that we know they have quirks among them and that at least one of them is actively seeking us out, I believe it'd be best to work alongside Kiryu. Regardless of his past, he's more knowledgeable about this clan than us, maybe even anyone in this world." Everyone nodded in agreement, even those who were apprehensive about Kiryu. "In the meantime, Mt. Lady can continue to keep an eye on him. Speaking of…" The small principal turned his attention to the woman in question. "Would you mind bringing him in?" Takeyama nodded, quickly turning towards the door and heading out for the former yakuza. A moment later, both she and Kiryu walked into the room.
"Glad to finally meet you, Kiryu!" Nezu gave a smile and wave. It was impossible to tell if it was genuine or not. "Let's get straight to business however. We are aware of your past, I'm sure you know. However, we have elected to put that matter to the side for now as we have more pressing matters to attend to at the moment." The creature leaned forward, the innocence of his face never leaving even as his voice grew serious. "We need you to tell us everything you know about the Amon Clan."
. . . . .
"How are you feeling?" Takeyama inquired from the taller man as they walked through the halls.
"As well as I can feel considering the situation." Kiryu shrugged.
"Even knowing that some of the teachers don't trust you?"
"It's nothing new to me. I've always dealt with people who don't trust me in the beginning." He explained, but Takeyama still looked unsure.
"If you say so." She sighed, saddened that he was so used to such treatment. "And Amon?" The woman walked ahead and stopped in front of Kiryu. "What are you going to do about them? Even with actual heroes getting involved now, they're still going to do everything they can to get to you, right?"
"They will." Kiryu looked her in the eyes. "Nothing stopped them before, I doubt heroes will be able to stop them now. Whatever happens, I can't run from them. I'll have to face them."
"You're just going to keep fighting them?" Takeyama looked at him with disbelief in her eyes. "You'll just keep fighting? Until what? Until they finally kill you?" Her emotions were getting the better of her. The former yakuza simply nodded his head.
"It's how I've dealt with them for years now. Granted, they've never come after me like they have now. But it's the best I can do." The heroine opened her mouth to report, but outside of somehow managing to jail the Amons, there wasn't much Kiryu could realistically do. He could only defend himself. Takeyama sighed as she looked down, calming down.
"I'm just… I'm just worried about what's happening." She muttered, barely audible. As the two stood in silence, they both became aware of the sound of music and voices, making them temporarily forget about the current situation, the tension fading. Continuing down the hall, they eventually came across what all the commotion was all about.
Substory
Dancing With Pink
By The Swordslinger
"Come on, is that it?"
Kiryu stared at the class 1-A students gathered outside their dorms. Especially at the object of their attention on a makeshift stage composed of cardboard boxes flattened into a simple dance floor. On top of it was the energetic Mina Ashido was showing off some of her best moves. Currently trying to match her and failing were a panting Uraraka, Yaoyorozu and Asui. Mt. Lady followed Kiryu as he walked to the crowd and approached the closest one, Iida Tenya.
"What did I miss?" Takeyama asked the spectacled class representative for Kiryu, her eyes taking in the odd sight.
Tenya's business mode was activated, "Kiryu, sorry for any ruckus. Ashido wanted to find dance partners and you can see all candidates have been failing to keep up."
"She sure has energy to spare..." Kiryu praised as he felt awe at the feat.
"Not to sell the other girls short, but Ashido's a natural." Ojiro added as he appeared. "Even Tohru couldn't keep up, and she's as energetic or if not more than her."
Kiryu knitted his brows together, "Not to be rude, but... How can you even tell?" Ojiro pointed to the set of floating clothes leaning against Yaoyorozu, making it seem for a moment that two bodies were one due to one's invisibility, "Oh."
"Why don't you try it, Kiryu?" Ashido asked when noticing him, a hand on her hip.
"Are you serious?" he asked, feeling flustered. "I'm not sure my dance moves are...hip."
"It's fine, just so long as I can have someone to compete with." the pink alien girl cheered, pumping up a fist, "I wanted the girls to join me so I could try and find new ways to move with others' rhythms."
"Then the style doesn't matter...?" he asked, feeling conflicted.
"Yup, so show me what you got!" the horned girl cheered.
Kiryu frowned, "Give me a break, I'm trying to relax for once..."
Takeyama giggled, "What's the matter? Finally feeling your age?" she couldn't help it, the joke was perfect.
Suddenly, a spark shone in Kiryu's eyes as he stepped forward, "Alright!" he shouted, surprising the students, "However, the song shall be Koi no Disco Queen!" Ashido blinked in surprise as did the others. Kiryu felt embarrassed, "Um, do you know it?"
"It's just..." the dance enthusiast of the class started.
"That one's old." Takeyama ended.
"Hmph," Kiryu smirked, "if you can't dance to a classic, then can you call yourself a dancer!?"
This burst a fire in Ashido, "Alright, it's so on!"
Midoriya gasped, "Since when did this become a competition!?"
As Ashido finally hit play on the song, Kiryu dashed to the stage to drop to his knees. The class and pro-hero gaped in amazement when he slid on the floor to a stop, ended on a kneeling position and pointed a finger at the pink hero in training. Taking the challenge, Ashido ran forward, did a textbook cartwheel, and flipped in the air before crossing her arms. Quickly, the two stood side by side, Kiryu doing the monkey by moving his fists up and down to the sides, a knee slightly bent up. Ashido took a simpler dance style as she twirled her hips while spinning her hands around like windmills, bringing them up and down with energy.
Bakugo felt his eye twitch at the display, "How can such an old man be so proud of such an ancient dancing style?"
Suddenly, Kiryu dropped to the ground as the song picked up, and spun on it like a true breakdancer. Ashido wasn't going to be easily outdone and flipped in the air, doing a split before the two got up and continued dancing. Kiryu was alternating in his moves, stepping to one side with a hand up and the other on his hip, and then mirroring the position with the next step like John Travolta in one of his oldest movies. Ashido was skipping on her toes, hands waving as her feet tapped against the floor to show off her excellent footwork.
"Well, he's dressed for the dance..." Jirou mumbled in disbelief. And to finish it off, Ashido jumped in the air, spinning around as he roundhouse kicked it and landed with a finger pointed forward. "Ashido's got this, though."
Everyone felt like Ashido would win due to her less ridiculous outdated moveset, until Kiryu lifted a leg and shook it. Swiftly, he twirled in place, extended an arm to his side while resting his other hand on the back of his head. And to make his friend Miracle Johnson proud, his extended hand had the middle and ring finger curled inwards and the others straightened before he let it out, a loud, passionate cry:
"WOO!"
Silence...
Until Ashido couldn't contain herself, "That...was...AWESOME!" she squealed with both fists up on her chest, "Where did you learn that move!? Can you teach me? Do you have any other like that!?"
Kiryu smiled softly, "In order, I learned it from a friend. Yes, I can. And..." he hummed, "I haven't practiced it, but I know the Miracle Walk if you're interested." Then he flashed the blonde pro-heroine a smirk, "Not bad for some gramps, huh?"
Takeyama felt her right eye twitch, "Does this guy's talent ever end?"
"Kiryu!" Iida suddenly burst out, raising his hand to bring attention to himself. "I request that you teach me as well!"
"Ooh, ooh, me too!" Hagakure raised her hand too as she excitedly hopped in place, the floating sleeve of her shirt the only indication of her doing so. One by one, more students requested that Kiryu teach them his dance moves.
"Wh-hey…" Kiryu muttered, suddenly flustered again. The pro heroine chuckled at the sight of this gruff looking man swarmed by a bunch of kids, her previous feelings finally fading. Maybe it was the atmosphere of the room, but it did put her at ease, allowing her to reason that maybe everything would turn out okay. Kiryu was a kind hearted man that, despite his affiliations, always strived to do the right thing, no matter what others may think of him. Even if he got nothing in return, he couldn't care less, just as long as he helped someone. It was inspiring to say the least.
Takeyama then thought back on herself, thinking about her time as a hero. She had put a lot of focus into the fame aspect of being a hero. While she did it in order to make up the difference in what she paid for in collateral, she realized how much focus she put into it now. She let out a sigh as she continued to watch Kiryu interact with the student. Maybe she needed a change.
Dancing with Pink
Complete
. . . . .
"WOO!" Kiryu and a few students cried out in unison, all striking the same pose. The former yakuza had taken the teens up on their request, teaching them the ways of Miracle Johnson as the sun steadily dipped closer to the horizon. Takeyama simply watched the practice session, actually interested in Kiryu's dance moves. The rest of the class had preoccupied themselves with their own tasks in the meantime, either scribbling down notes, talking amongst themselves or watching tv reruns.
As time went on though, the pro hero found herself mulling over the money that Kiryu had given her. She could finally fix up the design of her costume, but now that the opportunity has presented itself, she was suddenly unsure of herself. As she was contemplating, she noticed Midoriya at the corner of her vision, the green haired student was furiously taking notes in a white notebook. Unable to contain her curiosity, she made her way over to him. She was about to say something to get his attention, but then noticed what the short teen was writing in his notebook.
"... Is that Kiryu?" Midoryia let out a loud yelp, startling Takeyama as he frantically fumbled with his notebook.
"M-Mt. Lady!" The boy stammered, his eyes wide.
"Jeez kid, if I didn't know better, I'd think you were some suspicious criminal." The blonde rubbed her head, regaining her composure. "Anyway, that was Kiryu you sketched out, right?"
"U-uh…" Izuku fumbled over his words, embarrassment overtaking surprise. "Yeah, it was." He eventually admitted, opening his notebook again, allowing Takeyama to take a closer look at the teen's work. It was indeed a surprisingly good sketch of the former yakuza, along with a bunch of notes. He wrote about his heat ability, as well as all its variants along with the note of 'relation to quirks?'. He also noted Kiryu's fighting techniques, how they changed with his 'heat style', along with another note that questioned if Kiryu had names for his moves. All of it was very well detailed.
"You take notes of people?" The heroine asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, yeah. It's uh, kinda a hobby of mine. I have a bunch of these notebooks filled out with a bunch of different pro heroes." The greenie nodded, getting somewhat enthusiastic. "I try to see what strengths and weaknesses they have too. I even tried going over them with my friends."
"Am I in there too?" Takeyama suddenly asked, taking a seat on a nearby couch.
"You are, but in one of my older notebooks."
"I see…" The pro hero looked down in thought, before turning back to the teen. "Hey, what do you think of me?"
"Huh?" Midoriya looked up, taken back by the sudden question. "What do you mean?"
"I mean as a hero." The blonde averted her gaze. "Am I… a hero you would look up to?" She struggled to find the words. "Am I a good hero basically? And be honest too, don't spare my feelings!" She almost demanded, getting another wide eyed look from the student. Midoriya took a moment to gather his thoughts before turning back to Takeyama.
"Well, I think…" He hesitated, looking down. "I think you worry about your image a lot. You try to appeal to the public as much as you can, using your looks to your advantage." The pro hero looked away at these words, he wasn't exactly wrong. "But at the same time-" She looked back as he continued. "You still do everything you can as a hero. You protected us when we were trying to escape from All For One and the league. Taking a hard hit to the face." Midoryia met her gaze. "Not to mention how you tried to protect Kiryu." The teen gave Takeyama a knowing look, making the heroine cringe, remembering what she said to the student.
Hearing a crash behind them, the two turned around, seeing that Kaminari was in a heap on the ground. Ashido and Hagakure were laughing and leaning on each other, while Iida was profusely making sure that the yellow haired student was alright. Kiryu meanwhile was rubbing the back of his head, muttering something about 'zero coordination'.
"Honestly, you're both amazing." The teen commented. "No matter what, you both do everything you can to do the right thing." Takeyama couldn't help but smile at those words as she continued to watch Kiryu, who was showing the students how to land the final pose of his dance moves.
"I want to be better." The blonde softly stated, gaining the attention of Midoriya. "Maybe it's because I've been hanging around Kiryu, but I think he's made me think about how I'm treating my career as a hero." She paused. "I want to be a better hero. One that people actually look up to." Standing up, she looked back down at the teen. "Thanks for telling me." She smiled brightly.
"O-oh, n-no problem." The greenie suddenly became flustered, looking away. Takeyama rolled her eyes, smirking. How did such a nervous and easily flustered boy come to possess such a powerful quirk?
"Kiryu!" She called out, waving her hand. "It's getting kinda late. Think we should start heading back?"
"Hm." The suit wearing man took a quick glance at the clock. "Yeah, we should get going." Many of the students collectively groaned in disappointment, gaining a chuckle out of him.
. . . . .
Bit of a shorter one this time, but I hope you enjoy.
On the topic of submitting substories, you can submit them, but I won't guarantee that they all will make it in. But by all means, even if they don't make it in, I'll enjoy reading them.