DATE: JUNE 9th, 2021 (9/6/2021)

Mitsuki had no idea what to get. She had tried getting herself and Inko to stop arguing by offering to head somewhere else, using a coffee shop as a good icebreaker. She hadn't expected Inko to agree immediately, let alone to actually head to one. She wasn't even a coffee person; she'd rather throw cold water on her face and mentally scream.

"Miki, is something wrong?" She turned from the menu to Inko, who seemed to be concerned about her staring at the menu. Did Inky really think she'd spaced out? Okay, maybe she did, but nobody had to know that.

"Yeah, it's all good," She assured. "I just don't know what to get…"

Inko's eyes widened. "Oh, right!" She cried. "You don't drink coffee, do you?"

Mitsuki sighed. "Yeah, not really." She confirmed. "I just wanted the yelling to stop; I'm not in the mood for that shit."

Inko giggled, placing her hand on Mitsuki's shoulder. "It's okay," She said. "I'm glad we stopped yelling, too. It hurts my throat every time."

Mitsuki smirked. "You never were a yelling person, were you?" Inko shook her head. "You should try it. Better than any therapy I've ever had."

"I doubt it would work as well for me." Inko pointed out.

Mitsuki simply rolled her eyes. "Pacifist."

A throat clearing brought their attention to the old lady at the counter. "I hate to break up your conversation, dears, but could you please order sooner rather than later?" She requested.

That immediately made Inko turn behind to the miniature line of four people behind them and bow. "I'm so sorry!" She apologised.

Mitsuki raised a hand behind her, giving a slight glance from the side. "My bad." She added.

As the two turned back, Inko pointed to the wooden board above them. "I'd like an irish crème latte, please." She ordered.

Mitsuki just gave up at that point, head down to the ground and scratching the back of her head. "I'll just have an espresso, thanks." She sighed, resigning to something basic.

"So what, you trying to get into painting?" Katsuki accused the Quirkless. Was he going for an alternate career besides heroics? That didn't quite seem like him.

As the two walked further into the back of the store, Izuku turned around with a smile he hadn't dropped since he met Shoto. "Not quite," He replied. "I got an idea."

Katsuki raised an eyebrow with a cheeky grin. "Then what gives? You going to paint All Might for a living?" He joked. It wouldn't surprise him if he was right; the kid practically worshiped the No.1 like he was a god.

But alas, Izuku shook his head. "Not just All Might," He corrected, reaching into one of the shelves to grab three large notebooks with tiny binders. "I'm gonna find out about every Quirk I can!" He declared, books held high in the air.

A small chuckle came from Katsuki. "Really, Deku?" He muttered. "You're really gonna go full nerd and analyze every single Quirk you find?"

Izuku nodded. "Whether I get a Quirk or not, I'll learn all I can about others! Then when I fight others with them, I can figure out how to beat them!"

Katsuki shook his head. "Whatever floats your boat." He shrugged, leaving to take a look around the store himself. He might as well since he's already here. Fat chance he'll find anything, though.

Shoto gave a narrowed glance towards his father. "Anything else?" He asked, though his tone said he didn't actually want an answer.

Enji raised an eyebrow at the tone his son was giving him, but otherwise shook his head. "No, I believe this is all you'll need."

Shoto raised both of his. "What about my brothers? My sister?" He demanded.

His father snorted. "And what do they matter?" He shot back.

"They are as much your kids as I!" Shoto growled. "My Quirk to theirs shouldn't matter whether or not you care for them- love them!"

Enji sighed. "You wouldn't understand."

'No,' Shoto thought. All his father went on about is being able to surpass the top hero All Might, even if it meant his own kid since he couldn't do it himself. And he still didn't know what All Might did to make his father this vengeful. 'I really don't...'

His thoughts were broken when he could no longer hear the heavy impact of his fathers' heavy boots. He turned around to see the man glancing directly ahead into the middle of a crowd. Did he find an old friend he never told him about? Again?

"Son, stay here," Enji muttered. "Keep an eye on the clothes." With that, he dropped the three bags of training and formal suits to Shoto's feet before slowly walking into the crowd. Something was wrong...but what?

The hooded man hummed to himself as he looked around him, his eyes shadowed from his hood blotting out the sun. This place seemed adequate enough.

"A few hundred people, broad daylight, open plaza, store lights up and running…" If there was a better place for him to make his mark on the world, real or not, he wouldn't believe you.

With that, he raised his hand high as his fingers twitched and grasped the air above him.

Before he could do anything, a large hand grabbed his wrist, its owner clearing his throat. "Let's not do that today, thanks." The beefy redhead instructed.

The hooded man chuckled. "Come now, don't be such a stick in the mud," He chastised. "I was hoping to make a good first appearance, you know."

"I have no doubt it will be quite a show." Endeavor agreed before his eyes narrowed. "However, I'd suggest reconsidering your scheduled debut for another day, let alone on the other end of the spectrum."

A light scof came from the dark grey hood. "Please, as if I'd be a Hero in times like these."

Endeavor was slightly confused by the response. "And what exactly does that mean?" He demanded.

A glowing yellow eye appeared from the shadow covering the man's upper face. "Like you of all people don't know." He grinned, canines baring.

At his words, the man twitched his hand once more, Endeavor cautiously eyeing it. From around the two and the crowd slowly forming around them, the nearby ceiling lights and overhead lights from store entrances began to glow brighter. Suddenly, they burst from their respective hosts and traveled towards the openly grasping hand in the centre of the plaza, each round, a light blue, and cackling with electricity.

Something within Endeavor screamed "LET. GO.", and as such he let go of the man's wrist just before the orbs of electricity swarmed them, the force of the power blowing their hood back. His hair was long down the left side, covering his left eye and cheek. It glowed a rusty silver with a single braid of blonde at the end of the long waterfall of unkempt hair. He had a few freckles, as well as a small nose. He actually looked rather young. Kids these days…

Pushing aside the youthful villain's appearance, it didn't take long for 2+2 to add up. "You a lightning rod or something, kid?" He accused.

The electric man chuckled. "Perfect; I don't even need to explain Conduct then." He remarked. "And please, call me Electro."

Endeavor himself chuckled a bit. "And why would I give you the satisfaction?"

Electro narrowed his eyes, though his small grin still sat on his face. "So the No.2 is snarky and overconfident," He muttered. "What a surprise."

Finally deciding to drop the façade of 'just another guy at the mall', Endeavor let Hellflame coat over his face for his signature mask, not wanting to burn his clothes off right about now. "Nah," He chided. "While your Quirk has great potential in theory, it's more that you yourself are just underwhelming."

The electricity that Electro had stolen began to crackle in his hand. "Then try not to get too bored, yeah?" He taunted.

Even at his youth, Shoto knew exactly how strong his father was: very. Even now, he was close to being the very best, only a couple paces away. They both knew passing All Might in such a feat would be a difficult task, but Shoto knew better than to say it out loud to or near his father. He seemed to have a vendetta with All Might for some reason. And from what he could tell, it went beyond mere rankings.

"Hey, Barbra," He flinched as he heard a voice behind him. Almost dropping his bag of newly bought clothes, he quickly turned around to see a girl with messy pink hair and a white bandana over her head, smiling at him. She pointed towards the growing crowd. "What's with the swarm?"

He looked ahead to where she was pointing, only to find it traced back to exactly where he was just looking. His head drooped. "My father's fighting a Villain." He replied, tone dry.

As the girl behind him put a hand over her eyes to get a better look, she noticed that one of the guys in question was the famous Endeavor, who was fighting a guy with silvery grey hair she'd never seen before. He had electricity in his hand.

Noticing how Endeavor was likely the father due to him having the same red hair the kid next to her had, as well as having a solid snow white compared to the other guy, she patted him on the back. "Endeavor's your dad?" She asked, laughing. "Good for you!"

Shoto sighed. "Not really…"

"Hm?" The girl stopped patting his back. "What's up? You don't like him or something?"

Shoto quietly shook his head. "It's family stuff…" He muttered no louder than an autumn leaf hitting terra firma.

The girl shrugged, smiling again. "None of my business." She concluded, walking off to god knows where.

If there was one thing Shoto learned today, it was he'd met the kindest, the loudest, and now the strangest people ever. And they were all his age, wouldn't you know.

Despite his earlier comment, that fat chance was more probable than Katsuki gave it credit for if the erasable pen he was spinning in his fingers was any sign. Apparently, these had been around since the early 21st century. Hell, the tribal pattern and royal blue design itself had barely changed since its debut.

Izuku, however, was carrying two large plastic bags full of diaries and journals to jot down future notes. This was barely the number he had envisioned earlier, but he had found out the hard way the number he had in mind would require either multiple trips or multiple people, and Katsuki reassured at least three times he would not help him out with 'nerd work' as he called it. Admittedly, he had a point: this was Izuku's idea/wish, not his.

Still, with the four books he was carrying, Izuku seemed to be struggling a bit. He tried to hide it, but the slight sweating and veins on his inner wrists proved otherwise. Not to mention he was holding a giant pink egg at the same time.

"See, Kaach- erm- Katsuki?" Izuku almost sighed; he caught himself at the last second. "I told you there'd be something for you!"

Katsuki rolled his eyes. "Yeah yeah, you proved me wrong. Good work, Deku." He muttered, though he was still smiling. How had he not heard of this thing until now?!

Izuku began to panic a bit. "Oh, t-that's not what I meant!" He stuttered. "I-I"

"Look, I get it," Katsuki cut him off. "No need to cry for no reason."

Izuku nodded, taking Katsuki's words to heart. "Right!" He did that often, though nobody knew why. What was there to learn from a guy like Katsuki Bakugo?

The moment a couple people pushed aside Katsuki in a frantic run, the mood was immediately quashed.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" He roared towards the two teens still running ahead. "I ALMOST DROPPED MY PEN, MORONS!"

Izuku wanted to see if Katsuki was alright, though given what had happened a few months back when he last tried that, he decided against it. Besides, it was just a light push onto a marble-like surface. He was probably fine anyway.

Instead, he turned to where the two teens were running off to. In doing so, he noticed even more people moving towards one of the crossroad-like areas in the centre, often where an exit would be towards a car park and the like.

"Katsuki, over there!"

"Over where?!" He followed Izuku's finger to where a crowd was really beginning to form. For what, he didn't know. What he did know was finding out was now his top priority.

Izuku hauled his load as quickly as his body would allow him to move. "I think a Hero might be fighting a Villain!" He yelled behind him.

Katsuki quickly bared his pearly whites. That got his attention. "Oh yeah?"

Dodging another current of electricity with a simple left sidestep, Endeavor proceeded to step closer to the new ne'er-do-good.

"I will say this once, and will do so only once-" His warning was cut off with yet another bolt of electricity, sidestepping right with minimal effort. His fire began to form gauntlets and fingerless gloves over the ones already on his costume, pulling the fire down his wrists. "You are under arrest for public disorder, chaotic agency, public electrotechnological manipulation and explicit endangerment of civilian lives." Surprisingly, his warning had little bravado and blunt confidence most heroes seemed to express. If anything, he seemed...irritable. "You have the right to remain silent; further retaliation will only result in brute force, a harsher sentence and a fairly substantial chance of fourth-degree burns."

Electro only chortled. "Please. Like you could light a match in a desert."

For once since engaging the hooligan, Endeavor actually grinned. "See, when you have accuracy worse than a Stormtrooper with cataracts, your antagonism comes across as little more than white noise."

Electro sneered. "Not bad," He commented, the electricity in his palm pulsating. "For a hot minute, I was worried this wouldn't be any FUN!"

Heading directly towards a pair of men in hoods after he dodged, Endeavor quickly moved in front of the two, exhausting a vertical pillar of fire in front of him from his hand as a makeshift shield, the electricity bursting in front of him like a balloon.

"Could you please avoid the innocents?" He muttered. "I don't want anybody's insurance being shoved down my spine."

Juggling two more pulses, Electro chuckled. "Well if these idiots weren't circling us into a shitty little arena, casualties wouldn't be nearly as much of an issue, now would it?"

"Never said it wouldn't. But since they've made like vultures by now, the gesture would at least be nice."

"Oh come on, spicy, what kind of villain would I be if I didn't take advantage of just a little disarray?"

"One with at least a sliver of honour, or at least compassion to spare."

"PFFFFFFFT, so Endeavor over here is preaching to people about compassion!"

As he knocked another pulse into another light bulb to restore some of the mall's electricity, he sighed. He didn't need this talk right now.

Katsuki, having finally caught up, leaned over the railing Izuku was standing behind. "What'd I miss, dork?" he asked, excited to see a proper fight in person.

Izuku moved forward slightly, still clutching the egg with his newly bought stationary at his feet. "The villain has a Quirk that can bring electricity towards him in orbs before shooting them again. I don't think he can make his own."

Katsuki nodded. "Explains the lights dying out." He commented. "If he can't make jack for himself, then he's running out of ammo soon."

Izuku nodded. Despite how absolutely massive Westfield was, there was indeed a limit of visible electricity the villain could obtain. As for other means, they'd cross that bridge should they approach it.

"Isn't that Endeavor?"

Izuku immediately shifted his attention towards Katsuki. "Huh?!"

Katsuki turned to the sound. "Yeah, right there: the hero. Come on Deku, don't tell me you're blind, too? We saw him like, half an hour ago."

When he turned back to the action, Izuku couldn't even hear the backhanded comment his 'friend' made, his eyes were on the man in question; the #2 hero, Endeavor. The tough steel armour, the brandishing amber flames, the face of raw anger and determination. There was little doubt to be had, this was indeed the very man himself.

As Izuku's smile grew wider, he leaned further into the thin metal railing.

Katsuki chuckled. "Villain's a newbie, isn't he?"

Izuku wasn't paying attention. He wanted to get closer to the action, to see what Endeavor could and would do. He wanted to witness yet another true hero in action. In person.

The railing began to creak.

I am SO FUCKING SORRY. I've moved to a new place, moved back to my Dad's since the owner called off renting, and have had little motivation to write through all of it. It also doesn't help that where I've gotten to now was done around October 2020 minus a couple edits over the past hour, so that doesn't help.

I'll try to get Chapter 6 up ASAP provided my new job doesn't make me forget for the third month running. I shouldn't rush and all, but I feel so fucking bad that so many people have followed/subscribed to me for Strange Magical Pets alone, of which I've offered a fat load of nothing from lack of interest of writing, let alone MHA and Pokémon. Oy vey