Crimextar06: To quote a meme, Reality is a bitch and Aiko's her pimp. And yeah, I mean, I'm not really surprised that this is the treatment Mineta normally gets. I decided to went different route :V Because it's boring.
TheGreatBubbaJ: :P
Raw666: The concept of quirks influencing mindsets is an eternally interesting one. They also influence their names because everyone has one referring to their quirk dammit.
Detrametal: Oh, trust me, his speech will get more scary. Let's just say that the famous talk between Shoto Todoroki and Izuku Midoriya will go a bit differently than in canon. And I also agree that Midoriya's family is... something else.
Architect of Light 2: Thank you!
(***)
Izuku's mom is super-nice, Uraraka decides. She looks genuinely happy to have them, and her food is delicious.
They don't meet his dad (he is at work), but they do learn something about the complicated family situation of the Midoriyas'. Namely the part where the villain attack separated his parents before his dad found out that Miss Inko was pregnant. Only for her to eventually marry someone else, and have two children, only to adopt one more after Izuku's stepdad died.
And then, through some complete coincidence, she and Izuku's dad ran into each other and they married a month later. Uraraka thinks that it's super romantic. And she also thinks that Izuku's dad is a hero for immediately taking over (and cherishing with all his heart) not only Izuku but his siblings too.
And that's despite the wounds (from the villain attack that separated Izuku's parents) that made him look like a skeleton (Izuku showed them the pictures). Wow. Even the UAs accountants are pretty cool, right?
They are about to relocate to the living room when a man with short, brown hair suddenly enters the room.
"Inko, my dear, did I make it in time for the din… Oh." He notices the surplus kids in front of him. "Little Izuku brought some friends? Wonderful!"
"Uncle Atsuhiro." Izuku waves towards him a bit. Despite the man being his uncle, he is kinda… cold? No, he certainly likes the man, but looks more like he didn't want to see him right now, Uraraka decides. "He is a former coworker of my mom. He tends to freeload in our home from time to time."
"Freeload as in 'leech off my cooking." Miss Inko specifies, and Atsuhiro grabs his chest, as if the accusations gave him a heart attack. "You could have just learned how to do it on your own, you know?"
"Everyone has their specialty or specialties." Atsuhiro promptly replies. "I prefer to help myself to one of yours instead of trying to branch off myself. Besides, you like having me around! Don't say that you don't!" Inko rolls her eyes, she looks exasperated by the words. "So, as it was already said, I'm Atsuhiro Sako, a master magician and performer!" With a swift motion he produces an actual living rabbit out of his sleeve (wow! no, actually, wow) and then makes him vanish. "And you?"
They introduce themselves as Izuku's friends from class.
"Oh, so many little heroes!" Atsuhiro beams at them. "Just become heroes like that one green bean over there, alright? He does set the bar a bit high, but meanie heroes are no good." He gives them a thumbs-up and turns towards Inko. "So, about the dinner…"
Meanie heroes bad, good heroes good. Master magician. Made something vanish and reappear (was it really a magic trick and not a quirk?) Over the top personality. Coworker of Izuku's mom, who - according to Asa's slip-up - taught him how to steal things. Also, didn't Hitoshi mention that an uncle of Izuku beat up several heroes that were about to kill him and Himiko?
No way, right?
"... Mr. Compress?!" Uraraka says (she didn't really want to, the word just comes out of her mouth on her own), and she realizes she is right immediately because absolutely everyone in the room (save for Tsuyu, really) freezes.
Atsuhiro moves his head just enough to look her into eyes and Uraraka realizes that she - a hero trainee - just ousted out a civilian identity (probably, this could be a fake name) of a double S villain. And his connections to an UA hero course student. In front of him.
She freaks out. A bit.
"I'm your biggest fan!" Her mouth decides to act on its own. This time Izuku and Tsuyu look at her like she just backstabbed someone while laughing maniacally and she realizes that her mouth dug her own grave deeper. "Wait, I can explain!"
"Well, you should have started from that!" Somehow, just somehow, Atsuhiro Sako is suddenly wearing his signature villain outfit. He changed in like a split second, is that part of his quirk?! "If it's for the fan, then…" He is suddenly hit in the head with a rolled newspaper by Izuku's mom, almost strong enough for his mask to fall off. But he grabs it at the last moment. "What the…"
"No changing clothes, even so quickly, in front of Izuku and his friends." Inko announces. "You just changed your clothes in front of two underage girls, even if they didn't have time to see anything, you still deserve a newspaper smash." Somehow the last two words sound like the name of an All Might's attack. At least to Uraraka.
"I made sure there was nothing to see, stop embarrassing me in front of my fan!" Mr. Compress yells back at her. Then he turns towards Uraraka. "Please, tell me, which one of my performances is your favourite?"
"Mie Prefecture, two years ago!" Uraraka is absolutely excited to meet him, even if Tsuyu and Izuku will end up telling her some harsh words. After all, she technically didn't do anything illegal, right? Maybe except for not reporting but… "You exposed the corruption of the local heroes who caused excessive collateral damage in their fights in order to get a share of the reconstruction fees from the few friendly construction companies."
"I remember that!" Mr. Compress hits his palm with his fist. What happened to his walking stick is anyone's guess. "Oh, it was awesome! I stole all their money and exposed their deeds to the world! I think the companies all went bankrupt and the heroes were arrested, yes?" Uraraka nods fervently.
"They do! But my parents' construction company wasn't involved in the scheme." Uraraka replies. "They were really struggling to go by, and we had to count every yen. I can't count how many times I skipped meals just to make things a bit easier for them! But then you came around, their competition mostly went bankrupt, and suddenly they began to earn more money, and I've never seen them as happy! They'd never be able to pay the UA's tuition if not for what you did!"
"Oh this is brilliant!" Mr. Compress almost jumps up in joy. "So you are going to become a proper hero thanks to me? I'm honored! You didn't even get a provisional license yet, but you already got a fan, Miss Uraraka!" Okay, so Uraraka might have squealed in joy at that, but no one can blame her, right? "Autograph?"
"Yes, please!" She says (she is going to show it to her parents and they'll be super happy!).
"I have questions, Izuku." Tsuyu says in the background, while tipping her finger on her mouth.
"My dad is not only working on the UA, but is also All Might's personal assistant. Or, was." Izuku replies. He looks burned out. He doesn't even respond to her sudden usage of his first name. "He fell in love with my mom and had me without knowing about her… job. By the time they met again, she was already retired, but she still has her contacts. And since they fell in love at first sight again and married soon after, they agreed to… errr... keep their work away from home. So, basically speaking, heroes don't go after villains and vice versa in this building, or anywhere nearby. Though both sides are still trying to fish for useful info."
"The school knows?" Tsuyu asks him while Uraraka's mind is in clouds above because she is getting MR. COMPRESS SIGNATURE in her notebook and this is beyond wonderful!
"Well, Nedzu doesn't, but most of the faculty does." Izuku promptly replies. Uraraka notices that he looks kinda burned out. "Two days ago I came upon Mr. Compress and Present Mic planning the next Put Your Hands Up radio program in my living room. It's been a… struggle." He sighs. "The only villains around are those like Mr. Compress, so not exactly murderers and so on. Frankly, he is more of a hero-targeting vigilante, but expect him to argue otherwise."
"I see." Tsuyu nods a bit. "My condolences."
"At least someone understands me." Izuku deadpans with an expression resembling Aizawa-sensei.
1-A Chatroom
GravityGirl: Me and Froggy visited the Class-President house and I wish to officially announce that his family is awesome!
ClassPresident: Nooo, don't speak of it in public _
CreativeSpirit: Oh?
Riot: Ohh?
AcidParty: TELL ME ALL THE CUTE DETAILS
LeadSinger: Sigh.
Mindhack: Ignore the cute details, what did Aiko do?
AcidParty: Aiko?
Mindhack: Seven year old sister of Izuku Midoriya which might or might not be an eldritch horror from another universe pretending to be a human being in order to infiltrate our society for some nefarious purposes.
Froggy: Eldritch-horror is too strong of a word. She is a bit… odd, but not that bad. She actually fell asleep on me while I was watching cartoons with her and the Class President's other sister. They were both cute.
Mindhack: So she is in her psychological warfare mode only around adults that aren't' from her family? Because I heard a lot of tales about her exploits. Aizawa-sensei visited Midoriya's few times together with Present Mic and Aiko actually managed to freak them both out.
Mindhack: I met them a few times before the school during our Rehab preparations and they kinda narrated a few tales to me. Especially Mic.
TurboMan: I find calling a seven years old child an 'eldritch horror' something highly questionable.
Mindhack: Because you are yet to meet her.
ZapZap: TELL US!
ZapZap: I need to know more about the girl that scares Aizawa-sensei!
SugarRush: I agree.
BlackDarkness: Yes.
ClassPresident: PLEASE NO
Mindhack: Present Mic was apparently too loud once, so she tried to borrow a knife from one of Izuku's uncles. To 'solve a problem'. When Eraserhead put a stop to that, she announced that it's time for psychological violence. So she drew Present Mic and showed him the drawing. It was just a tombstone with 'Past Mic' written on it.
AcidParty: OH MY GOD
SugarRush: Oh.
ZapZap: xDDDDDDD
Mindhack: Another time she had guests (a room full of heroes and policemen, it was a day when me and Himiko were saved by Izuku) so she introduced herself by name and showed six fingers. The nearest hero asked if she is six years old, to which she replied that no, she commited six murders.
CreativeSpirit: What?
LeadSinger: O-O
ZapZap: xDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD
Mindhack: Then (in total silence) she explained that when you have a birthday, you end the existence of your last year's self, only to grow stronger and take their belongings. So it's murder, robbery and identity theft. Then she just left the room (still stunned silent, including a slackjawed All Might), because it was getting late and she had to go to sleep.
BlackDarkness: I can feel a kindred spirit of darkness in your sister, ClassPresident.
ClassPresident: *cries*
ZapZap: OMG no seriously this girl is gold
LeadSinger: Actually, yes.
AcidParty: lol xD
Mindhack: Also apparently when All Might asked her who her favourite hero is (she wants to become one, probably due to being around Izuku too much), she said that it's Endeavor. Because he burns people to death. When her mom chastised her for joking, she pulled out a Gang Orca plushie and said that it's Gang Orca. Because he is from the gang.
BlackDarkness: ClassPresident Your sister has officially became my muse when it comes to crafting the antagonists for my DnD campaign. Thank you.
ClassPresident: Tokoyami no
Froggy: Well, she did make quite an entrance this time.
Mindhack: Tell me! I need to expand my list of scary Aiko stories.
Froggy: She popped up out of nowhere, standing on the ceiling, upside down. When I asked her why she was there, she said that it's because the floor was too crowded. Then she said that we should cut Izuku's hair because it's messy due to being full of secrets. Then she mentioned that she likes frogs while looking at me (only to clarify that it's because many of them are poisonous).
Froggy: Then she remembered that her cartoon was starting, so she exited the room.
Froggy: By walking through the wall.
Mindhack: Ah yes, classic Aiko Midoriya.
CreativeSpirit: … What sort of quirk lets you stand upside down and walk through the walls?
ClassPresident: I'm sorry but this is kinda classified for the moment. The family knows (and it's super awesome), but it's pretty much like having a high level recovery quirk. People knowing make you a potential target.
ClassPresident: It's not that I don't trust you, it's just that my parents explicitly told me not to tell anyone. The only unrelated person that knows is All Might. And he is really looking forward to having her attend the UA.
CreativeSpirit: Oh, I understand it then. Very well.
Mindhack: I already met a complex mutant of the vampire type. Is your sister a complex mutant of eldritch horror type?
ClassPresident: No.
Mindhack: The investigation continues.
ZapZap: Once the exam time comes, do you think that you can somehow bring your sister to school? We need someone to scare Aizawa-sensei like he is scaring us.
ClassPresident: Please do not use my sister as a psychological weapon.
Mindhack: You could start by making her NOT be a living psychological weapon.
LeadSinger: We just need a picture of her, Yaomomo and Mina can pull together their skills to craft disguises. We'll have all the girls in the class come to the exam looking like older Aiko's.
AcidParty: YES! I LOVE THIS IDEA ALREADY!
AcidParty: Also, another sister?
Froggy: Yes, but we can't mention her name.
CreativeSpirit: Why?
ClassPresident: Because she was adopted. And by adopted I mean saved from a villain and adopted. And said villain is still out there. So my parents forbid mentioning her name anywhere. SORRY.
CreativeSpirit: I'm beginning to understand the correctness of the 'hair full of secrets' comment.
ClassPresident: Sorry :(
Mindhack: Don't worry, we understand it. It's like being in a witness protection program for her, no? You just have to keep her secret.
Mindhack: Although… Uraraka and Asui?
ClassPresident: She kinda rushed out to meet them and we only had the realization about secrecy a moment too late. Oops?
GravityGirl: Yeah, so we're calling her Miki in public. And she is SUPER ADORABLE!
AcidParty: TELL ME MORE
GravityGirl: OKAY BUT DON'T BLAME ME FOR DYING DUE TO SUGAR OVERDOSE
GravityGirl: Six years old. She came out of nowhere (wearing an All Might onesie) when we entered the home and hugged me and Tsuyu, telling us 'good morning' with a bright smile on her face (it was afternoon, but…).
GravityGirl: She said that her mom told her that guests should feel welcome, and hugs make her feel welcome so she came to hug us.
AcidParty: Awwww!
GravityGirl: Yes, and then she started hugging the people already present in the house, because otherwise they might have felt bad about being excluded from the hugs.
AcidParty: OMIGOSH THIS IS TOO PRECIOUS
Vampire: 3 3 3
Tentacle: Yes. Heartwarming to the extreme.
GravityGirl: YES I KNOW!
GravityGirl: And she apparently has a strong healing quirk (like Recovery Girl) and she wants to be a hero and save people like Izuku saved her, and to make everyone's pain go away so that they can smile like she (and All Might) do.
GravityGirl: Merely remembering her smile makes my heart warm.
AcidParty: oh no too sweet too sweet *dies*
Tentacle: Cute beyond measures.
CreativeSpirit: Wait, Izuku saved her? Another person?
Mindhack: Actually, yeah, I'm curious myself, because this never kinda came up?
Vampire: Zuku saving people, ehhh, what else is new?
Mindhack: Right xD
CreativeSpirit: ClassPresident ?
ClassPresident: OKAY SO I WAS JUST WALKING DOWN THE STREET BETWEEN HERO MUSEUMS TWO YEARS AGO AND THEN A GIRL RUN INTO ME OUT OF AN ALLEYWAY AND ASKED ME TO SAVE HER, THEN THAT GUY CAME OUT AFTER HER AND SAID THAT HE IS HER FATHER AND SHE IS KINDA UNRULY BUT I DIDN'T BUY IT AND WE RUN AWAY FROM HIM TOGETHER, THEN IT TURNED OUT THAT I WAS RIGHT BECAUSE HE WAS A KIDNAPPER.
ClassPresident: That's all there is to the story.
ClassPresident: Mom just took a look at her and decided that we're adopting her, because she was an orphan.
Riot: Saving a little girl from a kidnapper while being, what, fourteen years old?
Riot: SUPER MANLY!
AcidParty: YES!
AcidParty: Our Class President is awesome!
ClassPresident: Stop blowing this out of proportion _
ClassPresident: She saved herself, really, since she already got away from him on her own.
Mindhack: Izuku could fight off every single supervillain at once, on his own, and he would still find this a no big deal. And say that someone else did the job, he was just standing there.
CreativeSpirit: This is actually rather worrying.
CreativeSpirit: ClassPresident You remember the corrective talk with Mineta?
CreativeSpirit: You are taking care of yourself, yes?
ClassPresident: Yes, yes I do. Thank you, but you do not need to worry about me.
ClassPresident: I'm just… kinda not used to this.
ClassPresident: It will be alright.
Froggy: I'll also mention that Izuku has a younger brother, who is very much like him, but about five times more anxious.
Mindhack: Ah yes, Asa, the Phantom Thief. I heard the tales about him as well.
CreativeSpirit: You can get more anxious?
Froggy: Yes.
CreativeSpirit: This is horrible.
Froggy: Yes.
Froggy: Also he steals things. Like our wallets. Or Present Mic's house keys. Eraserhead's school entry card. All Might's phone. But he gives them back, even without being prompted. I think it's kinda a game for him?
GravityGirl: And he apparently cheats at cards reaaaal hard. He knows a lot of street magician tricks, and it probably contributes. He is kinda odd, but actually somewhat nice? Friendly, he just finds it pretty hard to interact with people.
GravityGirl: So yeah, Izuku has a super cool family!
The School Festival comes. To Eraserhead's undying surprise, absolutely no part of the school manages to mysteriously explode (except for that one Support Course lab, it exploded several times, but everyone is used to it now) or suffer a villain attack or something like that. He is (somehow, he still doesn't know how that happened) talked into being a co-host with Present Mic and this is the worst thing that has ever happened in his life.
Emi and their two adopted kids are going to have a blast. Hitoshi and Himiko opted out of the Festival, so they were all probably watching the soon-to-be humiliation of their adoptive father on the TV, lying comfortably on the couch with popcorn (and a single blood bag) in hand. Emi got them out of the school for a day (with herself as a supervisor), and Eraserhead knows that it was to have a laugh at his expense.
He actually considered sending Aiko Midoriya after Present Mic for that, but somehow he is certain that her mother wouldn't agree with Eraserhead using her daughter as a psychological terror weapon. Despite Aiko clearly being a psychological terror weapon of some extradimensional nightmares.
He also considered sending Aiko Midoriya after Mr. Compress, because he is something like 80% sure that the supervillain was the origin of the idea. The whole 'extrovert and an introvert performing together' shtick sounds like his deal with his sister, and he probably suggested it to Present Mic.
Some things changed, though. He was patiently observing his biggest Problem Child, but he failed to realize why Izuku was spending so much time with some kids from the General Course. He was plotting something, and it was probably nefarious, but what?
Mineta was also diagnosed with depression (which, apparently, happened because of Izuku, because of course it happened because of Izuku) and started going to therapy for that AND his… personality flaws. Yoarashi, Todoroki and Midoriya have also declared rivalry against each other on the festival, although Todoroki's face made him look like he just agreed to a suicide pact rather than rivalry. And Izuku looked deeply conflicted over the idea, for some reason.
And the Yaoyorozu heiress was doing… frankly, Eraserhead had no idea what she was doing, but he did run into her reading some book about the history of quirk discrimination and she was looking like a traumatized veteran after few years of trench warfare. Eraserhead is almost certain that Izuku was involved somehow.
Worst of all, the press caught the wind of Rehab Course's existence. It was painful to watch, really. Especially the official statement of the Hero Commission that was pretty much 'rehabilitation is awesome BUT NOT LIKE THAT SO HOW CAN YOU MAKE THEM HEROES YOU CRAZY MADMEN' in nicer words.
The eyes of Japan were on the School Festival even more than normally. Eraserhead could only pray to whatever deity was looking over his life to make sure that Bakugou doesn't do something stupid in front of the cameras.
Midnight announces that it's time for the student representative to make a speech. Midoriya (at least it's not Bakugou, the very idea of him speaking in front of the public fills Aizawa's heart with horror) makes his way to the podium.
Eraserhead is suddenly overcome with dread. He knows, he just knows that making Izuku make a public speech is somehow worse than Bakugou having one. But it's too late to swoop in, grab his Problem Child with his scarf and carry him out of the stadium, isn't it?
"U...uhm… hello?" Izuku says. He is clearly afraid of having to talk to the crowd in front of him (and the majority of Japan behind the cameras). "I know that it's a tradition that this speech is made by the Hero Course student with the highest score on the entrance exam, but… this one time I've decided to make a change to that. So I'm giving the floor to Ayako Nakahara, the highest scoring General Course student!"
Oh no.
Then Izuku takes a few steps away from the podium, letting a girl from 1-C class take his place. She opens her mouth and starts speaking into the microphone.
Ayako Nakahara spends fifteen minutes dumping on the public bias against the bearers of less flashy quirks, pointing out how public venerates the heroes with quirks that carry the highest risk of collateral damage (she explicitly mentions burning things a few times, and while she doesn't mention Endeavor by name… it's rather obvious who she is dumping on).
She also openly states that the bias is at least partially caused by the on-going policy of the Hero Commission to favour the heroes that the public finds more inspirational, namely those with flashy quirks.
If that wasn't enough, that's merely an abbreviated version of the entire manifest (which also includes detailed stats, for example a comparison between collateral damage and arrest success rate of some overhyped and some underhyped heroes, with the hype or its lack being caused by perceived flashiness of the quirk) that's available on an internet page.
Page that apparently includes advertisements, the money from which will go to a charity dedicated to children from groups that are discriminated against based on quirks or lack of those, and an ability to directly offer monetary support to organizations fighting against quirkism.
The entire speech was clearly planned in detail, and well-trained. With just enough well-timed jokes to keep the public's attention occupied. Ayako is good (Eraserhead sees her as a potentially very good hero, and he knows her from the special training for Gen Ed that Izuku got approved) but not THAT good.
This was probably a joint effort of General Education kids, probably with some help of the Management Course. And he is 99% sure that the director of that orchestra is a certain green-haired kid that is slowly becoming the worst problem child that Aizawa ever had to deal with.
"I told him not to overthrow the Japanese government with his speech." Aizawa mumbles to himself. Present Mic (who is Ayako's homeroom teacher and ABSOLUTELY BEAMS at the spectacle, just like Midnight does, there is a reason why she let Ayako continue until she finished talking) hears it.
Midoriya and Nakahara bid themselves goodbye and return to their classes (large parts of which are clearly stunned by what just happened). Yaoyorozu is trying to be subtle, but Eraserhead notices the exchange of a thumbs-up gesture between her and Midoriya. So, she was in on this as well.
"Well, did you tell him not to have someone else overthrow the Japanese government with their speech in his stead?" Mic asks and Aizawa decides that this mess is on him as well. He forgot that he was dealing with Nedzu's student. He should have told Midoriya to show him what he had prepared before the festival.
This festival is going to be a pain in the ass.
"Mmmm, but I wanted to hear onichan speak to everyone." Eri pouts. With her entire family, she has a comfortable place at the tribune dedicated to family members of the students. Not all, of course, this is something that only the top students get. A bit of an additional incentive.
Yagi's eyes meet Inko's over their children's heads. They had no idea what their oldest son was planning, but they both realized that he just made the HPSC his personal enemy. Not like he cared about it, most likely. He wanted to help people who needed help, and that was all that was probably on his head.
At least, he wasn't going to be anywhere high on the HPSC president's shitlist. He was a blip on the radar when compared to the likes of Nedzu, All Might or Eraserhead. But what if someone decided to nip him in the bud before he could become a serious problem? And what if someone from the HPSC learns about him being Nedzu's student and/or that he penned the Rehab Course idea?
"Onichan had to let her talk in his stead to save someone." Aiko replies promptly. Eri makes a thoughtful face. Then she beams.
"That makes sense!" Eri decides. "Izu-nichan is the best!" The pouting is gone. She is back to her 'I'm so proud that Izuku is my older brother' face. She loves All Might (especially since he is now her dad), but Izuku will always be her greatest hero.
After finally learning details of what she went through (something that Inko withdrew from him earlier because frankly speaking, she thought that Overhaul was dead and wanted to bury the memories and be done with it), Yagi Toshinori isn't surprised by it.
All Might's phone vibrates. He picks it up. He got a text message. Oh, of course.
"Nedzu?" Inko knows him well enough to recognize the look on his face.
"Yes." Yagi says, while putting his phone back in his pocket. "About a hundred laughing emojis."
(***)
All Might: UNITED STATES OF...
All for One: ULTIMATE QUIRK COMB...
Inko: Newspaper Smash.
All Might: *screams*
All for One: *screams*
Also Momo Yaoyorozu began her long trek towards becoming a Chaos Gremlin. Yay.
Also2: Trust me when I'm saying that the school festival is going to be an absolute clusterfuck on so many levels XD