Me: Hello everybody, my name is Tokusatsu Universe and welcome back to Toku no Hero Academia! We are officially beginning the Hero Killer arc that many of you might be excited about!
Some more explanations on things, specifically about Inko and All Might. All Might trusts Inko enough to let Izuku reveal his real name to her, in addition to help training her son to be a great hero.
So Milarqui, things going alright with you? I've now reached to the 2,000 followers mark, thank you so much everybody!
Milarqui: You are welcome, mate! Coronavirus has really messed up with my life, what with not being able to leave home whenever, but hopefully soon we will get out of this terrible pandemic.
Another thing to add is that because Izuku is more confident and courageous here, his fights against other villains will be a lot more brutal, Milarqui here understands it as that graphic detailed defeat against Noumu was just the beginning since this story is rated M after all. In fact this whole story will have much more blood to shed than in canon.
Let's begin, shall we!
Chapter 12: Hero Killer Part 1
"Earlier this afternoon, a plane on flight towards Okinawa from Tokyo exploded in mid-air, crashing near an open field in the Prefecture of Shizuoka shortly afterwards. Multiple ambulances from the nearest locations were immediately sent to the crash grounds with the expectations of searching for any potential survivors and assist in their evacuation towards the nearest hospital. Assisting them for their investigations was Number 2 Pro Hero, Endeavor, as well as several NPA officers who sought out the witnesses of the accident."
…
"I... I can't believe that plane exploded. Saw it with my own eyes, and I still can't believe it."
…
"How did this all happen?"
…
"Who would kill so many innocent people, children, because they were riding a plane?"
"I bet it was all because of a villain!"
…
"The first official report indicates no survivors have been found, and currently the authorities are trying to identify all the bodies so that they may be returned to their families as soon as possible. We shall update you when further information is released."
…
Himiko bit her thumb as she rewatched the only video of the explosion, taken by a lucky (or probably unlucky) civilian who had been doing whatever with their cellphone, only to witness the explosion – to the horrified gasps of said civilian and their companions. She zooms in the video closely and if you look hard enough there is a mysterious figure in the smoke of the explosion.
"Huh..."
She then turned to her bulletin board on her right, putting both hands behind her head as she re-read, once more, a particular newspaper article that had been neatly cut so long ago.
According to the last report that had been made about the incident, no one had survived the fatal explosion, and investigators were trying to find out who and why they targeted a plane in the attack. In the end, they had no choice but to close the case after finding no suspects, leads or evidence.
Deciding she had watched enough, she turned off her computer and the lights, and got into her bed. Looking outside through the window, she gazed at the moon illuminating the night before turning to her side and closing her eyes.
The long weekend for the U.A. students was over, and Izuku was returning to the school under a rainy sky.
'Man, this train is so crowded,' he thought. 'And I could not do any training this morning.'
Knowing he was in for a long ride, he pulled out his cellphone to watch the latest Kamen Rider, but he got distracted from it by remembering his talk with his mother the morning after the Sports Festival ended.
He shook his head. He and his mother had that penchant for literally crying rivers, something he did his best to keep under control, but during the festival she had apparently gone way over her usual limits, crying out seven times, and if it had not been for the Bakugos, she would have probably completely dehydrated, and in fact she had almost fainted the last two times.
The surprise had come when Omocha-san had sent him a package, congratulating him for his victory in the Sports Festival and deciding to give him a reward even though he had turned down his offer. The gift was quite awesome, in his opinion, and probably something he could not have got on his own. He had sent a letter, thanking Omocha and his company for the present.
Shaking his head, he turned back to the show, until someone tapped his shoulder from the side. Pausing the video, he turned to see a man he did not know.
"Excuse me, but... Are you Midoriya, from Class 1-A?" the man said.
It was almost as if he had just detonated a bomb. Everyone in the train car turned to look at them, and then they noticed him. It was not that hard to recognize him: between his broccoli green hair, his backpack full of tokusatsu pin buttons, stickers and keychains and his U.A. school uniform, he truly stood out.
Soon, everyone was cheering on him, congratulating him for his victory.
"Good job at the Sports Festival! You got first place with style!"
"Number One in every round! Such dominance! He annihilated the competition!"
"You were so cool!"
"What kind of gym do you go to? And how did you get so shredded?"
"Tell me about it! This kid's in high school and he has a way better physique than I ever had!"
"Must be some kind of freak genetics!
"What was that with those tentacles? Were they a part of your Quirk?"
"He must have worked really hard to get as powerful as he is now!"
"ARE YOU SINGLE!"
He had to admit that, while being congratulated was quite nice, it soon started to get overwhelming. Everyone praising him for his competence and nobility, some mentioning how the Student Pledge struck at their heartstrings... all the men mentioning their envy for his body, which most of them could barely dream of having, while many teenage girls and even some young women flirted with him or even asked for his number.
Finally, though, his stop arrived. As he told everyone that he had to get off the train or else he would be late for school, the civilians groaned in disappointment, but they allowed him to move through and away, not without saying one last thing to him.
"Do your best, Hero!"
Izuku smiled as he waved them goodbye, the doors closing right before him.
"I will!"
Leaving the train station, he walked the short distance towards Japan's most famous hero school. On the way there, several people greeted him, clearly recognizing him from the event: he had no idea he would get this famous after winning the U.A. Sports Festival, but still he politely greeted them back and kept going.
'Is this what All Might has to deal with everyday?' he wondered, but his thoughts were interrupted by someone calling out.
"Izu-kun!"
Turning, he saw Ochaco, Momo, Mina, Itsuka, Yui and Setsuna crossing the street, waving at him from under their umbrellas.
"Hey, everyone!" he greeted back as they walked closer. "Has any of you seen Tenya-san?"
"No. Not since he left during the Festival," Ochaco replied, her worry obvious.
"I hope he is alright," Izuku said, sighing as they finally caught sight of the school.
"Good morning, everyone!"
Before any of them could react, Tenya had already ran past them...
"Did I just see Tenya-kun wearing a poncho and rain boots?" Momo asked, clearly incredulous.
"Yeah, you did," Itsuka added.
"Why are you walking so slowly? I've seen you move way faster during the Sports Festival!" Tenya said, slowing down while looking at them. "You're going to be late!"
"Late? There are still... five minutes until the first bell," Mina said.
"Too early," Yui agreed, yawning.
"U.A. students should always arrive ten minutes early!" Tenya finished as he sped off into the building.
"He's not wrong," Momo agreed, nodding. "Especially after our two days off. Who knows what will happen in class? Us class representatives might have to help out our classmates."
"Fair enough," Itsuka said, nodding. "C'mon, Setsuna-chan, Yui-chan, let's go!"
Izuku shook his head and sent some Help energy to the girls, allowing them to keep up with him as they all entered the building. Going to the lockers, they put away their wet clothes... but he still had an uneasy feeling: after hearing the news about the Hero Killer's attack on Ingenium, he wanted to make sure his friend would be alright.
"Tenya-san, umm..." he did not know how to broach the subject, but he knew he had to. "I heard what happened to Ingenium, and I wanted to talk with you ab-"
"There is no need to worry, Midoriya-san. I apologize for worrying you needlessly. Congratulations on winning first place, though! I saw the highlights on the Internet, and you truly outshone us all. Good work, and I hope I can get to your level some day!" Tenya said, walking off to class while the others finished shaking their umbrellas.
"Thanks..." Izuku muttered, unable to shake off his unease. Concerned as he was about his friend, he could not help but think that something was truly troubling Tenya. He just could not quite put his finger on it... yet.
As soon as they reached their respective classes, everyone was eagerly discussing the aftermath of the Festival, particularly the attention they had all attracted in the weekend.
"It's so different when they broadcast the matches on TV after all, huh? Lots of people recognized me on the way here!" Mina exclaimed.
"Yeah, me too!" Hanta stated.
"People were staring at me, too. It was kind of embarrassing!"
"Isn't that normal for you, Tooru-chan?" Mina asked.
"I had a bunch of elementary schoolers tell me 'Don't worry about it," Eijiro said, clearly annoyed by those four words he had heard every time someone brought up the fact that Todoroki had defeated him in a couple of seconds.
"Don't worry about it," Tsuyu replied, and Eijiro groaned, palming his face.
"Not you, too!"
Mina chuckled, reassuring her 'horn buddy' that they were just joking. Knowing what they did about Todoroki, it had not been much a surprise that he had managed to win so quickly.
"Just one day, and now we've been thrust into the spotlight, huh?" Denki said.
"Yeah, U.A.'s amazing."
As his friends kept talking to each other, Izuku had decided to adjust a few notes he had made to his Hero notebook, wanting to upgrade them with some of the data he had checked during the festival.
"Oy, Deku." Izuku turned to see Katsuki walking up to him. "I wanna talk to you."
"What?" Izuku asked, bemused. To this day, Katsuki had never said that. If he wanted to say something, he said it. And the fact that he was shifting around on his feet, looking down to the floor, made Izuku actually feel uncomfortable.
"Look, I just... I... fucking damn it!" Katsuki said, gritting his teeth as he grabbed at his own hair.
"Look, if you don't want to say it now we can-"
"No, just shut the fuck up and listen! I... OK, that came out wrong." Mark another for weird. Katsuki saying that was truly against the norm. "That wasn't what I meant to say. I'm... I really am sorry for how horrible I treated you these past years..."
Izuku raised an eyebrow. Something was really going on. That was the third surprise in less than a minute.
"Why... are you doing this? Now?"
"The old hag took me to the shrink the other day, said I needed counseling. And... hell, she was right. Got a lot of time to think, after I heard you helped heal me. I was angry, I always wanted to blame you for everything that went wrong with me, and I threw the one person that saw me as a genuine friend away. I... just hope we can get that back. I made a mistake, and it took me a decade to realize it."
Surprising as the confession was, Izuku could tell that Katsuki was being genuine. Those two losses, first at the training battle and then at the festival, had truly left an impact on him.
"I wish I could, but... it's hard, you know? The support at the final match was nice, but that and one apology are not going to make up for ten years of you trying to torment me. Though, if you are really serious about this... I can give you a chance. You are going to have to work on it, show me that can change for the better, but if you do I will be able to forgive you. Is that good?"
Katsuki sighed, nodding, as he headed to his desk.
"Better than I thought it would be," he said. "Though, Deku... I saw Grape Hair at the shrink as well."
Izuku blinked.
"Wait, Mineta-san was there?"
"Yeah," Katsuki replied, shrugging and taking his seat. "Said he was cleaning up his behavior, 'cause he wanted to return here when he was ready."
Izuku was truly glad to hear his former classmate was truly trying to improve himself. He hoped to see the say that Mineta would rejoin the class some time soon.
Shoto watched everything from his seat, still going over what had happened in the weekend. Ever since Endeavor had apologized to him at the festival, everything had changed... so fast. His mother had come back home, and it had been uncomfortable in the beginning, until she cried and apologized for what she had done to him. He had forgiven her, and that had started it all.
Endeavor had apologized to everyone, swore to make amends for all the ugly things he had done. Fuyumi had forgiven him already, while Shoto and his mother chose to give the man a chance. The only one unwilling to forgive was Natsuo, something Shoto understood. It may not have been a perfect end, but it was still some progress... and he thought he really owed one to Izuku for giving Endeavor the push to recognize his mistakes and start working to fix them.
It was finally a few seconds before the bell rang out that the door opened to reveal their teacher coming in.
"Morning, students," he said.
"Good morning, Aizawa-sensei," the class replied, as the few that were not in their seats quickly took them.
"Only two seconds. Good," Aizawa stated.
"Aizawa-sensei, I'm glad you are better, ribbit," Tsuyu said, noticing that his bandages were finally gone. After seeing first hand everything he had suffered at the hands of the Nomu, she was happy that the injuries were finally gone.
"Thank you for your concern. Recovery Girl found a special treatment that allowed me to recover faster and easier," their teacher replied, and Izuku knew he was referring to how he had used Help to enhance Recovery Girl's Quirk. Aizawa scratched his face. "More importantly, though, we are having a joint informatics class with 1-B, so we'll meeting up in a larger classroom. Grab your bags, I want you all in class 1-S in five minutes."
The teacher waltzed out of the classroom, and the students only took two seconds to process the order before they quickly grabbed their backpacks and nearly ran up to class 1-S, a classroom meant to hold at least thrice the normal number of students. Meeting their 1-B counterparts, the group took their seats wherever they could.
"What do you think this is about?"
"D'you think this is goint to be a quiz?"
"Hope not, I'm not good at hero laws and that stuff..."
"Maybe one of us will lose a position in the Hero Course?"
"Don't joke like that!"
Finally, Aizawa and Vlad King arrived, and did not take long in revealing the goal of the class.
"Code names," Aizawa bluntly revealed. Everyone looked at the underground hero with wonder, before Vlad King clarified the meaning.
"You lot are going to come up with your hero names today."
"Awesome!"
"That's so cool!"
Before the students could get too excited about it, though, Aizawa activated his Quirk as he glared at the students. They all quickly calmed down under the intimidating stare of Eraserhead.
"Your first internships are coming, and this weekend we received the Pro Hero requests for you," Aizawa continued as he disengaged his Quirk. "The drafts usually begin in earnest during your second year, after students have gained enough experience to become immediate assets to the Pros."
"In other words," Vlad took the baton, "if a Pro extends an offer to any of you, it means that they're interested in your future potential. These offers are often cancelled if the interest dies down after graduation."
"Adults are so selfish," Denki mumbled as Tooru raised her hand.
"So, we'll have to prove ourselves once we get picked, right?"
"Correct. Do not fret if you are not picked right now, we have deals with multiple hero agencies that are willing to have those of you who do not get offers to intern with them. Here are the numbers for this year," Aizawa said, using a remote to turn on a projector. The offers were soon shown on the whiteboard, and the numbers that really stuck out were those of 1-A.
Midoriya Izuku – 7,054
Todoroki Shoto – 4,262
Bakugo Katsuki – 3,775
Yaoyorozu Momo – 685
Uraraka Ochaco – 599
Iida Tenya – 404
Kaminari Denki – 389
Sero Hanta – 356
Kirishima Eijirou – 195
Shinso Hitoshi – 25
"Normally, the numbers are more spread out, but it seems that these three have caught everyone's eyes," Aizawa dryly remarked as he used a pointer to underline the three names on top.
Murmuring immediately broke out between the students, and the reactions differed. Hitoshi was happy that he had actually received offers even though he had been taken out early in his first fight, but others were not so much.
"7,054? WHAT THE HELL? Are there that many Pro Heroes in Japan?" Denki cried out in shock, surprised (like everyone else) at how Izuku had received almost half of the offers.
"Man, such a huge difference," Kosei mumbled, throwing his head back in frustration: he knew that withdrawing from the tournament would have consequences, and here they were. And now, comparing his offers to those of 1-A's top three, there was no contest.
"Those Pros don't know a good thing when they see one!" Yuga grumbled: his name not being in the list stung, but he supposed it may have been because he had finished in last place.
"Midoriya first, Todoroki second, Bakugo third..." Tetsutetsu observed.
"Same order as their placements at the Festival," Eijiro added.
"Well, of course the Pros would prefer Midoriya and Todoroki over Bakugo. Did you see how he acted out during the Festival?" Hanta pointed out, ticking the explosion boy off.
"IF I SCARED A PRO, THAT MEANS THEY'RE WEAK! Damn Deku got more because he proved he was better than me, but fuckin' Torodoki got more than me even though we never fought! Those damn Pros are biased, how can they say he's better when we've never fought one on one! If you don't fight me, you don't get to claim you're better than me! Only Deku has that right!" Katsuki yelled, while most of the others snickered or rolled their eyes.
"And once again, 1-A hogged the spotlight. Ugh," Neito muttered, even if he was still glad that he had received many offers.
In U.A.'s staff room, a few of the teachers had gathered around the table, as they went through the mail.
"Heh, the offers for the first years are still coming. Here's one more," Cementoss commented as he opened one of the envelopes.
"Who's it for?"
"Midoriya. That makes, what, 7,055?"
Toshinori felt intrigued. His successor had received more than seven thousand internship offers after his dominant performance in the Sports Festival: pretty much every Pro Hero in Japan had wanted Izuku to intern with them. And now he was curious over who else had thrown his hat into the ring, so he approached his co-worker.
"Really? Who is it..." he began to ask, but then he saw the name that came on the request and promptly felt like he was about to have a heart attack.
'No! NOT HIM!'
Momo and Ochaco sighed in relief while looking at the board: they had received more offers than they had expected, and they were thankful for all the support Izuku had given them. Itsuka, who had received nearly the same number of offers as Momo, smiled as well.
"You're amazing, Todoroki-san. You're just behind Izuku-kun!" Momo told her classmate, who just shrugged his shoulders.
"Most of them are probably just because of my father. Midoriya's the one that deserves the praise, he got all those offers on his own merit."
He may still want to have a rematch, but he knew it was not time yet: he would need to train his flames and ice to a greater degree in order to be able to do that. He would have to improve if he wanted to catch up to his... well, friend was probably the best definition.
"See, Tenya-kun? We got offers!" Ochaco said, nudging her blue-haired friend's shoulder. The fact that she had received offers in the triple digits was truly encouraging for herself.
"Yes, yes," Tenya replied, distractedly. In the furor of the classroom, she did not notice. Meanwhile, Denki was doing also nudging Izuku.
"Hey, Midoriya-san! Everyone and their mother wants you to intern with them! After all you did, they must have been really impressed! And the way you did it, it was like you had no weaknesses!
"Hey, I'm honored about having so many opportunities. Perks of winning first place in the Sports Festival, I think."
"Remember, though, whether anyone asked for you or not, all of you will be participating in internships with Pros," Aizawa stated.
"You may have gained combat experience at the USJ, but it will still be meaningful training for you to see Pros at work, first hand," Vlad pointed out.
"So, that's why we are getting our Hero names now!" Tetsutetsu said, bumping his fists.
"This is starting to get fun!" Mina chirped.
"Take into account, those names are still temporary, but if you're not serious about it..."
"You will have hell to pay later!"
The sudden entrance of the R-Rated Heroine instantly perked up Denki, Hanta and Kosei, who could not help but sport pervert grins.
"Because a lot of Hero names used by students are recognized by society, and end up becoming professional names, whether you want it or not."
"Well, that's how it is. Midnight will be making sure your names are fine. I'm not good with that stuff," Aizawa said, bringing out his sleeping bag and getting inside. He had been stuck with Eraserhead because Present Mic had convinced him to put it down when they were in their first year, and he had been too lazy to come up with a better option.
"When you give yourselves a name, you get a more concrete image of what you want to be like in the future, and you get closer to it. That's what it means when people say 'Names and natures do often agree'. Like All Might, for example is," Midnight stated.
"Depending on what you do, you may be able to change your name, if you don't find good ideas at first," Vlad added. "For instance, I originally went with Blood Man, but in my third year I changed it to Vlad King. Nonetheless, I recommend you do take this lesson seriously."
Everyone got a portable whiteboard and markers, and a few minutes later Midnight called for attention.
"Alright, let's start presenting those who have already come up with ideas!"
"We're presenting these?"
"That's gonna take some nerve..."
The first to present his idea was Yuga, who confidently stood up before anyone could be called and walked up to the front.
"Here I go." Yuga breathed in. "Shining Hero: I Cannot Stop Twinkling! Which means you can't stop my sparkles!"
He proceeded to prove it true by starting to sparkle, while his classmates restricted their desire to palm their faces.
'You are kidding me! A full sentence?' most of them thought.
"Hmm... too long... though, if you take out the I and contract 'can not', then it could work," Midnight suggested, smiling. Yuga smiled back, and edited his name.
"Merci, mademoiselle," the half-French boy said, returning to his seat. Everyone else looked at him, wondering how Midnight's suggestion was actually acceptable.
"May I present mine next?" Ibara asked, and Midnight nodded. "The Gentle Heroine: Maria."
"Ooh, sounds like a nice name! It inspires peace and hope! Let's keep going!"
One by one, the students presented their ideas. Some of them, like Mina's Alien Queen or Togaru's Jack the Ripper, were shot down by Midnight for various reasons, from copyright infringement to sounding too violent, and in the end Mina picked Pinky, making her friends chuckle. Momo's Creati and Itsuka's Battle Fist were promptly accepted. Ochaco chose Uravity to make hers a pun combining her full name and her Quirk, something that got an OK and a smile from Midnight. Tsuyu's Froppy was instantly loved by everyone, and Hitoshi's pick, Hypno, got an interesting reaction from their teacher, who nonetheless approved the idea.
"Mmm, this is going more smoothly than I thought it would! All that's left is Togaru, Bakugo, Iida, Tsunotori, Todoroki... oh, and Midoriya!"
'A name I want to be known for in the future, huh?' Izuku had pondered, knowing the importance of picking a good name, since it would define his image for the rest of his life. While partially paying attention to the others, he had been considering ideas he had had in the past, and he was quite embarrassed at remembering how all the ideas he had had were pretty much some sort of homage to All Might, even straight out using that name and tacking something at the end.
He then had an idea about what his hero name could be. He stole a glance at Ochaco and smiled to himself as he wrote it down.
"Fine, I'll go!" Katsuki shouted, going up to the podium and revealing what he had written on his board.
Dynamite Hero: Ground Zero
"I'm surprised it did not sound too violent," Neito commented, an opinion everyone else shared.
"It was this or King Explosion Murder, and I wanted something people would remember as I climb up to the top. Not that I give a fuck about what any of you guys says."
Midnight smirked.
"That's a way to avoid having to redo your name. Approved! And five more to go!"
"Can I show mine?" Shoto asked, walking up to the podium and revealing his choice.
Frost-Flame Hero: Fahrenheit
"I love it! With your dual Quirk, it makes sense to use a temperature scale as your name!"
"Yes. After I fought Midoriya, I realized I was making a mistake in holding back half of my power for what my father did. But, no more! I will accept who I am, and I will learn to master both fire and ice so that I can become the greatest hero I can be."
Izuku gave a thumbs up to his friend as he returned to his seat, and everyone felt their respect for their classmate grow. Midnight kept calling for suggestions: Pony ended up picking her first name as her hero name, and Togaru settled for Jack Mantis to refer to his physical form.
"Iida, Midoriya, have you made your choices?"
Tenya looked down on his board and began to write down some kanji, before he stopped, hesitating on the name that had come to his mind.
When he was allowed to visit his brother in the hospital, Tensei had confessed that his injuries were such that he would not be able to keep working as a hero. It had been heartbreaking for Tenya to see his brother like that: his brother was supposed to have a bright future, leading and teaching sidekicks to grow and inspire everyone... only for that future to be ruthlessly cut down by the Hero-Killer.
"Will you take the name Ingenium for me... brother?" he had asked that day.
'I'm sorry, Tensei... I... I... I can't... I'm not worthy of such a name... not yet!' Tenya thought as he erased what he had written and wrote down his name, which he then showed to everyone. Midnight was disappointed by the name, but accepted it.
Izuku was not fooled by the smile Tenya put on: something was clawing inside of him, holding him back from what he could be. He resolved to keep an eye on his friend as the blue-haired speedster sat down again.
"Midoriya, are you ready?" Midnight asked.
"Yeah, I think I got one," he replied as he walked up to the front, taking a deep breath.
'This is it.'
"All my life, I've admired heroes, both real and fictitious. I admired what they were supposed to represent. In my eyes, a Hero is a selfless, inspiring figure, and sacrifices themselves to do whatever it takes to protect those who are defenseless. A Hero does what he does because it's the right thing to do, and that's all you need! I want to become the Symbol of Peace, just like All Might – but I want to become something better. Someone that inspires everyone to go beyond! To inspire hope, to say 'you can do it'!"
Then, he turned the whiteboard around and revealed his Hero name.
Toku Force Hero: Dekiru
The majority of the students gasped. Katsuki nodded in approval and Ochaco and Itsuka smiled joyfully.
"Are you really okay with that?" Denki asked.
"I mean, are you sure you want to go with that?" Setsuna added.
"Yes. It's based on something I used to dislike... but then someone changed the meaning of it. It helped me gain a new perspective on it, and it certainly grew on me," Izuku explained, and Ochaco's smile became even more brilliant at hearing that. The other girls in the pact glanced at her at seeing she had just gained a lead on them, but they were not going to give up. They may have not been able to confess to him, but soon they would gain the courage to do so.
"Well, if you like it, then go for it!" Midnight cheered. "I had half-expected you to go for some name that was related to your energy Quirk, but your idea has an unique flair. Plus, with all those names you give to your moves, they certainly fit together."
Aizawa picked that moment to yawn and get out of his sleeping bag.
"Good, now that everyone's chosen their Hero names, we can go back to talking about the internships. They last for a week, and you'd better be up to the task of representing our school. Those of you who have received offers will be given your lists at the end of the class, while those who didn't will be able to choose from the forty agencies we have a deal with."
"Keep in mind, though, that each place offers different specialties, so think carefully before you choose. Thirteen focuses more on rescues from accidents and disasters, while Gunhead tends to go more for clamping down on crime," Vlad added.
"Yes, sir!" the students said in unison, right as the bell rang.
"You will be sharing this classroom for the day. Turn in your choices before the weekend," Aizawa said as the three teachers began to leave.
"What? We've only got two days?"
"Make your decision efficiently. You are dismissed." The door shut behind the teachers and the students were left flabbergasted.
With the arrival of lunchtime, the students were able to concentrate on trying to pick which hero they wanted to intern with, having fun discussing them while sitting in a classroom they had manage to commandeer for themselves. Izuku, Momo, Ochaco, Tsuyu, Mina, Eijiro and, surprisingly, Katsuki had been joined by Itsuka, Yui, Setsuna, Kinoko, Reiko, Tetsutetsu and Pony.
"So, has any of you managed to pick up where you want to go?" Mina asked.
"I don't know, I have too many offers," Izuku said, muttering as he quickly went through the stack of papers on his desk, listing every offer he had received. All the Top Ten, save for All Might, had sent offers, even Endeavor, which sparked his interest. Even Kamui Woods, Death Arms and Mt. Lady had sent offers.
"Wow... you are getting really overwhelmed," Ochaco said, feeling a bit of compassion for her friend-slash-crush.
"Yes, I couldn't even begin to imagine how I would decide if I had gotten such a large amount of offers like him," Momo said, and the group chuckled as Izuku drew himself into a panic trying to pick an option. The chuckles shook Izuku out of his mumbling phase.
"Oh, sorry, I was lost in thought..."
"We could tell, Midori-kun. You're really thinking carefully about this, right?" Mina asked.
"Yeah..." Izuku said, sighing.
"Tetsu and me are picking Fourth Kind!" Eijiro said, and he and his 1-B counterpart high-fived.
"I'm going to choose Gunhead!" Ochaco said with a cheer, surprising most of the others.
"Gunhead? He's a battle type and fights villains! You're going there, Ochaco?" Izuku asked.
"Yep, I got an offer from him!"
"I thought you wanted to be more like Thirteen?" Momo asked.
"Yes, but after fighting Bakugo at the Sports Festival, I realized that I need to become stronger, and Gunhead's martial arts style suits my Quirk. The more I know, the more possibilities I'll have. If I only did what I wanted, I'd have a narrower perspective!"
Katsuki snorted, but chose not to comment as he dug into his food.
"I am still deciding," Yui said.
"Same here," Kinoko and Reiko said simultaneously.
"Bleh, we still have plenty of time to think about this!" Setsuna said, grinning. "Tsuyu and me are going to do some research with Pony here, since she still has some problems with reading her choices."
"Thank you for helping me," Pony replied. Her speaking ability had grown by bounds and leaps, even if she still had a marked American accent.
"Of course, it's the least we could do," Tsuyu said.
"If you ever need some help with what hero does what, you can ask me, I have notes on most of them," Izuku offered.
"We might take you up on that offer," Setsuna answered.
"I was planning to pick Uwabami. She's fairly popular," Momo mused.
"I was thinking of choosing her, too!" Itsuka cheered.
"I... wouldn't recommend her. Unless you two want to be stuck in modeling and advertisement. If it is, then be my guest."
"Excuse me?" Momo asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Uwabami is a popular search-and-rescue hero, like Thirteen, but from what I've seen she prioritizes her modeling job over her hero work. If you intern with her, I wouldn't be surprised if you are stuck with helping her doing a commercial, and if she takes you out on patrol you might end up helping to organize the lines while her fans try to get a signature. No offense, but I think she only picked the two of you because you are pretty."
The girls blushed at the compliment before they shook their heads and checked their list, promptly crossing Uwabami's name from them and starting to check for other possibilities.
"Who are you going for?" Izuku asked Katsuki.
"I'm taking Best Jeanist," he answered. "Top hero in my list, and the old hag suggested I pick him if he offered. Learn from the best so I can be the best, and that shit."
"Not a bad idea," Izuku replied, resuming his check of his list. By the time lunch was over, he had already scratched several names off the list, but nowhere close to an actual choice.
As the setting sun gave the school classrooms an orange glow, the heroes-in-training were preparing to leave for their homes. However, just as Izuku finished packing his things, he was interrupted by the door opening.
"I AM HERE! In a bizarre position!" All Might said, grabbing onto the doorframe to avoid falling to the floor.
"All Might? What's the matter? Why are you in such a hurry?" Izuku asked his mentor.
"I was hoping to find you before you left, young Midoriya! Come with me for a moment!"
Izuku told the girls to just leave without him, to which they all pouted but nodded in agreement. All Might took Izuku to an empty classroom, where he pulled an envelope out of a pocket.
"Getting straight to the point... we received another internship offer for you."
"Huh? What? Really? Who is it?"
"It's..."
That was when Izuku noticed something.
All Might was shaking. And given the expression in his face, it seemed like he was shaking in fear.
"He... his name is G-Gran Torino." All Might actually shuddered. "He-he was my homeroom t-teacher for one year. He also trained me p-personally. A-and... he knows about One for All. That's p-probably why h-he asked for you."
"Wow! Your sensei wants to train m- wait a minute, he also knows about your secret?" Izuku asked. He had believed only he and Principal Nezu knew about One for All.
"Y-yes. He was my mentor's sworn friend, but he r-retired a long time ago, so I forgot to count him as one of those in the k-know." His shaking somehow got worse as he started muttering. "Was it because I wrote of you when I sent him that letter? Or because he just couldn't stand and watch my inadequate teaching? If he went so far as to use his old name to make an offer... it's scary... too scary... stop trembling, legs!"
Izuku began to seriously worry. Who was this Gran Torino, and what had he done that it left the Number One Hero trembling like a leaf at the mere thought of his name?
"Just... how scary is your old teacher?" he asked. All Might just handed him a slip of paper.
"If you pick him... here's his address. What will you do?"
"Well, the list had a lot of really good offers, but if he's really your old master, then what fool would I be to pass the opportunity to train under him? He might be the best option to help me master One for All, so yes, I might take him up!"
"Great! Just one thing I gotta warn you about."
"What is it?"
"DON'T MAKE HIM MAD!"
Izuku jumped away from the shock before nodding at his mentor, who gave him a thumbs up as he finally stopped shaking.
"Good! It's getting late now, so you should head on for home!"
"Very well. I'll see you tomorrow!"
Izuku left the campus, noting that the girls had followed his suggestion and not waited up for him, but before he could leave the campus grounds, a female voice called out to him.
"There you are!"
Behind him, a girl with long, light blue hair was floating towards him, followed by two guys. When they stopped next to him, they were barely winded.
"Uh... who are you three?" Izuku asked.
"I'm Nejire Hado!" the girl said.
"I'm Mirio Togata, this is Tamaki Amajiki, and you must be Izuku Midoriya, the winner of the First Year Sports Festival!" the blond boy said, while the other boy – Tamaki – waved at him. "We saw the Festival, and really wanted to meet you, since you did really well there!"
"Everyone else was doing great as well, not just me," Izuku replied, smiling.
"Oh, don't be so humble, you cute little green bean," Nejire said. Izuku fought the blush as he tried not to look too hard at her. "You showed everyone with that Quirk of yours that you were the most powerful one!"
"Thanks..."
"Anyway, the reason I wanted to meet you... would you be interested in sparring with me?" Mirio asked, smiling.
"Sure, I'd love to... but I really need to get back home now. Maybe when I come back from my internship? I'll have more than enough time to spar, if you want," Izuku replied, putting out a hand. Mirio smiled and shook it.
"That's a deal, then! But you'd better be ready, I won't make it easy!"
As soon as Mirio released him, he was instantly grabbed from behind by Nejire, who pressed him against her.
"You are so soft and cuddly, my cute kouhai!" she said, smiling, and Izuku's previous blush returned with a vengeance, much to Mirio's amusement.
"A-all right, I need to leave or I'll lose my train, sorry, bye!" he said, almost running away from the older girl, waving at the trio as he crossed the gates.
"I can't wait for that spar with him. He will give me quite a fight, I'm sure!" Mirio said, grinning, as soon as Izuku was out of sight. Tamaki looked at him and sighed.
"Don't be like that, Tamaki-kun! It might be another exciting fight, like the ones we saw!" Nejire told her friend, while internally considering her wish to know more about the cute cinnamon roll she had held in her arms for a moment.
Late into the night, as that kind of things usually were, a rougher part of the district saw its un-normal tranquility shattered when four men with skull masks ran through a dark alleyway, one of them carrying a briefcase they had just stolen from a casino.
"Here, take this!" the thug with the briefcase said, handing it to one of the others before he jumped behind the driving wheel.
"Let's roll, man! Step on it!"
"Right!"
The car started up, and the driver put on first gear before stepping on the pedal.
"Hey, there they are!" Three men in suits, quite probably the casino security, run out of the alley, but it was too late, as the car was already on the move.
"SUCKERS!" one of the robbers yelled out from the windows, flipping them off as they rolled into the night.
As they moved into another alley to avoid the sight of the cops, something fell on the ground right in front of them. The driver did not have enough time to react before four explosions rocked the car.
BANG!BANG! BANG!BANG!
The car began to swerve, forcing the driver to slow down.
"What the fuck just happened?"
"Fuckin' tires got destroyed!" the driver yelled as he finally stopped the car.
"Who the hell could've done that?"
Trying to look around for the guilty party, one of the thieves noticed someone coming up to their car from the back and pointed them out to the others.
"Who the hell is that?"
"Someone from the casino security?"
"No matter, it's just one guy. We take him out and we can get out of here by foot."
The hooded figure stopped as the four masked men came out of the car and began to fire their guns at him. The figure stood unfazed as the bullets flew around them before they put one arm forward and pointed at the thieves: a sudden light flashed from inside the sleeve, and blue colored fire shot out from it.
The four thieves were consumed by the flames almost instantly, barely giving them time to scream in pain, and in the end all that was left behind were four charred corpses and a smoking car... but, surprisingly, the briefcase the thieves had taken was intact.
The hooded figure walked over and picked up the case, opening it to reveal it was full of money. Closing it, he left the place, carrying the briefcase with himself. He looked up to see one camera that had caught the entire event, and he snorted, before leaving the camera's field of view, just as sirens began to approach.
The next morning, Kenji Tsuragamae, Chief of Police of the Musutafu Ward, met with Detective Tsukauchi to discuss the events of the previous night.
"What do you think of this, Naomasa?" Tsuragamae asked as the video footage looped back to the beginning for the fourth time.
"Another murder, just as brutal as the others... but this time it's different. These men had just robbed a casino, and the suspect burned them all alive along with their car before taking what had been stolen. I believe this might be a different killer."
"Why do these things keep popping up every night?" the Chief rhetorically asked, snorting. "Now, what does the casino have to say about the robbery?"
"Nothing, so far. In fact, if it were not for the call by a concerned citizen and this video, we might not have known anything was stolen at all. For some reason, the casino hasn't filed a police report, so there's no way to know how much was taken beyond some suppositions, based on that briefcase's measurements."
"Do you think this could be the Hero Killer?"
"No way, it doesn't fit his modus operandi. Stain only goes after heroes, these were a bunch of thieves that had just robbed a casino. The story is all over the net as 'Latest murder, greedy vigilante or score settling?'."
"These are such sad state of affairs. First the USJ incident, then the pedophile murderer, a few days ago the Hero Killer, and now this."
"Don't worry, sir," Tsukauchi said, clapping his superior's shoulder. "We'll get to the bottom of this, sooner or later."
The week had started once more, and with it came the new change for the heroes in training, who had met at the train station for the beginning of their internships.
"I hope you have all remembered your costumes, and that you cannot wear them in public unless the Hero you're interning with gives you the OK. Don't drop them or anything."
"Yessir!" Mina shouted in an excited tone, as she lifted her case above her head.
"Speak clearly, Ashido! It's 'yes, sir'."
"Yes, sir..." Mina said, pouting and mentally calling her teacher a spoilsport while Eijiro patted her on her back.
"Make sure you mind your manners with your heroes, and make sure they are left with a good impression of you. Off with you, now."
"Yes, sir!" the class replied, and slowly they scattered, not without wishing luck to each other. Izuku waved at them all, only to move before Tenya could leave.
"Hey, Tenya-san, wait up!"
The speedster turned to see his friends quickly walking up to him, and he gave them a soft smile, or at least as soft as he was able to.
"Look, Tenya-san, I don't even know what's going through your mind... but, please, if you ever need to talk, for whatever reason, remember that you can call us." The girls nodded in agreement, and Izuku put his hands on Tenya's shoulders. "We're friends, right?"
"Right," Tenya replied, making to leave, but Izuku held firm.
"I'm serious, Tenya. Don't shut us out."
"I'm fine," Tenya said, and Izuku knew again he was lying. The injuries Ingenium had suffered had been a big shock for Tenya, and he could easily feel his friend's distress... but now they had to go their separate ways, and there was nothing he could directly do. "It's time for us to depart. I'll text you when I arrive."
Tenya gently shook off Izuku's hands and walked away from them, almost running to catch up to his train.
"Tenya-kun," Ochaco whispered, worried, while Momo and Mina patted her on the back.
"Attention, the train leaving for Coruscanu Ward will be departing soon!"
"Oh, that's mine, I need to go!" Momo said, panicking. "I'll see you all in a week!"
"See you!" Ochaco replied, hugging Izuku before moving to board her train, something Mina did as well. Izuku watched the girls leave and sent Itsuka a quick text to wish her luck on her internship before boarding his train.
When the train finally reached the right stop, Izuku got off and began to walk towards the address All Might had given him.
'Gran Torino... what kind of hero he is, that even All Might is scared of him? Never heard of him, but he's probably a cool guy!'
When he arrived to the address, though it was most definitely something unexpected: a building that looked like it was close to be condemned. Izuku checked the address again and then the map in his mobile phone.
"Why would All Might's old Sensei live in a dump like this? Maybe he gave me a wrong address? Well, might as well check it out."
He knocked on the door, but as he hit the wood it parted before him, showing that the door had been open – and the lights were off.
"Sorry for the intrusion! I am Izuku Midoriya, from U.A. Height! Does Gran Torino live her-"
His sentence remained unfinished, because the moment he looked down, it was to see a small old man wearing yellow spandex and a cape... lying motionless on the ground in a pool of what he assumed was blood.
Izuku gaped down in horror before leaning to check on the man. Perhaps he was still-
"I am alive!" the old man shouted, lifting his head.
Izuku sighed in relief: he did not want his first day as an intern to begin with him finding a dead body on the ground.
"Man, when I was carrying a string of sausages with ketchup, I tripped over something and fell!" the old man said, dusting himself off before turning on the lights. "That'll teach me to go around without looking where I step."
'Seriously? You had me worried there, and all you can think about is 'mind your step'?'
"Umm, excuse me, but, are you Gran Torino, by any chance?"
"Yes... that's my hero name. Who are you?"
"I'm Izuku Midoriya, from U.A. I'm here to intern with you!"
"What?" the old man dumbly asked, as he put his hand beside his ear.
"I'm Izuku Midoriya!" he said, louder.
"Who are you?"
Izuku felt the irresistible need to palm his face.
'This is All Might's teacher? Either he's truly lost his marbles or he's messing with me.'
"I wanna eat something!" the older Hero said, sitting on the floor.
"You are joking, right? At least, you should wash up the ketchup."
"Toshinori?" the old man asked, perking up as if he had just remembered something.
Izuku looked at the man, not sure of what was going on.
"Sorry, but I am not Toshinori-sensei. Also, I'm not sure of why you're acting like this, but... seriously, drop it."
Gran Torino's expression changed as he immediately stood up again, brushing off his hero costume.
"What gave me up?" the hero asked.
"You were trying too hard. Plus, you were coherent enough to write an internship request, no way you could be this senile."
"Good. Now, fire off a One for All smash at me," Gran Torino said, his tone clearly serious. "I wanna know how well you can handle it, see if my theory is true."
'Are you serious?' Izuku thought as he saw the hero rummage through Izuku's luggage before throwing his hero costume at him.
"This is a good costume. Wear it and fire!"
"Uh, are you sure?"
"Who are you?" Gran Torino asked, once again putting up his 'senile' face.
"Ugh, what's the point!" Izuku yelled out, frustrated with the older hero's antics. "Listen, I don't have time to waste. I need to hurry and master my power as quickly as possible so that I can handle it at 100%, because All Might is running out of time. That's why I can't waste time messing around with you, sir. Please, excuse me."
Before he could leave, Gran Torino took a deep breath and jumped up to the ceiling, only to bounce all over the room so fast that Izuku could barely keep up with him until he landed right on top of him.
"In that case, there's even more reason to fire one off, you zygote! I watched the U.A. Sports Festival, and you were smart and proficient when using your power, but I saw things that told me that you could potentially break the limit if you keep using your two Quirks together repeatedly. But that limit's like a stone wall you need to pass but can't quite bring it out. Toshinori may be the Number One Hero, but he's worse than a novice when it comes to teaching!" Gran Torino stepped away, allowing Izuku to stand up again. "Now, shall we begin, you zygote?"
'Yeah, he was All Might's teacher. Only place where All Might could have learned that phrase,' Izuku thought. Whatever his previous tricks, he was sure that Gran Torino was still the real deal.
"I can't stand watching you waste your potential, so I'll teach you. Now, hurry up, put on your costume and fight me!"
Izuku quickly followed the old hero's orders, noting the several modifications Mei had made to it, and when he was done, he got into a martial art stance.
"I look forward to working with you!"
~Omake~
"My hero name will be..."
'Deku? Dekiru?' Ochaco, Momo, Mina, and Itsuka thought.
"DECADE! The Destroyer of the World!"
Everyone face faulted at this reveal of Izuku's hero name.
"What kind of hero name is that?" Katsuki asked.
"Onore Dikeido!" Neito yelled.
Soundtrack: Morning from Tokyo from Shin Godzilla when Izuku is on his way to UA through a train. Continuing Universe from River City Melee when the students were discussing about their intern offers. Seiji Hokuto from ULTRAMAN when the casino robbery happens along with the appearance of a mysterious figure.
Me: And cut... What do you think so far, Milarqui?
Milarqui: Much shorter than the previous episode, which is a relief. Also, we're starting to get into darker territory, and hopefully Izuku will be able to further buck canon in this arc.
Also Milarqui, I am still going to do side-pairings as I don't want Izuku being the only guy to get love. The confirmed guys getting their own love girl is Eijiro and Tenya. I know there are some users out there that won't like it and know someone *cough*, but it's my story and I get to do what I want with it.
Milarqui: Pity that we won't have Kirishima/Ashido, they are cute and awesome together. Well, let's see where you take this story into!
Izuku gets a lot of recognition! Tenya continues to act strange! 1A and 1B create their hero names! Izuku takes up Gran Torino's offer! Izuku meets the Big Three! Another mysterious figure with a murder! Izuku and company part ways! Izuku meets Gran Torino! Izuku and Gran Torino train! First ever Omake!
NO Flames, Rants, or Negative Comments! Guest reviews will be denied and deleted.
Thank you so much for reading everybody. We'll see you in the next chapter, buh bye!