"So I heard whispers about a provisional police officer," Gunhead said as casually as one could in the middle of an intensive sparring session.
Izuku huffed a laugh, barely audible over his panting. "You're not going to distract me." Lightning quick, he blocked the killer strike that would have felled most men. "But I'm not an officer yet, I'm just going through the Police Academy."
Taking a step back, the two fighters circled one another, something predatory in their stances. "I noticed Ojiro wasn't on your list of interns." In the blink of an eye, Izuku lunged for Gunhead, hoping to throw the man off guard.
He should have known it would never word. The pro hero saw it coming a mile away, catching Izuku's arm and using it to fling him onto the mat, his back making an impressively loud slapping noise.
A squeak sounded from the doorway, making both fighters look. A group of kids that Izuku recognized as some of Gunhead's dojo students stood with a few hero students. It was hard to tell since Izuku was looking at them upside down. He narrowed his eyes. The girl in front looked familiar.
It was the girl Saito and Sasaki had teasingly been calling his girlfriend since the USJ incident. He had made the mistake of watching the Sports Festival with the police station, and whenever she did anything, the two extolled the virtues of strong women to a degree that made Izuku want to die. Surprisingly, in those moments the most bearable officer was Mori, as he just shushed everyone else.
Izuku wondered whether or not he would be able to convince Gunhead to keep quiet about all of this. If Izuku didn't interfere, Gunhead would tell Valiant, who would tell Officer Sohma, as the two had a history of working together in the prime of their careers. Sohma would gush about it to the rest of the officers, which would be an absolute nightmare. Sasaki and Saito were already practically engraving wedding invitations for Izuku and the girl, based on their short interaction after the USJ incident.
Once Detective Tsukauchi heard, he would take it upon himself to have an awkward conversation with Izuku about girls and the proper way to approach such situations, which Izuku was definitely not ready for. (When Tsukauchi had learned about Izuku's total lack of paternal direction, he had taken it upon himself to give him the lessons that men needed most.) Then somehow in the midst of it all his mom would find out, which would lead to a lot of tears and an even more awkward conversation.
Gunhead had to be stopped at all costs.
Not that Izuku didn't like her based off of their short interaction, she was actually a really cute girl - was it offensive to call an aspiring hero cute? The point was that the girl had likely been in shock when they had met, and he had been nervous over his first EMT call, and-
"Midoriya," Gunhead interrupted in a murmur, low enough that only Izuku could hear, holding out a hand to help the boy up. "Are you okay? You're muttering, you haven't done that in a while."
As he clambered to his feet, all of his blood rushed to Izuku's face, which was turning a bright red color that tomatoes would be jealous of. "Oh my gosh, you didn't actually hear what I said, did you? Did they? Oh no, you can't tell anyone at the station about this. Please Gunhead!"
After a moment, the pro hero realized just what was going on, somehow blushing through his mask. "Is it the hero intern? Do you think she's pretty?"
Izuku squeaked, burying his face in his hands while the students filed in, taking their places. Ochako hadn't caught any of what was being said, but it took everything in her not to react to how Gunhead and the boy he'd been sparring with were standing - their poses were just too cute!
The boy looked familiar for some reason, though it was hard to pinpoint where Ochako might have known him from when his face was so red. Gunhead stopped whispering to the boy, straightening up. "As you all know, you're here to become better fighters, to be more prepared to help people in any situation. Those of you that are training to become heroes, pay attention. Too many heroes are overly dependent on their quirks, but as pros we should have other means of resolving situations at our disposal. Some quirks, like my own, are too risky to use in many situations. So learn well, it will literally save lives."
A weighty silence fell over the room, each participant contemplating the gravity of the situation. Gunhead continued, "But we can still enjoy our time together. In fact, I expect it. Today we have a special guest to help you learn. This is Midoriya Izuku."
Ochako's head snapped up at the name Midoriya. That's where she knew him from, he was the EMT who helped her after the USJ! But why was he here, was Gunhead expecting them to get hurt that badly?!
All eyes were on the two at the front until Gunhead nudged Izuku. "You're supposed to introduce yourself."
"Oh!" he stammered. "Like Gunhead said, I'm Midoriya Izuku. I've been practicing Martial Arts for just about a year now, so I'm by no means an expert, but I look forward to helping each of you!"
Midoriya's nervous habits were confusing to Ochako - he had been so confident after the USJ, but now he could barely form a full sentence. Regardless, Ochako felt strangely compelled to get to know him better.
"We only have Midoriya for today, unfortunately, so he is going to help me demonstrate the most important things you need to know," Gunhead said. "Remember to only use Gunhead Martial Arts, Midoriya. We don't want to confuse them with all of your fancy techniques."
"Got it. You can be the attacker first," Izuku offered.
"Are you sure?"
Izuku stretched. "I need to work on my defense against knives. Let's do it."
Ochako tensed as Gunhead produced a knife that certainly looked real and rushed Midoriya. However, in a blur of green motion, Midoriya held the knife in one hand, and with the other he held Gunhead at arm's length.
One of the boys blinked. "Wait, what just happened?"
"This is what we're going to show you," Gunhead said. "Midoriya is going to come at me a lot more slowly than I came at him, and we'll go through every movement."
They continued like that for some time, demonstrating the most vital moves. When he thought it was sufficient, Gunhead said, "Okay, pair up and let's practice."
Immediately all of the attention in the room snapped to Midoriya with the same desperation of people who wanted, nay, needed, the smart kid in their group for a school project. However, for whatever reason, Gunhead pushed the boy forward. "You're going to work with Uraraka."
Izuku flushed, nodding. He shuffled over to the girl, not daring to meet her eyes. That didn't stop Ochako, though.
"You're that boy that helped me after the USJ! I thought you were an EMT, what are you doing here?"
"The whole EMT thing is just a hobby, kind of like Martial Arts," Izuku said, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck. Internally, though, he was celebrating. He was successfully talking to a girl! Awkwardly, he offered her the knife. "You try attacking first, so you can get a feel for the motions."
As the two practiced the motions again and again, Ochako couldn't help but wonder about this boy. Before he took the knife from her, she was awed at his easy, fluid movements. After, she was fascinated (and thankful) by his control. Every movement was deliberate, and his eyes held mass amounts of intelligence.
It was when they were taking a quick breather that Ochako finally worked up the courage to ask him the question that had been haunting her. "Why… What do you want to do if being an EMT is just a hobby?"
"Well, I originally wanted to be a hero," he said, slowly hunching in on himself. "I wanted to be one for as long as I can remember. But that's just not possible for me."
"What? You're really talented, Midoriya! Why would you think you couldn't be a hero?" Ochako asked.
"I'm quirkless," he said, smiling bitterly. "I had plans, ways to become a hero without one, but a certain pro told me it just wasn't possible. But I wanted to be a hero to help people, to save them. Heroism isn't the only way to do that, so I'm learning all of the things I can that might help someone one day. My goal now is actually to be a detective!"
Ochako couldn't help but smile at how bright the boy in front of her was. She was sad to hear his story, true, but she could already tell he was going to be a great detective. However, she felt conflicted. Before today, if someone had asked if a quirkless person could be a hero, Ochako would have probably said no. But something told her Midoriya could have done it. After all, she had classmates that probably wouldn't stand a chance against him sparring.
After all, quirks weren't everything.
Throughout this conversation, neither teenager noticed that Gunhead was listening in, taking note of every word. He wanted nothing more than to find whatever hero had hurt Midoriya so deeply and shake them. He had no doubt that Valiant would feel the same way.
Izuku and Ochako continued practicing, casually talking throughout. "I never got the chance to ask you, what's your quirk?"
"It's called zero gravity," she said. "I'm sure you can guess what it does." Ochako liked her quirk, but it was nowhere near as impressive as Bakugo's, or Todoroki's.
But Midoriya had stars in his eyes. He opened his mouth, a thousand questions dancing on his lips when he saw a clock. "Oh no, I'm going to be late! I have to catch a train, but I would love to hear about your quirk! I have so many questions!"
Suddenly Gunhead was there. "Why don't you give her your number?"
The boy startled at the sudden presence of the hero, emitting a little squeak. "Gunhead, what are you-"
"You're going to be late, Midoriya, just give her your number," the hero said, pressing pen and paper into his hand.
Nodding, Izuku hurriedly scribbled his number and pressed it into Uraraka's hands before yelling his goodbyes and sprinting out the door. As he ran, it fully registered what he'd just done. He'd just given away his number.
A cute girl had his number.
He thought about that almost the whole train ride to Hosu, but once he was there he had to really concentrate. Izuku found himself on the college campus with little recollection of how he had gotten there, excitement building every second he stood there.
Maybe he was being overly dramatic, but Izuku couldn't help but feel that this was the true beginning of a new portion of his life. Even more than starting the Police Academy, Izuku felt like this was what would get him where he wanted to be. He had always pictured going to U.A. as the next step to his future, but somehow this felt right. He couldn't wait to meet Dr. Meiji in person and really start his college career in earnest.
Izuku stepped forward eagerly, clutching his backpack and duffel bag, once more incredibly grateful for how lucky he'd been thus far in life. But it seemed that the boy's life could never be easy, nor simple. He had no idea what the rest of the week held in store for him. Debatably, the worst misfortune of all was that Izuku had forgotten to talk to Gunhead about not sharing sensitive information.
Whoops.
A/N: I'm back at it again when I really should be sleeping! I hope you all enjoy the chapter, this was a fun one to write. As always, your comments are a great inspiration to me! I'm sure you already have some guesses on what is going to happen in Hosu, but join me next week to find out!