Chapter 26
"So let me get this straight," Makoto said, jabbing her chopsticks at him. "Endeavor is an abusive piece of crap, and you… You don't want to expose him and get his butt thrown in jail?"
"That would hurt more than it helps," Izuku said seriously. "Endeavor is the number two hero - people may not like him, but they trust him to fight the fights that they can't."
"But aren't heroes supposed to be people to look up to?" she demanded. "Shouldn't they have morals?"
"Ideally, yes. But if you look back at any civilization, I can tell you with almost certainty that their heroes weren't great people. They're narcissistic, they usually don't care about other people, or at least not as much as we think they should, and they're selfish. People don't necessarily care if a hero is motivated by people in distress or the desire to be the top hero. The only thing that separates them from the villain is perspective," Izuku said, they words tinged with weariness. "But does it really matter why the hero is fighting those fights if lives are saved? Does it change the fact that those civilians get to live another day?"
Blinking at the boy, Makoto asked, "Hold up, where did this jaded child come from? Are you the same Midoriya Izuku I met this morning?"
"I want to believe in morally straight heroes just as much as anyone," Izuku defended. "But I also need to be realistic about it. Heroes are human too. They have emotions, they make mistakes. Expecting them to be anything else is unhealthy for them and us. That doesn't mean we shouldn't expect more from them, but idolizing them the way we do is setting society up for failure one way or another. If everything good in this world is supposed to come from heroes, what happens when they don't measure up?"
Makoto opened and closed her mouth a few times, her mind clearly racing. "Dang, kid. Do you take philosophy classes in your spare time?"
"I've just thought about this a lot over the past year," Izuku said. "It kills me to know that Endeavor - and probably other heroes as well - are getting away with things like this. I don't want to condone it, but if we do things right, Endeavor will pay in another way."
"I see where you're coming from now, and as much as I hate it, I think this might be the right way to go. Unfortunately, Endeavor is smart - if he weren't I'd be a lot more useful. Manipulating stupidly vain heroes is my specialty after dealing with Captain Celebrity for so long."
The serious conversation dropped off immediately as Izuku's eyes comically widened. Almost reverently he breathed, "You worked with Captain Celebrity?"
"Yes, and he was the most vain, pigheaded man I've ever met," Makoto said disdainfully.
"Tell me everything."
"I will," Makoto said with a wicked grin, "if you tell me about this Uraraka girl that Saito has told me so much about."
Izuku visibly shrank into himself. "So, I think the first step in investigating Endeavor will be-"
"No, you don't get to dodge the question. Is she or is she not the Uraraka Ochako that is on my list of students to interview?"
"She is," Izuku said slowly, painfully.
"So a hero student then? You're certainly ambitious," Makoto said, wiggling her eyebrows. "Looking for someone with a nice paycheck? If she's good enough, then-"
"No!" Izuku said, scandalized. "I would like her regardless of her wanting to be a hero! She's kind, and smart, and pretty."
It took a moment for his words to sink in, but when Izuku realized what he'd said, he flushed bright red, sinking into himself.
"That's so pure, Makoto said, smirking. "What's your plan of attack for the pretty, smart, kind Uraraka? Send her flowers? A necklace, perhaps?"
"I… I asked her to get boba tea with me tonight after my shift."
"You move fast! I'm impressed, Midoriya. I was afraid you would end up chronically single like my dear brother. But eat quickly, we're going shopping."
"What? Do you think we need disguises to gather information?" Izuku asked before shovelling rice into his face.
"No, we've got all week to gather evidence. We only have a few hours to get you date-ready. I'm assuming that the rest of your closet looks somewhat similar to this, which is unacceptable. Luckily Saito and Sasaki have their lunch breaks soon, so they can help us find something more appropriate," she said, fingers flying across the screen of her phone.
Izuku paled. "No, they can't know about-"
"Too late," Makoto sang, grinning as she triumphantly held up her phone. "The text has been sent. I bet you that one of them will reply within the next five minutes."
"This is a nightmare," Izuku groaned. "At least until we hear from one of them can we focus on the real problem at hand?"
"I would argue that your outfit is a real problem, but I understand what you mean. So, to investigate our target, we're got going to want to stray too far into illegal territory - if he ever found out about this, Naomasa would kill us both. The problem is that our man is most likely good at hiding what needs to be hidden. Also, we need irrefutable evidence or we're going to to have a rather rough future ahead of us. We have probably until Friday until Naomasa starts to get suspicious, so-"
Makoto cut off as the sound of sirens approached. A wicked grin spread over her face as Izuku felt his soul depart from his body. When the flashing lights were visible and his worst fears were confirmed, Izuku abruptly stood up, desperately searching for alternative escape routes. "I… uh, need to use the restroom."
The few other inhabitants of the restaurant looked worried and a little suspicious of him. He hadn't made it far when the door opened and a familiar voice sang, "Oh little Midoriyaaaa-"
Panicked, Izuku ducked into the first place he found, but before he could make it very far down the hallway and find an exit, he was forcibly pinned to the wall with a pair of handcuffs slapped onto his wrists. A small part of his mind wondered if this was how criminals felt when they were arrested - embarrassed, terrified, uncertain. Mostly, though, Izuku was impressed at the speed Saito was able to cuff his squirming form. The station had competitions, but she may have just broken her own record.
What seemed like moments later found Izuku in a mall dressing room while three women pushed more clothing under the curtain. He estimated that he was wearing the seventeenth outfit they had forced him to try on, and they weren't going to like it. As per usual, he couldn't manage to tie his tie correctly, so it looked particularly atrocious with the ghastly polo shirt with lime green polka dots. Even he knew it was a rather unfortunate ensemble, one that Saito immediately vetoed.
"We're just going to get boba, is a tie really necessary?" Izuku complained.
Makoto stared at him with an intensity that was frankly terrifying. She squinted at him before turning around abruptly, disappearing among the clothing racks. Saito and Sasaki glanced knowingly at each other with smug smiles that made Izuku even more nervous.
After a few minutes Makoto emerged triumphant, lobbing a bundle of clothes at his head. "Leave the button-up undone over the t-shirt."
Rubbing at the indent of a button on his forehead, Izuku drew the curtain, happy to get out of the terrible outfit. He was even more excited when he saw the t-shirt Makoto had thrown: a new, extremely soft shirt that featured Edgeshot across it. Izuku eagerly pulled the shirt on, and the coordinating button-down on top of it. That paired with tighter jeans than he usually word along with his red shoes made him feel… confident. A little more put together as well. Before he opened the curtain, Izuku even found himself running his fingers through his hair in an effort to make it even a bit less wild.
When he pulled the curtain open, Saito whistled lowly. "I will pay for that myself, Little Midoriya. Both shirts are actually the right size, and they still fit your personality. That's the one."
They made him wear it out of the store after Saito paid for it all - though it was an impressive fight to see who would pay. They also held the Save My Fanny Pack hostage, claiming that it ruined his whole look. Izuku felt slightly naked without it, but he couldn't change their minds without making himself late. By the time they left, it was almost time for his dat- for his meeting with Uraraka, so Saito and Sasaki swung by the station so he could clock out before they dropped him off in front of UA's gates.
His heart was pounding in his chest, but Izuku only had to venture a few feet onto the campus before he spotted her pacing around the courtyard. He waved, and both of their faces were abnormally red as they approached one another.
"Y-you look really nice," he stammered.
"Thanks, so do you," Uraraka said, hands fiddling with the bottom of her shirt. They stood there for a few extended moments, valiantly not making eye contact until Uraraka said, "Should we get going?"
"Oh! Oh yeah, we're… We can head over there now, I hope walking is okay," Izuku said, the words a bit rushed.
He'd memorized the route to the cafe last night thanks to the help of the internet, so Izuku walked confidently. Once he asked how training for the ultimate moves was going, the tension melted away, allowing them to settle into a comfortable conversation. A part of him felt like he was being watched, but Izuku couldn't pinpoint anyone suspicious - he was probably just nervous.
Ordering and paying for the boba was an easy process, the trick was getting it to where Uraraka was sitting without tripping or spilling anything. When he finally made it over to her, his hands were shaking slightly from anxiety. "Here you go."
"Thanks," she said with a strained smile.
In sync they took a sip, and when it stayed silent between them they took another. And another. Then, at the same time, they began.
"Midoriya, I have to-"
"Uraraka, I have something-"
They both cut off with a laugh and said at the exact same time, "Sorry, you go first."
Awkwardly adjusting his shirt sleeve, Izuku said, "Really, you go first."
"Oh, um… Midoriya, I like you," Uraraka said, face pink as she wasn't quite able to meet his eyes. "I think you're really interesting, and I'm flattered that you asked me on this date! I just… I'm in the hero course, and I need to focus on that right now. I'm so sorry, I didn't want to hurt your feelings, but I also didn't want to lead you on!"
Uraraka was clearly plagued with panic and regret, but Izuku wildly shook his head. "No, not at all! I actually wanted to say something similar - I need to focus on becoming a detective before I think about anything like a relationship, and I'm being sent on a long-term undercover mission soon, so I wouldn't be able to see you or talk to you, which wouldn't be fair, and I probably shouldn't have told you that for legal reasons, but Detective Tsukauchi said…" he trailed off, forcibly stopping himself. "Sorry about the muttering, I got the habit under control a while ago. It only seems to be a problem when I'm around you. Not that that's a bad thing! I, uh… I'll shut up now."
The girl across from him searched his face intently. "Do you really mean it?"
"We're both young, romance can come later. But the sooner I become a detective, the more people I'll be able to help. I've got a goal, and I won't give up on it," he said, clenching his fist and feeling vaguely like an anime protagonist. "I've been given an opportunity I can't pass up."
"That's exactly how I feel about U.A.," she confessed with a smile.
"Can we still be friends, though?" Izuku asked hesitantly. "Like, I'll text you when I'm not undercover and stuff, and when we've both reached our goals we can… see what happens?" He awkwardly gestured between the two of them, blushing profusely.
"Sure," Uraraka squeaked, her face equally red. "It will be like a competition, who will reach their goal first?"
"You're on," Izuku said with a grin. The conversation fell into a comfortable pater once again until it was time for Uraraka to get back to the school.
He was almost sad to drop her off at the gates, but they swore to make plans together again soon.
Izuku's mind was full as he found his way down the street - things had gone far better with Uraraka than he could have ever hoped, and he could dedicate all of his energy to saving Todoroki. Everything was-
"What was that?"
No, please, don't let it be-
"Seriously, Little Midoriya? After all the effort we put in?" Saito demanded, storming down the street.
Izuku turned to face the three approaching women, making sure to move backwards to keep some distance between them. "We both have dreams, this made the most sense."
"You couldn't divide your attention for her?" Sasaki asked, wings fluttering angrily. "You just friendzone her and walk away?"
"It was mutual!" he said, surreptitiously glancing around for some escape route. "And were you three spying on me? Don't you have jobs to do?"
Makoto shrugged, but it was clearly the wrong thing to say. The look in the officers' eyes could only mean bad things, so Izuku turned on his heel and sprinted away from the women as fast as his body allowed. The whole while Saito and Sasaki yelled their justifications for the invasion of his privacy, and something about him and Uraraka having cute babies together.
Excerpts from Izuku's Analysis
Name: All Might (civilian name unknown)
Age: Unknown
Height: 220 cm (7'2")
Occupation: Hero
Physical Description: [redacted]
Personality: [redacted]
Quirk: [redacted]
Notes: For both security and personal reasons, this entry has been largely removed.
A/N: Hello my lovely readers, I am here! This chapter in particular was a little harder for me to write just content wise, and that was in part because my maternal grandmother just passed away. She had pretty severe Alzheimer's, and my family and I moved when I was in high school so we could take care of her, so it hit me pretty hard. Once again, thank you all for being such kind, patient readers! Your comments always encourage me.
I realize that this chapter is a bit all over the place. You can thank my Medieval Lit class for the whole "what qualifies as a hero" rant that Izuku goes on at the beginning. We had a very similar discussion in that class, and I was throwing down on behalf of my morally ambiguous children. Grettir, sweetie, you'll always be a hero in my heart. But seriously, though, I still think that Endeavor is a piece of trash for the treatment he's given his family, but exposing the number two hero would topple the BNHA society. It would be a mess, so he's going to have to pay in other ways.
You can thank Kit for most of the antics the officers and Makoto pull. If she had any say in it, there would have been a lot more - some hiding in bushes, disguising themselves as waiters, you know, all the great tropes. I also need to apologize to the people who are here for IzuOcha. This is turning into a very slow burn, I know, and here I finally give you a taste of it before ripping it away from you. I am aware that it's a jerk move, Kit already yelled at me. But I feel that this is very in character for both of them, and I didn't want to cheat. I've said before, once I get done with the Overhaul arc we're going to have a pretty drastic time skip to where the prologue comes in. I didn't want to cheat you all from seeing their relationship progress, and it would be kind of jarring to go from their first date directly to being a year or so into a committed relationship.
I know I say this a lot, but thank you all for sticking with me this long. Twenty-six chapters is no joke. I was doing some research for an essay, and Detective Midoriya is officially in the average book length range. I have emotions about this, but I don't know what to name those emotions. But it would have never made it this far without all of your support and comments, so thank you! (Also, kudos to those of you that caught the Arson reference in my last chapter.)