Chapter 19
"Midoriya, be honest," Todoroki stated as they stood outside the admittedly large gates to the compound, "Are you a Yakuza?" Izuku and Kurono laughed for a second before abruptly stopping.
"Maybe," They replied, dead serious, before resuming laughing again, leaving Todoroki utterly confused. 'What is this? Why are they laughing? What's so funny? What did they mean by "maybe"? are they half Yakuza? Quarter Yakuza? Does being a Yakuza count as like being American or something and can indeed be counted as half or quarter?' These thoughts all raced through his mind as Izuku and Kurono opened the gates to the complex, showcasing the immaculate garden that was kept by that thug with the leafipulation quirk; it turned out he had a passion for gardening.
"In all seriousness though, Todoroki," Kurono said, seriousness replacing humor, "Basically everyone in this complex minus us and Eri are Yakuza. So, if you're talking to anyone, be respectful, don't be nosy, and most of all, do not mention you are Endeavour's kid. Izuku gets a pass because they like him, you will most certainly not get a pass," Kurono looked at Todoroki for a couple more seconds before deciding that the message was understood. With that, they walked through the front up to the door, opening it up to reveal the traditional Japanese interior of the building.
"Yo, kids!" A thug called out as they entered, before glancing at Todoroki, "Hey, uh, who's the new kid?" Izuku gulped. How the hell were they gonna lie about this? These guys have known Kurono for years, there's no way that-
"Hm? Oh, this is my cousin, Hanta. I never even knew I had a cousin till I found out he also goes to UA! He's in a bit of a rough patch right now, so he'll be staying here for a while," Kurono lied as naturally as he breathed, and to Izuku's shock the thug bought it, simply nodding before walking off. Izuku leaned over to Kurono.
"How the hell did he believe that?" he whispered. Kurono raised an eyebrow at Izuku.
"They're thugs Izuku, not trained police officers. Plus, they trust me, so they'll believe what I say if it isn't too ridiculous," Kurono explained, which made Izuku feel incredibly stupid. Stupid or not, the trio makes their way to the kitchen, where they catch Irinaka giving Eri lollies.
"Irinaka," Izuku says, startling the man, "Eri's not allowed to have sweets before tea, isn't she?" Irinaka gulps, and for such a pointy and angry looking man, he sure does give off an aura of fear.
"I-In my defense, Kurono does it too!" Irinaka counters. Izuku spins to look at Kurono, who glares at Irinaka.
"You lying, cheating, piece of-,"
"Izuku! Kurono!" Eri cheers, running up to the two of them before stopping as she catches sight of the currently Kurono-fied Todoroki, "Not-Kurono…" She mutters apprehensively, which makes Izuku and Kurono chuckle. Izuku puts his hand on the head of 'Not-Kurono', and with a quick blitz he reworks Todoroki's face back to normal. His hair turns back to it's dual colour scheme, his left eye fading into blue and the skin around that blue eye turns an angry red, with grooves and marks signifying it's burnt status. When the transformation finishes, Todoroki blinks.
"Well, that was horrifically painful," He deadpans.
"Did it not hurt the first time?" Izuku asks, wondering why he only mentions this now. Before Todoroki can reply however, Izuku noticed that Eri was hiding behind his leg.
"H-He tried to hurt you," She murmured. Izuku began frantically waving his arms in a bid to fix the situation.
"What? No! We were just…playfighting! Yeah! Nobody was going to be hurt!" Izuku explained. He saw Todoroki open his mouth to say something, most likely contradictory to what Izuku said. Izuku glared at him, and Todoroki's mouth shut tight before opening again.
"Uh, yes, that's exactly what happened," Todoroki commented, which was enough to make Eri relaxed and leave Izuku's leg.
"Oh, okay!" She replied before skipping off to her room, probably to do some coloring. She'd definitely gotten a lot better since Izuku had first met her. When she first arrived, she was too depressed to even think about playing, but now there was rarely a moment she wasn't coloring or playing. She liked reading as well, but the Boss had decided to not let Izuku choose books to give her because the last time he tried that he had to watch Eri try and read an extremely scientific book on quirk theory.
("I don't see the problem here, I read that when I was, like, 7!" Izuku said indignantly as the Boss looked at him in disappointment. He sighed as he pinched his nose before looking up at Izuku.
"You were a child genius, she is a regular child," He stated, which made Izuku open and close his mouth, unable to find the words. He looked back over at Eri, and now realized that yes, she had zero idea what the fuck she was reading if the confused look on the visible top half of her face said anything.
"…Good point…")
"Anyways, we'll take you to your room, Todoroki," Izuku said, turning to walk down the hall down the hall before stopping.
"Oh," Izuku said intelligently, "I have no idea where your room is, so we're heading to the Boss first,"
"You're not making a convincing case for you not being a Yakuza, Midoriya. It's almost as obvious as Kendo being All Might's love child," Todoroki replied as if he hadn't just said the most ridiculous thing Izuku had ever had. He turned to look at Todoroki, too confused to even wear any kind of facial expression.
"How are Kendo and All Might even remotely similar?" Izuku breathed as Kurono barely kept himself from laughing. Todoroki just shrugged.
"Similar quirks, heroic drive, style of fighting that primarily consists of punching harder, they both have skin-," That was Kurono's limit, and he immediately exploded with laughter, doubling over on himself as his arrow hair shook from left to right like an old grandfather clock. Izuku just sighed in disbelief and began walking.
"I- let's just go see the boss," He muttered.
"You know, I've never taken a train to school before," Todoroki said as they exited the compound. He'd settled in fine into his room, and once Izuku morphed him into Hanta Kurono again they were ready to go to school. Kurono just chuckled at Todoroki's statement.
"Oh, Todoroki, we don't take a train to school…" Kurono replied as he fished the car keys out of his pocket and twirled them around his finger, "We take the Kurono Express!" Before Todoroki could ask what a Kurono Express was, they were already in the Kuronomobile (it was just a white sedan but whatever) and driving towards UA.
"For a Yakuza, you sure do follow the road laws," Todoroki commented as they waited patiently at a red light, an old pre-quirk English song playing on the radio titled 'Here I Go Again' by Whitesnake. Kurono snorted, his arm resting on the passenger seat next to him.
"Just because we're Yakuza doesn't mean we don't follow road laws! We don't want the world to collapse, we just want money and influence, not that we've had much of the latter since…er, anyways, doesn't matter, because I am not a Yakuza," Kurono added hastily, glancing back at Todoroki as the light turned green. Todoroki narrowed his eyes suspiciously and nodded, muttering "I'm onto you,". Suddenly, everyone lurched forwards as Kurono slammed on the brakes, having barely avoided hitting a pedestrian. Actually, this pedestrian kind of looked familiar. They had chin length white hair and a single uncovered…
"Holy shit, Reiko?!" Izuku yelled as he opened the window and poked his head out. Reiko looked at him in bewilderment before nodding, a light blush on her face. It seemed that she'd been looking at her phone, not paying attention to the road, "Hey, do you want a ride to UA? I swear, Kurono can drive!"
"Um, well, I suppose it would accelerate my efforts in reaching my destination, so I suppose I shall take you up on- wait, I believe I misheard you, did you name the driver as Kurono?" Reiko asked. Izuku smiled sheepishly and shook his head. Reiko sighed but still got in the back seat, "Honestly, I should not have been so shocked at this revelation. Truly, I don't think I would be surprised at all if you had someone such as Todoroki as well in the car," Reiko turned to look at the person in the passenger seat, who waved.
"Oh, that's Kurono's cousin! He's-," Izuku started, but then 'Hanta' had to speak as Kurono began driving again.
"Hello Yanagi-San," He stated calmly, "Wait, I don't think I'm meant to know you. Greetings, strange woman," He added. Reiko raised her visible eyebrow at Izuku, a done look on her face.
"Why on earth is Todoroki located in your car and why does his appearance mimic Kurono?" She asked. Izuku panicked before deciding to counter with another question.
"I dunno, why were you walking instead of taking the train?" Izuku questioned back. Reiko considered answering, but…
"Choke me with your quirk, mummy," A weird, purple midget said to Reiko at the second last stop to the UA Station. Reiko just decided it would be easier to walk the rest of the way than deal with this shit, so she swiftly exited through to the station to begin her pilgrimage to UA.
"…Let us agree to simply not ask questions about either of these topics," Reiko replied, which made Izuku nod. And so, they began to chat.
"So, how come Kurono can drive?" Reiko asked.
"He practiced," Izuku answered, deciding that sounded better than 'he was homeless and wanted to prove he was useful to the Hassaikai so he could join so to do that he taught himself non-stop how to drive until they finally let him in,'. Reiko sighed and looked out the window. Kurono smirked as a devilish idea came to mind.
"So, have you heard that fanfictions have been-," Izuku punched him before he could traumatize Reiko as well.
"Have been what?" Reiko asked, extremely confused as to what had happen. Todoroki- er, no, Hanta Kurono perked up, seeming to know the answer.
"Oh, he must be talking about how people wrote fanfiction about the Sports Festival. I'm pretty sure that the most popular ship is something called IzuReiko," 'Hanta' stated, "Of course, not that I would know who those people are, as-,"
"Todo- fuck, I mean, Hanta?" Izuku said looking at Todoroki with annoyed eyes, trying his best to ignore how Reiko looked extremely cute when she was blushing up a storm, "I fucking hate you sometimes, man,"
"I aim to impress," He replied. Honestly, Izuku wondered if that guy was actually clueless, or a meme lord in disguise.
"Alright, let's talk about the Sports Festival," Aizawa said as he stared at the class, barely stifling a yawn as he grabbed a remote from his pocket, "Frankly, I'm disappointed in most of you. At the very least, you all made it to the second round. If anyone had failed even the first round, they would have been removed instantly," Maybe he was going crazy, but Izuku was almost starting to enjoy Aizawa's critical comments. They were hurtful, but he never sugarcoated it, "Now, the Sports Festival isn't just a chance to make children fight, it's also a chance for you to be scouted from Pro Heroes, and in some cases…" Aizawa pressed a button on the remote, and Izuku felt his jaw drop along with everyone else's as they all saw the information being shown, "You'll even get requests for internships,"
"As you can see, a little under half of you got 10 requests from Pro Heroes, with the longer lasting competitors getting more votes," Aizawa explained, gesturing at the screen. Mina slammed her hands on her desk in outrage.
"That doesn't explain how Midoriya has 12 000!" Mina cried, sounding positively rattled at the revelation, "That's like, 12 000 different heroes! I didn't even get 1! Kaminari didn't even get 1, and he made it to the tournament!" Aizawa flared his quirk, and she quickly shut up.
"First, Midoriya is by far the most versatile out of all of you. He showed leadership, creativity, and that's not even to mention his quirk which is perfect for any type of Hero Work. Combined with getting 1st in every event, of course he'd get 12 000. Don't let that get to your head, by the way," He added, looking at Izuku who simply nodded, "As for Kaminari…do I even need to explain? He lost in 10 seconds and all his opponent did was make a blanket. Nobody wants that over a kid who can manipulate matter, use telekinesis, create giant glaciers, or create anything they want," That made Kaminari sink in his chair from the brutal honesty of the statement.
"YOU'LL NEED HERO NAMES!" Midnight cheered as she slammed the door open, scaring the shit out of the entire class, excluding Aizawa, Jirou, and Shoji, the latter 2 due to their quirks and Aizawa because this was what he was used to, "Oh, too early?" Midnight asked. Aizawa sighed.
"Fuck it. I'm gonna go do something productive. I'll be back in 30 minutes to give you your folders that contain your internship choices. Don't be stupid," And with that, the still clean-shaven and untired Aizawa left, leaving Midnight with his students. Someone coughed, and Midnight strode in, undeterred by the awkward air she had created.
"Anyways, hero names!" She exclaimed, standing behind the teacher's podium, "They are what define you as a hero! They tell others who you are, what you stand for, what you do. Take my name, Midnight! I chose it because it's the hour most people associate with…inappropriate events," Izuku felt the hair on the back of his neck rise at that statement, or, more accurately, the way Midnight said it, "Anyways, today, you will be choosing your hero names! These aren't permanent, but remember! A name you choose now might end up being the name everyone knows you as, especially if you go on to do something noteworthy while using it!
"You'll be writing your hero names on whiteboards. You'll have 10 minutes to come up with your first one, then we'll present, and after that you'll have another 5 minutes to choose a new one and you can present again!" Midnight explained. She then handed the boards to Momo and Kendo, who handed them out to everyone. Immediately, Izuku began writing on his board, his hero name obvious to him. Yes, he would be-
"Wha- hey!" Izuku yelled as his whiteboard marker moved of its own will and scribbled out the word 'Overhaul'. He looked over at Reiko, who looked disappointed in him.
"Izuku, I will not let you name yourself after your quirk. Draw upon your creative mind, for your own sake," She said coldly before going back to her board. Izuku pouted, but nevertheless went back to the drawing board. Alright, if it couldn't be Overhaul, then what else could it be? Well, he guessed he could start with Overhaul and work his way from there. First of all, what did Overhaul mean? Well, that was obvious, it meant to disassemble something to examine it, fixing it if it needs it, before putting it back together. So, he supposed his hero name should have something to do with assembly and disassembly.
Izuku didn't really like the idea of showing himself off as someone who just destroyed things. He'd much rather people focused on how he repaired items, so he would chuck out the disassembly part of it. So, if he was going to focus on reassembly, then what were his options? Izuku thought it out, but he ended up scrapping that idea because nothing sounded right. So instead, he decided to review his ideals.
What Izuku wanted more than anything was to tell the world that heroes aren't decided by where they're born or who their parents are, but by their spirit and their talents. Izuku had seen so many people in the Hassaikai who'd wanted to be heroes but were forced to give up because they were brought up believing they could never be a hero with a background like that. Even more than that, he'd heard of so many heroes who'd abused their position, who turned out to be all bark but no bite, who would save anyone in need, as long as someone was watching. If that was going to change, they need heroes fueled by a desire to save, not a desire for fame or money. Izuku supposed that what he was suggesting was a bit fantastical, but it would be revolutionary to the system, and…
That was it.
Izuku scribbled furiously on his whiteboard, a name finally in his head. When Midnight called up people to present, Izuku was the first person up, beating even Aoyama. He pressed his board firmly on the desk, showing it to the class.
"The Reformation Hero: Revolutionary," That would be his name. He would reform hero society and make it revolutionary, no matter what it took.
"Oh, that's an interesting name!" Midnight commented, looking at his sign, "It reminds me of the time I worked with His Purple Highness as a student. I still miss those times somedays," She sighed dreamily at that last statement before shaking herself out of it and smiling, "I approve! Next!"
They slowly went through everyone, hearing their hero names mostly be rejected (Mina being a prime example with 'Alien Queen'. Nice, but kind of boring). Eventually, Reiko went up, looking slightly nervous.
"T-The Horror Hero: Emily," She explained, showing her sign. Did Reiko like Horror? Izuku supposed that made sense, seeing as the way she held her arms was reminiscent of a ghost (and of Izuku himself, as while it was rarer nowadays, he still occasionally held his arms like that as well). But what was the Emily part about?
"I like the first part, but what's the whole thing with Emily?" Izuku had never before been so grateful for Midnight's presence. Reiko shuffled awkwardly and looked at her feet.
"It's…a reference to a m-movie I like," She muttered, looking and sounding embarrassed. Midnight considered it for a moment before smiling.
"Interesting. It's an unorthodox hero name, so it'll catch attention. Approved!" And with that, Reiko hurriedly walked back to her desk next to Izuku, who smiled at her as she sat down.
"Hey, Reiko?" Izuku said, catching the ghostly girl's attention, "I think your name is really cool, you know that?" She blushed at that, and looked at her desk, a faint smile on her face.
"O-Of course. Thank you, Izuku," She replied.
Izuku looked at the massive stack of papers, which made Kendo's look diminutive by comparison, and her 6000 requests was nothing to scoff at either. All Might, currently in his small form, sighed as he looked at the files as well.
"Of course, you came to me for help," He muttered before cracking his neck and grabbing the top 2 files of each stack of files.
And promptly sliding the rest off the side of the table into a conveniently placed paper shredder. Kendo and Izuku could only gape as All Might calmly tapped the remaining files against the desk before coughing, which caused a bit of blood to dribble out his mouth that he had to wipe off.
"Listen, anything you could learn from someone outside of the top 100, you could learn it better from someone in the top 100," All Might explained, which sated Izuku and Kendo's burning desire to know why the fuck All Might did that, "Combat Heroes are, of course, the more common agency in here. There's a decent amount of Support Heroes, and a few Rescue Heroes. I'd recommend picking either what you think you want to specialize in when you graduate, or something you want to improve on,". Huh. Had All Might been teaching himself to teach or something? Because this advice was far better than any advice he's given on using One for All to Kendo.
"Well, I think I'd be best suited to Combat, sir," Kendo stated, already, flipping through her remaining files and sorting them out, "One for All doesn't really suit a Support Hero, and I'll probably leave Rescue to the people who have better quirks for it," She then glanced at Izuku, who was just looking at the stack of files as if it would help him sort through them any faster, "What about you, Izuku? You got any preference?" She asked. Izuku hummed, picking up his files.
What did he want to do?
While he was aware that his quirk was possibly one of the best for close combat, he didn't really like using his quirk for violence. Sure, it was more 'glamorous' and 'respected' to be a Combat Hero (just look at the Top 10, there's never been a Rescue Hero there, and very few Support Heroes either), but he didn't really care as much about fame, mainly saving people.
So, that left Izuku with 2 options: Support, or Rescue. Truth be told, he definitely liked the sound of a Rescue Hero better. The idea of being there to help someone when they need it most always felt so much more heroic to Izuku than just beating the crap out of villains. But on the other hand, he wanted to learn a bit more about what Support Heroes did, as that also sounded kind of interesting. It'd be nice if he could learn both, but the chances were slim.
"Inbetween Support and Rescue," Izuku replied, scanning the Heroes who had requested him. He was around the 20s now and hadn't found anything interesting.
"24: Rock Lock; 25: Inge- oh, he was crossed…oh, right; 28: Pepsi Man; 29: Majestic, 31: Mister Blaster, 32: W- Oh!" Izuku exclaimed, silencing his muttering as his eyes crossed over the name, or, should he say, names of the Number 32, "I think I know who I want to intern with now!" Izuku showed All Might, who looked at Izuku's choice and smiled.
"Oh, wonderful choice, Young Midoriya! You'll learn a lot with them!" He replied. Izuku then turned to Kendo, who had a steely look of determination on her face.
"Who are you gonna intern with, Itsuka?" Izuku asked.
"I, uh, I feel like I'm making a mistake, but Miruko," Itsuka replied, looking unsure of herself. Izuku smiled widely.
"Miruko?! Oh, you'll be able to learn heaps with her! She's the only other Hero in the Top 10 with a Strength Enhancing quirk other than All Might, and she might even help you refine your style! Given her style of combat though, you'll either pick up insults or kicking. Or both. Preferably kicking though…" Before Izuku knew it, he was muttering again, to the amusement of Kendo and All Might. All Might looked at the clock on the wall, and as he did, he coughed some blood in surprise.
"Good lord, lunch is nearly over!" He exclaimed, grabbing the leftover files and dumping them in the shredder, "Get those to Aizawa as soon as possible, got it?" Izuku and Kendo nodded, quickly leaving the room. Though they didn't say anything, they both knew that they were excited for next week to start their internships.
"Hey, Iida, you good man?" Izuku asked as he finished checking he had everything for the 50th time, "You've been a little off since, well, you know. Oh, and uh, I hope you and your family are coping well. Hey, if you want me to-," Iida stopped Izuku before he could continue his offer.
"I appreciate your offer, Midoriya, but I assure you I am fine! Worry about yourself!" He replied politely. To the untrained eye, Iida looked normal, but Izuku could tell he wasn't doing so hot by the way his mouth was twitching downwards and the sparkle in his eyes was gone. Either way, if Iida wasn't going to talk then Izuku wouldn't force him. He'd probably just been having a rough time since learning his brother was attacked by Stain. It had shocked Izuku as well, even more so to hear that Koryu-Senpai, who apparently interned with Ingenium, was also caught up in the attack. Neither of their conditions were known, but they probably hadn't yet died either, so there was that.
Izuku walked away from Iida and over to Yanagi, who was reading something on her phone.
"Hey, Reiko!" Izuku called out, causing Reiko to yelp and quickly shove her phone in her jacket pocket, as if nothing had happen.
"G-Good morning, Izuku, how are you on this quite invigorating day?" Reiko asked, not making eye contact with him. Izuku just chalked it up to usual nervous Reiko.
"I'm pumped! Hey, you haven't told us yet, who're you interning with?" Izuku asked. Reiko didn't answer for a moment, and Izuku was about to ask again when she replied.
"R-Ryukyu," She whispered, and Izuku smiled like an idiot.
"Ryukyu? That's awesome! She specializes in flight and stuff like Hawks, doesn't she?" Izuku asked, his information on the agency rapidly going to the top of his head, "And even though you can't technically fly, you could probably use, like, a carpet or something to float on. But would your extra weight make it so you're unable to pull it up?" Izuku muttered at the end.
"Izuku, forgive me, but it almost sounded as if you had just denounced me as overweight," Reiko said in a sickly-sweet voice. Izuku blushed and waved his hands around.
"E-Eh? No! No, you're not fat! But if you were that wouldn't make me hate you! In fact, that'd just be more of you to like!" Izuku replied hurriedly, not even thinking about what he was saying. Reiko blushed and chuckled a little, and there his heart went skipping again for some reason.
"I was pulling your leg, Izuku, forgive me," She explained. Izuku just sighed, also chuckling a bit. Reiko gasped and grabbed her bags, "Oh my lord, the train has arrived. I shall hope to commune with you over text later, Izuku," Izuku waved as Reiko left, feeling slightly put-out that she'd left already. At least his train was next.
Izuku watched as city blocks turned to towns, and towns turn to farmland, and farmland turn to rough mountains and hills with little cottages dotted around the landscape. He'd rarely gone out to the countryside that often, but the Hero Agency he was heading to was all the way in the mountains, so he would be crossing new territory for himself.
"Last Stop: Funahashi Station," The Conductor stated over the speaker. Izuku got up, his body creaking after the hours of stillness. He walked off the train as the sole passenger and looked around the empty station. There was a little graffiti, but apart from that the station was well maintained. Izuku grabbed the piece of paper with the address to the Agency he was given and began making his way there. It didn't take long to find it, seeing as the village was tiny, and he was soon knocking on the door of the cat themed heroes' Agency. Izuku only had a second to react as a creature lunged at him, and he quickly rolled to the side, barely avoiding the- wait, was it made of dirt?
Izuku pressed a hand to the ground and created a spike, impaling the creature's leg. Apparently, that was all the force needed as it crumbled to just regular dirt, and Izuku reset the ground with a sigh.
"Hm, pretty good, but still a little rough," Izuku turned to see Pixie-Bob of the Wild, Wild Pussycats, looking at him with a smile a little too similar to Midnight's for his liking, "We're gonna have to train you up hard, kitten!"
Izuku was already regretting coming here.
Extra
Once Reiko was safely on the train, she found the most isolated seat she could find, claiming it for her own as she sat down on it. She pulled her phone back out of her pocket and turned it on.
"Where were we?" Reiko muttered as text filled her screen, "Ah, yes, the scene where Izuku takes initiative and holds my hand, how lewd," She added, contently scrolling through one of many Midoriya Izuku / Yanagi Reiko fanfictions that had been written during and after the Sports Festival.
God, she was such a simp for him.