All for One was trying to provide himself with an escape plan, should all else fail. So far, he was unsuccessful.
As the medical robots cleaned off his waste, he raged as he tried, once again, to fix his injury by using Neural Rewrite, the Quirk that was most instrumental in his survival the first time that All Might subjected him to a United States of Smash (thus solidifying the man as "All Might" rather than simply "the eighth host"). And finally, finally, managed to succeed in producing a single neuron that connected the two cauterized sections of his spinal cord…
And then he instantly severed the connection himself as he endured a second of pure, white-hot agony.
Was there a way for him to do this properly? Yes. Demonstrably so, he'd essentially regrew his brain from scratch all those years ago. The problem was that back then, he still had possession of Diagnosis.
It was amazing how much raw knowledge that Quirk gave him. He had a perfect intuitive understanding of anatomy, of any creature's anatomy, thanks to Diagnosis. The instant he pulled that Quirk out of that paramedic, he might as well have graduated from medical school with honors.
Now, he struggled with the equivalent of "the thigh bone's connected to the hip bone". He tried unsuccessfully to latch nerve endings together, which made sense as he couldn't actually see the damn things and now, thanks to his injury, he couldn't feel his body correctly either!
He snarled as he abandoned his work for the moment. At least his previously rewritten neurons were enough to keep his body's involuntary systems working, even if he couldn't move or feel below the neck. His severed spine would have been lethal otherwise.
For now, he concentrated on his hoard. He focused on his most valued Quirks that he had stored near his core. He frowned as he realized Infrared had strayed from his side and brought it closer to his copy of All for One. Keeping all of them secure was quite the task, after Kyuseishu's theft of his collection.
It didn't matter that he had over a thousand Quirks, or that he couldn't use most of them, or that he could scarcely recall what many of them did, it was the principle of the matter!
His original Quirk was safe, ready to be implanted into Tomura. Once it did, he'd be able to access his hoard in either body, and he'd have the ability to restart his empire anew.
He just needed patience.
Hitoshi Shinso felt utterly sore as he made it back from his extracurricular training. He was nearly out of the forested area before he saw Izuku in a clearing and observed the boy winding up a punch, his arm seeming to coil in on itself, before he released it, creating a gust of air with a cry of "Texas Smash!" Debris was sent flying as dust and wind kicked up in the wake of his punch.
Letting out a low whistle, Hitoshi walked up, "Damn… Never ceases to amaze me how crazy your power gets. If we face each other in next year's Sports Festival, I'll concede first thing."
"Hey, Shinso-kun!" Izuku said, smiling widely as the wild-haired boy approached. "How're you doing?"
"Wondering how you in 1-A survive Aizawa-sensei," Hitoshi said. "Man's a slavedriver."
"At this point, I'm attributing it to divine intervention," Izuku replied. "Is Akira with you?"
"We're not attached at the hip," Hitoshi said, rolling his eyes. "He's working with Present Mic while Eraserhead's teaching me to use his capture weapon."
Izuku's eyes sparkled, "That's so awesome! His capture weapon is such an amazing tool to use in combat! He's given me pointers ever since Blackwhip manifested!"
"Meanwhile, you're trying to blast things with wind pressure. Were the lasers not enough for you?" Hitoshi said with a smirk.
Izuku scratched the back of his head, "Well, I like having multiple tools in my arsenal… No good Hero is a one-trick pony after all…"
"Yeah, I learned that lesson fairly quickly…" Hitoshi mused, as he thought back to his first day at U.A…
It was the first day of classes and Hitoshi was determined to get through it unscathed. That lasted until their homeroom teacher (who he still had trouble believing was Present Mic ) had them introduce themselves. Including their Quirks.
Damnit. That would throw a wrench in things…
Finally, he was called, and Hitoshi decided to play the aloof, unbothered figure previous school experiences taught him to become, "My name is Hitoshi Shinso. My Quirk is called Brainwashing, and it allows me to take control of a person's body. I wanted to become a Hero with this Quirk but failed the Practical Exam. I aim to take a seat in the Hero Course following the Sports Festival, so if my Quirk disturbs you, I will do my best to get out of your hair immediately."
Hitoshi sat down and Present Mic shook his head, "Look, Shinso-kun, this school is meant for all audiences. No one should make anyone else feel down because of their Quirk. U.A. doesn't allow any bullying of any kind, especially when it comes to Quirk status! Anything happens, let me know and they'll get dropped from the lineup."
Hitoshi nodded along. It was the typical cover-your-ass line schools gave before doing absolutely nothing, possibly even encouraging the abuse. He tuned out everything else, even the loud, excitable guy with the crazy colored pompadour seated directly behind him.
That backfired when the loud guy caught up to him after school, "Oi! Shinso-kun!"
Sighing, Hitoshi said, "What do you want?"
"You've got such a cool Quirk! We should team up for the Sports Festival!" the loud guy said.
Hitoshi stared at him. He almost commanded the boy to leave him alone, but that was such an unexpected statement that he didn't take the opportunity. He just asked, "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely! I know we're all gonna be rivals once we get to the last event, but guys like us need to stick together and make sure we make it through the first few rounds!" the loud guy said.
"... I don't know who put you up to this or why, but I'm not falling for it," Hitoshi said, not believing him.
"I'm serious, man! You're the only other guy in 1-C who wants to be a Hero! Most of 'em want to try a different career. Yeah, there's others complaining about how they couldn't make it past the robots in the Entrance Exam, but most of them don't care! They gave up! You're the only other person I know who wants to win! That's really cool of you!" the muscular boy shouted.
Suddenly, Hitoshi saw his body get engulfed in red light. He almost gave an order for the other kid to pants himself or do something else embarrassing, but he realized that the light felt good. He felt stronger, less tired. He blinked his eyes, no longer quite so heavy, and he asked, "What did you do to me?!"
"Aw, sorry, I usually have a better handle on my Quirk than that," The redhead scratched his head.
"What is your Quirk?!" Hitoshi asked. The other guy blinked, and Hitoshi sighed, "There was a lot to deal with today, I don't really remember your introduction."
"No sweat, my man! I'm Akira Fuki! My Quirk is Pep Talk! If I compliment someone, I can give them a boost in their physical abilities for a while!" The kid, Akira, said, smiling.
"... Huh," Hitoshi said, swinging his arms experimentally. He was still unsure about the guy, but he couldn't deny that this would be useful to use for the Sports Festival. "You couldn't get in with this?"
"Can't use it on myself," Akira said wistfully. "Maybe if I knew about Rescue Points beforehand, I could've given everyone a pick-me-up and possibly skated in, but hindsight, you know?"
Hitoshi winced. He got fifteen Rescue Points in the exam, for using his Quirk to calm down someone who was panicking because they got injured. Recovery Girl had him do it for others as the exam drew to a close. It wasn't enough to pass. At the time, it felt like an insult, like they were pity points. It didn't make up for his failure, so it was almost a slap in the face.
"It's a biased test. People like us couldn't get any Villain Points and we weren't told about Rescue Points so we couldn't try for it that way…" Hitoshi scoffed.
"You didn't get any Villain Points?" Akira tilted his head questioningly.
"... You did?" Hitoshi said. "I thought you said your Quirk didn't work on yourself…"
"Well, yeah, but I've got these," Akira flexed his arms. "Worked hard to build myself up so I could try regardless! Managed to get sixteen Villain Points, twenty-three Rescue Points!"
Hitoshi looked like he was recalculating everything he knew, "But how did you… what?"
"Yeah, the robots were intimidating, but they weren't that strong. They were made to be broken. I was told that I just missed the cutoff. Asked Present Mic when I got the chance, and the lowest qualifying score was a forty-one…" Akira said.
Hitoshi was stunned. It was possible to get Villain Points without a flashy, combat-oriented Quirk.
It just wasn't possible for him to do it as he was.
"Honestly, the robots weren't the problem. Biggest problem is that other kids got to them quicker or could deal more damage or find 'em more easily. We had this kid with engines in his legs zooming around, another kid who shot huge lasers from his bellybutton…" Akira started to get into it, excited about the actions of the people who surpassed him. "I got pulled out of the way of a missile by the exam's top scorer, this kid covered in green lightning, who went around shattering bots and saving people left and right. Hell, he even punched out the Zero-Pointer when it was gonna run over this one girl! Manliest thing I've ever seen…"
"He… punched out the Zero Pointer?" Hitoshi was shocked. Everyone ran like gazelles once that behemoth showed up.
"Yeah, he destroyed it! Like, one punch, and it burst into pieces and flew over the entire city!" Akira said excitedly.
Hitoshi looked at his hands, then asked, "How powerful can you make someone with your Quirk?"
"I think the most I got was half their base strength added for twelve hours?" Akira scratched his head. "I don't know, don't have the head for numbers. But it all depends on how tough or quick you already are before I use my Quirk on you…"
Hitoshi looked at Akira's muscled form, then back at his own scrawny, toneless body. The other boy managed to get sixteen Villain points. But there was someone who could punch a skyscraper in half in the Hero Course. Sure, his Quirk could stop a person without a fight, but if that failed somehow… How could he face up against that?!
How could he survive that?!
"I think I need to train," Hitoshi said dejectedly.
Akira brightened up, "Of course, buddy! I'll help you out!"
"You okay?" Izuku said, interrupting Hitoshi's train of thought.
"Sorry, just reminiscing," Hitoshi said. "Akira and I will have to see what 1-C does for the School Festival in our absence…"
"What's 1-B doing?" Izuku asked curiously. "We've got a musical performance planned…"
"We're doing a butler cafe," Hitoshi said, as they began to walk back to the dorms. "Some of us wanted to do a play, but no one wanted to dress in drag for the female roles. Then Sato-kun brought up how he gets hired by people for pastries and that settled it."
Izuku blinked, "Wait, Sato-kun's baking skills are for hire?!"
"I don't think he's open," Hitoshi clarified. "Shishida-kun and Kaminari-kun have been his top customers so far. Mostly for their girlfriends."
"Wait, I know Kaminari-kun's dating, but I didn't know about Shishida…" Izuku perked up.
"He's with 1-E's representative. Togeike-san," Hitoshi said. "They teamed up for the cavalry battle."
"Oh yeah, I remember that. Too bad she didn't make it past that," Izuku said, frowning.
"Don't worry about it, she didn't even want to transfer," Hitoshi shrugged. "That's why she didn't join me and Akira when we offered. Said she wants to be a doctor. She was just sick of some of her classmates complaining about not getting in the Hero course and disparaging her for not taking the practical exam at all, so she wanted to beat them and shut them up."
"I can respect that," Izuku said. "Guess this is why Agoyamato-kun has been glaring at Shishida-kun in the representative meetings…"
"Who?" Hitoshi asked.
"1-E's vice rep," Izuku answered. "He actually looks a lot… like…"
Izuku's voice petered out as he saw a boy with a pronounced chin and a black pompadour staring and pointing at Akira, who had a matching expression while also staring and pointing.
"Let me guess, that's him?" Hitoshi said, looking exasperated.
"Yes," Izuku said.
"Please tell me we haven't found a fourth one," Hitoshi pleaded.
"He'd be the sixth. I've already met two others," Izuku said, exhausted.
"Welp, that settles it, God is dead," Hitoshi slumped.
"Impossible, Momo-chan's still alive," Izuku said, acting offended.
"Then Nezu's messing with us," Hitoshi replied.
"I mean… yeah? That's kind of a given with him," Izuku shrugged.
"Zukkun…" Nejire (trying out a new nickname on the fly) slumped onto Izuku's shoulder after the day's Heroics class was finished. "Carry me back. I'm tired."
"Given the various sources of energy you have, I highly doubt that," Izuku said, smiling as he prepared himself. "Is piggyback all right? Bridal carry would be a bit much on campus during the daytime."
"Better than a fireman's carry, I guess," Nejire said, pouting slightly, but enjoying the feeling of cuddling him from behind while he held her in his arms. "Mmm… This feels so nice…"
"It does," Izuku said. He noticed a reflective surface and tilted his head to the side, "Huh, I'm not blushing. That's new."
"We've successfully inoculated you to PDA! It's a miracle!" Nejire said slowly.
"Are you okay, Nejire-chan-senpai?" Izuku asked. "I was joking, but you tend to just be… on all the time…"
"Before I got really good with my Quirk, I'd drain too much stamina and collapse. People had to carry me places. Now, I don't need anyone to carry me like this, but I still like it. It makes me feel safe…" Nejire nuzzled into Izuku's neck.
"Makes sense…" Izuku said. As they were getting into the public, Izuku switched to telepathy, "I like this, too. You might be stronger than me, and not need protection, but I like making you feel safe."
Nejire let out a happy murmur as he said that, then looked at an approaching figure, and waved at her, "Yuyu-chan! Hiiiii~!"
Yuyu Haya made her way to the pair, "Hey, Nejire-chan! Midoriya-kun." There was definitely a difference in her enthusiasm. "I see Nejire-chan's roped you into transportation duty."
"I think you mean transportation privilege, Haya-senpai," Izuku said, smiling widely.
Yuyu nodded, her face showing grudging approval, "I know that getting you to do… anything when you're like this is impossible, but we need to prepare for the beauty pageant, Nejire-chan."
Nejire groaned, "I don't know why I've lost the last two years!"
"That does seem wrong," Izuku said. "I mean, on the one hand, everyone at U.A. is attractive in some way, shape, or form. On the other hand… you're Nejire-chan! What's better than that?"
"On the one hand, you're speaking the truth," Yuyu said. "On the other hand, aren't there, like, ten other girls that you're dating?"
"Seven girls," Izuku corrected.
"That we're dating, Yuyu-chan!" Nejire harrumphed. "And they're all gorgeous sweethearts, too! It's not a competition!"
"Unless they join the Beauty Pageant, too…" Yuyu replied.
"None of them are," Izuku replied. "Partly because if I was forced to choose only one of them, the strain would give me an aneurysm."
"Kendo-chan's joining from 1-A," Nejire said, humming. "She said she wasn't gonna do it, but I told her I wanted her to try, and if I lose to one of the kouhais I'm training I'll be happy enough on their behalf!"
"So adorable," Yuyu said under her breath.
"Agreed, one hundred percent," Izuku said, causing Yuyu to blush as she wasn't intending to be heard.
"You're heading back to the dorms?" Yuyu changed the subject.
"I need to drop Nejire-chan off before dance practice," Izuku said.
"Noooo!" Nejire protested. "I need more time snuggling!"
"I can't skip out unless I'm hospitalized, Nejire-chan," Izuku said, going slightly pale. "The last thing either of us want to do is make Ashido-san angry."
"Is she a part of your little love polygon?" Yuyu asked.
"No, she just takes dancing extremely seriously," Izuku confirmed.
"Just do the dances with me there!" Nejire said. "I've seen you lift, you can definitely dance with me on your back!"
"Honestly, I wouldn't mind seeing that," Yuyu replied, smirking. "It's always fun to see Nejire pull the baby koala routine."
"Plus Ultra," Izuku said, accepting his fate.
A few days before the School Festival, Izuku, Momo, and Pony were seated facing a holographic depiction of a teenaged anthropomorphic jaguar. Several other members of 1-A were there as well, namely Mina and Fumikage, with others floating in and out.
"[I'm glad we'll be able to work together]" Tigre said, using English. "[We're all quite excited for a chance to encounter extinct animals, and I'd love to introduce my classmates to you all…]"
"[We are curious about the language barrier, Hyouhen-kun]" Momo interjected. "[Save for Melissa-chan and Tsunotori-chan, none of us have any familiarity with Spanish.]"
Switching to Japanese, Tigre said, "I have been practicing. Better with Japanese than last time. Can translate if needed. Teachers prefer using English as shared language, and if real emergency, Pensadorado can translate."
"Pensadorado?" Mina asked.
"Classmate's Hero name. Pensador means thinker, dorado means golden. His Quirk creates mind network shared between fifty people, can share languages between people. Other uses, too," Tigre explained.
"Can't we just use his Quirk, then?" Mina said. "English is such a messed-up language."
"Would be fine with normal Hero teacher," Tigre said. "La Cucaracha Colorada not very strict."
"Wait, you're being taught by the Red Roach?!" Pony asked. "He's fairly popular in the US, too!"
"Yes, but Mexico's top Hero beginning transition to retirement," Tigre said, freezing up a little. "Begun teaching job at Santo Kaliman. Coming with us to Kuraudo Island."
"And who is Mexico's top Hero?" Fumikage asked.
Izuku burst in, "That's the Volcanic Hero, Popocatepetl! He can control lava and magma, and he's used it to stop volcanoes from erupting, or to force magma to the surface for attacks! He can also control igneous rock, shaping them the way he wants! He wears a thick layer of obsidian across his entire body like a second skin. He can even turn igneous rocks back into lava, or vice versa!"
"That name sounds auspicious, if difficult to pronounce in our tongues," Fumikage said dramatically.
"Means 'smoking mountain' in Nahuatl," Tigre said. "Also name of biggest active volcano in Mexico. For short, most call him El Popo."
"So he's tough? What's training under him like?" Izuku asked.
Tigre adopted a thousand-yard stare, "First rule of El Popo's training: Do not speak of El Popo's training."
If he had more to say to the group, it was cut off by a knock on the door, and a masculine voice said, "¡Oi, Tigre! ¡Vamos a buscar la cena! !Sal antes de que entremos y te saquemos a rastras!"
Tigre sighed, and hissed out, "¡Pinche cabrón!" Louder, he said, "¿Se pueden esperar un poco?"
"Está hablando japonés. ¿Crees que está ligando con su novia yegua?" came a feminine voice, that preceded a crashing noise. A girl with six legs and a boy whose face resembled a skull entered the scene, their figures being displayed behind Tigre."¡Oh, es toda la clase! Espera, ¿ese es el aprendiz de All Might?"
Tigre looked affronted, "Si, esta es la 1-A. Por favor, usen ingles con ellos." Clearing his throat, he switched back to English, "[Everyone, these are two of my classmates. Maria Zapata, Hero name Tarantella…]" the girl waved to them. "[And Donald Moreno. Or to use his Hero name… Don of the Dead.]"
"[You love that name and you know it!]" Don, the skull-faced boy replied. "[Nice to meet the people who finally got Mr. Indio -and-Proud to admit the fact that he's half-Japanese.]"
"[We thought the best he'd ever get was naming his attacks 'Smash' or whatever]" Maria grinned.
"[We've been over this]" Tigre grumbled.
"[Yeah, yeah, your parents met teaming up with All Might, without him you wouldn't exist]" Don rolled his lidless eyes, "[You need new material.]"
"[To answer your question, yes, we're class 1-A!]" Izuku interrupted. "[I'm Izuku Midoriya, class representative. We met Hyouhen-kun back on I-Island!]"
Momo bowed lightly, "[It's fantastic to meet you both. I am Momo Yaoyorozu, Class 1-A's vice representative. We hope our time interacting on Kuraudo Island will be pleasant.]"
"¡Qué modales!" Don said. "[It's a pleasure to meet you as well!]"
"[Sorry, it's just fun to get a rise out of the furball here]" Maria ruffled Tigre's head. "[I mean, we tried pranking him with catnip, but that didn't go so well…]"
Tigre smirked at that, "[You decided to drug up an apex predator, you deserve what you get.]"
Maria looked over at Pony, and her grin was reminiscent of Mina's, "[And this must be Senorita Tsunotori…]"
"[He mentioned me?]" Pony perked up.
Don laughed, "[Only a little bit. We just noticed he calls you rather often…]"
Mina perked up and sidled her way over to Pony, "[That so?]"
Pony stared at Mina, "You're the worst English student here, how did you understand that?"
"The language of love is universal!" Mina smirked.
"[And after the last time, he's been scouring the net for kanji translations and won't tell us why…]" Maria said.
Dark Shadow burst out of Fumikage, "[Hey, I think Tsunotori-chan was doing that too!]"
As the two mutants blushed, finally Pony said, "[All right, fine! We both have Japanese last names that can be spelled with kanji, but since our given names aren't, we'd use katakana for that. We were wondering how our names would be spelled if we used kanji…]"
Don blinked, "[Oh, that's neat! Tigre actually did something like that for us, showed us how we'd spell our names using Mayan hieroglyphs! Not all of the sounds in Spanish were found in Mayan, but he came as close as possible. That's really cool!]"
Maria looked offscreen and snatched a piece of paper, which caused Tigre to yelp, "[So, it this it?]"
She turned the paper around, which depicted the characters 砲二
Izuku blinked as Pony blushed heavily, "[No, that wouldn't sound out the same as Tigre… or 'chi-gu-re'... That sounds like… hou-ni…]" He blinked, then turned, "[Wait, is that meant for you, Tsunotori-chan?!]"
Bright red, Pony nodded, "[I offered to find the right kanji for him, and he offered the same for me.]"
"[It wasn't exact…]" Tigre said. "[But the 'po' sound doesn't really have any kanji that fit, and the katakana for 'po' is derived from the katakana for 'ho' and, well, those kanji mean cannon and two, so with your Quirk…]"
Maria and Mina both squealed in joy. Pony blushed, and then grumbled in defeat as she took Izuku's notebook and wrote her version down, "[This is what I got for you…]"
Pony turned it around to reveal the characters 血虞裂. Her fellow U.A. students read it, and their eyes widened in shock.
"[What a mad banquet of darkness]" Fumikage said.
"[Huh, I'm surprised you took the time to translate that phrase]" Izuku said to the bird-headed boy.
"[What's wrong with those kanji?]" Tigre asked.
"[They are a tad morbid. In order, they mean 'blood', 'fear', and 'to rip or tear']" Momo said diplomatically.
"[It does sound like it comes from a video game about committing a lot of violence or something]" Maria teased.
"[Maybe, but I thought they fit him best…]" Pony said, blushing. "[Tearing because of the claws, fear because you're imposing, and… well, there's a lot of kanji that could work for the chi sound, like for wisdom or for the earth, but I remember I brought up the whole Aztec sacrifice thing and you told me how important blood was in the cosmology of your peoples…]"
"[... You remembered that]" Tigre said, shocked. "[We had that conversation at I-Island. That was months ago…]"
Pony's face was pure red, and so was Tigre's. And, apparently, so were Tigre's spots.
Maria yelped as Tigre's aura started to burn her, "¡Au! ¡Para!"
"¡Lo siento!" Tigre apologized as the conversation collapsed shortly thereafter.
"We have to do something nice for Bubaigawara-san," Gentle said to his dearest companion as he finished his tea.
"I know, he keeps cracking me up, but he seems so sad and confused," La Brava replied. "Kinda like how I used to be before I met you…"
"We've fallen through the cracks, my dear," Gentle said softly. "If we can't support someone else who's struggling, I have no place calling myself 'Gentle' anything…"
La Brava's eyes had stars in them as the two of them returned their mugs and left the shop, intent on returning to their base and outlining a new caper. There were so many choice targets, but the HPSC was the most delightful to rouse up!
Shortly after they left, the two of them were intercepted by a blur carrying a shopping bag. The boy failed to stop himself before he jostled them. "Ah! I'm so sorry for bumping into you!" the green haired boy stated, bowing before the two of them.
"No harm, no foul," Gentle acquiesced. "As long as the aftertaste of my Gold Tips Imperial Tea remains on my lips, nothing can bring me down!"
And then the figure rose. A figure he'd seen on a video shared among tea lovers, for his care for a young girl and the videos of her having tea parties with him and several pro Heroes, including All Might, Miruko, and Ryukyu.
Izuku Midoriya. Kyuseishu. A hero student, who was looking at them with calculating green eyes.
He and La Brava looked at each other, then Gentle replied, in a tone that tried to hide his nervousness, "Well, young man, I'm sure that you're very busy, being in such a hurry after all. We won't keep you. Have a wonderful day!"
The two of them tried to make their escape, before the boy called out to them.
"Gold Tips Imperial Tea?" Izuku said, as the two trenchcoat-clad figures stopped short while he approached. "My girlfriend loves that brand. Never heard of it prior, but she's a cut above the rest… I've only ever heard of it from a single other individual…"
"Your girlfriend has impeccable taste…" Gentle Criminal responded, his status as a tea aficionado eclipsing the worry he felt as he and La Brava tried not to shake with fear. Between the Sports Festival and Kamino, Izuku was a known quantity, one known for being extremely powerful. Not to mention able to summon eight equally powerful young ladies to his side.
Could they face him? Possibly.
Would it be a good idea? Hell, no.
Izuku looked at the two of them, then said, "You know, I really like that video of Charger taking down Destro. I was Quirkless most of my life, so seeing a Quirk supremacist eat pavement is always a treat. Additionally, Charger is actually a distant ancestor of mine. I'm glad he's getting the recognition he deserves…"
The two villains-turned-accidental-vigilantes looked at each other, then at Izuku incredulously.
"Then you would say… you're a fan of those streamers?" Gentle asked, trepidatiously.
Izuku put his thumb to his chin, "Hm, I can't exactly endorse a group of villains. Even vigilantism is frowned upon for us Hero students. But their villain rank has been unfairly inflated. There's no way they'd be considered S-Rank villains solely based on their crimes. It's clearly due to bias from a powerful group of people…" he shook his head. "All I can say is that if they don't escalate to anything truly heinous, I personally wouldn't be looking for them too hard…"
"That's… an intriguing viewpoint…" Gentle replied.
"Of course, if I confronted them on the clock, I'd have little choice but to try and take them in for the police," Izuku said, looking saddened. "I suppose that, in that case, they should stay away from U.A., or anywhere Miruko's known to be patrolling."
Gentle and La Brava nodded, hearing the boy's implicit warning loud and clear.
"Well, that's all I have to say. Thanks for listening to me ramble, have a wonderful day!" Izuku said as he walked away.
"Nice to meet you," Gentle said as La Brava trembled at his side. The two of them stiffly walked away, and once Izuku was out of sight, they collapsed into each other.
"Oh god, that was intense…" Gentle murmured, rubbing circles on La Brava's back.
"He would have had us! He's crazy strong and he'd have been able to take us in…" La Brava cried.
"Guess we lucked out…" Gentle gave a weak chuckle. "Especially that he can trace his family line back to the Dark Age of Quirks…"
"It's not impossible," La Brava said as Gentle got up and helped bring her back home. "Grandma Marubashi could trace her family line back long before the Dawn of Quirks…"