'Well shit….' Were the only words that Midoriya could put together concerning the situation he currently found himself in.
Not only was Shiozaki patiently sitting in his living room waiting for him to return. But the topic of their pending conversation wasn't exactly something that he wished to discuss at the moment. Or at all, if he was being completely honest. In hindsight, he probably should've just made up some excuse to avoid having to deal with his vine haired neighbor right now. However, there wasn't really any point in thinking that since he was already here.
On top of that, Shiozaki's disheveled appearance only made the situation even more bizarre. Midoriya remembered her mentioning once that it takes a bit of time for her hair to grow back to its normal state. But judging by the look on her face, Shiozaki had a lot more going on than just a rough day at work. She looked exhausted, almost as if she hadn't slept in days. Definitely out of the ordinary for the normally well put together heroine that he was familiar with.
'Well...might as well get this over with.' Midoriya said to himself with a sigh as he grabbed the two cups of tea that he just finished making. Wasting no time in walking back into his living room and rejoining his guest.
"Here you go." The green haired man handed the vine haired woman her cup with a polite smile.
"Thank you, Midoriya-san." Shiozaki said with an equally well mannered grin.
After dropping down onto his sofa, Midoriya didn't see a point in further delaying the inevitable. However, he didn't really feel like it was a good idea to jump right into the topic. So for the moment, he stuck to asking what exactly was going with the woman's appearance. As a way of breaking the ice before getting into the heavy stuff.
"Forgive me if I sound rude, Shiozaki-san. But I take it that you had a rough day."
"If you're referring to my hair, this happens all the time actually. Mostly when I happen to cross paths with this who possess fire related quirks." She answered in a straightforward manner. "But overall...yes, I've had a rough day. A rough few days if I'm being honest."
Midoriya didn't feel the need to respond to that since it was obvious what he woman was getting at.
There was a brief pause as Shiozaki took a moment to take a sip of tea. Seemingly needing to do so to muster up whatever energy was needed to proceed. Which was immediately followed by a stern look in Midoriya's direction. One that he hadn't seen on her face before.
"As you probably guessed already...these last few days haven't exactly been kind to me. Ever since that article that was posted onto the 'Heroes Daily' site, I've had to deal with quite a bit. I won't bore you with the details, but I've lost a lot of sleep over it."
Okay, that wasn't exactly good to hear. She may have been a hero, but Midoriya still felt a bit of sympathy towards his neighbor. As strange as that sounded.
"But that's not what I came here to talk about." The vine haired heroine continued.
"So what did-" The man's question was cut off when Shiozaki suddenly stood up from her seat and bowed in his direction.
"Midoriya-san, I am terribly sorry for what happened!"
"What?" The man tilted his head in confusion.
"All of this is my fault. I'm not exactly used to being hounded by hero paparazzi. However, I should've been more aware of what was going on around us. If I was paying a bit more attention then I would've noticed that we were being followed. Because of me, you were dragged into a ridiculous situation that no doubt caused you a lot of grief. The reason it took so long for me to do this was because of my own embarrassment. And for that, I hope that you can forgive me." The woman said in a tone so sincere that Midoriya had no reason to think that it was anything but the truth.
Alright, he definitely didn't expect something like this to happen. Actually, considering Shiozaki's personality he probably should have.
"Shiozaki-san, please. You don't have to apologize." The green man responded. "If anything, some of this is my fault as well. I'm usually pretty good about my situational awareness. But I let my guard down too."
"I disagree." The woman countered. "I was the one that the photographer was following. And because of that you had your privacy invaded. I'm sure that despicable article caused you a great deal of trouble. Not only in your private life, but at work as well."
"Honestly, it hasn't been all that bad for me. Sure I had to lay low for a while and make sure that nobody saw my face. And Kaniko-senpai kind of harassed me about the whole thing. But it was nothing that you should really concern yourself over."
"Really?" The woman looked at him wide eyed.
"Yeah. I've been perfectly fine." The man nodded. He didn't know why he did it. But for some reason, Midoriya was curious enough about how the vine haired heroine was dealing with this to ask his next question. "What about you? Are you okay?"
Once again, Shiozaki was silent before regaining her composure and returning to her seat. "Mostly. To keep things simple, our agency had to deal with a bit of chaos after those photos were posted. I don't know how much you know about the hero industry, Midoriya-san. But when things like this happen a hero usually gets flooded with interview requests. Thankfully, Mt. Lady is used to this sort of thing so she was able to help me deal with that."
"That's good to hear."
"Yes, but over the last few days I've had to deal with pretty much everyone I run into asking me about it. I was hoping that the fanfare would die down after a couple of days. However, that's not been the case."
Shiozaki intentionally left out the part about at least a hundred people asking her about her "boyfriend". Mentioning something like that to him would just make the situation way too awkward for her.
Of course Midoriya would feel sympathy for what the woman was apparently going through. He could see how any unwanted attention would negatively affect her job. Which it obviously did. Then again, being a public face was a part of being a hero. So the fact that something like this caused her so much trouble was a bit hard for the green haired man to understand.
"Oh man…"
"But the fact that you've been okay is wonderful news! I was worried that you'd be harassed by more of those degenerate tabloid reporters."
"Thank you for your concern." The man said. "But I guess I should apologize as well. I had no clue how to approach the subject, so I guess I was avoiding running into you as well. To be honest, after Kaniko-senpai gave me a lot of grief for the photos I was certain that you'd want to keep your distance from me."
"What did she say?" The vine haired heroine then asked. Only a moment before a dreadful thought crossed her mind. "Oh no, would this have anything to do with your job? Are Inspectors not allowed to be seen out and about with heroes? If this has negativ-"
Midoriya held his hand up to stop Shiozaki before she could ask another question. "No, no, nothing like that." He reassured her. "Kaniko-senpai just likes to have a bit of fun at my expense. If anything, I'd rather deal with some sleazy reporters than what I got from her when she showed me the photos."
"I know what you mean." The woman smiled. "Fortunately, Setsuna and Yu-san decided to take it easy on me when all of this happened."
"So..." The green haired man then said. "I'm assuming that you also came here for another reason besides just wanting to apologize. How exactly do you want to handle this?"
"Ah, yes!" Shiozaki replied. "According to Yu-san, the best way to go about this kind of thing would just be to say nothing. And we already dealt with the site that posted the article. Unfortunately them taking down the photos is out of the question. But I guarantee you that they won't be bothering you."
Okay, Midoriya was definitely curious about that. He knew that heroes had a lot of pull with certain media outlets. But he did want to know how the vine haired woman managed to get them to promise to leave them alone. Maybe there was some sort of law that was in place to keep people's privacy in situations like these.
"Anything else?"
"Yes…." She nodded with a bit of a frown. "She also said that it would be a good idea to avoid being seen out in public together. But that's more for your sake then it is mine. Obviously I can't do that because of my job. But you're a private citizen."
"I see." The green haired man rubbed his chin in understanding. Granted, it wasn't like he planned on hanging out with the woman anytime soon. Or at all really. However, he was relieved to hear that he wouldn't have to worry about anyone from 'Heroes Daily' targeting him when he was out doing his business. "I don't really see a problem with that."
"Good." Shiozaki gave him a slight grin. 'Thank the Lord. I don't know what I would do if he ended up hating me because of this.'
There was a brief minute of silence between the two green haired adults as they both slurped down a bit more of their tea. Of course, Shiozaki was glad to hear that her neighbor didn't harbor any type of grudge against her for what happened. If that was the case then she would feel a lot worse about what happened than she already did. But the fact that Midoriya was so understanding was a good sign.
"I must say, Midoriya-san, this tea is quite good. What kind is it? If you don't mind me asking." The woman inquired in between sips.
"It's an American brand." The green haired man answered. "My father sent it to me a while ago. He said that this stuff is pretty popular over there."
"Is your father American?" She couldn't help but ask. As far as she could tell, Midoriya appeared to be full Japanese.
"Not originally. He's been living there ever since I was a kid."
"Really? I actually have a close friend of mine who's American. She was a classmate of mine while I was still a student. Last time I checked, she had just moved to Texas not too long ago."
"Seriously? That's where my dad lives."
"What a coincidence!"
"Yeah, small world." The man gave a slight chuckle. "I'm guessing that your friend is also a hero?"
"Yes." Shiozaki nodded. "She goes by 'Rocketti'. I doubt you've heard of her though."
"I can't say that I have. I don't really keep up with the world of heroics. Well, not unless it has to do with my job."
Suddenly, the vine haired woman remembered her previous conversation with Tetsutetsu. She was almost certain that the man sitting in front of her was the one that her friend was talking about. And she would be lying if she said that she wasn't still curious about what the silver haired man told her. But since she was already here, now seemed like a good enough time to ask.
"That reminds me. Another friend of mine said that you two crossed paths a couple of years ago. During one of your jobs I assume." Was how she chose to word it.
"Really?" He asked with genuine curiosity. "Who?"
"His hero name is 'Real Steel'. He works with Fatgum. According to him, they were working on a drug case before you and Chief Inspector Kaniko came in and took over."
Midoriya tilted his head back and tried his best to recall what the woman was talking about. If he remembered correctly, then it was a job that happened during his first year as an Inspector. There was a hero who was working with some drug smugglers in Osaka. And the Fatgum Agency was close to pinning the guy down. Him, Kaniko and their old team got their orders to seize whatever information they gathered and use that to track the guy down.
From what he could recall, it wasn't exactly a pleasurable affair. Especially since the silver haired man in question did a pretty good job at pissing him off during their visit.
"Oh yeah, I remember that. Small world, huh?"
"Indeed." Shiozaki agreed. "Of course I was pretty surprised to hear that. But I'm guessing that it had something to do with another hero who was up to no good."
"I'm not at liberty to say that." Was the response Midoriya was given. "We're not allowed to talk about the details of whatever jobs we receive."
"Of course. Forgive me for prying."
"It's fine."
Part of her still wanted to ask about what happened though. As expected, Tetsutetsu was shocked to see that the man he talked about was the same one that Shiozaki was seen hanging out with. And he definitely had a few words to say about how she should be careful around Midoriya. Some that wouldn't dare repeat herself.
"Still though, I'm impressed. You said that handling heroes who turn into criminals wasn't the only thing that your organization does. But being able to hold your own against trained pros is no easy feat. Then again, you did manage to swiftly deal with Takeshita. So I shouldn't be surprised by now."
"You're too kind." The man waved off. "But what I do is nothing compared to what you heroes have to deal with. You protect civilians at the cost of your own safety. We just work behind the scenes. I doubt that I could do your job anywhere near as well as you do."
"I disagree. I think you'd be a great hero if you wanted to," She then shook her head. "From what I've seen, you're more capable than a lot of the other people I've met. And your quirk is certainly suited for it. "
After hearing the woman's words, a strange expression flashed across Midoriya's freckled face before immediately disappearing. One that Shiozaki wouldn't have noticed if she wasn't looking directly at him. The best way that she could describe the look was "dark". Not exactly angry, but certainly not happy either.
Did she say something wrong? She was just trying to give the man an honest compliment. Maybe it was just weird for him to be compared to a hero since part of his job was taking down heroes. Or was there something else?
"Thank you for saying that. But that's not really my lane. That kind of stuff is more suited for people who don't mind being in the spotlight. I'm the kind of person who's more suited for working in the shadows. That's what I'm best at."
There was a semi-awkward silence after Midoriya said that. And hoping to get away for a moment, the green haired man offered to pour the two of them some more tea. One that Shiozaki definitely accepted. Mainly because she wanted another cup of this American blend.
As she watched him walk across the apartment, Shiozaki had finally taken notice of the man's attire. Midoriya was sporting a pair of gym shorts and a tank-top. And she couldn't help but gaze at the slight burns across his left arm. There weren't a lot of them, but she could see one on his shoulder that looked to be in the shape of hand print.
'I wonder what happened there?' She thought while subconsciously inspecting his person for any more abnormalities. Of course as a heroine she wasn't ignorant to "battle scars". The vine haired woman had a few herself. But she was curious about what could've caused such injuries on her neighbor's body.
As she watched him pour the tea into the two cups, Shiozaki continued giving him the once over. Aside from a few more small scars, Midoriya's body seemed to be in near perfect condition. Even better than some heroes. Not only was the man in good shape, but it looked like you'd have a hard time taking him down without a decent enhancement quirk. He wasn't exactly "buff" by today's standards. Yet it was obvious that he took care of himself and put in a considerable amount of time at the gym.
Her eyes then traveled down to his legs where she noticed that the lower body was just as finely tuned as the rest of him. Aside from a few small scars here and there, his lower extremities contained enough muscle to put pro athletes to shame.
Shiozaki remembered reading a few of the comments under the infamous article mentioning how good looking Midoriya was. Mostly from women who definitely had impure intentions in their minds when they were writing them. And she'd have a hard time disagreeing with any of them. Midoriya was an objectively handsome man. Even Komori felt the need to point that out in their group chat. But looking at him now, Shiozaki would dare say that he could do some modeling if he really felt like it.
'Wait…' The record suddenly scratched in her head. 'What in the world am I thinking right now? I must be more tired than I thought. I shouldn't be having these thoughts. It's rude and…'
Okay, that was odd. Normally Shiozaki would never be so crass. Especially when it came to something like that. Looking at someone in that way was impolite. Not to mention teetering on the lines of lustfulness. Maybe she was more tired than what she thought? She did just come off of her shift on account of her hair situation after all. So that was probably to blame for her lack in judgement just a moment ago. Probably….
"Here you go." Midoriya's voice brought the woman out of her thoughts. The man quickly sat back down to enjoy his own cup, crossing one leg over the other as he got comfortable. Something that didn't do Shiozaki's exhausted mind any favors. Now that he was right in front her, she had a full view of just how well toned the man's body was. And the vine haired woman had to stop herself from looking at him for too long.
Seeing as this was probably a good sign to head back to her own apartment and get some rest. And probably pray a little bit to rid herself of these unnecessary thoughts. The woman quickly chugged the rest of her drink before bidding Midoriya farewell. But not before bowing and apologizing one last time for everything that happened.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around then." Midoriya said as the two walked over to his door.
"Yes...have a wonderful day, Midoriya-san." Shiozaki said one last time before leaving.
Now that his uninvited guest was gone, Midoriya could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He was glad that everything ended up turning out okay. Part of him was certain that he was going to get wrapped up in some sort of scheme on behalf of his neighbor. But the fact that something like that wasn't going to happen was a major weight off his shoulders.
"Well...that could've gone a lot worse. But at least we finally got it out of the way." The man thought to himself before returning to what he was doing before his neighbor arrived.
Two days following his talk with Shiozaki, Midoriya was on his way back to the office. Although he still technically had another day off, Kaniko had called him on account of some urgent business that needed their attention. Usually when something like this happened, it meant that they had a big case coming up.
It wasn't all bad though. The green haired Inspector was actually glad to finally get back to work. It wasn't like he had anything to do besides workout and watch movies all day. So jumping straight into a new case was exactly what he needed after the week he had just gone through.
"Ah, Midoriya-kun!" Ishikawa greeted the green haired man as soon as he walked into the office. "How's the girlfriend doing?"
"Very funny, Blueberry." Midoriya retorted. "I already heard enough from Kaniko-senpai. I don't need you getting on me about that too."
"Hey man, I'm just messing with you. I'll admit that those photos threw me all the way off though. Seeing you out and about with a pretty lady definitely wasn't something that I expected. But considering it's you we're talking about, I knew not to jump to conclusions." The blue haired technopath said jokingly.
"I don't know whether or not I should take that as an insult or a compliment."
"Y'know...if you want, I could hack into that news site's servers. It would only take me a few minutes to crash their entire operation for at least a week."
Although Midoriya knew that the man was just trying to make him feel better, part of him had a feeling that Ishikawa was at least a little bit serious. Although very few people knew this, Ishikawa has hacked his way into quite a few social media and gaming companies when he was younger. Mostly on a whim. In fact, this is exactly what caused him to catch the attention of the NPSC. If there was anyone that could crash a company's entire mainframe at the drop of a hat, it was him.
"How about we just put a pin in that for now. Besides, Vine told me that she already handled everything. So there's no need to get your hands dirty."
"Whatever you say. But if those tabloid jerks ever mess with you again, you know who to call."
The two men continued chatting away for a few minutes to catch up with what was going on. Which didn't really amount to much since there were no new cases in the last week. But their conversation was cut short when the arrival of another person caught their attention.
"Greetings Togane. Did you have a nice little mini-vacation?" Ishikawa was the first to speak to the brunette woman.
"It was fine." Togane said in her typically no nonsense manner. The woman's eyes then shifted towards her partner.
"Hey!" Midoriya said with a smile. "Glad to hear that you enjoyed your time off."
"Yes…" The woman said in a weird tone. One that was out of the ordinary, even for her.
After knowing the 'trueshot' quirk user for years, Midoriya had a knack for picking up on the subtleties in her way of speaking that most others wouldn't be able to. She had a habit of sticking to short answers when she was upset about something. And right now that seemed to be the case.
"Is everything alright?"
"Yes…" Was Togane's simple reply.
'Geez, someone's jealous.' Ishikawa said to himself with a slight smirk on his face. Granted, he could sort of see where she was coming from. Not only was a "Hero Hunter" seen hanging out with a hero in his off time. But her partner, the guy whom she most definitely had a crush on, was gallivanting around town with a beautiful woman. And it was easy to see that it rubbed her the wrong way.
The slight tension in the room quickly subsided and the three took the time to get their work spaces organized before their boss finally showed up. However, that did nothing to quell the slight awkwardness in the air. Every couple of seconds, Togane would steal a glance at Midoriya. Which would immediately be followed by the man giving her a confused look.
'I guess I should've expected this.' The 'mirage' quirk user thought. 'I haven't talked to Togane-san about those photos yet. And she probably has some questions.'
Thankfully, a certain orange haired woman bursted into the room like a ball of conveniently timed sunshine.
"Hello everyone!" Chief Inspector Kaniko said with a wide smile on her face. "How're y'all doin' on this fine Friday mornin'?!"
The three subordinates all gave her the usual greeting before their leader took her seat at the front of the room.
"Now, first things first. Sorry for havin' to call you guys in when I promised to give ya' the rest of the week off." The woman said to Midoriya and Togane.
"It's no problem. I was starting to get bored sitting at home all day anyway." The green haired man waved off.
"Agreed." Togane spoke up.
"Glad to hear it! Now, let's get right down to the nitty-gritty! The Director just pushed this one through last night. But we got a big case comin' our way."
"What the deal?"
"Unit Six just pinned down some quirk traffickers in their area." Kaniko began explaining. "And based on their report, part of this group is doin' business in Kanagawa. I don't need to tell you guys that this is gonna be a time-sensitive mission. But we need to get a handle on this as soon as possible. I'm still waitin' on some more information to come in, but it looks like they got somethin' pretty big in the works."
A slight shiver went down the spines of the three junior Inspectors. Quirk traffickers were some of the lowest of the low as far as criminals went in modern society.
Ever since the advent of quirks, there has been a steady increase in people being abducted and sold all across the world. This wasn't the same as your "standard" human trafficking that was commonplace in the past though. Primarily because these people were always taken because of their powers. Many of these unfortunate individuals would be forced into breeding children that would inherit their abilities. And based on the stories that they've heard, it was anything but a pleasurable existence.
Needless to say, Midoriya, Togane and Ishikawa were well aware of the stakes. Jobs like these had a zero tolerance for anything less than perfection. Even more so than their seize operations. If one of these groups was operating within the prefecture, then they needed to be dealt with quickly.
However, the fact that their bureau was being tasked with this and not the police meant one thing. This wasn't your simple "raid and arrest" type of deal. This group of scoundrels was meant to be...eliminated.
"Question." Ishikawa raised his hand.
"Go for it."
"Is it just going to be us working on this? Usually multiple teams work on jobs like these. And unless you forgot, we're a bit understaffed at the moment."
"I'm glad you asked!" Kaniko smiled. "Our job for now is to just do some info gatherin'. If things get too heavy for us, then we have permission to call in Team Seven for help. But now that our team is finally playin' with a full deck, I'm sure that we'll be able to handle a heavier load!"
"Wait…" Midoriya shot his boss a stunned glance. "You don't mean…"
"That's right~." The crab themed woman gave him a knowing grin.
"Oh, god dammit…." Togane couldn't help but let out an annoyed sigh.
Suddenly, the door to the office flew open and the three junior Inspectors instantly directed their gazes towards the entrance. To their surprise, and Togane's annoyance, standing there was none other than the final member of their team. In all of his annoyingly exuberant glory.
"What's up, party people?! I love what you've done with the place. You guys miss me?!"
"Welcome back, Tomioka-chan!"
~Mountain-Woods Agency, At The Same Time~
"So Ibara-cha, how'd the talk with your boyfriend go?" Yu asked as Shiozaki passed the blonde's office en route to her own.
"For the last time, he's not my boyfriend." The vine haired woman said with a heavy sigh. "But it actually went pretty well, all things considered. Midoriya-san was very understanding. It seemed like he wasn't even upset about it."
"Seriously? Well good for you!" The blonde couldn't help but give her agency partner a few pats on the back. "It's too bad that you guys can't be seen in public together for a while. Now you'll just have to stick to home dates until everything cools off."
"Honestly...you're almost as bad as Setsuna sometimes."
"C'mon! You're a beautiful young woman with a hot piece of meat living a few doors down from you. Do you know how many girls would love to be in your position right now? And since I'm a married woman, I have to live vicariously through you my young friend. Besides, you need some experience in the whole dating department anyway."
"You're going to pester me about this for a while, aren't you?" The vine haired woman then said.
"You know it!" The blonde replied with a sinister grin. "Anyways...you're taking over Shinji's area for the next couple of days, right?"
"Yes." Shiozaki nodded. The masked hero was off doing other business with Edgeshot until next week. So she offered to take over his patrol routes while he was gone. It was a bit larger than her normal area of responsibility. But thankfully, the vine haired heroine wouldn't have to deal with moving through the shopping district. Especially since it was more crowded during the afternoon.
The only real concern was that the northern area of the city was where most of the crime happened. But it wasn't all that bad compared to other areas. However, Shiozaki was more smart enough to not get complacent and let her guard down.
"Be careful out there." Yu warned her with a serious look on her face. "A few people have gone missing in that area. And Shinji said that there were a few sketchy groups popping up lately. If anything goes wrong, give me a call."
"No problem. I'll be sure to keep my eyes peeled."
With that, the two heroines parted ways and Shiozaki quickly headed to her office to get ready for the day.
~Somewhere on the North Side of the City~
In an abandoned building deep in the bowels of the city, a group of hooded figures were gathered in a large office space on the top floor. They were lined up in formation before a desk where a woman wearing an expensive looking white suit was seated.
"I'm glad you all made it here on such short notice." The unnamed woman spoke. She had long blonde hair and stunning lavender eyes. But her most notable feature was the metallic prosthetic that took the place of her right arm.
"What do you need, Mistress?" One of the hooded figures in the front asked.
"I take it that you've already heard that our other branch in Aichi was just taken down?" The Mistress questioned the group. Quickly receiving a series of head nods in response. "Well, it stands to reason that our operation here is more than likely about to be discovered as well."
"What do you suggest that we do?"
"Obviously we're going to be moving locations as soon as possible. That includes our merchandise as well. However...before we do that, a client has given us a pretty interesting request. One that I think we should accept before we pack up and leave."
The woman then pulled a picture out of the top drawer and placed it on her desk. Causing the hooded goons to gather around. Once they got a look at the person in the photo, a few of them couldn't help but let out a series of surprised gasps.
"Mistress...do you really want us to-"
"I sure do!" The woman replied with an evil grin. "If we can get our hands on her. Then we can expect a pretty big payday. And I'm certain you guys can get the job done."
"We understand, ma'am. We'll get right on it."
"Excellent! But make sure to keep her in good condition. The client wants his maiden to be pure and pristine when he gets her. No funny business! Just make sure to be weary. You know trying to take down a hero is no simple feat."
"Understood." Was all the hooded figure in the front said before the entire group left the office. Leaving the Mistress alone to think about all the money that she was going to make after this job was finished.
'Hero or not, we'll get our hands on her soon enough. And when we do, well...even I don't want to think about what will happen to her afterwards. Poor girl doesn't even know what's about to hit her...'
A/N: I don't really have a lot to say about this chapter. But I do feel the need to explain a couple of things for everyone that's reading. I basically have this fic broken down into ten-chapter "blocks". And we obviously just ended the first one. The next "block" of this fic is where we…"turn up the heat", for lack of a better word.
1. I'm pretty sure most of you can tell the general direction that the story is going. But let me make one thing clear. Even though this story has an "M" rating there are certain lines that I'm not going to cross in my writing. So for those who are a bit weary of continuing the fic, don't worry. I may be exploring more "adult" themes with this one, but I'm definitely not going to jump out the window with it.
2. The whole team is finally here! Obviously I'll give Tomioka a proper introduction in the next chapter. But I held off on introducing him with the others because I didn't feel like writing him in at the time. He's going to be one of the more "fun" OC's in the story in my opinion.
3. We're also going to go a bit heavier on the romance as well, but I'll just let you guys read and find out what I mean. We're now past the "awkward introductory phase" for Midoriya and Shiozaki. And the two are going to be spending a lot more time together in the future.
As always, thanks for reading and don't be afraid to leave a comment/review. Have a wonderful day!