Hey Everyone! It's been a while. I have about two dozen stories started, and only one that has gotten past 20k words. It's frustrating, but I just don't have the attention span to take on longer stories. Even my Game of Thrones fic that's 40k was written over the course of a week. So, I decided to go back to writing short fics. I can actually finish writing them, which relieves my frustration a bit. So, anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this! If you have any suggestions for another short story, or on ways to improve my writing, feel free to let me know!
"Don't step any closer! I-If you do, I-I-I'll have t-to shoot!"
A bead of sweat trailed slowly down the man's forehead. For the Pro Hero Deku, the world was in slow motion. One For All empowered everything about his body, including his senses. Every twitch of the young man's muscles, the imperceptible shake in his hands, even the way he leaned just slightly on his right side, revealing an old injury, it was all visible in superhuman detail to the eyes of the Symbol of Peace.
The #1 Hero gave his signature grin, so very reminiscent of his old mentor's, the smile that made people know they were safe, just as he'd dreamed since he was a boy. "Everything's going to be alright sir. I'm not moving. Do you mind if I explain your position, do you mind if I help you?" He kept his voice calm and level, trying not to agitate the man too much.
The man's hand clenched tighter on the gun. "Why would you help me? Can't you see I'm threatening this woman?" He was panting now. The man was young, maybe a year or two younger than Deku and his old classmates.
"That's why I'm helping you. The best way for me to help her is for me to convince you to let her go. Now, if you let her go, and surrender peacefully, I'll put in a good word with the officers. You'll likely spend a year or less in prison, but your life won't be over." Deku's smile strained a little, "If you pull that trigger, nothing will change. I'm faster than a bullet, and that woman in your arms will be fine, but you'll be spending the rest of your life in a cell the same size as a closet."
A few tense moments later, the man surrendered, the young woman jumped straight into her hero, desperately clinging to one of the country's Pillars of Hope. Deku comforted the young woman with a few kind words and a soft hug, gently leading her over to the paramedics to get checked over.
When he stepped away from the young woman, cameras began to flash, and microphones were shoved in his face.
"Deku, what was your reasoning for prolonging the situation when you could have taken him out immediately like you said?!"
"Sir, what's your reaction to KaBoom's promise to become the #1 hero and overtake you?!"
"Are the rumors that you and Uravity are dating true?!"
That last one caused a slight murmuring in the crowd of reporters. "No, I thought it was Pinky!"
"He's definitely dating Ms. Shield! The protegee of All Might and the daughter of David Shield! It's fate!"
"No Deku stole Illus-O-Camie from KaBoom! That's why he's always so angry!"
"What! I thought it wa- "
Deku's eye twitched subtly. As always, they seemingly cared more about his love life than his hero work. He sighed and raised his hands to quiet everyone down. Such was their respect for the Number One that their voices cut off mid-sentence, or perhaps it was just their desire for possible answers. Deku was inclined to believe it was the latter. After all, they definitely didn't respect his private life.
"Please, calm down everyone, I have time for a few questions. Firstly, in regard to your question Ma'am." He turned his calm smile to the lady who had questioned his reasonings for talking the man down. "Force should never be the first option. If I had come in and took this man down, he'd never see the sun again. His life would be over. I gave him the chance to rethink his actions. He looked young, and I didn't become a hero to ruin lives, but to save them, and sometimes that means saving someone from themselves. I wish that man all the luck in turning his life around!" He shot another bright smile at the crowd of reporters, giving them cheesy thumbs up. "Alright, next question!"
"Sir, sir! Are the rumors about you and Uravity true?"
"Uhh, what do these rumors say?" Deku scratched his neck idly, doing his best to prevent the blush from rising to his cheeks. Despite all his training on dealing with the media, hearing about all the relationships he supposedly had was embarrassing. If you listened to the media, you'd think he was some sort of playboy!
"Are you currently dating the #26 Hero Uravity?"
The hero cleared his throat. "No, I am currently not in a relationship with Uravity. She's a valued friend and her agency does amazing work! She's a true hero that I'm honored to work alongside!"
Before the reporters could ask another question, Deku held up a hand, an alert from a bracelet on his wrist going off. "Yes? No. Okay, Musutafu? I'm on my way, be there in 30."
He flashed the crowd a smile, "Sorry everyone, duty calls!" Green lightning crackled around his large frame, and suddenly, he was gone, wind blowing everyone's hair back.
30 seconds later, Deku was looking down at the scene of a convenience store robbery in progress. "Hmm, I used to love this store as a kid too."
Cracking his knuckles, the Number One Hero in the country got to work.
—
Sighing, Izuku Midoriya collapsed behind his desk, falling lazily into his chair, one of the only luxury items he allowed himself at work. It was beyond comfortable, with massage features, built in heaters, and a cup holder! It was still his favorite part about having his own agency, no one could tell him it was a stupid purchase.
A knock resounded against his office door, without waiting for a response, the door slid open. "That chair of yours is still stupid." The accusation came from a pretty young woman with blond hair and blue eyes, glasses resting on the bridge of her nose, and a touchpad in her hands.
"No one asked you Melissa." Izuku snarked under his breath. He slowly slid up into a somewhat respectable sitting position, gesturing for her to take a seat as well.
"Time for our review of today. First, how did the new suit lining feel? According to the data, you were moving about a percent and a half faster than usual, did it hold up well?" She pushed her glasses up on her nose.
Izuku brightened up into a smile. "Oh, yeah, the new lining was great! I used 90% today to travel, and I didn't feel the costume warming up or tearing at all! You'll have to check it over to be sure, but the new material seems to hold up well! You did great work as always!"
Melissa nodded absentmindedly, staring down at the screen, "Hmm, I'm glad. If you'd told me about One For All earlier, I'd have known you'd grow even stronger with time. I could have been developing these years ago," She shot him a slight glare, "you wouldn't have had all of those costume malfunctions in the beginning."
Izuku rubbed his head sheepishly, "At least they seemed to help my numbers?"
Melissa snorted, "Helped, sure, just helped. How many times have you been on 'Hottest Heroes'? What did they say last time, 'Forget about cheese, you could grate steel on those abs!'"
"Ahh!" Izuku buried his face in hands, "Don't remind me! That's not the kind of thing I wanted as a hero!" His face genuinely got a little sadder, "This isn't really the kind of image I wanted. Sure, they trust me to save them, but half the time, if I save a woman, they'll ask to 'reward' their hero, or something equally asinine! And don't get me started about the press! They even implied that we were together today! It's getting out of hand! I'm not some playboy type, that's more Sero's brand!"
Melissa gave him a commiserating smile, "I hear the same rumors. Still, it would probably help if you got some sidekicks, or a girlfriend. If the only help you have at your agency is a beautiful woman like me, what are they supposed to think?" She smirked at him.
"But you're like my sister! That's weird!" Izuku flushed, "and what do you mean, get a girlfriend?! I can still barely talk to women!"
She raised an eyebrow, unimpressed. "You suck with women you don't know, sure, but you're actually pretty charming with the ones you do know. What about Ochako? Or Tsu? I know you've thought about it."
Izuku groaned, letting his head rest back against his chair. "I mean, Ocha and I discussed it back in third year, but we decided to adjust to Hero life first, and after that, I guess things just didn't end up going anywhere." He let out a remorseful sigh, "And Tsu is wonderful, but I think she and Koda began a relationship not too long ago."
"Hmm." The #1 Hero's Support Specialist hummed, "Alright, well I guess that just means I'll have to set you up with someone myself!" She gave him a thumbs up and a mischievous smile, "You're twenty-one already Izu, I'll make sure you don't end up alone!" When Izuku went to protest, she cut him off. "And no, you don't have a choice. I'll text you a place and time!"
—
"What have I gotten into?" Izuku muttered to himself, checking his appearance in the mirror one last time. His dark green dress shirt had the sleeves rolled up to expose his muscled forearms, and his tan pants were pressed and ironed. He ran a hand over his new haircut, the sides cut short leaving the curly mop of green hair on top.
Melissa has basically forced him to the store when she found out his most formal attire was his special hero costume for formal events. After that, she took it upon herself to cut his hair, finally deeming him "acceptably sexy", whatever that meant.
Regardless, Izuku may have fought hundreds of villains, and saved thousands of lives, but he'd never been on a real date before. He felt fifteen again, a big ball of nerves and hero trivia. He could just see himself getting nervous and starting to spout random facts about his colleagues. Did it make it more or less embarrassing that they were colleagues?
"So, Mr. #1, what do you like to do for fun?" Imaginary date fluttered her eyelashes.
"Oh, well I like to watch all of my peers run around in spandex while I take notes on them and ramble incoherently!"
Izuku groaned at the imagery. Taking a quick breath to steady himself, he let One For All run over him for a moment, the steady crackle of lightning and the thrum of power kept him in the moment. Right, he nodded to himself. He was no longer a nervous, stuttering kid, he was the greatest hero in Japan. He could do this.
—
'Oh my gosh! There's no way I can do this! Would it look bad if I left now? They don't know who they're coming to see, do they? It wouldn't even fall back on me! Oh, but I can't stand up a girl, that would be super rude! Not to mention how mom would react! What do I do, what do I do?!'
"Izuku?!" A voice cut through his internal monologue, and his voice stiffened for a moment, thinking his date was here. He turned.
Upon seeing who it was, he instantly relaxed a little. "Oh, hey Nejire! It's good to see you! It's been a few weeks! That hijacked freighter out of Okinawa, right?"
It was just Nejire. She was one of his friends, and one of his more frequent hero team ups. They both had higher mobility than anyone else in the top ten and could reach situations the fastest. As the Number 6 Hero, they worked on a lot of the bigger crimes together. It was a blessing that so many of the top ten were good friends. Maybe talking with her would help his nerves for when his date arrives?
She beamed at him, her soft teal evening dress reflecting the light as she vibrated in place. "Yup! We really put the beat down on them didn't we! You were all WHAM and POW, and I was like WHOO and SWOOSH! And that bad guy really went like AHHH! It was the most excitement I had in a while! And working with you was really fun, so I hope this date goes well!"
Izuku's brain froze. She was his date. Nejire was here for a date with him? And she knew she was coming to see him!? Nejire wanted to go on a date with him! Wait, she was still speaking.
"-have you been doing recently? Ooh, ooh, I saw you on the news the other day giving that interview! Did that question make you want to start thinking about dating? Are you looking for a cover girl? I don't know if I could pretend to be your girlfriend for very long Izuku, I'd get invested super quick, like in those shojo manga I read!"
His brain froze again. Wait, no, he could do this. "Umm, well, I, ugh, no I'm not looking for a fake girlfriend! I just, well, I've been thinking about it recently I guess, and then Melissa offered to help out, and I, uhh, didn't say no."
Nejire shot another of her enthusiastic grins at him, "Oh, great, I hope we have lots of fun Izuku!"
Izuku gave a weak smile in return, still coming to grips with the situation. Nejire was here on a date with him! His beautiful, enthusiastic, wonderful senpai was here to go on a date with him!
"M-me too!" He jolted into movement suddenly, moving forwards, he pulled her chair out for her, allowing her to sit down before lifting the entire chair and the girl sitting in it off the floor minutely, pushing her in and avoiding the annoying scraping sound against the floor, before sitting down across from her.
"Wow, that was so cool! You didn't even seem like you were straining to do that at all! Did you even use your quirk?" Nejire looked at him excitedly, so about the same as usual, which was to say, amazing. Oh, she asked him a question right, he should answer that. Though, now she was blushing softly, was he muttering aloud again?
"Umm, no, I didn't use my quirk at all, you're pretty light!"
"Nice one Izuku! Answering my question and giving me another compliment at the same time! That's pretty good! Super strong and super smart!" She winked at him.
Izuku found himself a stuttering and blushing mess once again.
"Alright, what do you think we should get? I'm not usually a big fan of places like this, but it can be pretty fun to dress up and go out every once in a while! Do you enjoy things like this?"
Izuku forced down his nerves, 'think of it like a villain fight, what's the best way to win? Except the villain in this case is a beautiful, powerful pro hero I admire. That didn't help at all.
"Hey, hey! No need to be nervous Izuku, you're doing great! And if you keep complimenting me like that, you're going to have to take responsibility you know! It's great to know the Number One Hero admires little old me though!" Nejire winked at him. It would have almost been seductive, if not for the fact that Nejire at the moment looked like a holy creature at the moment, a literal angel. Okay, Izuku, get it together.
"Right, thanks Nejire! Okay, I don't go out much either, I prefer old hero flicks and popcorn on the couch in my pajamas to fancy parties. I think I'm going to get a steak, unless you want to split on something?"
Nejire's eyes gained a shine to them. "I think I'll get a steak too! Meat is really good energy, and I need lots for my quirk!" Her smile turned whimsical, "Melissa is way too smart! Is that her quirk?! How did she know we both had the same favorite activity? Was she stalking me? Was she stalking you? Can she see the future? Ooh, or can she see the present?"
Seeing Nejire ramble set Izuku at ease, and he fell into the flow of the conversation. It was an excitable, fast-paced ramble, and nearby guests were hard pressed to catch every third or fourth word of the conversation.
Before they realized it, dinner was over, and the two hadn't remembered feeling more at ease in months. Neither wanted to part just yet. Izuku bit his lip, "I've got All Might 7, Justice Never Dies in 16k if you want to come hang out?"
The question was tentative, hesitant, and unsure, but the smile that appeared on his date's face wiped that away. "Sounds like a blast! Ooh, do you have popcorn? Should we pick some up?" Nejire bit her lip, "Oh, can you carry me there? Yuyu dropped me off, but I just realized I shouldn't fly around in my dress!"
Izuku went red again. This woman would kill him. "Y-yeah, I guess I'll have to show you what the Number One Hero can do!"
He took a deep breath, before stepping forward with false bravado. He wrapped his left arm under her knees, and his right arm behind her back, bringing her into his chest. She winked at him, leaning her head against him with a teasing smile. "My hero!"
He locked eyes with her, green lightning dancing around his form, eyes glowing in the darkness. "Hold on tight."
With a single leap, Izuku accelerated past the speed of sound. Hundreds of feet in the air, he activated the 7th wielder of One For All's quirk, Float. Empowered by One For All, it was perhaps more apt to call it a true flight quirk.
Nejire's eyes were wide, but Izuku noticed she was holding up very well, and while impressed, wasn't overly so. He kicked it up a notch.
Twenty seconds later, he was in front of his apartment. He set Nejire down gently, her legs wobbling slightly. The two were silent for a moment, then Nejire let out a squeal of glee, her periwinkle blue hair frizzed up slightly from the speed.
"Izuku, Izuku," she pleaded, "We have to do that again later! That was so much fun! It was like a roller coaster, but I got to be held by a hunk!"
He managed to limit his reaction to a light blush, then stepped forwards to unlock his door. "I'd be happy to fly you anytime, Nejire. Or fly with you for that matter?" He offered up the last part tentatively.
She gasped, "Ooh yeah! That sounds like so much fun! And it's super romantic too. Two attractive heroes, flying under the light of the moon together! It'll be like a super romance!"
Izuku gave a vaguely affirmative hum, even as he desperately kept from staring too hard at the happy smile on Nejire's face as she imagined the scene. At this point, he felt he'd need to check his blood pressure later, there was so much blood rushing to his cheeks.
The two pro heroes kept up a light conversation as the two worked together setting up a movie. Izuku gave Nejire directions toward the closet where blankets were kept, and he got the popcorn ready. When she came back with only one blanket to share, he was only mildly surprised.
The two settled in on his couch. Nejire draped herself languidly across him, reminding Izuku of a cat, the kind that knew exactly what it was doing and was enjoying it. Izuku somehow found the courage to wrap his arms around her in turn.
The movie ended up being a blur, and Izuku couldn't recall a thing about it. The two had chatted sparingly throughout the movie, but he had never felt so comfortable in his life. Moving from the spot when the movie ended seemed like the hardest thing he'd ever have to do. So, for once in his life, he chose to give in and accept the loss.
By the time he realized he was nearly falling asleep, he noticed Nejire tilting her head up at him with her own bleary eyes.
"I had a lot of fun today."
He didn't recall who said it. But he remembered leaning forwards. He kissed her first, he was sure.
"You'll have to take responsibility now, you know." The two gazed at each other, a tension seemed to fill the air, unspoken promises being made with those words.
"Gladly." He didn't know where this journey would take them, but he wanted to walk the path. He hoped it was a long road.
I think the two have a lot of chemistry together in canon. They're both inquisitive and passionate, and Nejire's confidence and enthusiasm is a good balm for Izuku's lingering inferiority complex and nerves. Plus, I think their quirks are good compliments to each other. They can both maintain air superiority, with Izuku as the close to mid-range and Nejire as the mid to long range. Even if Float doesn't allow true flight, with that and Blackwhip, he's got just as much mobility.
In case you all are curious, here's the top ten in this story.
Deku
Always hated that he used this as his hero name. It just seems so… lacking, I guess? Maybe it's just not grand enough when you know he's going to be the strongest? Idk
TherMight (Todoroki)
Taking an All Might inspired name as a 'screw you' to his dad. It's also a play on Thermal. Thermite is also a material that, when ignited, gives off quite a bit of heat. It's an incendiary.
Lemillion
He's powerful for sure. The problem here is Scope. I'd put him at Number 2, but Todoroki is going to be more versatile with fully mastered abilities in my opinion. Plus, Togata's power isn't as eye-catching to the public, who help decide a hero's ranking.
Miruko
She great, strong, fast, attractive. All the buttons for popularity. By this point, Eri is like 12ish, and restored her body to before her injuries.
Gale Force (Yoarashi)
His abilities are OP. I mean, imagine pulling all the air from a room. Enough said.
Nejire-Chan
She's super powerful even before graduation, flight and powerful energy beams is a pretty deadly combo.
Edgeshot
He's getting older, so he's cutting back a little. Still a beast though.
Kamui Woods
He's basically discount Hashirama.
Ryukyu
Being able to fly is, again, a massive advantage. However, I think quirks that increase size can have limited utility sometimes, like inside. It also makes you a bigger target.
KaBoom (Bakugo)
After Endeavor aired his family's dirty laundry and stepped down, no one wants a hero like him anymore. His attitude and larger than average propensity for property damage kept him from rising higher. And his attitude gets worse the longer he's stuck at ten. Thus, the cycle.
Other notable mentions:
Hawks retired early, deep cover missions take a lot from people.
Tokoyami is top ten material, but he is an underground hero.
Todoroki and Yaoyorozu are definitely married. Izuku was the best man.
Kirishima and Mina are working on it.
Eri is enrolling at UA, and Izuku has promised her a spot at his agency.