Chapter 12 : The worst enemy is the media.

Izuku was enjoying his walk back home as much as possible when he came back from the mall. Using the card of the Lens of truth, Izuku took a picture of a visible Tooru. He hoped for something like hand-holding. Maybe a kiss on the cheek again. He was red only by thinking again of what had happened: Tooru kissing him on his lips.

Now he had a picture of her. He could imagine her better doing that. Did she have her eyes closed too?

Izuku could remember her hands on him when she grabbed him for the kiss, their moment together next to the fountain.

He imagined her greenish hair flowing and mixing a bit with his.

Apparently, when a girl couldn't do her hair, she had them messy. Who could have known? Well, now, Izuku did.

However, he had been a bit surprised by what she had said next, claiming him as her boyfriend and saying dibs. He couldn't have been the subject of a discussion among girls… Right?

"Well, it is nice to have that memory of us." Izuku said to himself as he looked at his phone before he felt a strange force taking his phone from him.

It was Inko who had activated her quirk full force.

"I KNOW EVERYTHING AND I NEED THE PICTURE!" His mom cackled, happy to know his son had his first girlfriend.

Behind her was, of course, Atsuhiro, with a smile on his face. It appeared his advice had not been useless!

Izuku winced, knowing what was coming, and tried to tackle his parents.

"Noooo! It is mine! Mom, who told y…"

Izuku realized the answer and, between his teeth, cursed a single name. "Katsuki, you will pay…" The green boy swore, as he heard his mom gush about how cute Tooru was.

Though she was cute with her knowing smile, thinking Izuku was trying to make her like a normal girl and tried to make a simple picture of them.

"Oh my god, our Izuku is finally growing up." Atsuhiro said with a fake tear. He swiped it off his eyes.

"Izuku, when do you think you can present her to us?" Inko asked, overjoyed by the prospect.

"Mom, it has been less than a day since… since…" Izuku stopped, when he remembered that, he did not confess and it was Tooru who did everything. Uh. Right. "It has not been a full day!"

"Still, it is my duty as your mom to know more about her. So, you will tell me or I will use my informant."

Izuku did a sound quite reminiscing about a sad dog while his step-dad excused himself for a moment.

Indeed, Atsuhiro's phone had rung, and he had to take it. Especially as it was Nedzu who was calling.

As soon as he was in a room with no one who could eavesdrop on him

"Mr Compress, thief extraordinary, what can I do for you?"

"I need you to steal some top secret files from the HPSC."

Somehow, the tone in Nedzu's voice told him it was more serious than what he could think. Someone had angered the stoat big time if he was that sullen. No joke, no special presentation. The only time he had been like that was when Mr. Compress, as a joke, stole his tea.

"Who is the target this time?"

"I need everything the HPSC has on Endeavor. No matter how small it is."

Atsuhiro sighed. He had learned that apparently, fire quirked men were bad fathers.

"What is in it for me?" Not that he wouldn't do it. However, now, he had a family to take care of.

"Your marriage with Inko Midoriya will stay a secret for everyone. Thought All-Might guessed who you were but is ready to make it as if he did not know about you and help you with your backstory. Something like you're actually one of his coaches who helps him stay on top despite his age. Of course, as you're a professional, you never talk about All-Might or anything."

Shit, the offer was good. Fantastic.

"I will begin as soon as I can. I have helpers who will help."

"Good. They went too far this time."

Nedzu talked little about what he suspected of the Commission. After all, they were by phone. It was better to leave things unsaid. This way, Atsuhiro would also explore venues Nedzu wouldn't try.

—

Meanwhile, Tomura planned his attack in the U.A. He had to attack All-Might with Noumu. It was his assignment by Sensei. However, since such an attack would bring the attention of the media, it also meant Izuku would learn about it. Therefore, he had to do his duty while not blocking Izuku's route.

It was relaxing to him to think about his plan and tactics playing card in solo. The combo, the possibilities, the randomness he had to compose with.

Heroes. Villains. Sidekicks and minions. Events.

Tomura looked at the "Journalists" card which gives more points to the person who will win the next battle. What he had to compose with during this fight, he would certainly lose.

Tomura then had a smile. All he needed to do was to do something before the fight. Such as deciding on the fight and the field. Well… How about using them? After all, the media were everyone's enemies.

"Kurogiri? I would need a lot of stupid reporters in the front of the U.A. Monday if possible. Can you do it, please?"

Kurogiri could have cried if his eyes were not somehow some kind of cloud that could pass through reality to teleport people across Japan as long as he had coordinates. Tomura was acting smartly.

"Of course, young Tomura, with pleasure. Do you need anything else for your attack, maybe some cannon fodder?"

"Not yet, Kurogiri. I will plan my attack once I have discovered when the students have classes with him. I want to be sure when and where we will strike. However, I would like disposable minions for starters. I don't want to lose people who have a good backstory and excellent power yet."

The blue-haired man looked at the booster he got recently. The house of madness, a criminal syndicate that worked as a family. Not really powerful, but with a fan-base for their crimes who were often artistic and their contests of the norm of the society. Tomura thought they were just assholes who were refusing to admit what they were.

"Then how will you enter the school?"

"By the door." Tomura had a strange smile, apparently, as he knew something Kurogiri did not.

"And why do you not use the traitor we have among them?"

"That would be idiotic to use and probably delete an asset we had so much trouble to get. Unlike the Noumu, it will not be easy to replace. Am I right, Kurogiri?"

The cloud man nodded simply before he kept washing glasses automatically. Well, now, he had to prepare a few things to enter the school, didn't he?

—

Tuesday, as journalists were sleeping on Monday, Tomura was in front of the UA, in a third year General Course uniform. The blue-haired man dyed his hair in black and wore lenses to change his eye color. No quirk was involved in his disguise as there was a high number of quirk who could detect and discover quirk-based illusion or cover.

The only people who could use them for villainy were very strong or to work together to complement their weaknesses. Not everyone could do that so you better learn how to apply make-up if you wanted to hide your identity. Either that or you did not care in the first place about it, such as Muscular did not give a flying fuck about it.

However, Tomura cared about his civilian identity, hence his disguise. He even worked on a special suit should he ever do the villain in public, so no one would know his true identity.

The villain in training smiled when he saw the journalists, who were pressing themselves around them. All he had to do now was to enter the flow of students as they entered the school. It was actually fairly simple, and the robots did not have the time to scan every student for their cards and ID. However, the robots were certainly going to scan them later, meaning Tomura was on a time-based mission.

Still, he had an advantage. The blue-haired man couldn't endanger the spy, but he could use his information to know before-hand the whole place and not lose time by wandering around the place and wondering where he was.

He just had to go straight to his aim and ignore everything else. Such as this girl with blue hair who was wandering kind of aimlessly in the air before crashing into him.

As she was grumbling a bit, Nejire got up a bit and gave her hand to a Tomura who was not happy. He had little time to lose.

"Ooopsie, sorry. Herm… This isn't the way to the classroom 3A, I guess."

"… It is on a whole other floor and in a whole different corridor."

Tomura had the map memorized. Hard to beat a FromSoftware game if you couldn't remember the map yourselves. The cute girl was smiling at him and he gave her his hand to get up. Wait, why did he think she was cute? She was most likely a hero. He was a villain. Tomura couldn't think like that. He had to make her go away as soon as he could. He explained to her the path she had to take when he noticed something very quickly.

"You are an air-head, aren't you?"

"Hehehehe. Yes, as you can see, I fly around a bit, yes."

"Ksss. I don't like people like you, a hero who doesn't even know her right from wrong."

"You meant left, right? You are funny, you know?"

"I didn't mean to be funny. I tried to say you're spineless!"

This was the moment Tomura noticed the girl was spinning on herself, smiling cluelessly.

"Oh, for Sensei's sake." They did not pay the boy enough for this shit. Yes, technically, he was not paid at all. "If I guide you to your classroom, will you leave me alone?"

"Hmmm? Sure, that would be nice!"

The girl was way too bubbly to Tomura's taste. 2D girls were quiet and you could always silence the BGM if it was annoying to you. This one? Tomura had the feeling no one could turn her off. So, the best way to make the annoying NPC leave was to accomplish her side-quest.

"Come on, follow me. I will guide you to the right place. It should not take too much time."

—

If Tomura could travel back in time, he would punch himself in the face. Not too much time, right? Well, he did not consider one thing. He had to do a FUCKING ESCORT MISSION. Which, of course, meant the NPC was going sideways every time he thought it was going to be a straight line!

"Oh, did you see that bird?"

"Continue like that and I WILL FLIP YOU THE BIRD!"

"Oh, there, it is a dog!"

"IT IS THE THERAPIST."

"Oh, there! It is a bear!"

"It is the goddamn principal!"

"Oh look, here, it is Prince Zuko!"

"I… Ok, I'm giving you that one. He looks like Prince Zuko. Wait, you watch Avatar, the last airbender?! It is one of the oldest shows! It is… It is pre Dawn of Quirk old!"

"Of course! I'm like an airbender too, floating around and just appreciating life as it is! So when I learned there was a show like that, I had to watch it!"

She just scored some fucking points for Tomura, who was this close to ditch her and go straight to the teacher's room. Seemed like the one who designed the mission remembered that the NPC had to be endearing if they did not want the player to shoot them.

"At least, you have good taste in show, hero."

"Oh, by the way, stranger, my name is Nejire Hado, not miss or you, you know?"

Tomura almost froze when the girl called him a stranger with a smile as she passed by him, humming. Did… Did she understand he was an intruder and was going to alert the authorities? Did he have to silence one of the few people he ever met to have watched his favorite show?

"Don't worry, you'ren't the first hero fan who entered the school grounds. We often like to meet them, it helps the staff to make better securities. You are nice too! So don't worry, you won't have a problem. I will wait… Hmmm, until the end of my two next classes, so you can take a stroll, okay? By the way, nice dye!"

"Oh… Herm… Thanks. I'm a…" Tomura shuddered at what he was going to do. He was going to pretend he was an Izuku. "A huge hero fan, you know. I don't have a quirk adapted for heroics, and I have to constantly monitor myself, you see? So, I wanted to see the school that helped others to become heroes and save guys like me! After all, they formed guys like All-Might or Endeavor!"

Tomura was trying to smile kindly, something Izuku had fun trying to teach him during some games. Apparently, the result made a few people faint but not Nejire who took the smile as a sad one. The smile of a person whose life broke piece by piece, especially if Tomura had to constantly monitor themselves.

"Is that why you wear artist gloves? I know they do wonders for five point quirk." You could say whatever you want about Nejire. She was smart, and she noticed the unimportant details. She noticed the pain about Tomura's quirk.

"Yes. Mine is really destructive otherwise. It… I killed a dog by mistake once, trying to pet it." If the enemy were pitying him, who was he to refuse to use this opportunity? Also… Why did he feel like a weight in his chest being lifted?

His next question was one he did not expect to have.

Why did he have his head between boobs?

Indeed, Nejire grabbed him, hugging him tightly against him… Patting his head against her.

"Hey, you know, big guy… It is okay to cry sometimes, you know?"

They were really simple words. Tomura was used to them and their constant emptiness. People only cared about themselves. That was what Sensei taught him about how to manipulate people.

Then why the fuck was he feeling warmth and kindness in her voice and gesture? Why did she make him remember *her*?

Tomura felt a valve slowly cranking open somewhere in his heart. For all his kindness, Izuku was just a little brother with his own share of problems. However, he prepared Tomura for this moment in a way. Because of him, Tomura was not as alone as before, making him more knowledgeable about emotions, caring about someone else than himself.

He did not cry too much. Just a bit. He was a grown man, right? He couldn't appear weak in front of a girl, a younger girl.

"So… Sorry. I didn't mean to break like that. It's just… I learned about the gloves only a few months back then. I did not know how much I missed human contact, I guess?" Let's not tell her she made him remember the sister he killed inadvertently with his quirk.

Nejire's smile was super effective against Tomura's darkness.

"Do not worry. I'm just happy to make you happy. What's your name?"

"I'm To… Tenko. I'm Tenko." All-Might attack. You had to keep it in mind. If they asked her your name, you would be toast instantly. "I mean, my friends call me that." Tomura began to intensively think of how he could have got All-Might planning.

"Oh, and… I think we're in front of my classroom, Tenko." Oh, right. His side-quest had been to bring the NPC back to her spawn point. His reward was the hug, Tomura guessed.

"It was nothing, Nejire. Hmmm you… You wouldn't know how to spot All-Might by pure coincidence? I'm sure he probably doesn't like to be bothered for an autograph, but I'm sure it would be nice to see him from closer, you know?"

"Hmm? That? That is fairly easy. You should know his fan-club in the school has established his planning, and it is easily accessible, you know?" It did not really bother Nejire, as Mirio was part of it and he often spoke about it.

Tomura suddenly felt really dumb to not have checked the student groups on the internet for information: they were accurate. His exasperation fueled his facepalm by the strength of a thousand exploding sun, making Nejire laugh a little.

"Well, I have to go. However, if I were you, I would make my way to the exit. I'm pretty sure the systems will soon spot you."

This… Was not untrue.

"I… huh… I hope we will meet again, Nejire. It was a pleasure." Tomura said with a little smile , fueled by a new emotion and awkwardness.

"Hey, you know this smile isn't bad right now. I hope you will watch me for the next Festival!"

This is how Tomura's big adventure in the U.A. ended.

—

When Tomura was back at the bar, Kurogiri quickly noticed something was wrong with his charge. He seemed a bit more at peace, exactly as if he had been to the card shop to meet his friend Izuku.

"Young Tomura? Everything is fine?"

"Yes, yes. Got All-Might planning. We are going to attack Friday, most likely. We should have the time to amass enough small fries for it." Still, Tomura seemed to have something to ask, being suddenly awkward in front of his guardian.

"Young Tomura, I'm here to help you, whatever is eating you."

"Ok… How to ask that… There was this girl, and she hugged me, making me feel weird and somehow I did not want to hurt or destroy anything around me."

Kurogiri suddenly stopped what he was doing, looking at his charge, who was indeed a bit red now that he looked him closer.

"Well, I would recommend you to look at the correct walkthrough to get her route correctly…" Kurogiri dodged the chair thrown by Tomura.

"I AM NOT TALKING ABOUT A 2D GIRL!"

"You… aren't talking about a cute girl in a visual novel who tells you she loves you when she tumbled on you?" Tomura stumped Kurogiri. In his dead heart, who was moving only thanks to some unholy machinery and drugs, he felt pride. His boy was finally grown up! The zombie cloud broke out an old book and made Tomura sit in front of him.

"Then it is finally time, young Tomura, that I teach you something about the bird and the flowers…"

"Kurogiri. I'm twenty and you don't want to know my internet history. Hell, I found Sensei's and I wished I did not. How can he watch things when he doesn't have…"

"Quirk that allows one to have a mental projection of any screen in his vicinity." Kurogiri, who was putting back his book, provided the answer. "So. What is your problem, then?

"

"Do you think I may need a therapist?"

Kurogiri's nervous laugh ended three hours later. Then, Oboro's part in his mind, who cared for Tomura, stopped him from recommending him to any therapist, because he knew who were All for One's therapists.

You did not want to go to them for very obvious reasons, such as them being evil therapists.

—

Earlier that day.

Tooru clapped her hand when she entered the classroom, as Aizawa was not there yet, sleeping like an ugly caterpillar. He was actually messaging Emi while being tired of what was supposed to happen today.

"I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT, so that way Katsuki won't be able to blackmail Izuku. As of Saturday, Izuku is my boyfriend. Too late, girls!"

"… Wait, what?"

"WOW MANLY"

"Ribbit"

"Why are the good ones always taken fast?"

"Fuckin normies, die."

The day began and Izuku was already hiding his face in his arms as his girlfriend patted his head kindly. Katsuki was fuming close to them, as he had planned to drop the bomb later that day.

"HEY INVISI BI…" The look in Izuku's eyes made Katsuki change his words. That and the card in his hand. He had it bad. "Invisi Girl. I was supposed to tease him about that!"

"Sorry, Bob-omb, but it is my duty to protect him from you. Now, making him blush is my privilege!" She said with a hearty laughter…

—

NowYouSeeMe has entered the chat.

NowYouSeeMe: Before anyone asks me anything, evidence that Izuku is perfect.

NowYouSeeMe partaged BestPicture.png

Gravity:… Who is the girl who is smiling with green bean?

RichGirl: I have to admit she's present nicely, but doesn't she wear the clothes you were panicking on Friday evening?

Earjack: So that's why you claimed him…

NowYouSeeMe: Wait. You were there? I mean, I heard Katsuki.

Earjack: Pinky, Kirishima and I accompanied him on his duty to spy you.

Froppy: ribbit.

Pinky: Almost felt like a double date.

NowYouSeeMe: I even learned he had other friends aside from Katsuki.

NowYouSeeMe: Just they look fuckin villainous.

EarJack: He is friends with Katsuki. Maybe he has a second quirk that brings villains to him?

NowYouSeeMee: …

Gravity: ...

RichGirl: …

Froppy: Ribbit. Nah just kidding. Happy for you Tooru!

NowYouSeeMe: Quick question though about the double date. Jiro/Katsuki and Mina/Shima or the boys and the girls together? Or Mina/Tsuki and Jiro/Shima?

Pinky: Oh girl, don't even try to…

EarJack: I'm more interested in what your parents thought.

—

"So, Tooru… How was your day at the mall? Was your new friend nice? Do I need to prepare a place at work to hide a corpse after I bent him?"

If some people had an overprotective dad, Tooru had an overprotective mom, especially as her quirk allowed her to bend anything she could grip. As for her father, he was helping his son doing his homework though he was listening to the debrief of Tooru's date.

"Mom, Dad. I have a boyfriend. His name is Izuku, and he's extremely kind. On a side but related note, I have a picture to show everyone here!"

Tooru quickly showed her phone to her mom, happy to show the picture that made her so happy.

"Well… At least he has a delightful shade of red and green… Also, he'sn't bad at all! Quite cute indeed, you got yourselves a good one, girl."

The photo was a selfie Tooru tried to take soon after the "good picture" as Izuku was still red from her kiss. To be fair, now she was thinking about it… Had she appeared in this picture too, she would have been as red as him.

"It is the wrong pic, mom, please. The red boy is… Well, certainly really fun to see, but seriously, you will see why he's an absolute perfect boy."

Her mom wondered what he could have done for Tooru to be this excited as she could hear it in her voice. She was overjoyed, and it was rather simple to hear it in her tone.

When her mom realized who the girl in the picture was, she almost made the phone fall. The girl in it was almost the perfect image of her husband's sister, but with her pale green hair. She had intense eyebrows and big emerald eyes.

She was her daughter and she could see her daughter for the first time clearly. Sure, sometimes with the right spectrum from her brother, they could see Tooru, at least the shape of her.

However, this was the first time she could see her daughter's true eyes, see how she was smiling for real. It was as beautiful as she hoped and she could now picture even better than before her daughter beaming.

"Under the right circumstance, he can apparently nullify my quirk for a slight moment. That is how he surprised me with this selfie."

The Hagakure decided that day, Izuku was going to be elected the sweetest cinnamon, and they decided to find a way to thank him for the picture.

—

Meanwhile, on the boy's side, aside from Izuku, everyone noticed Todoroki, who was wearing a pin based on Nedzu.

"Midoriya?" The heterochromatic boy asked with his usual icy demeanor. However, people noticed it was the first time he actually went to someone to speak with him. "I would need advice, if it is okay with you."

"I listen, however I don't think I will be able to help you, unless you seek heroes' goodies." Izuku just wanted to warn him, not knowing what Todoroki would ask.

"Actually, it is exactly what I wanted to ask. Do you know how to make a bedroom themed around Nedzu and All-Might?"

Katsuki paled when he heard Todoroki say that, as he did not have enough cuff to stop Izuku today.

Another All-Might fanboy was born and educated in the way.

"See? SEE? I TOLD YOU ALL-MIGHT WOULD HELP."

"Actually, it was more Nedzu, but yes, All-Might did the right thing."

"Want some Nedzu goodies? I have some of his posters from his earlier years in stock at home."

Todoroki nodded, before being grabbed by Kaminari and Kirishima.

"So what happened? If it isn't indiscreet."

"I can't go into how it happened, but my father went from happy to angry to crying on the floor." Todoroki inspired, as everyone thought there had been an epic fight over who should have destroyed the school. "Nedzu did that simply by talking, making my father realize and deciding to go see a therapist. They are Shinsoo's parents, apparently."

"Oh fuck, that is why they seemed chirped than usual. Money."

"Yes, apparently, his family used to have voice and emotion-based quirks. His dad can make people explain what they feel by singing Kumbaya." Todoroki seemed happy to see his theory proven right, while Katsuki was laughing a bit at Hitoshi's dismay.

"Do you have other crazy theories? I may need them as a probable source of blackmail."

"I think Izuku is the secret love child of Mr Compress" Izuku almost sweated when Todoroki said that, before Katsuki sighed.

"No, I knew his shitstain of a father and I was not far when he died. Tragic accident before he took his plane to run away to the USA because his son was quirkless."

Everyone looked at Izuku, who was sighing before getting an invisible hug. It is always a good thing, you might say..

"When I said I knew what it means to have a terrible father with a fire quirk, I was not kidding. Hisashi could breathe flame."

"Wait, an accident with a plane? I remember one time when my parents almost got into a problem because one of their fan stampedes ran over a man who just fell over a railing." Jiro suddenly remembered that tidbit, even though it was probably a coincidence.

"Worst-case scenario, it has been over ten years. Prescription is due." Katsuki said, with assurance. People narrowed their eyes, including Izuku…

Koda signed quickly to ask if it had a link with the time he brought back his rabbit from Ireland eleven years ago and the rabbit had high kicked a man he did not like.

"… Everyone, stop. If you have something to do with my father's death, I will thank you."

"Still. I live now in the U.A. and Nedzu decided he's my grandfather. I also have an appointment with Hound Dog, so I will avoid my father for the time being. Father who accepted everything. Seriously, I was there and I'm still not sure how Nedzu did it." Shouto confirmed that.

The students took note: If needed, the staff would help the students, even against the #2.

"Silence, kids." It was a wild Aizawa with a smile on his face.

"Now, we have a new trial for you kids. You have to… choose a class president."

"Not it," said Izuku immediately, before anyone could react. "I would hate the job. Also, I would have less time for other stuff."

Tokoyami nodded. "Indeed. Between the sessions of DnD, Tooru and the rest, it would be a mad banquet of madness."

"By the way, Tokoyami, can I join the table, to test it?" Tooru asked, who was a bit curious about it since before Izuku and Tokoyami seemingly had an interesting campaign.

"Kids… Focus." Aizawa tried to calm down his class, before sleeping in his bag, proud of Midoriya. Always dodge the job with the most things to do, kid. Always.

—

Soon afterward, the result came to the surprise of absolutely no one since Izuku asked to not be a choice: Momo was clearly first and she took Iida as her vice-president.

A day quite ordinary if you forgot the intrusion of the media.

Oh, well. Not like it was linked to a sinister plot.