"..and the very fact that an institution such as UA was attacked to the point that there were students in critical condition after being forced to fight for their lives is shocking. What happened to it being the greatest institute of learning in Japan?"
"Oh come off it. No place is impenetrable, no matter what the creators might try. Nobody can plan for every eventuality, Quirk or no Quirk. As long as nobody died and UA learns from this fiasco, I call it a win."
"Nobody died? Tell that to the corpse of the villain that was killed by a student! The fact that UA would not only accept a murderer into the Hero Course but keep them even after they showed their true colors is disgusting!"
"...Are you seriously arguing that a hero should have let a villain kill them and the people they were protecting rather than make sure they were put down for good after exhausting all other options?"
"There are always other options! That student likely joined the Hero Course in order to obtain a legal license to brutalize people!"
"Are you outta your #( &!^$ mind!"
The supervillain known throughout the world's criminal underworld as All for One shut the television off once the talking heads on the news program devolved to shouting and name calling, all semblance of civil discussion dead. Honestly, and Yoichi had wondered why he had little respect for most people.
The fallout of the League of Villain's assault on UA was still unfolding several days after the event. Even though the original objective had been a failure, AfO still considered the operation a minor success. Not only had UA's and, by extension, All Might's, eye been blackened, the prototype Nomu had been field tested with satisfying results, even if it had been brought down by a child.
Oh, but what a child it was. After Tomura told him about what had happened while getting his wounds tended to, AfO had gotten his hands on a copy of the USJ's security footage that had been sent to the police and watched the boy's, Midoriya Izuku's, battle with the Nomu. From everything he had seen of the fight, Midoriya was likely already at Pro level, with combat abilities and mental acuity that were truly impressive. Beyond just his ability to fight the Nomu was the way he broke down its Quirks and abilities and figured a way around them while in the heat of battle, a tactical genius AfO had not seen for some time.
There was also the fact that he was willing to fight to kill if necessary. Far too many people forgot that sometimes a hero couldn't bring a villain down non-lethally without incurring heavier casualties on their own side or on civilians, and might be forced to do exactly what the boy did. A hero should always dread the day that eventuality arrived while preparing themselves for it.
That was what AfO considered most dangerous about the boy. Beyond his physical and mental abilities, was his willingness to use them to their fullest if needed. Even All Might, and many of his predecessors, had trouble with that aspect of the job at first, and people had suffered for it.
Then there was the way the boy spoke to All Might. That was not deference to a respected teacher, or the awe of a revered idol. The way that Midoriya spoke to All Might, and more importantly, the way All Might responded, as though following the boy's orders was natural to him…
It seemed All Might had found his successor. This would bear further observation. And thankfully UA had just announced that they would be continuing with his best opportunity to do so…
Nezu strode through the empty halls of UA towards the Support Course's highest level labs as the setting sun streamed its orange light through the windows, intending on dealing with a situation that was worrying multiple people, including All Might, Power Loader, and Midoriya Inko.
The students of the first year Hero Course had been given the rest of the week off to recover, mainly due to the fact that some such as Hagakure needed a longer recovery period. The fact that they could all recover at all instead of needing to be buried was a testament to the students' skill and courage.
A certain greenette had promptly disappeared into the Support labs the day after the attack and had not left since. Seeing as it was now Friday evening and he had not been home since early Tuesday morning, his mother was understandably worried, despite knowing quite well how competent and mature he was, not to mention why.
Walking up to the reinforced door to the lab Izuku had taken over, the diminutive principal quickly typed a code into the security panel next to it, absently wondering how Izuku had bypassed it, before walking into the room once the door opened.
The room was crowded with a multitude of items, papers with various messily scrawled notes next to most of them. Further into a corner of the room, out of sight from Nezu's position, came the sound of rapid typing on a keyboard, the clacking quick yet sure.
Walking through the room Nezu paused rather often to look at some of the items that caught his eye. Here he found maneuverability jets, grappling hooks and improved anti-nausea systems for Uraraka's costume. There, a formula for high density multivitamins to enhance Tokage's regeneration. Further along, outfits made of something called 'unstable molecules' for Kirishima and Tetsutetsu, along with boots with retractable spiked plates to help them anchor themselves to the ground if needed. For Tokoyami, a cape with hidden LED lights lining it for use in case Dark Shadow went out of control. For Jurota, the formula for a drug that would help mitigate the impact his Quirk had on his intelligence.
All in all, Nezu was extremely impressed by what he was seeing. Izuku had obviously been busy coming up with support items to assist his classmates in case they ever found themselves in a similar situation to USJ. He also found training ideas and programs for those he couldn't help quite as directly, such as investigating to see if Monoma could combine Quirk effects.
As Nezu turned the corner of the shelves to the location where Izuku sat he found the greenette seated in front of a reinforced desktop computer, a wrist mounted computer with an OLED touchscreen lit up on it attached to the computer by a high capacity cable as he typed.
"So, am I expelled?" Izuku suddenly asked as he continued typing without pause.
Nezu was utterly unsurprised that Izuku had noticed his approach. He hadn't exactly been hiding, and for someone as experienced as Izuku noticing someone approaching them unannounced must be second nature, especially considering recent events.
"Of course not." Nezu said with a scoff. "The Hero Public Safety Commission did have some concerns, and the media is being idiotic as is usual, but I will resign before I allow you, much less any other of our students, be railroaded in such a fashion. And my leaving would be extremely inconvenient for anybody who instigated it, I can promise you." He said with a rather sharp smile. "Quite beyond your… unique... circumstances, I would never punish someone for doing what was necessary. You'll turn any negative opinions around soon enough."
Izuku huffed a laugh. "Forgive me, but I don't have good experiences when it comes to the press, so I won't hold my breath." He said as he continued typing with one hand, the other reaching for an All Might branded mug of coffee sitting nearby. He took a quick gulp before grimacing, likely at the fact that the liquid was completely cold by now, before continuing to type.
"What are you working on?" Nezu asked as he approached, glancing at the sketches and a piece of fabric near a machine that Nezu was 95% sure hadn't originally been requisitioned by the school and appeared somewhat cobbled together. It appeared to be a new costume design for Yaoyorozu, though this one covered her entire body, and once again the words 'unstable molecules' were scrawled in the place of fabric details. An attached note had a formula that it took Nezu a moment to figure out was for high density, high calorie nutrition bars to work with the girl's Quirk.
"Yaoyorozu carries a physical book that is a lexicon full of constructs and materials for her to create." Izuku said as he telekinetically pulled an electric coffee thermos from where it had been sitting and keeping warm before pouring some more caffeine into his mug. "I've just made a digital version with a search function and a bunch of things she either hasn't thought of or isn't aware of. I plan on seeing if I persuade her to make me some of the truly useful stuff that I know either doesn't exist or hasn't been created in this reality for my use."
"Such as?" Nezu asked, interested in what Izuku would consider useful, and what substances that did not exist in the world at the moment could be or do.
"Various variations of adamantium and vibranium, mostly." Izuku said as he took a sip of much more pleasant coffee even as he continued typing.
"I do not believe I have heard of either of those substances." Nezu stated with curiosity.
"On the Earth I lived on as Peter they were two of the most valuable and useful substances known to man." Izuku said seriously, pausing his typing to underscore his point. "Some of the greatest heroes and villains to ever live had weapons made of those substances. Honestly, I was on the fence on giving Yaoyorozu access to their molecular structure. If villains, hell, if some heroes, ever found out how useful some of this stuff is, and that she's probably the only source of it in the entire world, she'd become a huge target." He turned back to the computer. "In the end I decided the benefits outweighed the risks, though I'll make sure to explain exactly what those are to her so she can make an informed decision. I hope I'll be able to convince her to at least give me some if she decides never to touch the stuff again."
"She is the heiress of an almost ludicrously wealthy family, Midoriya-kun. How exactly do you intend to convince her if she doesn't want to?" Nezu asked, mildly amused.
"I don't know. Manual labor? Bodyguard work? Covert operations against her middle school bullies? Sexual favors? I'll go through a lot for some vibranium to use in my projects." Izuku said, completely seriously.
Nezu blinked, surprised by how determined Izuku was to get whatever this vibranium stuff was. "I would appreciate it if you could take your time at some point to explain why this is so important to you, but it seems I've been sidetracked from my original reason for coming." He said before coughing into his paw. "You've been holed up in here for too long, my friend. Your mother is worried about you, and while I can understand your reasoning, you've already done quite a bit to assist your classmates so far. You need to rest and relax after the events at the USJ."
"It's only been a couple of days." Izuku said as he continued typing, adding more information into Yaoyorozu's new lexicon.
"It's been four going on five." Nezu deadpanned, making Izuku pause and blink before checking his phone, which was laying on the table next to the computer, finding that yes, it had indeed been that long. "I'm sure that with your extensive amount of experience you're well aware of how necessary it is to take proper care of your mental health." The principal continued. "Go. Relax. Destress."
Izuku hesitated, looking down at the work he'd done, before his eyes fell on his jacket, and what rested in one of the reinforced inner pockets. Then he looked back at the chimera. "Fine, but under one condition."
Nezu raised an eyebrow.
Saturday found Inko sitting in front of her television after lunch and flipping through channels while she tried to relax.
Izuku had arrived the previous evening after apparently making a deal with Nezu, which the woman was very thankful for. Though she did still have trouble wrapping her head around her son essentially being treated as an equal by people such as the principal or All Might.
Still, she knew that he needed to rest after everything that had happened. She really hoped he wouldn't encounter any similar situations at least till he graduated and went pro, though something told her that she shouldn't get her hopes up.
Of course, Izuku's current method of relaxation wasn't exactly what Inko had in mind, but if it worked for him, she wasn't going to complain.
She had just flipped away from another pundit complaining about the USJ incident when the doorbell rang. The woman frowned in light confusion, wondering who it could be, before getting up to answer.
"Hello, Midoriya-san?" A pretty brunette standing outside of the door said when the door opened, a smile on her face.
Inko glanced from her to the other girls standing next to her, one with orange hair done up in a side ponytail and the other with black hair in a fanlike ponytail. "Yes?"
"It's a pleasure to meet you." The orangette said with a small bow. "I am Kendo Itsuka, and this is Uraraka Ochako and Yaoyorozu Momo. We're some of your son's schoolmates. We and some of the others were wondering if Midoriya-kun was available to spend the day at the beach with us. We figured it would be good for us all to spend some time together after everything that happened, and we've heard that Dagobah Beach is quite lovely now that someone cleaned it up."
"Others?" Inko asked before stepping out and looking over the railing down at the ground below, finding dozens of teens milling about and talking as they waited. She felt her eyes fill with tears.
"Midoriya-san?" Uraraka asked, concerned.
Inko sniffed and wiped her tears away. "Don't worry, dear. I'm just… so happy to see that my Izuku finally has some friends."
"Because he grew up thinking he was Quirkless?" Yaoyorozu asked gently.
Inko looked at the girl with surprise. "Oh, he told you about that?" She gave a shaky smile. "Yes, my Izuku grew up quite isolated because of his status. He tried to keep the specifics from me, but I know it must have been difficult." Wiping her eyes again she spoke a bit more firmly. "In any case, he isn't here at the moment, but I can tell you where he went. You should be able to find him there."
"Thank you, ma'am." Uraraka said with a smile.
About fifteen minutes later the group of students who had been able to attend the impromptu get together found themselves outside of the place Izuku's mother told them he'd be.
"Is this…" Tokage began.
"...a homeless shelter?" Kaminari finished, blinking in surprise.
Before them stood a large community center that had apparently been converted into a homeless shelter some time ago.
Iida held a shaking, clenched fist in front of himself, appearing to be overcome with emotion. "Truly, Midoriya-kun is an ideal to strive for. Even when he is meant to be relaxing, he is performing community service!"
"So manly!" Kirishima and Tetsutetsu exclaimed in sync.
"We don't know that's what he's doing." Monoma said. "He could just be here to visit someone staying here." The boy's tone said he didn't really believe his own words, however.
When the volunteers at the shelter saw a large group of teens all enter the building together they stared in shock before one of them approached. "I sincerely hope you all don't need a place to stay." The young woman covered in light red fur said hesitantly.
Yaoyorozu stepped forward with a reassuring smile on her face. "No, thank you. We're actually here looking for a friend of ours, Midoriya Izuku-kun. Is he here?"
The woman blinked before smiling. "Ah, you're all Midoriya-kun's friends? Well then, we're happy to have you here. I believe he was in the kitchen making some food for our residents. Just go to the back of the building and you should be able to find it."
The students did as they were told, thanking the woman as they passed her. When they walked into the main area of the shelter they found a large, open space cluttered with bunk beds and clothes racks. Against the walls were multiple bookshelves full of training manuals, novels and board games.
All about the place were people sleeping, talking or reading, many of them looking up when the teens passed by, appearing befuddled. They passed a couple of older people playing chess as they playfully insulted each other, a man with digitigrade legs doing pull ups, and a woman reading a storybook to some children.
"You know, sometimes it's easy to forget how good we've got it." Tsuburaba said quietly. "I mean, intellectually I know that there are homeless people that rely on places like this to survive, but it never really registers till it's shoved in your face."
Next to Shiozaki, who had her hands clasped together as she walked, appearing to be praying for the people of the shelter, Tsu responded as she observed the kids listening to the story with smiles on their faces. "Yeah. We're really lucky."
Eventually they reached the far end of the main area of the shelter and found Izuku working on repairing a television rather than cooking. He was working with ease as he spoke to the people around him, a smile on his face.
"Could you pass me that screwdriver there, please?" He asked a girl sitting next to him and watching him work.
The girl he was talking to, a blonde in a school uniform with her hair in messy buns and lidded golden yellow eyes, her lazy grin exposing enlarged canines, picked up the tool he was asking for before handing it over. "This one, Izuku-kun?"
"Yeah, thanks, Toga-chan." He said as he took it and began screwing something into the television, not seeming to notice how the girl blushed lightly.
"Midoriya-kun?" Uraraka called, making the boy look up with a blink.
"Oh, hey everybody. What are you doing here?" He asked as he finished what he was doing and started hanging the TV up on its mount with the help of a burly man with a pronounced jaw with tusks sticking out of his lower lip.
"We went to your house to see if you wanted to go to the beach with us for the day and your mom told us you were here." Tokoyami said.
Izuku gave the group a surprised look before smiling warmly. "I appreciate the thought, everyone, but I'm kinda busy here."
Before they could respond someone called from the kitchen. "Yo, Midoriya! It's been a little over thirty minutes since you set this to cook!"
Izuku's eyes went wide and he raced towards the kitchen with a curse as the tusked man turned the TV on, apparently satisfied when it came on with no issues. "I told you to let me know when twenty-three minutes had passed, Kenichi!"
"What? A couple of extra minutes can't hurt it." The apparently named Kenichi's voice said.
"Of course it can! I swear, if it got ruined because you got lazy, I'll make you regret it!" Izuku said angrily, making his classmates blink in shock, having never heard him be so aggressive.
"What, you gonna beat me up?" Kenichi said tauntingly.
"No. I just won't let you have any." Izuku said smugly.
Toga giggled as Kenichi immediately started to sound panicked. "No, wait, I promise to be good! Please don't keep me from your cooking! Pleeeeeeeeaaaase!"
"Huh, I wonder if his cooking is that good." Ashido wondered.
Kendo glanced over at Yaoyorozu and Shoda, who apparently had the same idea as they nodded. Kendo clapped her hands to get the group's attention. "So, what do you all say to a change of plans?" The orangette asked with a grin.
The heroes in training all glanced at each other before turning back to the 1-B class rep. "Let's do it!" They cheered. As Yaoyorozu made her way to the main office of the shelter's manager to inform them of what was going on, the teens got to work.
Sato, Komori, Tokage and Kaibara immediately moved to the kitchen to help Izuku with the cooking.
Honenuki grabbed a low chair and began offering massages to those that felt like they needed them.
Tsu, Kodai, Uraraka, Monoma and Shoda moved to help look after the children staying in the shelter.
Jiro found a guitar and began to play to entertain the people, with Ashido dancing along to add to the spectacle.
Pony came across a group of people trying to practice their English skills for any potential job interviews and immediately jumped in to help, being assisted with her Japanese in turn.
Kaminari started charging any batteries people might need.
Kirishima, Tetsutetsu, Ojiro and Kendo all began giving any interested residents an impromptu self defense lesson.
Shishida, Mineta and Manga began assisting with people practicing for job interviews.
Koda took to looking after the various pets that people brought with them.
Shiozaki began a prayer session, which a surprising amount of people attended.
And Iida, Aoyama, Shoji, Tokoyami, Tsuburaba and Yanagi, Bondo and Rin all proceeded to help with odd jobs around the facility.
On the second floor of the shelter, overlooking the living space, an older woman in her sixties with canine ears and a tail looked down at all the teens working to assist, Yaoyorozu at her side. "You have no idea how grateful we are." The shelter manager said with a joyful smile. "Midoriya-kun has been a blessing since he started volunteering here. The fact that his being here led the rest of you to come, even if only for today… I haven't seen this place as lively as it is now for a long time."
As they watched Izuku and his helpers bring out an enormous pot of heavenly smelling fried rice along with various drinks and some salad, Yaoyorozu smiled as well. "We're happy to help, Inunaki-san." She said as the girl called Toga leapt onto Izuku's back as he was trying to serve people, prompting him to laugh. "We are training to be heroes, and I think this is as important a lesson for us as anything we might learn at UA."
Inunaki smiled broadly. "Well, if you're any example of what the future will bring, I am definitely feeling quite hopeful."
Yaoyorozu then handed the older woman a piece of paper, which she opened to find was a check. Inunaki brought a hand to her mouth in shock as she saw the amount written on it. She gave Yaoyorozu a teary smile, the teenager smiling back softly before turning her gaze back at Izuku as he laughed and talked with the people around him while serving the food.
This may not have been how she expected the day to go, but she couldn't find it in herself to complain. Izuku really did seem to have a way to make everything better for everyone around him.
Finally! It is doneded!
This chapter flowed surprisingly easily, which I'm grateful for. I've actually been working on the latest chapter of Brightest when I realized "Wait, wasn't this month's chapter voted to be Myriad, which I hadn't started and have only days to finish before the month ends?" So I got this done in two days, which, as stated, was not difficult, thankfully.
Here we have more setup for the future, including another way Izuku is going to directly help his classmates. And what was that promise he extracted from Nezu? Also, who was that cute vampire that cameoed in the shelter? We might be seeing more of her in the future. :P
Also, yes, the homeless shelter was based on the F.E.A.S.T. shelter from the Insomniac Spider-Man PS4 game. I thought it very appropriate, considering.
Also, some people have been asking why Izuku hasn't used Avalon to heal All Might, or why he didn't use it on Hagakure. There are indeed reasons, which you might be able to figure out if you're familiar enough with the Nasuverse. Let's just say that Avalon is missing a vital component to be of any practical use. I'll explain it further in another chapter.
I think that's all for this chapter, so as always, I shall head into my customary reminders.
The first is that you can have a say in what I write when you donate to my Pat A Ron. Every dollar donated equals a vote in my monthly poll, and now I've made it so that the votes for the things that don't win in a given month roll over into the next, which is why some fics that haven't gotten much love for a while have been updated recently. So if you want to donate and see your favorite stories of mine updated more often, go to Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis. The current poll closes on September 4th. Hope to see you all vote!
The next two reminders are more important to me, however. First is that my best friend has a Pat A Ron for their original fiction. Donate any amount you want and get access to some objectively excellent writing (far better than mine, if I'm being completely honest). Their first story, which is a supernatural steampunk detective thriller that I very much enjoy called 'The Curious Investigations of Mister Jonathan Scott', is currently at 18 chapters, the first of which is free, so you can see what his style is like. So if you like, say, The Dresden Files, but want it more steampunk, this is for you. And they've now started another story that will be updated while they build up more Jonathan Scott chapters, this one being a cyberpunk (the genre, not the game) story called 'Tales of Luminous City', the first chapter of which is now also free. And they're working on a third story, this one a space opera (at least from the prologue I've read. Might be wrong). You can find their stuff by searching for Grimm Tales in Pat A Ron. Unfortunately their updates might be a bit delayed seeing as their computer suddenly went kaput, making them lose all their stuff.
I would appreciate it a lot if you could help them out, as unlike me they've had employment trouble due to some disabilities, which this pandemic hasn't helped. Even a dollar to read what they've currently done would be a huge help at this point, cause they're in real need. Hell, if you were thinking of donating to me, give it to them instead. I would honestly appreciate it a lot more.
Second, my sister has also begun a Pat A Ron. She recently got her Bachelor's in Digital Animation. She's trying to make her own series to post on Youtube, but needs money, so she's making art and plans on accepting commissions. She primarily does tokusatsu themed fanart (Super Sentai, Kamen Rider, Power Rangers, etc.), and she plans to let people have a say in what she makes, much like I do. That's at Pat A Ron dotcom /linduarte. (Oh no, now you know my last name! The horror!)
Please keep in mind though that we've been made aware of a bug with the site that
makes it seem like you can't donate less than $5. If you don't want to donate that much, to any of us, just put a zero before the number you want to donate, such as 03. That should get you going.
As always, thank you for the support despite the delays and issues I've been having. I promise I'm doing my best to improve. Hopefully we'll see each other again soon.