The first day of class after the events of the USJ attack found Izuku arriving at the classroom almost an almost full hour early.
He'd made sure to leave home earlier than usual in order to speak with Nezu about some ideas he'd had to improve security, among other things, but found out to his chagrin that the principal was actually in an important meeting with the Hero Public Safety Commission, so that had been a waste.
So, rather than just wander around campus, bored out of his skull, he headed to his classroom and decided to indulge in one of his hobbies while he waited.
During his life as Jesse, having learned from the mistakes of Trench, the previous Director of the FBC that she'd replaced, she went on a small hiring spree and got the best mental health specialists in the world to keep an eye on the Bureau's staff, with mandatory weekly sessions for every employee, herself included. It had worked out quite well, with monthly fatality numbers dropping a full 19 percent.
One of the things her therapist had noted was that Trench had made the Bureau his life to the exclusion of all else. No hobbies, no loved ones, nothing other than the job, and that was part of why he'd met a messy end. So Jesse needed something to ground her, something she enjoyed and could escape to when she needed a breather.
Around that time the FBC acquired an Altered Item that would end up becoming one of her prized possessions: an absolutely beautiful Fender Stratocaster. Of course, being an Altered Item it had its own quirks, the primary one being that it demanded to be played regularly, making those around it feel anxious and restless until someone did so, the effect subsiding for approximately 27.3 hours after usage before starting up again. However, the upside is that it improved the player's learning curve significantly, so a complete novice, like Jesse, could outplay power metal maestros within a year of constant practice.
Music had become her escape, the thing she did when she just needed a moment to destress, the guitar always in her office and within easy reach. By the time she died she'd probably been one of the top five best guitar players in the world, even if she'd cheated to get there.
So now, in the empty classroom, Izuku set up a program of his own making on his phone which automatically stripped selected instrument tracks from songs so one could practice them, ran a randomized playlist through it, and projected a very high end guitar he'd analyzed for just this purpose, plugging a bluetooth connector in as he did. He briefly felt a pang of loss for Jesse's Stratocaster, but set that aside as he started to play, beginning with McCartney and Clapton's version of 'While My Guitar Gently Weeps'.
Without realizing it, however, he fell into one of Jesse's bad habits, completely losing himself in the music to the point he didn't register anything else. So he didn't realize when he was no longer alone.
Toru had left home early to get away from her parents' worrying. They'd almost pulled her out of school after her close call, but she'd managed to convince them not to. She'd signed up for this, she'd known (intellectually, at least) that she could lose her life if she became a hero, and her family needed to remember that as well.
True, she'd been faced with her mortality far too quickly for anyone's liking, and she'd be lying if she said it hadn't shaken her, but she'd had a lot of time to think while she was recovering, and in the end she'd decided to keep going in spite of her fears and worries.
Still, even though her parents had relented, that didn't change the fact that they kept hovering and practically smothering her. It made leaving home to head to school almost a relief.
Arriving at the door to her classroom she was surprised to hear music coming from within. She'd fully expected to be the first there. Carefully opening the door she peeked in to see who it was.
The sight of Midoriya Izuku sitting at his desk and playing an electric guitar with obvious skill greeted her surprised eyes, making her heart start hammering in her chest and her face heat up.
She remembered clearly his defense of her, even through the haze of pain she'd been in at the time. The way he'd unflinchingly taken hits meant for her, blows that would have killed her and the vast majority of her classmates and even the teachers with ease. The determination in his gaze, the fury.
…The way he'd been forced to kill, for the sake of her and the others. The way he'd immediately began tending to her once the immediate threat had passed, not even seeming to realize he was also severely injured.
Really, was it any surprise that just the sight of him had her in such a state?
Carefully closing the door behind her after entering she silently made her way to her seat, using all the practice she'd put into her stealth skills, not wanting to interrupt him. She set her bag on the floor and sat down to watch him play, an unseen smile on her face as she simply enjoyed the performance.
Izuku, for his part, didn't notice his new audience, completely focused on his playing. He seamlessly flowed from the song he was playing to Audioslave's 'Like A Stone', followed by 'And So It Went' by The Pretty Reckless and then Bad Religion's 'I Want To Conquer The World'. He sported a content smile the entire time, not once opening his eyes, completely lost in the music even as the rest of the class began to arrive.
Much like Hagakure had the rest of Class 1-A peeked in before entering to find out the source of the music. Most wanted to loudly and enthusiastically greet the invisible girl when they spotted her, but she managed to keep them quiet through frantic body motions, so instead they silently patted and hugged her as they walked in, unwilling to interrupt Izuku's playing, considering how good he was, simply settling in to listen as well.
When Jirou arrived she was more than taken aback as Izuku played 'The Trooper' by Iron Maiden. She just stood in the doorway for nearly a minute, staring with a slack jaw, before making her way to her seat to watch as well, eyes locked on the way his fingers expertly strummed the strings, showing more skill than she thought she likely had. She felt a brief surge of jealousy and competitiveness before setting them aside to listen to the music.
By the time Izuku had gone through Dragonforce's 'Valley Of The Damned' and the Old Gods of Asgard's 'Take Control' the entire class had arrived, all of them sitting silently and listening to the music. Even Bakugou hadn't made a sound, sitting in his chair with his arms folded and resolutely facing away from the greenette, though he was unable to keep his head from bouncing as he listened. This was his type of music, after all.
As the last growled lyric of 'Take Control' faded Izuku let out a breath, feeling more relaxed than he had in a while. Of course, the moment ended when the classroom filled with applause, making him jump slightly in surprise, his eyes opening to take in his classmates showing their appreciation for his skills.
"That was amazing, man!" Kirishima said with a toothy smile.
"How are you so good at everything? It's not fair." Ashido said with a smile of her own as she clapped.
Mineta was muttering about Izuku being too damn perfect, obviously jealous of the attention even as he clapped as well.
Izuku blushed and let the guitar fade away as he rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks, everyone."
At that point the door opened to admit Aizawa. His arms were bound in slings, but beyond that he didn't look all that worse for wear, no doubt owing to Recovery Girl's expertise. "Alright, settle down."
"Aizawa-sensei, are you alright?" Iida asked, concerned. "Shouldn't you be resting?"
Aizawa grunted as he took his place where he usually did. "I won't be doing anything physically demanding, and there are still some things we need to go over during this homeroom in light of what happened last week." He gazed around at his students, who were all watching him. "You all acquitted yourselves well during the attack, but you shouldn't have been put in that position in the first place. Because of this, Hound Dog has set aside time to talk to each of you regarding your experiences. This is not mandatory, but highly encouraged, as a sound mind is as important as a sound body for a hero, so see me after class to make an appointment." As the students nodded, some looking thoughtful, the Pro Hero turned his gaze to two students in particular. "Hagakure, Midoriya, a session with Hound Dog is mandatory for each of you."
Izuku nodded in understanding. No doubt the teachers were concerned about his mental state since he was the only one to have taken lethal action during the entire event. Nezu likely wouldn't have bothered trying to stop it, since it would be best to reassure the staff that Izuku was alright.
Hagakure made sense as well. She was the most severely injured of the students, so it wouldn't be surprising if there was some lingering trauma from the experience.
"Next, several alterations and improvements have been suggested for the costumes of the majority of you." He said, motioning to a stack of folders resting on his desk, which Ojiro quickly picked up and started hounding out, as Aizawa couldn't do so himself. "Review them and either approve or reject them as soon as possible so the changes can be made. If you have any questions, direct them to Midoriya, as he was the one to come up with most of them."
"Sensei!" Izuku protested, having not wanted his involvement to be made known, only to be met with a glare from his teacher as his classmates looked at him in surprise.
"Your desire for anonymity in this is illogical, Midoriya." He said sternly. "Your classmates need to know who worked on their costumes so they can come to you with any issues they may have or changes they may need. They could go to the support department, but as they're your designs then you're the person most qualified to take any alterations into account."
Izuku clenched his jaw but subsided, as the pro hero had a point, as much as he may dislike it.
Bakugou, for his part, had been studying the changes to his costume with interest till he heard that Izuku had come up with them. His pride and refusal to accept help from 'Deku' warred with his practicality and the fact that the alterations were really, really good, leaving him stuck in a bit of a mental loop. The main alterations to his costume were in his gauntlets, which were reinforced and had steam emitters near the palms to make him sweat more heavily, thus increasing the power of his explosions, though there were other, more minor enhancements throughout the rest of the outfit.
Once that little issue was resolved Aizawa continued with what he intended to say. "Now, the last order of business is the fact that the UA Sports Festival will be starting in three weeks. This will be your opportunity to get the attention of pros for potential internships, so I don't think I need to explain to you how important it is that you do your best to prepare for it."
Sero raised a hand. "Sensei, is continuing with that really the best option considering what just happened?"
"The school needs to show that we aren't going to let the villains disrupt our lives." Aizawa said seriously. "I don't doubt you've all seen the media's reactions to the entire event. We will be increasing security by an order of magnitude, however, including bringing in pro heroes to keep an eye on things. The odds of the villains trying anything again so soon, especially after the defeat they suffered the last time they were here, is minimal." The teacher looked from one student to the next seriously. "We are taking your safety extremely seriously, but we won't allow recent events to get in the way of your education and future careers."
The students nodded, looking reassured, making Aizawa grunt in satisfaction. "Good. That'll be all for this homeroom." With that he left, no doubt heading back to the nurse's office.
As he left most of the class quickly got up and approached Izuku, asking him questions about the costume alterations he came up with or whether he'd be continuing to train them since the Sports Festival was coming up.
Izuku held up his hands as he was crowded by his classmates. "Hold on, hold on! How about I set aside some time with each of you individually so we can discuss the costumes?"
"Sure thing! I'm really excited by the anchoring plates, man!" Kirishima exclaimed with a toothy grin. "How about the training, though?"
"Well, I don't see why we can't continue having the martial arts lessons if you all want to." He said with a smile.
As the teens celebrated and began making plans Izuku sat back with a smile, going through lesson plans in his mind, knowing he'd have a lot of work to do to prepare the others not only for the festival but everything that would undoubtedly come after.
The day passed peacefully after that. During lunch the teens had talked about how excited they were for the festival, with Uraraka being especially fired up. Of course, after hearing about her reasons for becoming a hero, he could see where her drive came from. He couldn't fault her motivations at all, and became more determined to help her and the rest of his friends succeed.
Now, however, at the end of the day, he sat in Hound Dog's office, the school councillor staring at him surprisingly calmly considering his reputation and known personality, both of them silent for the moment, studying each other.
"I'm sure you know why you're here." The pro hero growled.
"You and the rest of the staff want to make sure I'm mentally sound after I was forced to kill Nomu in the USJ." Izuku replied calmly.
Hound Dog nodded, growling slightly in anger at the reminder of the incident before he refocused. "You appear quite calm." His tone was neutral, not indicating whether he considered that a good thing or not.
Izuku let out a breath and closed his eyes, considering how to deal with this in a way that wouldn't have the entire staff thinking he was some kind of psychopath. "I'm not happy that I had to kill him in the USJ, Hound Dog-sensei." He began. "I had nightmares and other trouble sleeping that night." All perfectly true. For all of his experience and memories, that had been his first time taking a life as Izuku, and he wasn't ashamed to say he'd wept a bit over the loss of some of whatever innocence he had left. "But I don't regret doing what I had to do to keep everyone else alive. There was no guarantee I could have held it off till All Might arrived without it killing someone, or even that All Might would have been able to beat a weapon specifically designed to kill him." He opened his eyes and gazed at Hound Dog steadily. "Everyone that knows me has always been aware I'm the biggest hero fanboy in Japan. I've been mocked about that often enough. But that means I'm very aware of the times that heroes have been forced to take lethal action. Gang Orca with the Spangler Brothers. Yoroi Musha with Steel Calamity. Celadon Star with Keroi Kasu…" Izuku sighed, closing his eyes again. "I've always known I might eventually have to take a life to protect others. I just didn't expect it to be so soon."
The room was silent for a few moments as Hound Dog processed Izuku's words. "It seems you've thought things through more than most kids do when they first come here." He said slowly.
"I'm well aware that life is rarely as kind as hero manga and the like make it seem." Izuku said softly, almost mournfully.
Hound Dog wasn't sure what to make of this. He could tell that Izuku was being mostly sincere, but he was still taking things a bit too well for his comfort. It was one thing to intellectually know that one might have to take a life, it was an entirely different thing to experience it. He would have much preferred having a session with the greenette the day after the USJ was attacked, but the entire staff had been going nuts trying to deal with the aftermath and plug any further holes in security, so it had been pushed to the side till things had somewhat calmed down.
As it was, the pro made a note on his laptop regarding the boy's far too calm attitude about the situation. He'd need to bring it up with Nezu, who had hinted that Midoriya might be… abnormal.
"Run me through your thought process at the time." He said/growled.
Izuku thought back, letting the words come out without really filtering them, explaining the realization of Nomu's multiple Quirks, how they made it pretty much unstoppable to non-lethal, and even lethal, means, how every moment increased the chance of Hagakure or someone else dying, how the threat needed to be eliminated permanently, and the only real way he'd thought of to do that.
Hound Dog noted everything down, looking for any fallacies in the reasoning or indications that Midoriya might be unstable to have considered such in the first place, but overall found the line of thinking to match what a smart, experienced pro would in such a situation. Which was, in and of itself, strange.
He was missing something, he knew it, but he couldn't come up with what, and the session ended with Midoriya being cleared to continue his studies at UA while Hound Dog decided to do some digging.
The next afternoon found the majority of the first year students back at Yaoyorozu's home, going through another martial arts lesson, having unanimously decided to increase the amount per week in order to best prepare for the Sports Festival.
Seeing as they all wanted to discuss their costumes as well, however, Izuku started them all off before handing them off to Kendo and Ojiro's supervision while he called the students aside one at a time in order to do so.
He had gotten through half of the students that wanted to speak to him so far, and had called Yaoyorozu to the room he'd set aside for the discussions next. He could have had the discussions in the dojo so he could keep an eye on the lesson, but not only did he not want to disrupt the class anymore than he already was, he very specifically wanted to keep his conversation with the beautiful heiress from anybody's hearing.
As the girl entered the room with a smile, closing the door behind her, she took a seat across from Izuku at the small table covered in notes and diagrams which he'd been occupying. "Thank you for the lessons and your work on our costumes, Midoriya-kun. I'm sure everyone appreciates it. I know I do, though I am a bit confused as to what you came up with." She began as she sat primly, observing him.
"I figured you would, out of everyone." Izuku said as he made some notes. "I take it the fact that the costume I came up with for you is a full bodysuit is what has you a bit puzzled?" He asked with a smile.
Yaoyorozu nodded. "Yes. I don't see how it is practical, considering my Quirk. There is a reason my current costume has the openings it does, and it's not because I'm an exhibitionist, regardless of what some might say." She said with a small blush.
"I understand." Izuku said soothingly before picking up a bag that was resting next to the table. "I think the best way to make things clear is to just have you try it out yourself. I have here a prototype of your new costume. Would you be so kind as to try it on?"
Yaoyorozu nodded as she got up and took the bag, moving to a door nearby that led into a small (by her standards) closet, assuming that is where he'd meant for her to change.
Izuku continued working on revisions and notes while he waited for his vice-rep to come out, making adjustments to various costumes based on feedback from the teens he'd already spoken to. Soon enough, however, the door to the closet opened, prompting him to turn to look at his hostess.
Yaoyorozu was clad in a tight fitting bodysuit that clung to her and gave a good impression of her body, though it overall wasn't any more revealing than a normal one piece swimsuit or the costumes of the likes of Uraraka or Tsuyu. And it was definitely less sexy overall than her current costume, which he knew some of the boys might complain about. It was a single solid reddish color, similar to her current costume, but that could be changed in later iterations. This one had just been made as proof of concept that it would work with her Quirk.
The shapely girl twisted and turned in the outfit, not seeming to consider how her actions highlighted her body, Izuku doing his best to focus on how it fit her and if any changes needed to be made rather than the fuel he was getting for his teenage fantasies. "How does it feel?"
Yaoyorozu considered the question as she continued moving to try it out. "...Different. The material feels rather odd compared to anything else I've worn, but it's comfortable and very easy to move around in."
Izuku nodded, pleased. It matched his own experience wearing unstable molecule suits. "Good. Now then, how about you make something as a test? Anywhere on your body that's covered by the outfit, please."
Yaoyorozu frowned slightly but did so, pulling her preferred bo staff out of her upper arm before setting it aside. She glanced at the place it had come out from, fully expecting to find a hole in the suit, but blinked as unmarked fabric met her gaze. "What!?" She gasped, before quickly making a matryoshka doll on her other arm and then a solid steel shield from her stomach area, watching as the objects appeared as though she wasn't wearing anything, the outfit remaining intact. As the shield clanged onto the floor she brushed a hand against her belly, finding only seemingly untouched fabric. She looked up at Izuku, who was taking notes with a smile on his face.
"Excellent…" he said with satisfaction. "That's about how I expected it to go, but it's good to have independent confirmation." He looked back up at Yaoyorozu and motioned for her to sit back down. "I'm sure you have questions, and I'd be happy to explain how the outfit works some other time, but we've got a few other things we need to talk about."
Yaoyorozu slowly made her way to the chair and sat down, gazing at Izuku with an evaluating look. "I'll hold you to that, Midoriya-kun. What else did you need to discuss, though?"
Izuku took a couple of sheets of paper out of his bag and set them in front of her, revealing them to be the molecular structures of two substances she'd never encountered before. After a few moments of study she could deduce the first was a steel alloy of a complexity she hadn't expected, and though she couldn't tell its exact properties just with a single glance, something niggled at her about it.
The other, however, was entirely alien to her, and one of the most complex structures she'd ever seen. She studied it with interest, beginning to memorize it out of habit, and she only realized how deep she'd fallen into her analysis of it when Izuku cleared his throat loudly to get her attention, making her jump and look up at him with an embarrassed blush on her cheeks. "Sorry." She glanced back down at the papers. "What are these?"
"The first is a steel alloy called True Adamantium." He said, tapping the paper with it as he spoke. Knowing the girl's sheer intelligence he explained its properties as Peter would have to a fellow scientist, and he could see her eyes grow wide the more she heard about it.
"That's amazing…" She said as he finished, staring at the adamantium paper with awe. "The uses for such an alloy are immense."
Izuku nodded with a smile. "I've given Nezu-sensei the formula for it, and he's shopping it around with people he trusts, including specialists on I-Island." Then his face became very serious. "The second one, however, is the reason I want you to be very, very careful."
Momo felt a shiver go along her spine. "What is it?" She asked quietly, able to sense how serious the boy she'd grown to respect so much over the last few weeks was about this.
"It's called Vibranium." He said quietly, as though fearful of being overheard, and then he explained its properties and its potential.
If Momo had been astounded by adamantium, then what her class rep was telling her that this material could do made her feel faint. She stared at the innocent seeming piece of paper with its molecular structure with both awe and fear.
Once he finished she swallowed and looked up at him. "Where did you learn of this?"
Izuku was silent for a moment, gazing at her seriously. "I can't tell you now. We haven't known each other for long enough. It's not that I don't trust you, it's just… that unbelievable." He smiled gently. "I will tell you someday, I promise. What's more important, right now, is what you're going to do with this knowledge."
"What do you mean?" She asked, her mouth suddenly rather dry.
"As far as I and Nezu-sensei are aware, there is no vibranium in existence on Earth at this time." He said slowly, prompting the very obvious question in her mind as to how he was aware not only of its existence but also its molecular structure if that was the case. "As such, until we find someone with a similar Quirk as yours, or develop a Star Trek-syle matter replicator, you are the only potential source of the ore on the planet." He didn't say anymore, he didn't need to. Yaoyorozu was perfectly capable of grasping the implications.
She turned her gaze back to the paper with the molecular structure of vibranium, her face pale even as she felt a headache start to form. If it became public knowledge that she could create a material such as this…
"Then why…?" She began, licking her dry lips as she tried to verbalize the very obvious question.
"Because it's too useful to not at least consider the possibility." He said gently. "The potential uses of even small amounts…" He let out a sigh. "I would ask that, even if you decide you never want anything to do with it ever again, you would give me some to use, but in the end it's your choice."
"Can… can I think about it?" She asked softly.
Izuku nodded immediately as he took hold of the paper holding the vibranium formula, putting it away, while leaving the adamantium paper on the table for her. "Of course. Feel free to skip the rest of the lesson to think. I doubt you'd be able to focus anyway. Maybe discuss it with Nezu-sensei tomorrow as well."
Momo nodded and stood up somewhat woodenly, taking the adamantium formula with her as she left without another word.
She had a lot to think about.
As he watched the girl leave Izuku sighed tiredly, feeling bad about dumping this on Yaoyorozu's shoulders, but set that aside as he called his next classmate in to continue the work on the costumes.
There was still a lot of work to do to prepare for the storm his instincts and experience told him was approaching.
Gods, sometimes being a hero really sucked…
As per usual, I wanted to get this out weeks ago, but the universe conspired against me.
Originally I wanted to get the next chapter of No Good Deed out first before working on this, but that story has been fighting me hard, and after banging my head against it for weeks I finally gave up for the moment and moved onto this.
Not helping is the fact that I lost my job at the end of November, which just added to the usual holiday madness to distract me further.
I managed to find a good job with UPS thanks to a friend of mine, $25/hour with benefits, but it means I'm going to need to move to the US (I currently live in Costa Rica). That means I've also been having to run around getting things ready for that, and it's astounding how much stuff you have to deal with when you're moving to another country.
All this means I've been distracted and often tired out and unmotivated when it comes to writing, so that's why this chapter is so late. I'd really wanted to get a chapter of Brightest out before the new year, but… (sigh)
In any case, I finally got this done, and I hope it met everyone's expectations. It's mostly setup, of course, but I have plans. Oh boy, do I. Mwahahahaha.
I don't think there's much else I need to discuss at this time, so I'll give my customary reminder:
I am always deeply grateful to those of you willing to toss a dollar or two my way just because you like my silly scribblings. I'm hoping I can continue counting on your generosity to ease the transition now that, as stated before, I'm jobless for the time being, and likely will be for another month or so.
Of course, let us not forget that you do get something out of it. For each dollar that you donate to my Pat A Ron, you get a vote in my monthly update poll stating what you want to see updated next month. And if what you vote for doesn't win immediately, no worries! Non-winning votes roll over to the next poll, so a fic that only gets a vote a month will eventually win (though it might take a bit, to be brutally honest).
That said, if a fic hasn't won in a long time, I will take it off the poll and update it anyway. For example, that is why I was working on No Good Deed this month, since it's been so long since that won, so those of you who can't donate and want to see that updated, I hope to have the next chapter done soon.
So yes, donate to my Pat A Ron, you get a say in what I update. Everybody wins! So that's Pat A Ron dotcom /athanmortis. The current poll ends on January 3rd, so go make sure your votes are counted.
I think that's all I have to say. Thank you everybody once again for reading, I truly appreciate it, especially when you review. I hope you all have a Happy New Year. Till next time!