Chapter 4: Calm before the storm
A/N: Ok, so I was planning on writing up to the publishing of the article in this chapter but it became about 10000 words long. Yes, that's ten thousand. So, I am dividing Nedzu and All Might meeting for the next chapter. The rest of what I had written for this chapter is currently divided into Chapters 5 and 6. I will update weekly around this time on the weekends. Enjoy the chapter!
Reply to reviewer: It will be close to Hyuuga style but not exactly.
Izuku and Watanabe set out at 5 in the morning again to train with Yagi, much to Inko's displeasure who wanted Izuku to stay at home today. Watanabe had covered for him though saying that he would look after Izuku and going out for a run would cheer him up. Izuku was quite thankful to his cousin for that. At last, the two cousins reached the beach and found All Might waiting for them.
"Ah, there you are. Izuku, I am making a schedule for your training so that you can balance your studies and training. I will give it to you tomorrow." Yagi welcomed.
"Cool, where's mine?" Watanabe asked.
Yagi sweated, "Uhh, I Uhm..." Yagi struggled to find words. Watanabe laughed, "Haha, you should have seen the look on your face." Watanabe said. Yagi stared at him.
"What? I didn't expect you to make a schedule for me. I just tag along with Izuku because I can learn a few things myself and also so that our parents don't get suspicious." Watanabe said, "Speaking of which, can you please teach me fighting instead, I don't think martial arts is for me. I trained as a kid but my style is too random and free-flowing. At least that's what sensei said,"
Yagi stared at Watanabe, clearly not being used to be at the receiving end of a rant, especially from a kid. Watanabe smirked at his reaction, "Well?" he asked.
"Oh, uh sure I guess. I don't really have much to do with Izuku for now since he needs to build his body up," Yagi said, "But I should warn you, my fighting style is based around strength mostly, because of my quirk." Yagi said.
"It will do, for now, I think. Plus Izuku can learn too," Watanabe said and Izuku nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh, I wasn't going to teach him combat until he got One for All," Yagi said. Izuku's face fell a bit. Watanabe stared at him with an expression of, 'Horror?' Yagi asked himself.
"Ok nice joke. When do we start with combat training?" Watanabe asked.
"I told you, I will teach you for now and Izuku after he gets his quirk," Yagi said, "I don't see the problem..." Yagi said helpfully. Watanabe continued to stare at him, "Ok, you know what, Izuku please explain why it's a problem. Number 1 hero my ass," Watanabe muttered loudly to himself as he sat down on the sand.
Yagi stared at his successor's cousin with surprise. Meanwhile, Izuku was talking to his cousin nervously, "Watanabe, I think All Might has his reasons to teach me later,"
"Sure and I believe that Bakugou is a very kind and good-hearted person," Watanabe replied sarcastically. "Come on Izuku, just tell him already, he won't mind."
"But what if he, uh, I mean, uhm," Izku sweated nervously.
"Dislikes you because of it and doesn't give you his quirk," Watanabe finished for him. Izuku went red and Yagi looked abashed, "Young Izuku, I would never do that. You can tell me why you think my method is wrong,"
Izuku smiled shakily, "O-ok then. Um, where do I start?" he asked. Watanabe's face twitched in annoyance at the rather idiotic question sent his way, "Izuku, I swear, if you don't start, I am going to bury you in the sand," Watanabe said.
"As if you could, idiot," Izuku replied but then became aware of his insult, "Oh my god, I am so sorry," he stated apologizing but Watanabe simply laughed, "It's fine. I'd be more annoyed if you didn't give me insults. Good to see I am rubbing off on you," Watanabe said with a teasing smile.
Izuku stared at his cousin, a bit annoyed, "Ok, so All Might, you said I will probably be ready to receive One for All 1 week before UA entrance exam or something like that. However, others get to train their quirk for 15 years before applying. While it is agreeable that I do not have that luxury, some quirks are hard to control and harm the user. One for All sounds like such a quirk, so only 1 week of training will not prepare me to use it without me breaking my bones or worse, dying." Izuku analyzed. "You couldn't do this yourself?" he asked Watanabe.
Watanabe shrugged, "You know I am only good at analyzing weaknesses, not strengths, so obviously you would have gotten the main point right with supporting points,"
"Watanabe, you don't really talk like a kid you know," Yagi commented.
Watanabe simply shrugged again, "I only talk like this when I am being serious,"
Yagi sighed, "I understand your concerns but when I got the quirk, I was able to use it immediately,"
"But you and Izuku are not the same. For starters, at which age did you get it, and did you get trained for it like Izuku?" Watanabe asked.
"Well, I got it at 17. Hero schools were still new then so students were older than now. My sensei, Shimura Nana, simply sparred with me and decided that my body was already ready and gave One for All to me. Nana sensei always said that my body must have been fit enough to get One for All a long time before, otherwise my body would... Oh," Yagi said as realization dawned on his face.
"Exactly," Watanabe said, "See even your sensei passed on the quirk in a short time because she already knew you were fit, but Izuku is not! Let's put it this way, if One for All is a 1 Litre Liquid, you were a 1 Litre container from before you got One for All. But in Izuku's case, you are forcing a 500 ml container to become a 1 Litre container. And that is a very stupid sounding example." Watanabe said. "Argh, the point is, well I think you get it?" Watanabe asked with a tone that begged All Might not to say, 'No,'
"No," Yagi said. Watanabe facepalmed and was trying to think of another example when he saw Yagi trying not to laugh. "Haha," said Watanabe dryly, "So, you do get it?"
Yagi laughed and nodded, "I will have to fix that on your schedule. You need to study as well,' Yagi addressed Izuku.
"Ah, you don't need to worry about that, we left school anyway," Watanabe said calmly.
"You what?" Yagi asked, shocked. "What did Watanabe do at school? He said he would handle Izuku's bullying but to the point where they were expelled!" Yagi wondered. "Wait, he said they left, not expelled..." Yagi thought catching the keyword. Watanabe caught Yagi's inquiring eyes and smiled evilly. Yagi warily asked, fearing what exactly Watanabe had done, "Watanabe, what exactly did you do in response to Izuku being bullied?"
However, before Watanabe could reply, Izuku burst out, "You told him about the bullying! You told him on the first day of our training,"
"Uhhhhh," Watanabe struggled to find a reply as Izuku fumed.
"Izuku, I think Watanabe was right to tell me. Frankly, I would be surprised if I wasn't considering I was bullied for being quirkless myself," Yagi said.
Fortunately, that shifted Izuku's mind. Unfortunately, Yagi had forgotten that he hadn't told Izuku about his quirklessness."You what!" Izuku asked. Yagi turned to Watanabe for help but Watanabe returned a smug grin. Sighing Yagi started his tale, "Back when I was young, quirklessness was still quite wide-spread. Quirks weren't as popular as they are now but kids with quirks still bullied those who didn't have one. Anyway, that was how school passed for me until I met my master, Nana Shimura. She liked my ideology about there being a symbol of peace and decided that I was the one to pass on One for All, like I am passing on to you," Yagi finished with a sad, nostalgic smile.
Izuku felt listened with awe at his idol's backstory and stared at him for more. "I will tell you the rest later. For now, you must train, but train here itself. I want to hear what Watanabe did at your school.
Izuku seemed to deflate a bit but nodded enthusiastically, "I better explain though, knowing Watanabe he's going to add some more dramatics," Izuku said.
"Hey!" Watanabe protested,
"You still owe me for telling All Might without consulting me," Izuku said.
"Look at it this way, Yagi-sensei told you a secret, so I told him a secret," Watanabe replied.
"You just called All Might by his name," Izuku said like as if he had just committed a crime
"So?" Watanabe asked, "He gave us permission, isn't it Yagi-sensei?"
"Yes, I would appreciate it if you called me Yagi or Toshinori too, Izuku. Hearing All Might gets a bit annoying from someone close." Yagi said.
Izuku turned red, "Yes All Might, I mean Yagi-sensei,"
"Now, I have a feeling that Watanabe did something huge, but you must not waste a second of your training. We have already wasted nearly 5 minutes." Yagi said.
"Oh, come on Yagi-sensei. We don't have school today anyway, so we can train the entire day if you want! Let him tell what I did!" Watanabe said cheerfully.
"You really just want to have someone else say it to Yagi-sensei, don't you?" Izuku asked. Watanabe smiled.
Izuku nodded and narrated the incident to Yagi who didn't say a word while Izuku spoke. After he had finished, Yagi thanked Izuku and turned to Watanabe, "Izuku didn't miss anything, right?"
"Nope, beating up Bakugou felt really cool though," Watanabe said.
"Young Watanabe, I am horrified you broke young Bakugou's arms as revenge. That is very unheroic," All Might said.
Watanabe, however, didn't seem to care, "I know I went too far, All Might. But, Bakugou deserved it. He wouldn't have left Izuku alone if I had just simply slapped or punched him around. Not to mention he used his quirk, what do you think I should have done? Taken the explosion and tell the teachers. The teachers didn't care shit about what they did. I did dislocate his arms but he only has himself to blame for increasing the damage," Watanabe said angrily.
Yagi sighed, "Perhaps so, young Watanabe, but there would have been better ways,"
"I know," Watanabe said a bit embarrassed, "But I was just too angry to-"
"It's normal," Yagi cut him off, "If someone harmed Izuku or you, I would be angry too but I would control myself and just hand him in instead of, well breaking him. But it can't be helped, you are still young. Your intelligence might be mature and you may understand many things much more than an adult, but in the end, you are still not experienced enough to handle such emotions. However, I do think Izuku is more mature," Yagi lectured.
Watanabe and Izuku stared at him. Izuku in awe hanging onto each of Yagi's words, and Watanabe in shock. Yagi noticed the shock on Watanabe's face and asked, "What, you don't agree?"
"No, no, it's just that, I knew you were strong, but you don't seem so, well smart for lack of a better word,"
Izuku spluttered and tried to apologize for his cousin but Yagi laughed and waved them off, "It's fine, Young Midoriya. However, young Watanabe, one needs to be smart and intelligent to be the number 1 pro hero. I may not be as smart or logical as underground heroes but it's enough."
Watanabe nodded, "I guess that should have been obvious but I'm still offended that you think Izuku is more mature than me,"
Yagi laughed, "You are mature too but I feel you tend to punish people for their faults while giving them a second chance. You still have the habits of a teenager to be uncaring whereas Izuku is more suited to the definition of mature,"
Watanabe pouted.
"Now then, it's nearly been half an hour since you have come. Izuku, get on with your training. I just have to call a friend who can help your case against Aldera, I'll be back in 5 minutes."
"I will just take a few laps around the beach then, Yagi-sensei," Watanabe said.
All Might nodded, "Sure, but don't get lost. And don't help Izuku please, he needs to build up his body,"
"Ah, that reminds me, I wanted to ask for your opinion on something," Watanabe said.
Yagi raised his eye, "What is it?"
"Well, Izuku and I wanted to help bring down Aldera and we had a plan,"
"You mean you had a plan which you want to rope me in," Izuku interjected.
"Same shit. I know for a fact you will end up helping me," Watanabe replied.
"Watanabe, as much as I appreciate your concern and your desire to help, please let the police handle it. My friend can also help with the case and have them brought to justice. They will at least pay huge fines. Going there and responding violently won't do anything," Yagi advised.
"I'm not planning to go and beat the shit out of everyone in Aldera," Watanabe said offended, "I was thinking more along the line of getting the public's support."
Yagi stopped to think about what Watanabe said and decided to listen to his thoughts. "Why do you think public opinion will matter in the case?" Yagi asked.
"I'm not sure how to explain, I know how but..." Watanabe struggled but Izuku helped him out, "No, he has a point. Normally, Aldera would probably just get a huge fine and orders to fire some of the staff. But that would probably not fix anything long-term. The media also won't be too interested in a case with just bullying. It might get one headline but that's it. However, if we can get the public to side with us, the media will get involved and Aldera will be under the microscope even after the case, so they won't be able to return to their old ways. Not to mention the fact that more people will try to weed out Aldera's secrets."
Yagi listened intently to Izuku and had o admit, "That's... actually rather ingenious. But how do you plan to have the public side with you,"
"I was thinking of blogs or news portals and other social sites," Watanabe replied.
Yagi nodded, "Good enough, but your article must be good enough to at least instill doubt so that when news of the case gets out, the public sides with you and you have to know which topics you must breach,"
Watanabe hummed, "Well, I think I shouldn't start with quirklessness, given the fact that many people don't understand they are discriminated against and think they lead normal lives too. So, I was planning on starting with quirk discrimination since it already has laws due to mutant quirk discrimination and then I was thinking to compare it with quirklessness, to change public opinion on them and expand their view. There are some other points, but I am not sure of them yet. Anyway, that's why I was asking for your help. Me and Izuku will write it and pass it onto you and you could sharpen it for us. Please?"
Yagi thought for a bit, "Their plan is really very good. Even many pro heroes wouldn't think to attack like this. Daylight heroes wouldn't care to and underground heroes wouldn't want to work on something that would require interaction with media or draw attention to themselves. Perhaps I will call Nedzu-sensei about young Izuku and Watanabe's plan. Knowing him, he will probably help to sharpen an article that will ensue chaos and a better society. Though, he might form a deeper plan,"
"All right, I will help. But, I have a friend who will be better at this and might be willing to help. I'll have to talk with him first though," Yagi said.
"Thanks, Yagi-sensei! We will send you the article after we have finished," Watanabe said as he set off for a few laps around the beach.
"I still don't get how you roped me into this," Izuku yelled after him as he also went to start on his training.
Watanabe cackled and ran further away.
Yagi smiled at the scene and walked a bit further from Izuku to call his friend when his phone rang. Yagi looked at his screen and was pleasantly surprised to get a call from the very one who he was planning on calling. He picked it up and spoke, "It's been a long time, Tsukauchi,"
Tsukauchi had gotten up early in the morning to work on the case against Aldera. He had bought some coffee from his favorite shop and then set off for the police station. As he sat drinking his coffee in his personal office, he pondered on if he should approach Yagi on the issue of his successor. The two might be childhood, best friends but Tsukauchi wasn't sure whether recommending a successor would be considered an overstep. He really didn't want to break their friendship, considering he was Yagi's only friend, Mirai having cut off contact long ago. While All Might had many supporters and well-wishers, Yagi was just a nobody to most people. Toshinori knew that their friendship won't fall apart just because he wanted to recommend someone but he was still a bit paranoid. Sighing, he picked up his phone and scrolled to Yagi's number. He hesitated for a moment before calling. He knew Yagi would have him cut straight to the point considering they had last talked over a case nearly 6 months ago. He bit his lip as the phone rang for what seemed like an eternity before a voice rang out, "It's been a long time, Tsukauchi,"
Tsukauchi couldn't help but smile a bit at his old friend's voice, "Hello Yagi, long time no see,"
"What do you need?"
"What makes you think I need anything?" Tsukauchi almost pouted.
Yagi laughed on the other end, "Considering our recent, as in 6 months recent, conversations have mostly been on cases, I think I have reason to believe that you need something," Yagi said dryly but not unkindly, "Not that I don't mind helping you, but I would really like to meet more occasionally,"
Tsukauchi sighed, "I know but I was just busy with one thing and another. You didn't call either though, to be fair."
"...True enough. But I was going to call you right now too,"
Tsukauchi sat up straight, "I see and what did you need?"
"Couldn't I have been calling just to check up on you?"
"Yagi, you have called me to check up on me on only 6 occasions after becoming a pro hero, the rest was case-related," said Tsukauchi in a dry tone.
"Fine, you got me. You say what you need first though." Yagi said.
"Well, I actually don't need anything from you this time, I was sort of checking up on you. Well, not entirely but the matter does concern you,"
"Hmm? What is it?" Yagi asked.
Tsukauchi took a deep breath, "I have a recommendation... a recommendation for someone to be your successor. He's 14 so you can train him with the quirk for a year before he goes to UA and I personally think he has some of the traits you are looking for,"
Yagi went quiet for a good amount of time. Tsukauchi's heart beat faster and faster as he grew more nervous to Yagi's reaction who finally spoke, "Tsukauchi, I appreciate you telling me, but you are a bit late. I... I have already found a successor,"
"Oh," Tsukauchi said, "That's good then. I mean I am a bit bummed that Izuku won't get a chance but-"
"Wait did you say Izuku!?" Yagi asked.
"Yeah, he was the one I was going to recommend," Tsukauchi replied.
"Can you describe him?" Yagi asked slowly.
Tsukauchi found his reply odd but answered anyway, "Medium height, has a sort of dark green, spiky hair, with freckles and he's quirkless."
"THAT'S IZUKU!" Yagi yelled.
Tsukauchi was really confused now, "I know, I just said his name is Izuku,"
"No, no you don't get it. I have chosen Izuku as my successor. The same Izuku you are recommending!" Yagi exclaimed.
"Wait, really? Does he have a brother Watanabe?"
"Yeah, he's making me train him along with Izuku," Yagi replied.
"Wait... how did he make you?"
"He is too observant. He found about Izuku being trained by me just by the fact I seemed interested in him after the sludge incident and the fact that Izuku had set an early alarm." Yagi said. "He even found out about Izuku being bullied. Which reminds me, I called you to ask you to take up the case their parents are fighting. It's against a school named Aldera."
Tsukauchi nearly choked on his coffee, "Ok, you're joking this time,"
Yagi let out a confused, "What?"
"I'm the detective in charge of the case. Watanabe apparently broke the bully, Bakugou's hands, and Izuku had burn wounds so they went to the hospital where the staff thought the parents did it and called us. That's how I met Izuku. Izuku was dead set on Bakugou being unpunished and was willing to forgive him. That's what made me think you might want to pass on One for All to him. Since he's quirkless, I thought you would connect easily,"
"So it seems we both have our needs fulfilled already," Yagi said.
"Yeah, but let's grab a coffee or dinner sometime."
"I would say today, but I might be a bit busy today. What about lunch tomorrow?"
"I have to work on the Aldera case though. What about next Thursday?"
"Good for me. By the way, what did you think of Watanabe?" Yagi asked. He was rather interested in the boy and while he wouldn't pass One for All to him, he still seemed to be a type of person who would do what is right, rules be damned.
"I think he's a bit brash," Naomasa said, "But he's a good kid. He may not follow the exact rules but he will never do anything bad. He is willing to give you a second chance but he will have you punished if you have done something very bad too. That is what I felt at least. Maybe he can't be a symbol of peace: to inspire and to give hope, but I think he will be one of the best heroes in the future. Number two seems like a good spot for him even if he goes underground,"
Yagi smiled a bit at that. If his best friend thought as highly of Watanabe as he did, he would train him with Izuku with no regrets. "Thank you for clearing my mind, Tsukauchi."
"No problem, Toshinori. Did Watanabe tell you anything about revenge on Aldera?"
"How did you know?" Yagi asked surprised.
"Considering he only gave Bakugou a second chance because of Izuku, I don't think Aldera is going to be safe from his thoughts. Though I don't think he can do much against them. What did he say though?"
"He is thinking of writing an article and sharing it onto blogs and other social sites to have the public side with him to gain more media interest to permanently cripple Aldera or make enough chaos to have it closely monitored after the case too," Yagi replied.
"...I stand corrected. Izuku certainly has the potential to write a banging article from what I saw in his notebooks. And Watanabe certainly has the smartness to have Izuku add some triggering phrases that will make people riot. But do ask them to restrain themselves a bit, I still remember the amount of chaos and paperwork during Nedzu's debut in which he literally forced the government to form quirk discrimination laws. With a single article! God forbid those two meet." Tsukauchi huffed.
"Oh, I am actually going to ask Nedzu sensei whether he'd like to help their little project. I think he'd be up for it considering the amount of damage it is capable of forming."
Naomasa's mouth hung open in horror, "Toshi, listen to me, please. I beg you, don't do it. I don't want that much paperwork. Watanabe and Izuku writing the article will be bad enough but the results are required. If you drag Nedzu into this, he will make it utter chaos!"
Yagi snickered childishly on the other end, "I think I still will. I haven't annoyed you in a looong time."
"Yagi, I swear you will come crawling back to me and complain about how you shouldn't have introduced them."
Yagi laughed, "Goodbye, Tsukauchi. See you next week on Thursday,"
"YAGI NOOOOO! PLEASE! HAVE MERCYYYYYYYY!" Naomasa screamed into the phone but the line clicked and fell dead. A police officer popped his head in to inquire about his screams. Naomasa just stared at him blankly and said in a defeated tone, "Get ready for a shitload of paperwork," The officer just looked back at him inquiringly. Naomasa gestured for him to leave him alone. He could already feel the headache coming on.
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