Fridays with the Waifus has been relocated to the bottom of the chapter for today due to its extra length. We at Waifu Productions apologize for the inconvenience.
"Report," a cold voice demanded over the phone.
Hawks glanced around, his eyes as exacting as his namesake as he looked through the hidden lot around him, moonlight draping the scene dramatically.
Bodies surrounded the man, unconscious despite their injuries looking severe enough to be lethal. He'd been very careful to strike that balance when he ambushed this particular small time gang. It was the second one in as many hours, and neither group had seen him before he'd completed his mission.
"The central objective is complete," the man stated calmly, his tone exacting and methodical to such an extent as to seem out of character to those that knew the normally lackadaisical 'Number Three Hero.' "The 'Risers' will have ample reason to believe their rivals have it out for them."
"Good," the voice replied stoically.
Faint murmurs echoed from the speaker, and Hawks knew it was his other boss speaking to the one on the phone currently.
"...And the sample?" the middle-aged woman on the phone asked.
Hawks lifted a glass vial, filled with a sickly green liquid, and swished it in a lazy circle before palming the thing and placing it in the safe pocket of his coat.
"Secured," the dirty blonde replied.
"Very good, Hawks," the woman stated.
A moment of near silence passed as the duo on the other end of the call conferred with each other.
"Your mission is complete," they stated.
"Ahh, fan-tastic," Hawks sighed under his breath—too low to be heard over the phone—his tone instantly more relaxed as he stretched his back, which caused a few pops between the base of his wings.
"You may return to your daylight duties for the moment," the woman continued.
"Confirmed," the bird-themed man accepted. "Is there anything else?"
"Yes, actually," his boss replied. "We are re-assigning you to Naruhata for the next several weeks. This is an official temporary posting, so you will not need to make excuses to your subordinates at your agency."
"Understood," Hawks nodded seriously.
"While you're there, we want you to investigate rumors of a new variant of 'Trigger,'" the woman explained. "Currently, all we know is that it is more effective than typical brands from Asia or America and leaves users with 'black tongues' for a while after consumption."
"'Black tongues,' huh? Are we sure that's something to take literally, or…?" the dirty blonde trailed off.
"We are not, so make of it what you will," his boss replied.
"Alright. When do I leave?" Hawks asked, suppressing a yawn professionally.
"Your assignment begins tomorrow."
One week left until the Joint Festival.
Izuku has recovered from the Barrier Incident.
Izuku charged down the empty hallway, two hunks of different length rebar floating behind her back in rings of light as she ducked and dodged around the hard rubber balls flung from the turrets she'd cobbled together with whatever parts she could find at the local scrap heap.
'I do not see the purpose of such inefficient re-calibration, 3B,' the white-haired woman in Izuku's head stated. 'You have comrades you can work with to make this process dramatically more effective.'
The temporary girl ignored the statement, flipping out of the trajectory of several shots and swinging the shorter of her two rebar 'blades' to deflect several more.
It felt weird to use her bokken and a stick of metal in conjunction, so she was holding off on that until she got her hands on a second—larger—bokken to properly equip 2B's fighting style. If she was lucky, Izuku would be able to do so in the next few weeks, but it really depended on how well she could scrounge for money.
Her allowance could only be stretched so far, and she quite literally didn't have the time to spare on a part time job, given she practically had one already between her patrols and training.
'Are you even listening to me, 3B?' the android demanded.
A massive volley of rubber balls came at her from up ahead, so Izuku flung her blade away and leaped into the air. The metal stick went spiraling forward and smacked away the projectiles before disappearing into motes of white light and reappearing just behind the white-haired girl's back as she landed on the ground.
I—Sorry, I am listening… It's just… I really don't want to see them right now… Not after I lost.
Izuku let out a quiet breath, a mental trigger disabling the remaining turrets.
Turning simple machines on or off with a mental command was the only thing she'd managed to accomplish with 2B's affinity for machines so far, but it was proof of progress, so she wasn't too upset about it. It was rather useful, even if the ability would falter if the machines were at all secured against tampering.
It's just… they spent so much time helping me, and I still couldn't beat Bakugo.
The temporary girl made her way back to the main room of the abandoned building, navigating through the holes in the walls and flooring. The current area was her 'training zone,' while a few other rooms had been repurposed for other things. A tinkering room, for example, or a place to experiment with the girls' abilities in a controlled environment.
I know I'm not being reasonable, and I'll probably go back to training with them soon, but… for now I'd rather be alone.
'...Are all humans this illogical?' 2B asked.
Izuku didn't really have a good answer for that… but thankfully it sounded rhetorical.
Once she'd returned to the main room, she turned to stare out the window at the rest of Esuha. The city was brightly lit with street lamps, neon signs, and a gentle glow that emanated from the windows of skyscrapers. It wasn't friendly Musutafu, which in spite of U.A.'s presence was on the smaller side for a city, but it was still a wonderful place in Izuku's opinion.
"Hmm…" Izuku hummed.
Since she'd cut her training short, maybe she should go on patrol? There was still some time before she needed to catch the train back home…
With a nod, she sent a pulse of energy to the watch tattoo on her left forearm. In a gentle flash of green light, her baggy sweatpants and training tank top were replaced with 2B's own costume.
The short-cut black dress was elegant and expertly crafted, with stitching so perfect it could only have been done by inhuman hands—which wasn't a surprise really, given the woman's origins. Beyond that, the outfit included a white leotard as an underlayer—though it left the hips bare, much to Izuku's chagrin—and a pair of long black high-heeled boots that seamlessly transitioned into stockings of matching color at some point along her thighs. On top of that, the outfit had a hairband and an asymmetric blindfold that covered the upper half of her face while somehow not inhibiting her vision in the slightest.
Finally, on the exposed back of the dress and over the cleavage window that was also there—for no reason Izuku could discern—it had incredibly intricate lace designs. Each had a multitude of elegant details, but both were centered around a large hourglass pattern as a reference to the watch.
With a flick of the flimsy window lock, Izuku was on the fire escape, feeling the rush of wind that resulted from being several stories above the ground. The air tugged on her hair and clothes, but did little to affect the fake blades hovering behind her back.
Holstering her weapons was a new ability Izuku had discovered recently, along with a few other things…
Taking a running start, the white-haired girl vaulted over the cold metal railing and flung herself into the air, leaping across the gap to the next building with a controlled somersault. It was a good distance, several meters of nothingness to cross, and at least one floor lower than her current building, but that didn't matter in this body.
She made contact with a 'clack' of her boots against the concrete, falling forward into a roll to maintain her forward momentum while killing her downward inertia. Continuing onward, she crossed the gap to the next building, then the one after that, and so on.
Navigating the rooftops like this required her to pay attention to which buildings were actually of similar height, limiting the directions she could go in, but it wasn't much of a problem with the other notable upgrade she'd gotten recently.
Izuku had a HUD in 2B's form, now.
At the edges of her vision, she had small interfaces reminiscent of computer graphics, all styled in a minimalist white, that conveyed basic but useful information. The upper left corner displayed a 'health bar' that correlated to how much energy she had left, while the lower right corner had a minimap that displayed the rough shape of her surroundings. It was only enough to know the layout of nearby buildings, but it was still helpful. Additionally, there were various simpler features she could pull up at a whim, like ambient temperature, elevation, cardinal directions, and so on.
Finally, there was the most interesting thing that was visible:
Sync Rate: 20%
That was the text that was displayed in the lower left corner of her vision. It was shown as a circular meter, roughly a fifth of the way full with the same white that the text within the circle was displayed as. This was the biggest discovery Izuku had made about the watch's inner workings so far.
…And It was a direct consequence of recovering from the watch's damage.
—FLASHBACK—
Izuku gave a contented sigh, a relieved grin resting on his lips as he cycled through the various options listed on the watch's surface.
They're all here!
He'd woken up a few days after the duel without a headache or any nausea. At first, he'd been too surprised to process what that meant, but when he noticed he could no longer hear Baiken's voice in his head, he'd went to check the watch.
Despite all the problems the girls caused, it was a relief to have them back—even Rias!
It wasn't just that they were what allowed him to pursue his dream, though that was part of it, he was also just generally happy that they were okay. Even though they were spirits of some sort, he still considered them to be real people, and he cared about them like some kind of weird family.
Update!
The green-haired boy nearly jumped out of his bed, completely startled by the robotic voice in his head.
While normal functions were offline, the Waifutrix has received an update!
"...Huh?"
Among other minor patches and bug fixes, the Waifutrix had gained a new feature! Now there is a way to measure exactly how attuned the User is to the Waifu! This feature is called 'Sync Rate!'
With that statement made, Izuku felt the voice dissipate as the watch closed down on its own. Unfortunately, it felt like the notification had raised more questions than answers…
—FLASHBACK END—
It turned out that 'Sync Rate' was incredibly important.
As Izuku had theorized in the past after receiving the basic explanation from Ryoko—something that the other girls also seemed to know instinctively—the watch essentially fused Izuku and whatever spirit he was partnering with temporarily. This was represented within the watch as an actual bridge that the girls would appear on, stretching through a crack that seemingly led into Izuku's mind, or soul, or whatever it was on the other side.
The temporary girl had already noticed that she simply couldn't use the spirits' bodies to the same level of proficiency as they could. While a major part of that was lacking experience… It turned out that another big reason for this was that her ability to 'drive' the girls' bodies—to return to the racing metaphor—was directly related to how 'in sync' she was with each of them.
Being 'in sync' essentially meant one of two things. Either she had a strong personal relationship with them, making them a more effective team, or she had a strong burst of an emotion that lined up with the current girl's own mindset.
An excellent example of the latter was her recent duel in Baiken's form.
When Izuku had been struggling to get up, she'd felt an almost desperate need to win… and then she'd gotten a surge of energy that let her keep going. Following that, she'd felt an even stronger desire to win when the Smoke villain had come to attack her and Bakugo after they were both exhausted, and then she'd been able to use Baiken's finishing move without any charge up whatsoever and with significantly more power than she'd ever used before.
In short, Izuku had become much more in sync with Baiken for a time because she'd felt a strong emotion that paired well with Baiken's view of the world, and her capabilities in the pink-haired woman's form had risen to match.
'Sync Rate' was a way to effectively track this connection whenever she was transformed. In 2B's form, it was displayed on the HUD, but with the other spirits Izuku simply knew while she was sharing their bodies.
Baiken's sync rate had risen up to thirty percent during that fight, though it had fallen back down to twenty two percent now. In fact, all of the girls' sync rates were hovering right around there as well.
It seemed that having a burst of a suitable emotion granted a temporary boost in sync rate, while getting a deeper relationship with the spirits increased it permanently.
Theoretically, if she managed to reach a perfect one hundred percent sync rate, she would be able to fight at the same level of effectiveness as the spirits themselves could…
All that is to say, many things had resulted from what followed after her duel with Bakugo. There was more to it than just new abilities, however. The more important thing for the long term was what the girl had learned—the realization she'd had.
Izuku wanted to win.
There was a driving competitiveness lurking deep in her gut now. It wasn't something she'd ever experienced before, since the temporary girl had never had the raw capability to even stand at the starting line for the one thing she cared enough about to be competitive over.
Now that Izuku did have that ability, along with the fact that she had been confronted by someone that was—for now—her superior… The temporary girl finally felt that drive to win that she now realized had been lacking for much of her life.
Izuku would beat Bakugo in their next match, no ands, ifs, or buts. It was set in stone, now. She would make it happen, train however long was necessary, and prove she was stronger—prove that, despite her previous weakness, the temporary girl was more capable and prepared for heroism now.
Of course… that rematch would only happen after she went on… on a… on a date…
With Bakugo…
The temporary girl gave a shiver of disgust moments before she jumped to another rooftop, though her currently pale face remained expressionless all the same.
For now, Izuku was going to do the healthy thing and settle herself firmly into the land of denial. As long as she didn't think about it too hard, then she could pretend it wasn't going to happen and move on with—
"Money or your life, asshole!"
Instantly, Izuku started running in the direction of the declaration, turning on the spike of her boot's heel and rapidly accelerating toward the side of the building she was currently on. All her worries and extraneous thoughts disappeared in an instant as she ran.
In spite of the way 2B's body was very un-emotive, a small grin broke through the resistance and formed on Izuku's face.
It was time to focus on what truly mattered… Saving people.
"Money or your life, asshole!"
Takehiko Kita gaped at the man who had sprung out of the shadows, terror stabbing into his heart as he realized exactly what was happening right now. He never should have taken that shortcut…!
The villain within the alley was dressed in a form-fitting black shirt and matching cargo pants. From the neck up, the shirt changed into a mask that stretched over his nose, the pointed sunglasses resting over his eyes covering the rest of his identity.
His gauntleted hands were resting on the shoulder holster he wore, or more specifically, on the hilts of the oversized kabar knives that were sheathed there.
"I don't have all night, idiot," the villain stated, pulling one of his knives down just enough to expose the blade, which gleamed in the face of twilight.
"F-Fine…! Please just—Don't hurt me!" Takehiko stuttered in fear, shakily reaching into his pockets.
Unfortunately, because of his panic, he couldn't remember which of his pockets he'd left his wallet in, so he was struggling to find it.
"Are you… stalling…?" the villain asked menacingly.
In a flash, one of his knives was drawn.
"That's a really bad idea," the man said, stepping forward slowly.
For some reason, he let go of his weapon, even adding to it's downward momentum with a slight push, sending it straight towards the—
Before it could touch the ground, the blade jerked back into his hands, like it had been pulled there by some invisible force.
"Surprised?" the villain asked leadingly. "Don't be! It's just my quirk, Recall. It lets me pull things I've thrown back to me… Which means that if you don't cough up all your cash, you and I are going to have a very fun game of darts. Get me…?"
Takehiko stared in horror at the weapon in the dark-haired man's hand, his body utterly frozen. There was no way he was going to be able to respond in the face of his fear.
"I said… Do you get me?!"
In a glint of metal, the blade was flung forward, sent straight on a collision course with—
WHAM!
Dust and grime spread into the air in response to the black blur that impacted the ground, cracking the pavement with its force.
As the detritus dissipated, Takehiko laid eyes on the most attractive young woman he'd ever seen in his admittedly short life. With white hair and skin reminiscent of porcelain's perfection, even if its hue wasn't quite so pale, the girl stood upon the blade that had been flung at him by the villain—the high heel of her black boot stabbing down into the concrete such that the weapon was caught between the rest of her shoe and the spike of her heel. From behind, he could only see her back, which was partially exposed through the laced pattern of an hourglass, but it was no less reassuring for it.
The beauty glanced backward, revealing a face so calm that it was startling. It was almost inhuman, but for the gentle smile that made the boy's heart beat faster.
"Are you alright…?" she asked gently.
With jerky motions, Takehiko nodded.
"Good," the young woman declared, turning back to face the villain. "Get out of here."
The boy hesitated for the briefest moments, before turning to face the exit of the alley and booking it.
He would remember the young heroine with the hourglass symbol on her back. She had made quite the impression.
Izuku stared down the villain in front of her, doing her best to assess what kind of threat he posed.
Most likely a knife-fighter, but given how he threw his blade, his quirk might give him some way to add some range to his capabilities…
"Who the hell are you?" the man asked, clearly annoyed.
The white-haired girl struggled to come up with a witty one-liner, the kind of thing that she saw heroes toss out with ease on the news, but nothing came to mind. So she chose to keep it simple.
"3B."
It wasn't her actual name—she wasn't stupid—but it was sort of a name for her, so it appealed to her truthful nature.
"The hell kind of name is—"
Izuku rushed forward, closing the distance rapidly and interrupting the villain's response. Her normal 'blade' of rebar appeared in her hands as she swung diagonally at the man, attempting to take him out in one solid strike.
Clang!
The man's remaining knife came up to block her, his grip on the weapon tight enough that the difference in their weapons' sizes didn't affect him.
Metal ground against metal for a moment as both tried to push through their opponent's efforts, until finally, the villain slid his blade to the side, creating an opening to strike that Izuku instantly claimed—despite her suspicions—again aiming to knock him out with a single slash.
The man pulled his weapon back up quickly, stepping to the side as he strained to deflect her—
'Behind you!' 2B exclaimed.
The keen ears of Izuku's current body caught the light skittering of the knife she'd stomped upon earlier, so the white-haired girl swung out with a wide slash of her current blade; letting go of the handle so that the thing continued spinning mid-air and pressured her opponent backward by forcing him to block the rapid rotations.
Flipping into the air such that she was facing the other direction, Izuku's larger rebar 'blade' appeared in her hands—it's weight leading to a different grip and style than the smaller weapon—and held it in front of her body protectively in preparation for whatever was coming next.
The knife that had been on the ground whizzed through the air, going straight though the position she had been a moment prior and returning to the open palm of the villain's free hand.
Immediately, Izuku understood what had happened.
His quirk lets him pull things to him!
The question was, what were his limitations…? The temporary girl had only barely arrived in time to stop the knife from hitting his victim, so she had very little information to work with.
Having run out of momentum, her whizzing 'blade' of rebar ceased its rotation and reappeared behind her back in its holster of light.
Hmm… This may be harder than I thought.
Her opponent was clearly better than the usual F-ranks she fought. He was probably around the smoke-villain in capability, though he didn't have the home field advantage to make him as difficult to combat as the purple-skinned man had been.
"Screw this," the knife-wielding man declared suddenly, interrupting his thoughts. "This is way too much trouble for some idiot's wallet."
So saying, the villain turned around and fled.
Izuku blinked in surprise, 2B's face mitigating any other visual display of emotion, before giving chase.
The man darted out of the alley—the white-haired girl's earlier flip had placed her deeper into the path than the villain had been—and charged through the streets. As she dashed after him, Izuku let her larger weapon fade from her hands and join the smaller one on her back.
Using his knives to his advantage, the villain cut through several food stands' supports, flinging their tent-like roofs into the path behind him in a useless attempt to slow Izuku down. The girl merely flipped and hopped over the obstacles, almost gaining speed from the motions rather than losing any.
How am I going to close the distance? I need to stop him before he hurts any—
"Hey!"
A huge man, large enough that it had to be related to his quirk, stepped out from behind a food stand that the villain had just cut into. Dressed in a yellow and white hoodie that further rounded out his already chubby appearance, along with odd looking knee pads over his black slacks, the man glared darkly at the villain right in front of him.
His expression was hard to take seriously, though, given how friendly his appearance otherwise looked.
"Out of my way!"
The villain lashed out with his blade at the bystander, but Izuku wasn't worried.
That's Fat Gum!
'...Who?' 2B asked.
The man's weapon sank deeply into the large man's stomach… and then it kept going, deeper and deeper. It would be horrifying to watch, given what it implied, if it wasn't for two things: the fact that there was no blood to signify injury, and the fact that Izuku knew that this man's quirk would nullify the danger with ease.
"W-what the hell…?!" the villain shouted as his arm sank even further into the man's stomach.
He's the BMI Hero: Fat Gum!
'That does not clarify this any further, 3B. In fact, it only raises more questions from me.'
The villain lashed out with his second blade, only for that one to sink even further into the hero's body.
He's a hero, 2B! A real one! He even runs his own agency! It's a really big deal!
"Let me go!" the villain demanded loudly.
"Sorry, buddy, but you were really causin' a ruckus. Besides, it's not legal to be running around with weapons like that without a hero license. I've gotta take you down to the station for now," Fat Gum declared.
"No, stop it—!"
The villain's head sank into the hero's fat, followed soon after by the rest of his body. The hero patted his stomach and let out a sigh before reaching up to the food platter he had in his off hand, grabbing a takoyaki ball* and placing it in his mouth—using the now empty stick to pick at his teeth.
"Hey, young miss!" he called.
Izuku blinked in response, lifting a hand to point at her face quizzically.
Is he… Is he talking to me?
"Yeah, you in all that black!" he confirmed.
Oh my god, he is!
'Is this what Rias would term… "fanboying…?"' 2B commented.
"So, what's a hero student doing out here on her own?" Fat asked.
The girl seemed to freeze up at that, but her face remained almost concernedly blank.
"I…" she trailed off.
"Ah, don't worry about it!" Fat laughed, patting her on the back reassuringly. "I won't tell your teachers. You were just going about your business when you saw something happening and you didn't see any pros around, right?"
"...Yes," the girl agreed with a sharp nod, her face still quite blank.
I guess she's just the overly reserved type, then.
"Then really don't worry about it! It's something of an open secret, but hero students get caught up in that sorta thing all the time. The kinda people that get into this business usually have the busybody mindset and put themselves in those types of situations all the time," Fat explained. "As long as you don't get into something really dangerous or get someone hurt, you'd just get a harsh scolding if someone finds out—well, as long as you aren't going to one of the big name schools. They're really touchy about their reputations."
The large man took a pause to eat another piece of takoyaki.
"It's not like you're a civilian or anything, you just don't have a proper license yet," he added offhandedly.
"...Yes," the girl repeated awkwardly, though she was quite avidly not looking him in the eye.
Hmm… That's suspicious…
"Anyway, I should get back to work! I'll see you around, kid!" he declared suddenly, turning to walk away.
Let's see if that gets her to own up to whatever she's hiding. Limiting how much time they have to do something makes kids nervous, after all.
"Err…" the girl trailed off, causing the big hero to stop mid-step. "Before you go… Would you… Could I get an autograph…?"
Ahh… That's what it was.
It was almost adorable how the girl made such a big deal over asking such a question. It was practically a daily occurrence for friendly heroes like Fat, so it was really no problem.
"Of course!"
Izuku walked away, mentally beaming with delight as she hugged the autograph the hero had given her to her chest like the treasure it was. She had just the place to put it, too! It was going to be a perfect addition to her collection of hero paraphernalia—the stuff that she hadn't dumped before summer, anyway.
"Crime rates are on the rise again—"
Startled by the sudden noise, Izuku turned to face what she now realized was a television in a shop window, running the local news.
"—with All Might's gradually diminishing appearance, we're left to wonder where the world is heading next."
The temporary girl's good mood vanished at the mention of him, and she turned to walk away.
"In other news, there's more rumors of Vigilantes spreading across Musutafu and Esuha. Now though, Naruhata has joined the list."
Izuku stopped mid-step, turning back to the screen.
"As everyone knows, Vigilantes are a serious threat to public safety, and the possibility of unlicensed heroes has many people on edge. The Hero Public Safety Commision has yet to comment on the matter, so it remains to be seen if there's any truth to these rumors."
I've not been to Naruhata… Is there someone else there?
"Unlike Musutafu and Esuha, Naruhata's rumored vigilante has actually been caught on camera, though the quality is quite poor—leading many people to doubt the veracity of his existence."
On the screen, a blurry video began to play, displaying the vague silhouette of a tall man in a detective-style trench coat and a bandana over his head. He rushed into an alley as the camera shook from the awkward hold of the person recording, blurring everything in view into an unrecognizable blob as they rushed after him. The shot restabilized as they entered the alley, turning on the flashlight.
There was nothing there besides trash and grime. Whoever the man was, he was gone.
"Many have written the video off as a hoax, given how long it has been since a proper vigilante has appeared. Unlicensed do-gooders and community advocates abound, but it's been decades since the founding of the HPSC and the instatement of the Anti-Vigilante act. Attempted vigilantism has been dealt with quite swiftly ever since."
From there, the newscaster shifted to other topics, and Izuku walked away. The temporary girl had already written off the thinly veiled warnings against vigilantism. She was committed to her course, and seeing the news wasn't going to shake her resolve.
Instead, she walked away with thoughts of Naruhata…
Welcome, one and all, to…
Fridays with the Waifus!
Today I have an extra special episode for you all…
Our host walks onto the stage, coming to a stop in front of a podium on the left that faces the opposite side. Across from him is a row of six chairs, plush and comfortable, that are arranged in a gently curved line so as to face him and the audience.
So why don't you say hello to our guests today!
With a snap of his fingers, spotlights appear above the first seat. In a burst of explosive orange, a blue-haired woman is seated in the chair, legs hanging over the side as she drapes herself childishly over the seat.
Ryoko!
Another snap and a spotlight appears over the second chair. An intricate pentagram fades into existence below the seat, and following a flash of fire and brimstone a red-haired girl is resting there—her legs crossed delicately as she leans back against the backrest, her chest jutted out purposefully as she gives a sensual smirk.
Rias!
A third snap occurs, and another spotlight is angled at the third seat. In a burst of smoke, a girl with pale—pupil-less—eyes appears. Her shoulders are hunched slightly in discomfort as she pokes her fingers together nervously, glancing occasionally at the fourth wall.
Hinata!
A fourth snap brings a fourth spotlight, calling attention to the next seat in the row. For a moment, nothing happens, then the light above the chair stutters—flickering into a dramatic sepia tone—and sakura petals begin to drift from nowhere. In the haze that developed, a pink-haired woman appeared, sitting with her right leg arched on the seat and a still-smoking pipe resting in her left hand.
Baiken!
The fifth snap calls another light onto the next chair. Slowly, the brightness increases, growing more and more intense until it appears more like a solid bar than anything else. After a moment, the light suddenly cuts back to its former intensity, a white-haired woman now resting carefully on the seat. Her back is perfectly straight and her palms are rested on her knees dutifully, granting the appearance of pristine professionalism.
2B!
The sixth and final snap calls the last spotlight into existence above the only remaining chair. After a moment… nothing happens.
What's going on? She should be…
Our host frowns, rubbing his chin in thought as he tilts his head to the side.
'Pft…!' A quiet laugh echoes from behind our host.
Positioned in an identical contemplative pose to the man, a blue-haired girl stands a meter or so behind our host.. Who turns around to face her.
Hardy-har, har… Just… Get in your chair, Medaka.
The girl smirks cutely, but compiles without complaint, only pausing to send a glare at Rias before she sits down.
Now then! Time to start the—
Our host stops mid-word, then laughs.
Ah! How could I forget! We've still got one more guest!
'Feh,' Baiken grunted in annoyance. 'Let's just get this over with.'
Oh, I think you'll enjoy this one!
With a seventhsnap of his fingers, a chair forms beside our host with a matching spotlight. A moment later, there's a flash of green light, and then a boy with matching green hair and a smattering of freckles across his cheeks appears in the seat.
'W-what the…? Where am I…?'
Say hello to our dear protagonist, Izuku!
'Fufufu… Hello, Izuku~' Rias greeted.
'Izu-chan!' Ryoko exclaimed, blurring over to—
An invisible barrier stopped the light-blue-haired girl in her tracks a short distance away from her chair, her face smushing up against its surface as her body hovered behind her.
I expected something like this to happen with our extra special guest, so I've taken precautions. Nothing would get done if I let you all do as you wish with him here.
'Is this a game show…?' Izuku asked aloud. 'This is a really weird dream…'
Not quite a game show, but you're not far off the mark! This show is a questionnaire, where I ask you all questions that the audience has posited between episodes.
'What audience?' the green-haired boy asked.
Nevermind that! Anyway, for today you won't need to worry about answering any questions. I don't have any lined up for you quite yet, but maybe I will at some point in the future. For now, you'll just get to spectate and react to the girls' answers. Who knows? Maybe you'll learn something useful about them!
Izuku, still looking mildly confused by the circumstances, simply nodded and settled back into his seat.
Now then, let's get this show started! Here's today's first question! It's rather simple, so it's a good one to start with.
"When Izuku was in your form, what was your favorite food he ate?"
Ryoko, why don't you go first?
'Grilled cheese!' the girl declared resolutely. 'Izu-chan made it a few times while he was staying up late, and it's s-o-o-o good!'
'Really? I can make it more often then, if you want,' Izuku stated.
The girl nodded eagerly.
Huh. Well, alright then. What about you, Rias?
'Hmm… I quite enjoyed the strawberry sundae he had after training, once.'
Ooh, that's a good choice. Did he add anything extra to it?
'No, it was fairly simple. Ice cream, whip cream, and strawberries,' the redhead explained. 'I wish he let me explain all the fun he could have with those ingredients in a different setting…'
Izuku shriveled into his chair, a blush clearly on his face as he resolutely ignored the girl.
Hah! I can't say I'm surprised there. Well, what about you, Hinata?
'...Ramen,' the girl stated quietly, looking down in a way that made her look almost like a kicked puppy. 'It's not my favorite food, but… it reminds me of home.'
Really? What type?
'It was miso ramen, with pork filet in the broth,' the girl answered. 'It even had a narutomaki** in it.'
'I… can try and have it a bit more often,' Izuku said hesitantly, clearly worried about making the girl sadder than she already seemed to be.
'Thank you, Izuku-san. I'd like that.'
Hmm… Well, to move on, what food did you like the most, Baiken?
'Gyudon,***' the woman stated simply before taking a puff from her pipe.
Do you have any… reason…?
'Not particularly. I don't really care what I eat, so long as it's healthy enough to keep me going,' the woman stated. 'That hasn't changed just because I'm takin' the backseat.'
I see… Well then, 2B?
'I see no point to this question. I have no need to eat,' the android declared.
Oh, come on, don't be boring. You had to have liked something.
'No, I do not,' she denied.
…Will I need to sic Ryoko on you to get an answer?
'That is entirely unnecessary. I simply do not have an answer for you,' 2B denied hurriedly.
Oh, Ryo-ko… Would you mind giving me a hand here with getting her to be a bit more adventurous—
'Soupe à L'oignon****!' 2B stated quickly, glancing to the side in a way that somehow seemed nervous despite her emotionless face.
There we go! Now, when did you end up having a French dish of all things?
'...3B's mother decided to experiment with foreign foods one night. It was… palatable.'
'I'll ask mom to make it more often, then! She'll be really happy that I'm "branching out" more, so don't worry about it being an inconvenience either, 2B,' Izuku declared.
'I… Very well. I see no reason to dissuade you.'
If she were human, the white-haired woman would be blushing slightly and looking away right now.
Ah, we'll get you to admit you can enjoy things one of these days, 2B... Anyway, Medaka, you're up! What food did you enjoy eating by proxy?
'Pocky,*****' the girl stated without hesitation. 'It's a wonderful snack, and Izuku tends to munch on some whenever he's working on a project for a while rather than taking a break to get proper food.'
Really? Interesting...
'It's not the healthiest thing to do… and I should probably be helping him—'
Izuku shivered at hearing Medaka use that familiar phrase of hers.
'—overcome that bad habit, but it's so tasty!'
Haha! Very fun!
A sudden ding occured, catching our host's attention.
Oh, damn! It's that time already! Well, unfortunately, it's time to wrap up for today. We'll continue with question two next week since we ran longer than usual this time!
For now though…
That's all, folks!
*To quote Wikipedia, since there's not much else I can add myself:
Takoyaki or "octopus balls" is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour-based batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion.
**Narutomaki are a type of fish surimi (which is a paste made of meat or fish) that's usually placed on top of ramen or other noodle dishes. They're iconic for their pink swirl design that's meant to resemble a whirlpool, and are even used as slang for the ' ' sign.
More relevant here, though, is the fact that they're also referred to as 'Naruto,' and there are many jokes associating the topping with the character himself—both within the series and outside it.
***Gyudon is a classic Japanese dish consisting of a bowl of rice with beef and onion slices on top of it, along with several sauces. Variations of it add extra toppings or spices, but that's the foundation of the dish. It's quite a variable dish as well, given that it can be served in restaurants or fast food places.
****Soupe à L'oignon is a french soup dish based on meat stock and onions. It's more commonly called 'French Onion Soup' in America. Especially interesting is the fact that the dish actually has its origins in ancient times, and prototypical versions of the soup were made as far back as ancient Rome.
*****Pocky is a type of Japanese treat, made of thin biscuit sticks coated in chocolate. There are many flavor variations beyond simple milk chocolate, but that's the 'classic' type. It's actually named for the Japanese onomatopoeia 'Pokkin' (ポッキン,) which is used to describe the sound made when the biscuit-sticks are eaten.
AN:
It's good to be back with another chapter! I hope the wait wasn't too unpleasant, but the extra week is just incredibly helpful for my current schedule, so I appreciate your patience.
As for today's chapter…
Hawks is back! I know some people have been confused as to why he's listed as one of the main characters despite not being around all too often, but there's a reason, I swear! I won't say how long he'll be back for right now, but his importance to the overall narrative will become clear as time goes on, don't worry.
With Izuku, time is steadily creeping forward towards his fashion debut! On top of that, he's caught wind of a fellow vigilante…
More importantly, he's starting to get much better at this whole 'hero thing,' and he's also gradually figuring out the Waifutrix's functions. Speaking of which, the whole 'sync rate' idea is something I realized was clearly needed now that Izuku's growth is starting to get more complicated—particularly because he has multiple powersets.
I hope that it's a logical system to make things clearer.
To be even more direct as to how it works, without needing to constrain an explanation within the bounds of the story, think of 'sync rate' as a combination of Soul Eater's 'resonance' and Mob Psycho 100's 'percentage' for it's protagonist, Mob. It's meant to be a meter that easily displays how far Izuku has progressed with the powers of each spirit in a similar way to how One For All is portrayed with its own percentage meter to make things clearer to the audience.
As a fun side note:
Baiken is now officially out in Guilty Gear: Strive! I've been playing her a lot in my free (non-writing) time, and it's already giving me ideas for abilities and skills Izuku can eventually figure out as the story progresses.
Anyway, I'll see you all in two weeks! If I have time, I may have a surprise by then as well!