Author's Note: It's still technically Saturday, just later than I normally update. Sorry about that. I was out until abut 2 am last night and drove around 5 hours along with going to a state fair. So big long day, very tired. But here it is! I hope you enjoy it. This is setting up some things for the future and seeding some conflict.
Also, if you want to get into a place with other lovers of MHA, and specifically IzuJirou stuff, come on and join this Discord server that I'm on:
/eFtmT8cTbY
We're only kind of crazy, and not at all a cult... except, we also kind of are. Anyway, yeah, join that!
I hope you enjoy this chapter! It's cross-posted on Ao3 as well. Leave a review if you want to. I welcome the feedback! See you next week.
"Hey guys, come check this out." Mei called from the couch. It had been a few days since Inko had been by, and the group had gotten used to the TV and couch already. Mei turned up the TV's volume as a news broadcast started.
"Breaking news, the infamous Hero Killer may be in Hosu if eyewitness reports and testimony are to be believed." The newscaster said. "We go live now to Mikara Tara in the field who has an interview with the person that discovered the body of the victim this morning."
"Hello, I am Mikara Tara, live from Hosu city. With me now is the woman who discovered the body of the victim: The pro hero Kiligan. One of Hosu's highest ranked heroes. Now ma'am, can you describe what happened?"
The camera panned to show a pale middle aged woman with what looked to be a squirrel-like tail. "I-I was walking to work, and I heard something fall over in an alleyway next to me. I turned to look at what it was, and I saw…" The lady broke down and started crying.
The camera panned back to Mikara. "As you can see, the experience was quite traumatic for this woman. If it truly is the work of the Hero Killer, then the heroes in Hosu should be careful. This is Mikara Tara, back to you Itten." The feed switched back to the original newscaster, who then began to speak. "Our next story is about an attack on UA during Hero Course training. The attack was spearheaded by a group calling themselves the League of Villains. It seems they were trying to kill the Number 1 Hero: All Might, according to student testimony. This attack was a few days ago, but we're just now getting police permission to share this. We apologize for the delay."
Mei turned the TV volume down. "The Hero Killer… And then an attack on UA."
"It seems like it was quite gruesome if it affected that woman in such a way. And then the villains attacked UA. Their plan seems to be strange." Fumikage said.
"He seems scary… And the villains seem crazy." Kyouka sighed, wrapping her arms around Izuku's arm.
"This is perfect!" Mei said with a huge smile on her face.
"I'm sorry, what?" Hitoshi deadpanned.
"Think about it! If we take down the Hero Killer, then we'll really be in the public eye. We'll be thrust into the limelight for everyone to see!" Mei explained, still smiling madly.
"But that guy is called the Hero Killer for a reason! He's killed heroes!" Hitoshi exclaimed.
"But look at it this way." Izuku offered. "We took on that Blackout villain, and both heroes and police were having trouble with her and her crew. I think we've already shown that we're better than some of the everyday heroes out there."
"I guess…" Hitoshi trailed off. He looked at Mei. "Do you think we could do it?"
"I know we can. I have faith in all of us."
"Alright… Should we head to Hosu, then?" Hitoshi asked.
"We likely have a bit of time before we need to." Izuku said. The other four looked at him as he spoke. "We need to establish our secondary identities."
"But Izuku, what if he strikes again?" Fumikage asked.
"We'll just have to hope that he doesn't. It's unlikely that he won't, but I do think that the identities are important. We have to solidify ourselves in the community." Izuku said.
"And if someone else dies?" Hitoshi asked.
"Then we'll add them to the list of people we're avenging. It's not ideal, but this was what we were going to have to do next anyway. We have time. He's a serial killer. He has to have patterns. We'll just find out what they are and hunt him down through that." Izuku explained.
"Hmm…" Hitoshi hummed. "Alright. You're our leader." He didn't exactly sound enthused, but he did agree to it. The group fell silent as the TV droned on.
"And remember to tune in next week for UA's yearly Sports Festival!" The newscaster spoke. "We'll have full day coverage with our sportscasters Funiake and Hironima. Now, that's all for today. Stay classy, Tokyo."
"That's something to look forward to." Kyouka offered.
"It'll show us what we could be up against in a few years." Izuku agreed. He wrapped his arm lightly around her shoulders.
"So, Nakada Oda." Mei started. "Since we need to work on our false identities, how should we start?"
"Hmmm…" Izuku thought. "Well, I suppose that Kyouka, you could start volunteering to teach music classes. Hitoshi and I… ours are actual lies of what we do, and Fumikage is supposed to be our driver. You never told us what you're doing, Mei." Izuku realized.
"That's the fun thing. I'm going to be doing some mild freelance work here and there." Mei said. "Which means I'll also be working from here. So… Kyouka is the only one that really needs to go out and do something right now. At least for a little bit."
"Which means that our identities aren't as important as we originally thought." Hitoshi said with a smile on his face.
Izuku groaned lightly. "Okay, then. We'll start looking into Stain soon." Hitoshi smiled. "But only after we find Kyouka a place for her to volunteer as a music teacher."
"There are a few places." Mei said, pulling out some papers and handing them to Kyouka.
The two of them eventually narrowed it down to a single music shop in downtown Shibuya called "No Strings Attached".
"Okay you guys, we're gonna go and have Seki here apply for this store. While we're gone, Izuku, do you still have your hero notebooks?" Mei asked.
"I have a few with me, the most recent ones. I can get some more from my mom if I need to, though. Why?"
"You think that you can start going through your collection and work on getting them more organized for me?" Mei asked. With an affirmative from Izuku, Kyouka and Mei left the building and headed towards "No Strings Attached".
Izuku, Hitoshi, and Fumikage began their work deciphering Izuku's notebooks and transferring them into readable, well organized notes for whatever plan Mei had for them once she got back.
"Welcome to 'No String Attached'! We'll be with you to help you in just a second." A female voice rang out from the back of the room as the two of them entered the building.
"I'm actually here to see if I could volunteer." Kyouka said. A few seconds later, a woman with shoulder length brown hair in a white button up, some black pants, and a green apron walked to the front of the room to greet them.
"Oh, welcome welcome. You said you were here to volunteer?" The woman asked.
"Yes, I saw your ad online, and I figured I could help." Kyouka explained.
"Wow, what can you teach?" The woman asked.
"Well, I know how to play both electric and acoustic guitar, bass, piano, drumset, and a few others. I can sing, too."
"Oh my, that's a lot!" The woman said. "Would you be willing to give a practical demonstration? It's nothing personal, I just have to make sure that you can back up your claims."
"Of course I can." Kyouka walked over and picked up a guitar. She smiled as she began to strum. It had been a few weeks, and if she was being honest with herself, she missed this. After that, she picked up a bass and began to play that. She moved on through the instruments that she listed, playing all of them with a high amount of skill.
The woman's jaw dropped more each time that Kyouka started to play each different instrument. As Kyouka finished, the woman spoke again. "And you'd be willing to help give lessons here? We're not a big music shop. If you can do that, then I'm sure you could volunteer anywhere. I think you could even walk into 'Don't Fret' and impress Jukebox."
"Wait, Jukebox works at 'Don't Fret'? She's the biggest music-based hero out there!" Kyouka said.
Mei put her hand down on Kyouka's shoulder. "Hey, Seki, you're starting to sound like Oda." At the mention of Izuku's alternate persona, Kyouka started to blush a little bit.
"Ah… sorry." She chuckled.
"If you'd like me to get you in contact with Jukebox's store for you to volunteer there, I can do that, miss." The worker said.
"Oh…" Kyouka snapped back to the present situation. "Oh no, that's not needed. I'd be happy to volunteer here."
"Wonderful! What is your name, miss?"
"I'm Miyata Seki. It's a pleasure to meet you. This is my friend Sakure Nii."
"It's a pleasure to meet you." Mei bowed her head.
"Oh, the pleasure is all mine. My name is Inato Haru." The woman bowed. "How often will you be able to volunteer, Miyata?"
"I should be able to somewhat frequently. I have some… other work that I need to do." She briefly looked at Mei as she said this. "And I'm really not sure how that schedule is going to change on a day to day basis."
"Well, you are just volunteering, so I can't complain." Inato said. "When can you start?"
"That's a good question." Kyouka looked at Mei.
Mei thought for a second. "I don't think we have any plans for a bit starting tomorrow for a few days."
"Then tomorrow. I'll call the store an hour before I come in. Is that good for you, Inato?" Kyouka asked.
"Oh, that's perfect! I'll see you then!" Inato waved to the two of them and immediately began talking to herself. "I need to make a sign for when she's in. This is going to be great for business!" With a happy laugh, she walked behind a bead curtain behind the counter and disappeared.
The two girls turned around and walked out of the store. "Well that was something." Mei said.
"At the end there, she sounded like you when you talk about your babies." Kyouka laughed.
"Am I really like that?" Mei asked.
"No." Kyouka answered immediately. Mei smiled. "You're so much worse." Mei's smile disappeared.
"Wow…" Mei trailed off, and Kyouka couldn't keep herself from laughing even harder.
The two eventually snaked back through the crowds and eventually the back alleys of Sangen Jaya.
As they were a few minutes from the warehouse, Mei asked Kyouka, "Hey Kyouka, you think they did what I asked them?"
"If they know what's good for themselves, they should have." Kyouka chuckles.
"Ain't that the truth." Mei agreed and then sighed. "I've put a lot of thought and effort into everything, and I know that Izuku has too, but I guess I just want to push him a bit more. I know that I've been a bit demanding with what should be done, but…" Mei trailed off.
"It's to show him what news to be done. It's like training." Kyouka nodded.
"He's the leader of our group, and I don't regret him being it at all. It just seems like he needs a bit of a push to get where he needs to be as the leader. Even with that confidence boost from doing this, I feel like there's still a good bit further for him to go."
"He's come a long way, though." Kyouka countered.
"Oh, I'm aware. And I'm also aware of just how much you're aware." Mei winked at Kyouka who, try as she might, was failing to hide a blush from her friend.
"Sh-Shut it!"
"I do hope that you two aren't doing naughty things in our shared living space." Mei raised her eyebrows suggestively.
"We aren't!" Kyouka defended. "We've only kissed and slept in the same bed one time."
"Whatever. Just don't let it happen. If you really need to, we've got enough money for you two to get a hotel room for a night or two."
"Y'know what? I don't have to take this shit." Kyouka put her foot down. "You make one more joke like that, and I tell Hitoshi." She smirked at Mei. It was now the pink haired girl's turn to blush.
"H-How do you know? I didn't tell anyone!"
"Really, Mei?" Kyouka asked, raising her jacks. "I have great hearing. Your heart rate increases by a lot any time you're around him. It was kind of obvious." She shrugged.
"You can tell that? That's insane!" Mei said.
"Mei, I've explained this to you at least twice now." Kyouka deadpanned.
"I was probably thinking about my babies and wasn't paying attention. My bad."
Sighing, Kyouka dropped her head. "Why does that not surprise me? Anyway, we're almost back."
"Hey, don't just change the subject. I'm not done. Don't tell anyone this or I will find out a secret of yours and tell Izuku. And it'll be an embarrassing one, too!" Mei called after Kyouka as she kept walking after Mei had stopped.
"Good luck with that, Mei." Kyouka called over her shoulder. At this point, the two had gotten back to the warehouse. "Well, it's time to see if they did what you asked." Kyouka opened the side door expecting to see chaos, but instead, what she saw surprised her even more.
Hitoshi, Fumikage, Dark Shadow, and Izuku all sat at the table with several of Izuku's notebooks on the table. Also on the table were several stacks of manilla folders, a number of reams of paper, and a few packs of pens.
"Okay, so Mt. Lady. Do you have any entries on her in your books?" Izuku asked. All three boys shuffled through their respective books looking for any reference to Mt. Lady.
"I have a page and a half of information on her." Hitoshi said, holding up his book.
"I have two pages." Fumikage said, holding up his as well.
"I've got nothing." Dark Shadow said dejectedly.
"I also don't have anything." Izuku said. "But now that we have three and a half pages on Mt. Lady, we can start on her file." The door closed behind Mei a bit louder than she had intended, and the four at the table slowly looked at the two of them. "Oh, hey Kyo. Hey Mei. How did it go?"
"Izuku, what's going on here?" Mei asked.
"Oh, we're just doing what you asked us to. We're going through all of the notebooks I have and condensing the information from the multiple sources into one file folder per hero. If you want some help putting them into the computer at some point, I can help with that. I think Hitoshi said he'd help too."
"Wow… I expected chaos when we got back." Kyouka said. "This is… This is honestly more terrifying, seeing it so organized."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Hitoshi asked.
"It means that she's just not used to seeing you all so organized." Mei teased. "You guys are kind of a mess."
"Well hey, that may be the case, but you look like you bowl with the bumpers on." Izuku said almost immediately.
"Holy shit, Izu. You didn't have to go for the throat like that." Kyouka bursted out laughing, her legs folding in on themselves as she fell to the ground clutching her sides.
"That was… really good." Mei conceded.
"Now if you want these files, you're gonna apologize because we put a lot of time into this." Izuku said with a smirk.
"You're pushing your luck, but… I do want those files…" Mei trailed off in thought. "Fine! I'm sorry for insulting how organized you three are."
"Hey!" Dark Shadow said in mock annoyance.
"Four! You four!" Mei corrected.
"Apology accepted. You can take the folders we've finished so far."
"And how many is that?"
"About 30 of the folders. We're about halfway done." Izuku said nonchalantly.
"You have detailed notes on 60 pro heroes?" Mei asked, surprised.
"That's surprising?" Izuku raised an eyebrow.
"Y'know, now that I think about it, not really. I'm sorry for doubting you."
"As you should be." Izuku said. He stretched his arms behind him and stood up. "I'm gonna take a break, though right now. I wanted to talk to Kyo for a bit if that's okay with the powers that be." Izuku looked at Mei expectantly.
"Sounds good to me." Mei shrugged.
"Great!" Izuku stood up quickly, grabbed Kyouka's hand, and dashed out of the door.
"Izuku! What are you doing?" Kyouka asked as she was rushed out of the warehouse.
"We're going to talk. I… I don't want to be around anyone else for this. I don't want them to be able to overhear." Izuku admitted.
"Is everything okay, Izu?" Kyouka asked, her eyebrows twisted in concern. She had heard that his heart rate skyrocketed pretty much as soon as they left the building.
"I'm just confused and I want to know what you think."
"Of course. Lead the way." Kyouka smiled. The two of them snaked through some alleys until they came to the cafe that they had visited before.
"Ah, welcome back, you two. It's good to see you again." The man before the counter said with a smile. "I'll get you the menus soon. Sit anywhere you'd like."
"Thank you sir." Izuku bowed. The two sat in the same booth as before. After getting the menus and ordering, Kyouka looked at her boyfriend.
"So what do you need to talk about, Izu? You said you were confused?"
"I'm confused about who I am and who I want to be." Izuku admitted.
"What do you mean by that? Is this about what we talked about the other night?"
"Kind of…" Izuku started. "But it's kind of building off of that. I've been noticing things about me recently. Things I'm not happy with."
"Such as?"
"Well, I feel like I've been way too serious recently. I know that I need to take what we're doing seriously, but I feel like I've taken it a bit too far. It's been stressing me out, honestly. So I tried changing some things up earlier.
"Is that what the jokes were for?" Kyouka asked.
"Yeah, I wanted to try being less serious. I wanted to change a little bit."
"Do you know why?"
"I… I want to change who I am. I'm not happy with myself."
"Izuku…" Kyouka said his name softly as she grabbed his hand from across the table.
"I haven't been happy with myself for a while. And I think I finally have enough confidence to admit that to myself. I want to rebuild who I am from the ground up. I don't want to be a scared little kid anymore. And I don't want to be a stick in the mud like that one guy from the entrance exam."
Kyouka giggled softly. "I remember him. I still think that what I told him was really funny."
"Oh, it was for sure. And a lot of the other people in the room thought so too." Izuku laughed with her for a few seconds before stopping. "But I want to be more. I know you said the other day that Izuku Midoriya and Snake Eyes are the same person. I want both of them to change."
"Do you know who you want to be?"
"I want to be… I want to be more like you and Mei."
"Like Mei and I? Why the hell would you want that?"
"Well, you're both really confident in yourselves. I don't see you dealing with any insecurities like I do. I want to be like that. Every ounce of confidence that I have is… I feel like I'm faking it. I want it to be real. I want to get things done, but I also want to be fun to be around. I want my friends to want to be around me, and I don't want to start any arguments. I want us to get along."
"Okay, first, whoever told you that I don't have any insecurities is a liar. I am insecure about so many things." Kyouka said.
"Oh? Is there anything I can help with?" Izuku asked.
"No no no, you're not changing this to me. We can talk about my shit later. Right now, it's time for yours. Secondly, I just want to say that I am going to support you through all of it until you're happy with yourself. But I do also want to say that even if you don't like yourself, I like you. Whether that be the you from a few months ago or the you now. Even if that confidence is fake, I do like it. Just keep that in mind as you change yourself." Kyouka squeezed his hand and smiled at him. "Anything else bothering you?"
"Well, actually... something happened this morning that I'm not too much of a fan of." Kyouka didn't say anything. She nodded and waited for him to continue. "Hitoshi and I had that brief argument this morning about going after Stain or not. It wasn't too much of an argument, but I still felt bad about it."
"Do you know why you feel bad about it?"
Izuku sighed and hung his head. He was quiet for a few seconds before speaking again. "I feel like a hypocrite for telling him that we should wait. But I know we're not ready yet. You four are the most important people in my life. You all gave up going to UA because of me. I don't want any of you getting hurt on my watch. I want to make sure that we're ready."
"Sorry to interrupt." The owner said while bringing over two platters. "I have your drinks. Enjoy."
"I can see where you're both coming from. I just think that you're being more of a realist, where he's trying to be more of an idealist. I think that you should talk to him once you're ready. I think he'll be understanding. He backed down, right? He knows that you're the leader and respects that. Things won't be as bad as you think they're going to be, I'm sure."
"You think so?" Izuku finally looked up at Kyouka again.
"Oh, I'm pretty sure. And if he starts making any problems, he can have a long chat with me. I'm sure I can make him understand why he shouldn't start stuff that he can't finish." Kyouka raised her jacks to emphasize her point.
Izuku couldn't help but laugh at that. "Don't hurt him too bad, okay?"
"I make no promises." Kyouka shrugged. The two of them fell into a fit of laughter for almost two minutes before Izuku looked at Kyouka and smiled.
"Hey, Kyo?"
"Yeah, Izu?"
"Thank you. For listening and for your support. It… it means a lot."
"Of course, Green Bean. Anytime."
Izuku laughed. "Green Bean, huh? It's been a while since that's come out."
"Well, to be fair, I've been kinda busy helping you change the world. Call me forgetful, but I feel like that would affect the pet names." Kyouka said.
"Wait, does that mean that the pet names…? Do the pet names mean that she liked me a long time ago? It was a few years ago at least when she started calling me by vegetable names." Izuku thought to himself. Or so he thought.
"Y-Yes, it's been a few years." Kyouka said, her face flushed a slight crimson.
"Did I say all of that out loud?"
"Oh yeah. And even when you're really quiet with that, I can still hear it." Kyouka wrapped her jack around her finger and then unwrapped it, idly playing with them.
"R-Right. Well, um… I don't really have any pet names for you other than Kyo. Do you want one?"
Kyouka sipped on her drink and shrugged. "I mean, I don't need it. But if you want to, then sure, I guess."
"Honey?"
Kyouka snorted.
"Sugar?"
Kyouka guffawed.
"Babe?"
Kyouka blushed. "I… I think that might be the one, but… but not in public." She tapped the tips of her jacks together.
"Uhhh… Noted." Izuku matched her blush.
The two sat in silence until they finished their drinks.
"Sir, can we h-have the check?" Izuku asked.
"Oh, don't worry about it. It's on the house. Young love and all that."
"L-Love?" Both Kyouka and Izuku thought to themselves. Kyouka was the first to snap herself out of her stupor.
"That doesn't sound like a good business model." She said.
"Maybe not, but it's my business, so I can do what I want. Have a good day, you two."
The two walked back to the warehouse, hand in hand, each thinking to themselves.
"Do I love her?"
"Do I love him?"
They both knew the answer, but both were afraid of admitting it.
