And we are back! I'm really trying to get out both this and another chapter at the same time to make up for lost time, same with my other stories. As we most likely won't be gathering for the regular family/friends dinner this time around, that gives me more time to me without having to deal with my cousins running around like animals(God, just saying that makes me feel 20 years older) or relatives either making the most cringe Dad jokes or asking the weirdest questions. Back to this, I've already had the outline for this story for a while but from reading other great villain-centric stories and watching season 6 of MHA, I made some slight revisions and added stuff into the plot which hadn't been planned yet. This chapter, as is expected at this point, it's set in the past I would like to give you all the backstory for why someone like Izuku would become a mercenary and if I'm not said it already, I'll say it again-it will only go on till he makes it into Honey Lakes as we don't need to see the rest as the present will cover enough of that. Anywho, onto the story!


Chapter 8: New surroundings, Same reality

"That's the bell, remember that your homework is a 1000-word essay on the fall of the 5th French Republic and its consequences for the European Union." The history teacher told the students as the bell rung in the background, as the class started to pack up their stuff and move into groups to chat about either class, what the cafeteria was serving that day, or about hero news and other popular stuff-one student was alone in the fact as he quietly packed his things into his back, picked up the brown table cloth which had been covering his desk, and walked out the door, not sharing a word with anyone.

Midoriya walked down the halls of Collodi junior high, feeling numb over the fact that despite having been a student at the private school for almost 6 months, he hadn't made a single new friend. Sure, he had acquaintances and people he could chat to every now and then, but he was always the outsider, the irregular who they could tolerate for a time before both parties realized he had overstayed his welcome. It was the same as with lunch as like with any school-either here in Milan or back in Japan, students sat in groups either based on friends or clubs and while he knew he could find a seat at the fencing's club's table, he wanted some time to himself to think.

He was lucky that his new school was similar to his old one if the fact that the roof was an open space where students could hang out, if not be discouraged thanks to the safety hazard of someone falling the 5 stories down to the ground. With his boxed lunch in hand, he sat down to enjoy his meal and take in the sight of the ancient city of art and culture, he also thought about his situation and how much had changed. Like his mother had said the day he had been discharged, they had moved as quickly as they could to Milan since his father had been posted here for around 2 years. They hadn't had the time to speak with the Bakugo family and while he wasn't going to miss Bakugo himself, he would his mother as while just as fiery as her son, she was always kind to him if a little teasing.

Inko didn't want their old life interfering with the new one so while she did tell Aunt Mitsuki that they were leaving, she never told them to whereas she most likely thought they were just moving somewhere like Shikoku or Chūgoku rather than all the way to Europe, and it wasn't like she would ever find out as Inko made his grandfather promise not to tell anyone. The two mothers still called one another, but with both being working women and the massive 8-hour time difference, those calls were more a rare thing than the previous bi-weekly mundane activity. Still, he did help to distract her from the fact they hadn't managed to find themselves a place to rent which meant the two were still living in his father's house which even after all this time, was weird for the both of them.

One as she had to once more share a roof with a man that had cheated on her, and for Izuku it was just…off to share a roof with his father for such an extended period of time. Most kids would feel the opposite but most didn't go their whole life with their fathers barely present, a father who denied his connection to you because you were diagnosed as quirkless. Still, while tense, awkward, and quiet, his home life was still good, he still had his mother to talk to at the end of the day.

"If only school was the same." Midoriya thought aloud as he finished his meal. Sure, Collodi wasn't the same as Aldera but that was more down to him than the schools themselves as while he was without friends, it was thanks to the fact no one knew that he used to be quirkless, on his first day when he had to stand in front of the class and introduce himself, as he expected that included some info on his quirk so, at the very least, he didn't need to deal with some the other kids who he was sure wouldn't have taken kindly to a foreign quirkless kid thinking he could walk their halls. He had thought that he had impressed the class when he told them how his quirk worked, and how he hadn't even known Italian till only recently but while he had been the talk of the class since he essentially didn't need to study anywhere as hard as the rest of them, it quickly soured as it became clear that his grades blew everyone else out of the water.

Some called it cheating and demanded that his scores not be counted but as it was a passive mutation, it wasn't something he could stop doing any more than the one student could stop having a duck head. Others mocked him behind his back, or wrote slurs and other insults on his table, they never lasted long as the school did have some kind of anti-bullying policies but Izuku knew that wasn't the point, they knew he had a long-lasting memory, so even if he had only seen them once-he would remember it forever. It was why he stopped looking at his desk and always came with a small tablecloth his mother had graciously got him which he used to cover it up.

Midoriya was knocked out of his trip of unpleasant memories when he picked up smoke in the distance and the distant sirens from police and ambulance vehicles heading towards it. He knew that it must be an incident involving a villain, and he knew that there would be no doubt a fight once the heroes get there but despite all that, and the fact this would be a great chance to see how Italian pros handle things in person, he didn't feel the same urge to head over as he used to. He didn't feel like he had to be there to document the fight, the quirks, and ways that he could handle things as a pro. Perhaps that was why despite qualifying to take the entrance exams for 5 different hero schools, including St Christopher's, which is the 3rd best hero school in Europe, he hadn't sent them any kind of reply to inform them he planned to take the entrance exam in a little over a year.

He didn't know why he felt like this, and he scared him but his new therapist had been great in helping him unpackage all this, from how the new bullies didn't matter and that the fact they were targeting him for his grades only shows how little they value their own work. With the lack of interest in hero-work, she explained that it wasn't that there was something wrong with her for not being as excited as the other kids, it merely meant she was considering all her options and wasn't as enamored as others were with pros. He did admit to her that he still wished to do good in the world, to take care of his mother, be a good son, and all that which she told him he could easily do without entering a hero course. He liked her, sure it was a job to talk with kids like him but she seemed to actually enjoy helping other-like All Might does.

He only wished her advice for making friends was as effective as she was the one that suggested that he join a school club to get to know teens his age but despite being in the archery, boxing, and fencing clubs-the closest he had was being on the group chat for the fencing club and having a seat at their lunch table.


(Later – During Archery practice)

"Hey, Izuku!" Midoriya paused as he aimed his shot down range, turning to face the group of people approaching him, headed by one of the more outspoken students who didn't appreciate him. Their 3rd-year star.

"It's Midoriya." He corrected them, lowering his bow and removing the arrow from its place on the string, but it didn't seem like the group cared for his words.

"Isn't Izuku your name? Or did you somehow forget?" One of his lackeys asked him as the others laughed as if it was the funniest joke they're heard all day, but it had lost most of its punch after the 3rd time they used it, now he was pretty sure they kept it up just to annoy him.

"What do you what, De Bono?" He kept his attention on their group's leader who smirked down at him, using his inch's worth of height to look down his nose at him.

"For you to learn your place, you can't just show up here and do as you please." He told him, pointing towards the main school buildings in the distance as if they were the exit.

"As I pleas-what are you talking about? I've only been here a month and I've followed all the rules." Midoriya asked him as he was starting to wonder if his day was going to be another one of those kinds.

"No, you don't! You're been cheating since the moment you picked up a bow, using that weakling's quirk of you to spit on all our years of training." And it was as if he didn't get enough from people about his grades and now this prick has picked up on it as well. Why was he even offended he was here? He was their champion archer with 5 regional championships to his name, whereas Midoriya had none.

"Is that what's this all about?" Midoriya asked him, asked the entire group who didn't offer up any alternative, and while he would normally just back down, or report this to the teacher. He wasn't in that mood. He was just too frustrated with it all to try anymore. "No, I'm not taking this from you or anyone else. So, what if my quirk makes things easier for me? I'm still training, I'm still here. If you feel like you're better then me, then prove it." He marched up to him, jabbing him in his chest with his finger before pointing towards the target he had been going to hit before he got rudely interrupted.

"Prove it you say, alright then, I'll do just that!" The elder boy's smirk only grew as he saw that his little trap had worked to finally get this upstart out of his range. "That quirk of yours only helps you imitate your betters, so we'll have a contest of skill." He stated as he reached for his bow which had been strapped to his back, along with a full quiver of arrows ready for use.

"What would that be?" Midoriya narrowed his eyes here, having an idea of what he wanted.

"Speed archery. We'll set up targets at random ranges, whoever can hit the most bullseyes wins." He replied to which Midoriya agreed, he wasn't going to let all those comments slide, he'll prove that he deserved to be here as much as any of them.

It didn't take long, around 15 minutes for his lackeys to set up all the targets with the closest being only 10m away from the furthest being 60m away from them. Each had 20 targets worth, the same amount of arrows they were allowed. "Ready?" One of them stood in as the judge, though Midoriya doubted he'll be impartial. Still, he wasn't going to let them stop him as he reached for an arrow in preparation. "Begin!" With that, both pulled and notched arrows as fast as they could before firing. Midoriya went for the closest ones first, building up his range as time went on whereas De Bono, most likely to show off went for the furthest one first and while he didn't score a bullseye, he managed to land his shot close to the border of the red and yellow.

This set the dynamic between the two of them as Midoriya took his time to build to those further targets, allowing him a greater accuracy while his aggressor aimed for a show over everything else, hitting mainly the further targets but with fewer bullseyes than his underclassmen. A fact that become apparent by the halfway point, he had 7 bullseyes whereas Midoriya had 9. Midoriya kept his head calm and controlled himself even as he heard De Bono's lackeys talking about it.

"Oh shit, he's keeping up with Ettore."

"Not just keeping up…"

Midoriya had calmed down enough that he saw the writing on the wall, at the way things were going, he would win the contest even if he hit less impressive targets and while it would be great to have that under his belt, he also knew it wasn't worth the trouble of having to deal with a second Bakugo who had a bone to pick with him over his supposed greatness being challenged. With that decided, he started to aim for the further targets and missing his shots with most of his remaining arrows hitting the blue and black areas, lowering his accuracy average which was something the rest of them picked up on.

Seeing that he was pulling ahead in the last stretch of their contest, De Bono felt his victory was assured as he couldn't help himself as he looked towards his underclassmen, firing his final arrow and scoring himself 13 bullseyes. "Ha, just what I was expecting of you, you can't match up to real skill! What would you expect from a child of a woman of the night." De Bono's comment froze the bow just before he could fire his shot, there was a small part of him that reminded him that he should back, that it wasn't worth the grief he'll give him later but he stopped listening to that portion of himself, slamming it into a box and locking it.

With his rage stroked to even higher levels, he stopped holding back as he took aim for not his own targets, but those of the furthest of De Bono's. He only had 5 arrows left but that was enough as he took his first shoot. It hit home, clean center. This fact stunned the observers as he notched the second arrow, moving himself back some paces before he let loose, second bullseyes, his rival's arrow was close, but not close enough. The third was much of the same as he buried his shot dead center, from an even greater distance as he spared his aggressor's eyes as he let loose his 4th shot, hitting home. His last shot hit the furthest target, but with the increased distance he placed by walking back, the 60m was instead 75m. Not just that, but his arrow split De Bono-not cleanly through the middle but rather destroyed it most of the shaft was gone, leaving way for Midoriya's final shot to also strike the bullseye. Leaving him with a final score of 14 bullseyes.

"Izu-Izuku wins…" The judge, like the rest of them, was too stunned by the turn of events to even try to make something up, instead only stating a fact of the matter as Midoriya turned on his heel and walked off, no longer in the mood to continue. Still, as he walked away, he paused to turn back to De Bono who appeared close to a meltdown, though if that was out of rage or something else, Midoriya didn't know or really care to know.

"You ever insult my mother again, and you could find yourself with an arrow buried in that eye of yours." He warned the boy, not even staying to hear his response as he walked back to the locker rooms to change and head home. He'll skip the gym today.


(Later)

2 hours later, Midoriya got off the bus outside the gated community that his father had lived in, flashing his residence card to the security, he was allowed in without issue. He would have thought it strange to have such a place but while the city was beautiful during the day, its underbelly was just as ugly. With no one even close to the power and symbolic meaning as All Might to maintain things, crime and villain activity were much higher than that of Japan. The gated community was one of many, and while it was one of the better ones-Midoriya hadn't liked it from the moment he arrived as all the homes, all the gardens…they were all the same. Mimicked to such a degree that you would think the architects copied and pasted one after another to save time.

"No matter where you go…" He thought to himself as he couldn't help but want to go back and give De Bono a piece of his mind. Where did he get off insulting his mother? He had hoped that he would be able to escape this kind of stuff when they came here, a clean slant but all that appeared to mean is that people would find new reasons to mock him. To distract himself from those negative thoughts, he had chosen to play a game out of trying to spot the differences between how each family did their gardens, or how they hung their curtains in the windows but there was only so much he could spot before even that become boring. A few minutes' walk and he had reached…home, the large Italianate-style house greeting as it had done for months now. As he approached the front door, he noted the car in the driveway

"Hisashi's home." And if his day couldn't get worse, but he couldn't run from this as he took out his door and let himself in, the sound of the TV on in the living room making it clear where his father was at present as he walked further into the house, dropping his keys into the bowl close to the main door. His approach was picked up, and his father paused the soccer match and turned to face him, giving him a big smile.

"Welcome home, Izuku. How was school?" He asked to which Midoriya spared him a glance before he bent down. Just as did so, both heard the dog rushing from wherever he had been towards him, stopping himself just before he could crash into Izuku who started to play with his face.

"Okay. Hey Captain." He directed his attention to his canine companion who must have felt lonely without him or Inko around for most of the day, but that was life as it wasn't like he was going to bond with his father anytime soon. The dog seemed to dislike him as much as he did.

"That's it? There must be more to talk about." Hisashi was right, there was…there always was but he wasn't going to talk about his troubles with him, he'll wait for his mother to get home from work before that.

"I have homework to get to, you know how it is," Izuku replied as he turned to walk up the stairs, Captain following him along the way. Though it was more a tactic to give him some space as he could finish his homework in a fraction of the time it took others since he could perfectly recall anything he needed to know to answer it. Hell, studying was him reading through the textbook they were using for a class, and perhaps another one to get another point of view, and that was it as with his quirk, that's all it took. Sure, he could test himself by seeing how much small details he could recall but he never failed those so he did them more for fun, or in this case to get away from his dejected father.

"Oh…sure, get to that, can't have you falling behi-" He wasn't so heartless that he didn't feel for his father as he reached his room and closed the door before, he could even finish his response, he did get that the man was trying but he wasn't at that point yet where he could be civil with him. He hadn't been there when he needed him, he couldn't accept that his son was quirkless and now, he couldn't say that he believed that the man was trying because he realized his faults and wished to correct, or just because Izuku finally unlocked a quirk of his own. He didn't know and that angered him more than he thought it would, he had never had a relationship with this man, so why was he so set on having one now?

With his homework finished in record time, he just laid on his bed, with Captain resting his head on his stomach as music played from his computer, trying to figure out this mystery.


The following morning, the family of three sat in the kitchen, eating their breakfast before they all left for work or school, it was as one would expect from a group with their dynamic, tense as they didn't share conversations nor really smile. It wasn't as if their time together had mended much as while Inko had at first tolerated Hisashi and started to talk to him, not only did they remain to sleep in separate rooms but Izuku could tell she was treating it more like one would a work acquittance, only being civil for the sake of the unit. Seeing this, Hisashi moved to act as he placed his spoon down and turned to face the two, a smile breaking out on his face. "Are you both free this weekend?"

The two paused in their own meal, looking at the other as they wondered what this was all about. It was Inko that spoke for the two of them. "Why are you asking?"

"Well," Hisashi started, trying to contain whatever joy he had in him. "There's this music festival coming up which my co-workers told me about, nothing too big but they gave it some high praise so I wanted to see if we couldn't all go as a group."

"Interesting, and are these co-workers some pretty secretaries?" Inko's glance was strong and biting almost as much as her words as the man flinched at the reminder of his unfaithfulness.

"N-no, of course not, I swear! Please, I really mean it, I think it'll be fun for the family to spend some time together, to try and mend the bridges between us." Hisashi pleaded with the two of them. He had wanted to try something like this ever since they first arrived, but aside from the first night when both are exhausted from let lag from the over 16-hour long flight, neither had been receptive to anything he suggested. Helping Izuku with his homework? He said he was fine. Cooking a nice dinner for the three of them? Gave empty compliments and nothing else. Trying to organize a night out with his wife? Either she was 'tired' from work or 'didn't feel like going out'. Showing them around town? They joined a tour group. Exploring the neighborhood? Did it in their free time. Spending time with the dog? He nearly bit him when he tried.

He was nearing the end of ideas; he was getting frustrated as it seemed like there wasn't anything he could do to get them to give him a chance. Though he also just felt a sense of sadness as he couldn't find it in himself to blame them, he was the reason things were like this between them. Because he couldn't accept that his son, his only child was seemingly born quirkless and said something he shouldn't have. Because he let his eyes wander to young foreign girls. He wasn't even angry he got caught, he was angry that he ever did it, to begin with. He was ashamed that it took him seeing how other fathers and his co-workers interacted with their families to realize just what he had thrown away.

Perhaps it was seeing this honest effort he was doing, or maybe it was another reason. Regardless, it managed to get him an inch into the door as Izuku looked back to his mother. "It's not like I have much going on outside training." Not having friends didn't give much in the way of plans in general, but he could afford to miss a day at the gym.

Inko didn't look nearly as receptive to the idea, however. "Neither do I have anything planned…" But she decided that she could at least try, it wasn't like she was going to get the divorce finalized anytime soon she bitterly thought to herself. "Fine, we'll go, what's the time?"

"Great! It starts around 8 in the morning, but we can show up around lunch and spend the afternoon." The man looked more like the dog he must have realized how excited he was over this victory. He didn't stay long afterward, finishing his meal before grabbing his briefcase and heading for the front door.

"See you in the evening!" He called out to them.

"See you then." Both half-heartedly waved toward him before he was gone. The two waited for some time to pass, enough for them to hear his car pull out of the driveway and head off before they started to chat like an actual family. "You have anything big planned for today, mom?"

"Nothing much, though I feel like I'm close to earning that promotion, though that could just be seeing things that aren't there," Inko replied, smiling as she recalled how lucky she had been to land the job at a regional airline's legal division.

"You helped them win that case against the city, I'm positive that they saw how good you are, mom," Izuku replied as she joined them just in time to help them win a criminal suit against the city.

"We can only hope. It was nice that we all got that bonus, it's made house hunting a little better with the increased budget." Inko said in response as they continued to chat about their daily lives and local news for another 15 minutes before they had finished their meals and left to start their days.


A week had passed since then, and as they had agreed, they had gone to the festival, and while not the kind of place either would have gone to normally, it was still a fun experience and Izuku could say that he had fun. Forgetting about the bad blood between him and his father and being able to enjoy himself while he was there. The family played games, listened to some performances, have vibrant chats with others present, and got souvenirs.

It was such a good time that he saw his parents actually talking afterward, with his mother not shooting down his father's idea of them doing something together later and that good vibe hadn't left even a week after. He couldn't even find it in himself to be upset that he couldn't ride his regular bus to school and needed to find another one. "Just hand over the wallet and watch old man, they ain't worth your life." And just like that, his good mood dampened as he heard a commotion across the street. There was a large crowd forming around something to do with what sounded like a mugging in process, so he crossed to see for himself what was going on.

Once there, he managed to wiggle his way through to the other side to see what was going on. In front of him was a group of 6 thugs that looked like they flunked out of college harassing this old man who couldn't be younger than 70 and needed a cane to walk around. In his other hand, he carried a small plastic bag marked with the logo of the local store so he must have been on his way home when this happened. "And I'm telling you that I'm not doing anything of the sort." Midoriya was impressed by his response as while certainly passed his prime, the man's voice still carried the strength of a man half his age while his stance gave no ground.

"You senile, old man?" The taller one, no doubt the leader asked as he lifted his hand up, turning his fingers and thumbs into 5-inch-long steel blades and flexing them around but the old man didn't even flinch at the sight of them, unlike some in the crowd who continued to watch but did nothing else.

"No, just have some balls." He looked the man right in the eye, not caring for the near-foot-in height difference between them as the man laughed at him, finding his defiance to be amusing.

'Why isn't anyone doing anything? Where are the heroes?' As this continued, Midoriya looked around trying to spot a hero or a policeperson but he saw neither. Things didn't look like they were going to get better anytime soon but no one was moving to help. He heard one woman mutter that the heroes will be here soon but not soon enough as any of them could have realized. Why weren't they doing anything? Why wasn't he doing anything?

"That's cute, old man, but ain't no one coming to save you. In fact, just for that why don't you spend some time in a hospital." The ring leader was about to strike him, the audience is damned but he never got the chance as a rock hit him in the back of the head, knocking him off base and nearly sending him to the floor with a yelp. The others looked at their boss before they looked at where the rock came from.

"Hey!" Midoriya had stepped up, his arm outreached from his throw. "Leave him alone!" The man turned to face him, a glare on his face as he reached with his other hand to touch the back of his head, when he looked at his fingers, they were coated with a little blood as his glare only grew in anger, the rest of them coming close to match him as one pulled out a bat and another's knuckles enlarged as he lifted up his fists. Before they could attack him, their boss rose a hand, stopping them as his glare was only malicious as he sneered at the boy.

"What do we have here? Little kid thinks himself a hero? Get lost kid, before you make me mad." He dismissed Midoriya as if expecting him to run away with his tail between his legs but he wasn't going to just lay over and let them get away with this as stood his ground, reaching for his belt.

"I won't do that, not until you leave that man to get along with his day," Midoriya told him as he undid his belt, pulling out from his pants and holding it as if it were a whip, the sight of which didn't impress anyone as they all laughed at him as the crowd, continuing to merely be spectators, also added their unwanted two sense about his sanity. Midoriya once more looked around, hoping to see someone coming to their aide but no such luck, his look caught their attention which they misread to prove he was just baffling and now was just stalling for time.

"Looks like the kid finally seen it, he's alone in his little stance against us. Should we give him a slap on the wrist, boys?" The leader asked the group who gassed themselves up by laughing and mocking him, talking about how strong they were, and how they would soon rule the district like the mafia of old.

"Thought so, we don't give mercy to anyone that crosses us!" The leader charged him, his single clawed hand outstretched to strike him down but instead of acting like a scared kid, Midoriya acted, using the memories of Midnight in combat, he moved his body to the side and whipped out his belt towards the man, avoiding the strike and wrapping the belt around his arm before he pulled him in for a straight kick to his chin, sending him back-shocked and dazed from the counter.

Midoriya didn't give him any time to react as he rushed him, going on the offensive as he sent his belt out for another attack, this time hitting his arm, then his eye which caused him to swear from the pain and surprise "Shit, what the hell!" Distracted by this, he was able to close the distance, and with as much force as he gets, he kicked the man square in the balls. The force of his shoe striking his family jewels not only rose the taller man up to his toes but sent him crashing to his knees as his voice fly to new heights, his surprised eep sounding more like it came from a mouse than a person as Midoriya, for good measure, slammed a right hook into his face, knocking to the ground and taking him out of the fight.

With their boss having been taken down by a kid, the rest didn't move in, too stunned by the entire thing as Midoriya, in a power move he hoped would get them to back off, placed his foot on the defeated man's back, glaring at them with his belt at the ready for more. "I said, leave here." Sadly for him, all this did was anger them to the point that reason no longer applied as they charged him, forcing him to defend himself. While he was certainly outnumbered, he managed to avoid their attacks one tried to hit him with small fireballs while's arms turned to wood as he tries to smash him into the dirt. Using his belt and smaller size, he was able to either catch their attacks before they could hit, smack them hard enough somewhere like their face to get them back off for him to move, or merely move between them like water, using a similar style of movement to another hero famous for how easily he could move around attackers.

Three of the thugs were already down after some time, with Izuku having taken two out with strikes to the balls as well with the third having been knocked out with a blow from his own baseball bat as Midoriya had managed to snare it and strike him with it before he could react. Still, despite his performance, he was still outnumbered as he faced the remaining two. He tried to keep his eyes on both but then the thug smiled as he made a lunge for him, he avoided it but realized too late that was what they wanted as he was suddenly grabbed by the second biggest one in a bear hug from which he proceeded to try and crush him. "You think a belt's all you're gonna need to take us on?! That's it, you're dead!" He screamed into his face, both from rage at having been shown up by a kind, and the joy at finally making him pay. Midoriya couldn't move as he tried to worm his way out, but while in great shape for someone in his age group, he paled to someone who clearly spent most of his time working out in conjunction with a strength booster quirk.

The pressure only continued as he no longer could move his arms, being awkwardly pressed against his body as he started to feel ever-increasing pain from his muscles being pressed like this. He didn't think he'll last a minute before his bones started to give as he looked to where the old man had been when this had all started, seeing that he was gone. Even if he was about to spend some time in a hospital, he could at least take solace in the fact that he had managed to do what he wanted. "Looks like someone's luck's finally run out!" The thug laughed in his ever-reddening face, but then he froze, confused as a warm liquid poured onto his arms, along with his grip on Midoriya loosened enough for the boy to escape, he looked to him, ready to continue or run but paused when he finally saw what the liquid was.

"I would say it's your time, young man." The old man, who had never left stated as he held his still drawn cane blade out, blood on it-the same blood which was pouring from the small but devastating cut to the crock's neck as he collapsed to his knees, grabbing at the injury and trying to stop the bleeding as h turned to the old man, his eyes pleading for aid which the old man didn't give.

"You should have listened to the boy, it would have ended better for you." He told him, watching as the man tried to get back up, but couldn't and instead started to crawl towards him, reaching out as he started to beg in an increasingly softening voice before he stilled, his hand laid on the foot of the man that had killed him. Seeing this, Midoriya didn't know how to respond, the rest of the thugs still able to watch didn't know how to respond, and the crowd didn't know how to respond as it was like a great silence had fallen over them. Midoriya didn't know how to react, having never seen someone die, never seen someone kill and so casually, the old man didn't even look shaken by the fact he had just taken a life. He wasn't given any more time to react to this before some heroes arrived on the scene at long last.

"Halt, you are-what happened here?" The of them, with a jet pack, asked as she took in the sight in front of her, 6 men down, one clearly dead and a teenager with blood all over his face and chest. It was this demand that broke the damn as the crowd immediately started screaming and pointing at the two.

"H-he killed him, he slit his throat!" One of them managed to scream out over the noise as they fearfully pointed towards the old man who had gone to pick up his groceries, not even bothered by this.

"The boy helped him!" Another cry got through, knocking Midoriya out of his daze as he turned to them all in anger.

"What? They were mugging him and I stepped in to help!" He yelled back but it didn't seem to matter as they continued to pour insults at them, with more than a few aimed at him then the hero stepped up and placed a hand on his shoulder, the one without blood on it.

"Son, old timer, why don't we head to the station and sort things out? This isn't the place for such." His words may have made it sound as if it was a suggestion, but his hold made it clear they were an order-he was merely being civil about things.

"But we-"

"Just listen to him, boy. School can wait till after this mess is sorted out." The old man told him as he was handed over his cane…or was it his hidden sword, either way, he was going along with this so Midoriya decided to do the same, it would only make things worse if he resisted, no matter how much he felt about this. It didn't stop the people from jeering him as the two were loaded into the back of the police car, he couldn't even stomach being there anymore their anger at him stepping him when they didn't only make him glare at them all, made things worse as it only added fuel to their self-set fires about him.


Around an hour later, Izuku sat alone in an interrogation room. It wasn't as bad as TV made it out to be, there was some color to the walls, the table was made from a fine wood he couldn't name and the chair was comfy, and he was handcuffed or anything of the sort. Once the two had arrived, they had been processed with their pictures and fingerprints taken, once that was done he was given a change of clothes and directed to the back where he could clean himself off, by then the blood had dried and he really wanted it gone. As he showered it all away, he couldn't help but wonder why he didn't have a bigger reaction to…everything, it was as if he was dumb to it, a sight which should have sickened him got nothing from him other than mild surprise and he didn't know what that said about him.

When he had stepped out of the locker room, wearing police-issue sweatpants and hoodie, he had asked the policemen that had directed him if that was a bad thing. "Don't read too much into it, kid. Your mind and body were in a crisis mood and still are. Once you calmed down enough, it'll hit you like a stack of bricks so have a bucket handy." That was what he told him before he guided him here and left. That had been 15 minutes ago. Before he could wonder anymore about his fate, the door finally opened as an officer walked in and took the opposing seat, the door being closed behind him by someone else.

The man looked through their file on him, a short one he hoped before he looked up to face him to speak. "Your name is Izuku Midoriya, correct?"

"Yes." His response was short and subdued, he didn't want to add to whatever they had on him.

"Would you like to wait for your parents to get here before we start the questioning? Legal counsel?" The officer asked him.

"No." He figured that his parents were already on their way anyway, and he was sure he hadn't done anything too serious but then again, he hadn't read up on Italian legal codes before so he could only hope for the best in his attempt to get this over with so he can go home and decompress.

"Alright," The officer said, looking towards the corner of the ceiling where there was a clear camera mounted as he pulled out a tape recorder from his jacket and placed it on the table. "Be informed that we're recording this questioning session, so I remind you to be truthful."

"Alright." Midoriya nodded his head as the officer turned it on, starting the session.

"Let's start from the beginning, why were you in the area?" Easy enough question to answer he supposed.

"I normally take the bus to school, but there was a small villain attack that delayed it, so I decided to walk to another stop and ride a bus from there. It was on my way there that I run into the old man being mugged." Midoriya answered as that wasn't his normal route.

"Mugged you say?"

"Yes, the group, 7 people, were trying to force him to hand over his valuables. He wasn't cooperating and they seemed close to trying to assault him." He left out the part where there was already a crowd watching when he arrived, he didn't need to get angry during the questioning as it wouldn't look good on his part.

"So, you stepped in to help him, with violence?" The officer asked him but he shook his head there.

"It wasn't my first choice, I tried to talk them down but," He could see that his plan wasn't the best one in hindsight, but he didn't have a lot of options to work with. "It didn't work, so I fought them."

"It must have been hard for a 14-year-old to fight against 7 adults, without using your quirk." The officer looked at him, impressed with his skill but he once more shook his head.

"It was, but I was using my quirk, it's a mental ability." Here, the officer leaned in a bit, wanting more details as while quirks were generally illegal to be used in public spaces by anyone without a license, for obvious reasons there were care-outs for quirks that either couldn't be turned off or were mutations. You can't arrest someone for having an elephant head, can you?

"And what is your quirk?" Here, Midoriya sat straighter, looking straight toward the man as he gave him his answer.

"Skynet. It's a late-stage activation mutation quirk that gives me perfect recall memory of anything I've done or otherwise experienced through my five senses. It also gives me photographic memory and allows me to perfectly copy anything I've seen to the best of my abilities." At his quirk summary, the officer nodded his head as he wrote something down in his notes before he carried on.

"I see, quite impressive. So, you used stuff you're seen in the movies, or did you copy heroes?"

"Heroes, sir. The movies often put more emphasis on form over function anyway." Midoriya had tried that in training but while he certainly looked like an action hero, he also know that most stuff performed for the camera was for entertainment with little in the way of realism.

"At least you're not one of those kids who think they can just copy whatever they saw All Might doing in a movie." The officer chuckled at his question as Midoriya also cracked a small smile himself.

"It didn't help me with the last one, he was fast, and had a strength quirk so I couldn't really do much against him, then he managed to grab me." He continued as he reached to rub his arms, the bruises still visible underneath his hoodie.

"Which was when the old man you stepped in to help slit his throat, to save you?" Here he didn't really have much in the way to offer.

"I think you." Here, the officer paused as he looked towards him, his eyebrow raised.

"You think?"

"I can't really say he was thinking when he did it, I mean, it could have smacked him over the head, or stabbed him somewhere it wouldn't kill him but…" Midoriya didn't know how to class that situation so he just gave an honest description of what he felt about it.

"I see, well that's all we needed from you. We already spoke with the man and reviewed camera footage from a nearby store, your story checks out." The officer's words sent a wave of relief through him, though he didn't know why he felt like that as he relaxed into the chair.

"I'm not in trouble?" He dared to hope as the man turned to him, with a surprised look to him.

"Who told you that? You may not be facing criminal charges, my boy but what you did was still extremely reckless and could have ended with you in the morgue right now instead of our criminal." The man told him as he shivered a bit, but felt some indignation fire itself up in him.

"But… no one else was stepping him to help, they just watched it all happen, what was I supposed to do?" He may not be sure if he wanted to still become a pro but either way, you don't just leave when there is a person in need…right?

"Wait for the police or heroes to arrive." The officer replied but Midoriya didn't feel like it was good enough.

"They would have gotten away by then."

"But no one would have died."

"But an old man would have been put in the hospital!" Before the argument could continue, there was a knock on the door which then opened up, revealing itself to be the one who had been standing guard outside.

"Sir, his parents are here." He informed the two of them as the officer in question sighed to himself before he straighten himself a bit.

"Bring them in, I need to explain the situation to him."


It was another hour before they finished everything. By then, it was past lunchtime as they were led out of the station, Izuku still in his police clothing as they had decided that he didn't need to get his uniform back considering its condition of it. They'll have to get him another set before long."As I said, no charges will be dropped as this isn't something that needs to be a court date." Both parents bowed toward the officer once he finished speaking.

"Thank you, officer. We'll be sure to talk to him about this." His father replied as he gave him a look, one that he didn't think will lead anywhere good.

"Make sure you do, hero work should be left to the professionals but I do understand his desire to do good in the world, give it a few years and I wouldn't mind seeing him here as a new recruit, the world needs more people like him." The man joked as he turned and entered the station once more, leaving them standing there before Inko spoke up, taking hold of his hand as she did so.

"Come on, Izuku. We need to get home." She directed them towards her car, his father getting into his own before both started up and drove off, any thoughts about his missed day at school never crossing his mind. Outside the radio playing, neither party spoke the entire drive, what was there to say? Once they got home, they silently walked in before they settled at the dinner table. It was there that his father finally spoke up.

"Izuku, why did you do that?"

"I couldn't just stand there and watch an old man get beat up," Midoriya replied, giving the same story as he did the police.

"You're not a hero, Izuku. You're a student, that isn't something that you can just do." His father reprimanded him, but he was in for a surprise as Inko didn't seem to think that.

"And why not?" She asked him, catching both off guard as Midoriya looked up at her, confused while Hisashi looked at his wife with confusion which quickly shifted into disbelief.

"Inko, you can't be serious. Someone died!" His father through his hands up.

"He didn't kill them, he only acted to protect someone and stood up to some thugs." Inko glared at him, a glare he matched as the two entered another argument.

"And in doing so, put his life in danger, what would have happened if he ended up in the hospital, what if he died? You heard the report, that villain was trying to crush him." He didn't even want to imagine that and he know his wife didn't either, yet despite that, she didn't budge.

"I didn't raise a coward, and I have every intention of never giving him any notion of such." She purposely left him out of that part as Hisashi felt himself growing frustrated with this entire thing.

"There's a difference between bravery of foolishness!"

"So, it's not foolish to let an old man die and pretend like it never happened?" Izuku didn't think it would be a wise idea for him to remain there, so he quietly stood up and left, Captain following after him as he felt bad. Not for stepping in, but for the fact he re-sparked the arguments between his parents as he made his way up the stairs to his room. He figured that things will be even tenser for quite sometime after that.


The next day at school, things were not better for him as the entire incident had gotten out, but thanks to the very nature of nature and the shifting form of stories passed from one person to another, the story that most of the students had earned falsely claimed that it was Midoriya who pulled a knife during a street fight and not only killed a man but got away with it seeing how he was walking around and not in prison. The teachers had tried to disprove this, but rumors were a difficult thing to kill as even when trusted sources proved them false, they could still persist.

Now, instead of being ignored for the most part, with the hateful looks coming mainly from classmates who he had better grades then, he had to deal with openly suspicious or fearful looks from others and whispers about how 'we should have seen it coming, he has no friends' and 'I hope that they have someone watching him'. He wished he could return to just being another face as while lonely, it was at least better than people staring at him like he was a dangerous animal off his chain. When he walked down the halls, they gave him space as if getting near him would set him off, when he tried to talk to people, they'll make up some excuse and dash off at best, or just leave him at worst. When he answered questions in class, they all looked at him like he was about to pull out a rocket launcher and fire it.

This went on for a week and the entire time, he hated it as he didn't do anything wrong, he did the morally right thing and helped someone in need! How messed up was the world that Bakugo got away with ruining his life and was even praised for it, yet when he acted to help someone-he's being watched by a dangerous monster? He just wanted it to end, but each time he tried and failed to interact with someone, anyone-he just felt more rage fill his heart, which left him walking around with an irritated face that only feed into the mad rumors about him because of course it would. 'Let no good deed go unrewarded.' He thought to himself as he looked at his locker, his vandalized locker as the door had been spray-painted with the message 'Murderer', he knew that he needed to get some books for the next class, but he didn't care enough after seeing that as he went looking for the janitor to help him clean it up, his teacher will understand his lateness.

"Mr. Salvini, do you have some cleaning supplies I can borrow?" Midoriya asked once he found the janitor as he was cleaning the floors one level below. The man, already used to this kind of thing happening, only gave him a sad smile.

"Again?" The 50-something asked him, to which Midoriya could only nod as he opened up the trolley, he had with him and took out cloth and spray bottle. "No worries, kid. I'll take care of it, you just head on to class." He told him as Midoriya gave him a tired smile in return, at least now he wouldn't have to look at it again. With the rest of his day thoroughly ruined, Midoriya turned around and left for class, as he expected his teacher was understanding of the issue and reminded him that they were looking into it, but as the camera in that area was down for repair, it'll take time to find the culprits. He didn't return to his locker the rest of the door, merely using his memory of the textbooks and other materials whenever a teacher instructed them to open up to a page, if there was a silver lining to this, it was a great way to train himself and his quirk.


It was hours later, as he was leaving the area after finishing fencing practice that he run into a certain group of annoyances. He had just turned the corner away from the school when he bumped into the chest of De Bono and his posse, only larger now as he clearly brought in some help for whatever vile thing he had planned. "Look who it is, the criminal." Great, he was beginning to think his silence during practice was too much of a blessing. Still, he didn't want to have to deal with the police again so he tried to walk around them, ignoring them but then one of the others, a 3rd year as well stepped in his way, with another blocking off another way out.

"Where do you think you're going?" De Bono jeered down on him.

"Home, I don't have time or patience for you," Midoriya replied, silently cursing the fact he didn't have his bow or his fencing blade for all it would have done.

"Is that right, better be careful then, wouldn't want you to kill me too." De Bono mocked him as he stepped back as if Midoriya was a fire but he had been dealing with crap like this all week so if this guy thought he was going to get more of a reaction out of him, he was sorely mistaken. Seeing this, they continued to lay in insults to him and his family.

"He'll just get away with it, heard his parents had to beg not to have him deported or sent to prison." One stuck out to him which got him to clench his fists at his sides, trying to keep his anger in check as while he was always good at managing it, in recent times that had been changing-more so when it was directed towards his mother.

"That didn't happen." He near growled out but was only pushed in the chest by De Bono.

"Like we believe a word out of your mouth, so how about you get lost and don't ever come back to practice." He ordered him as if he was just some servant like he worked for him.

"I already told you-" He was cut off by another shove, this one harder as he found himself cornered, his back to the wall of the building.

"I'm not asking." De Bono flexed his arms, activating his quick which beefed them up, around him the others did the same.

"You want to fight? Fine, let's hope you can all take the pain." Midoriya glared at them as he reached for his belt and tried to think of an attack plan but his efforts were derailed when one of the others present shot a small lightning bolt at his hands and belt buckle, it was weak but it hit the metal and sending it through his gut stunned him from the pain, giving the others a large window to attack, which they did as they started to whale on him with fists, kicks and the occasional quirk thrown at him. Midoriya crawled into a ball to protect his chest and head but they didn't let up.

"What was that about pain? You hoped we can take it? Did you really think that cheater's quirk could match up to mine?" De Bono laughed at him after a particularly harsh kick to the head which made the boy see stars. Just when things were about to get worse, he was saved when there was a loud, deafening crack from a gun.

BANG

Everyone beating on him flinched, checking to see if any of them had been hit before they turned to the source of it, seeing a familiar old man with a pistol in hand, his gun aimed at a tree where a bullet was buried into the thick wood. He had another plastic bag with him and at his side, was the largest Rottweiler you had ever seen as the dog, with the dog's size also factoring into its bulk as even from his place on the floor, beaten-Midoriya was sure that that dog must be on something. It was growling at the group, and adding to the fear it imposed was the fact the animal wasn't on a leash."Stop acting like idiots and get out of here, you!" The old man ordered them before he pointed towards the downed Midoriya. "Stay where you are."

"Y-you can't just shoot a gun, are you crazy?" One of the students tried to speak but the man only turned his gun towards him, making him yelp as he tried to hide behind someone else but fail miserably as the intended human shield had no intentions of taking a bullet for him.

"You should be more concerned about the supposed crazy old man with a gun and large dog that you're not listening to, or you want to become a chew toy?" He asked them, his aim straight as the group run off, with De Bono giving Midoriya one last glare before he vanished around the corner. With the group gone, the old man cursed to himself as he put his gun away, walking towards the boy with a different cane then to the one he had during the mugging.

"Your…"

"Looks like you remember me, come on, we need to look at those wounds of yours." The old man helped him up, displaying greater strength than he thought he had before he started leading him away.


It was sometime later that he found himself in the old man's apartment. It wasn't too bad if a little spacious as he didn't have much in the way of a furniture. As the old man looked over his wounds, he listened to the sound of the large grandfather clock ticking in the corner. "There, nothing needing a doctor, but you're going to be sore for a couple days." He concluded as he wrapped up the last of it, and all considering, it wasn't as bad as he would have thought considering he was jumped by a group though he would need to explain to his parents what happened which wasn't a talk he was looking forward to.

"Why did you help me?" The old man got up to walk to the kitchen area, pulling out a glass from the cupboard and pouring himself a glass before taking out another one.

"You helped me, didn't you? Wouldn't have been right to not pay you back for that." He replied to him as if it was just common courtesy, which at this point, Midoriya wasn't sure was so common or straightforward. The old man returned to the sofa, water in hand and his dog at his side as he handed him a glass.

"Thanks."

"Why didn't you just use the dog for intimidation? No way someone didn't report a gunshot." Midoriya decided to ask from another angle as from his seat, the dog's head was still close to his chest level standing.

"Isabella can act, but she's a softie. My niece got her for me to keep me company" The elder replied as he scratched the dog's head behind one of its ears and like a puppy, it started to really enjoy it as it moved closer to its owner, trying to climb on him despite the fact it was quite large. While this went on, Midoriya looked around again, and started to notice things he didn't when he first came in, firstly there were the photos of the man and his family throughout the years, in many of the younger ones, he was dressed in military uniform, which he supposed would make him a veteran and also explain why he just had a gun on him. The second thing that he picked up was the fact that there were as many medals hung up in frames.

He saw that this man wasn't just some veteran, but someone who had gone far in his career, that had achieved a lot and was respected for it. Even in his old age, he still carried that stance and power of a man that had earned all of this. "Can you train me?" Midoriya asked him, standing up and approaching one of the frames.

"What?" The man paused playing with his dog, turning to look this back with a critical eye as Midoriya picked up the frame, and saw it was a bronze and gold medal with the words written in Latin at the bottom.

"Can you train me; I want to be better…I don't want to have to be scared by people like them anymore." He repeated his question, turning to him with the frame in hand as the man put his glass down.

"Boy, my training isn't going to be some simply self-defense shit, nor will it be easy or without sacrifice and pain." Honestly, he didn't see himself as the kind of teacher this kid would want. He was a soldier, not some hero.

"I've dealt with stuff my that my whole life, if a little more means improvement, I'll take it," Midoriya replied, placing the frame back where he found it, seeing all the other pictures up close before turning back to the man. He looked close to dismissing him right there and then, but he paused as he looked closer at the boy, looking into his eyes to see what he had there, and what he saw got him to crack a smile as this one…when was the last time he saw someone with those eyes? 10-20 years? He may not be like her, but they were definitely cut from the same cloth, he could work with that.

"Alright, kid. Let's see if you can stand up to a taste of the grace of the Alpini." He got up and approached him, looking at him with a smile that promised himself pain, but also the strength that he wanted as Izuku couldn't help but smile back, ready for whatever he could throw his way.