"We did it!" The group cheered, sitting around the table in the restaurant. Izuku, sitting between Hado and Komori, with Kodai, Shishikura and Haya occupying he opposite side of the table.

"I'm so happy you all passed!" Hado said, "I don' know what I would do if we weren't all together!"

"Awww." Haya chuckled, "I only have one more to get through. Fingers crossed."

Shishikura nodded, "We shall do our best and make the people that believe in our success proud!"

"I wish…" Haya sighed, "I can't really tell my parents. As far as they know, this was just a normal week."

Izuku nodded. "Right. I almost called my mom out of excitement, but then I remembered she is not allowed to know." He sighed. He was sure mom would have loved to hear he was succeeding, but that just wasn't possible. They'd have to settle to celebrating for his regular school results.

"Ah, of course, not everyone here has parents aware of what we do." Shishikura replied, "Sometimes I forget not everyone was born into it."

"Or is an Alien." Haya said, glancing at the three girls. Komori was eating something that probably used to be a fried chip, though it was so moldy and covered in mushrooms it was hard to tell. Hado was downing the sixth energy drink of the night, and Yui was munching on what used to be a piece of her steak, though it was now the size of a steak by itself. "God you girls are gross."

"We are not!" The three shouted as one. "This is perfectly normal."

"For you." Haya sighed, "I just wish we didn't get put on a blacklist every time we go to a restaurant all together."

"Couldn't we just eat at the base?" Izuku asked.

"But that's just what we do every day. The point of going out with your friends is that you break the monotony." Komori pointed out, "Also, we can't be too loud there. We have to asshroom some people are working."

"That was outrageous." Haya replied.

"I know, but it's amushing to see you react to it."

"Ugh." Haya groaned, "I hate you. But Komori's terrible wordplays aside, she is right. We can't just party it out in the cafeteria. And a party in the dorm would raise concerns too. So, back to finding a new restaurant every time."

"I don't mind. I get to try a new cuisine every time." Kodai commented, finally finished with her current slice of steak only to move to the next.

"You are the main reason why we get banned!"

"I know." Kodai replied, biting into a fried potato the size of her arm with a neutral look on her face. Looking at Haya and Kodai's faces, Izuku, Komori and Hado couldn't hold back a laugh, Shishikura and even Haya joining soon after. For a moment, Izuku was sure he saw the lightest smirk on Kodai's usual neutral face too, but a moment later it vanished, if it had been there at all.

He went back to eat, laughing at a few more puns from Komori – or at least, laughing at Haya's reaction to them. It was… fun, to have real friends.

It kinda put into perspective his life before, really. He wondered what he'd think of meeting Bakugo now. He still thought the explosive boy would make for a good Hero, eventually. He had the drive, at least, and he couldn't imagine Bakugo turning into a Villain, if nothing else because Villains always lose. But… But he would be lying if he said he wasn't starting to fill a bit naïve. Not mad, not vengeful… Just a bit naïve on their past relationship. This was such a stark day and night between them it was hard to think otherwise.

He sighed. No reason to think about it. He might as well enjoy the night. He chuckled at another pun as Haya groaned. "Why did I awaken the pun dragon?"

Izuku snorted, and spoke before even thinking, "I guess you are in truffle now."

Everyone turned toward him, eyes wide, and Izuku instantly wished he could sink in the seat, even before Komori clapped excitedly and Hado exploded into laughter, tears in her eyes, as Haya rushed to the other side of the table to grab him and shake him while staring at Hado. "Nejire, she is perverting your Trainee, do something!"

"I'm – pfft – sorry Haya, but Izuku is just a fungi I suppose."

Haya hissed and jumped back, "Oh my god, it's contagious." She looked at Komori, "How could you do this to them? Is this your evil Alien invasion scheme?"

Komori and everyone else couldn't hold back the laughter anymore. Once again, Izuku noticed through the tears rolling down his face that the only exception was Kodai. She was openly smirking now, but once again no laughter out of her.

Komori patted him on the shoulder, grinning. "Thank you for the support Midoriya. Mush appreciated."

"I just made a pun."

"Exactly." She looked at his plate, "Say, are you eating that bread?"

Izuku chuckled, handing it over to the apparently famished Alien girl, and let himself fall back in the fun of the night.

-x-

Waking up in the morning, Izuku started his day as he always did. First, he got dressed in the school uniform. Then, he walked out of the door and knocked on the door of Hatsume's room. There was no answer, of course, so he just sighed, pulled out the copy of the key Hatsume had given him, and opened the door.

When entering Hatsume's room, there were only two real options. Either she was sleeping like a log, which made it his job to wake her up so she didn't miss class, or was working at her improvised work station, which made it his job to take away whatever she was building to make sure she went to class. It was why Hatsume sent him messages in advance telling him to come to his room the next day, because she knew he would pull her out of it.

He would have probably turned bright red and tried to turn down the idea with another girl, but Hatsume was Hatsume. If he didn't help her like this, she'd miss half her school days, and the last thing he wanted was for her to get kicked out. He relished his free time with her just as much as he did his time with the HASC trainees.

True to form, Hatsume was behind her desk, putting together some sort of machinery. He yawned and tapped her shoulder. "Hatsume, it's morning. Did you sleep at all tonight?"

"Science never sleeps Midoriya!" Hatsume declared, turning around with a grin as her hands kept working on the machine.

"Yeah, I figured…" Midoriya sighed, "You really need to take better care of yourself."

"Eh, it's fine. I will just sleep like a log this weekend." Hatsume shrugged, still working on the machine she was building, "Did you pass the Trainee Exam, by the way?"

"Yes." Izuku nodded, "I did send you a message."

"You did?!" She opened her phone, "You did. Good for you Midoriya! That means you are still an HASC Agent."

"Could you say that more quietly."

"Eh, don't worry, the door is closed and the soundproofing is top notch. It was the first job I did."

"I feel really sad for your neighbors that had to endure that."

"A small sacrifice for science!" She declared. He was sure the neighbors would disagree, though it was good she had at least though of them in the first place. Then again, maybe the soundproofing was just something convenient for her, so she wouldn't get caught by the professors while working. "Anyway, here! Your reward for passing the exam is one of my babies!" She said, grabbing something and handing it to him.

Izuku looked down. "… A pair of shades?" He asked.

"Not just any shades!" Hatsume said proudly, "Remember the machine you tested when you first came to my lab?"

"That scan helmet that almost fried my brain?"

"Exactly that!" She grinned, "Well, I present to you… the Scan Glasses!"

Izuku looked at them. They looked like a regular pair of dark shades, but what stood out was the fact there were buttons on both sides. "… They won't-"

"They won't fry your brain." Hatsume guaranteed with a thumb up, then frowned, "Well, probably. I kept them on for a day and nothing happened to my brain, so I suppose yours should be safe too."

"The fact you say it like that is mildly concerning, but… Thank you, Hatsume. They are a great gift."

"Actually, it comes with this." She added, handing him a USB cable, "You can use this to charge them or upload new information into the glasses. Right now it has Hatsume Steelworks databank – nothing illegal, only the publicly available stuff – and if you have reception it can search for information online, plus it will give you any info it can visually collect, but you could technically upload anything in it. Don't worry about the security, the firewall I installed is top notch."

"And they can just scan for any information?"

"You have to press the button." She said, showing him a small button on the left side, "Press this, and it will scan for anything, then will show you a list of identified objects on screen. You can either select the stuff you want info on manually…" She pressed a second pair of buttons, that were likely the up and down arrows, "Or you can just hold both buttons and say what you want info on out loud. The mic is really good, so you can whisper, and it will still react. It's already set on your voice; I used a few vocals you sent in our chats. It will speak back through the mic on the right side, or you can connect it to an earphone."

"Wow… Hatsume, this is amazing!"

"Eheh." She grinned, "… So can I stay working here and make more amazing babies?"

"No, get ready for class."

"Tyrant…"

-x-

"So those things can just scan anything?" Hado asked.

"It seems so." Izuku replied, putting them on, "Let's see…" He pressed the button, and like the first time he had tried them, on Hatsume's insistence, a list of words quickly flashed on the right side of his vision. He pressed down a few times, before selecting his own PC.

"Personal computer FGI 98 model 3. Released on 21XX. Producer: Feel Good Inc. Retail price averages at around nine hundred thousand Yen. Average reviews from consumers on several retail sites give it 4.5 stars out of 5, classifying it as an excellent personal computer…" The voice went on until he pressed the button again, cutting it off.

"So, do you plan to upload the HASC database on it?" She asked.

"I don't think I can. Maybe the stuff for a specific mission, but aside from the fact I doubt these have enough memory to hold the entire HASC database, I don't think the Director would appreciate."

Hado nodded, "Good, good, I planned to dissuade you, but it seems it won't be necessary. Still, it's a really cool gift, and I'm sure it will be useful."

Izuku smiled, putting them back in their case. So far so good, they hadn't even fried his brain or anything. He shook his head and opened the PC. He checked his mail first. Mostly normal stuff, but then he noticed a mail.

Dear SmallMight, the Paranormal Investigation Front reminds you there are only twenty-four hours left before the invitation expires. After that, you will have to compile the request again. Make sure to fill the form fully and include confirmation you already received an invite before…

Izuku frowned. Right, the invite. Well, he still had time to use the link it seemed. He scrolled back down, and quickly found the mail confirming his new membership to the site. He wondered what it would actually be about. Most likely some sort of rumors-collecting group, with ghost stories, cryptids and all that, but maybe he would be lucky enough and there would also be a few actual Alien-related incidents.

The first page the link opened on was a simple screen with white text over a black background.

The Paranormal Investigation Front is a non-profit organization dedicated to the research of the unusual, the mysterious and the theorized. Users of this site are expected to behave appropriately. Unlike similar forums of such nature, the PIF takes seriously the pursuit of this research. While jokes are allowed in the off-topic area, the users are expected to provide actual insight in the research posts.

The two admins, CuriosityLover and SkepticalEye, and the moderator, SpinnerOfTales, are the only figures of authority in the site. While older members are to be treated with respect, and their insight is taken in stronger consideration, please remember they do not have the power to ban, silence or otherwise stifle the discussion of any topic.

This server does not allow any form of racist, sexist or quirkist behavior. Any comment of such kind, joke or otherwise, will cause a permanent ban. The server is also a Teen and up audience environment. Posting any R-18 or worse material is an offense, that will first be punished by Temp ban and then, in case of repeated offenses, by a full ban.

If you agree to those terms, click HERE.

'This feels well organized.' Izuku thought while clicking the confirmation. He had his share of experience with online content, from Hero forums to general message boards – nothing filthy or anything, just less organized Hero servers – to social media. Not many started with this kind of login.

The site itself was a forum, of course. A large banner showing pictures of supposed cryptids, ghosts… and a UFO. 'Well that's promising at least'.

He did the usual courtesy thing of most smaller sites, introducing himself first before someone asked. He let the wave of welcoming emojis flood his message and answered the obvious questions, such as where he came from (of course he only said 'Shizuoka Prefecture' without many details, it wasn't his first rodeo on the internet). That got him a handful of 'Shizuoka represents' comments, before more questions came. His age – he declined to answer, only confirming he was a minor – gender, job…

Then someone asked what he was interested in: Cryptids, Aliens or Ghosts?

He thought a moment, then decided to be honest. No harm in that, and he was there for possible Aliens information anyway.

Nice! I guess that makes you part of Skeptic's team.

He supposed Skeptic was SkepticalEye, one of the admins. Uh, so they had different preferences. That made sense, he supposed.

He started to explore the forum more. There was a whole space dedicated to Alien stuff, actually. Opening some, he was surprised at how well researched each of them was. The entry was usually a whole document with blurry pictures or drawings, and the answers usually went in depth discussing them. It ranged from historical stuff from before the Dark Age of Quirks, like Roswell, the 'Three Classics of 1948' or the Petrozavodsk Phenomenon of 1977, to post-Quirks stuff, with pre-Quirk, post-Quirk and Recent Sightings tagged differently, the latter being, apparently, stuff that was sighted recently. Looking at the other two pages on Ghosts and Cryptids, they were all organized the same.

He smiled.

Time to get to work.

-x-

"So you are on a conspiracy theories server?" Komori asked, as she and Midoriya trained. Izuku made to answer, before stumbling on an Amanita that had just popped out of the ground in front of his foot. He managed to regain his balance in time to block an attack from Komori's Hard Light Shield with the Slasher, before stumbling back to regain ground.

"I guess. Though they don't really give the impression of normal conspiracy theorists. Usually those are absolutely convinced about their ideas. 'Oh, Reptilians control the world, wake up sheeples' that kind of tone." He shrugged, while also stepping back in time to avoid the mushroom the size of a tree that suddenly burst out of the ground, "The people in that server give more the vibe of enthusiasts that just really want to figure out the truth, even if it's disappointingly mundane."

"The Reptilian thing is dumb, anyway. I met a few Reptilians, and those aren't really shrewd, cold blooded politicians. More the hot-headed, 'glory for the mother world' kind." She dodged when Izuku fired a shot with the goo gun he was holding in his free hand by making a large, stout mushroom with bioluminescent spots all over the cap to her left, pushing her aside in its appearance.

"Right, I checked when I read the thread." Izuku blinked, "And before you ask, that thread was mostly discussing how impossible the whole Reptilian conspiracy is." He fired a few other shots, one hitting the girl's arm. The red goo quickly burst out, enveloping it tightly and sticking it to her side, preventing her from moving it and making her movements clumsier. "So if I understand correctly, the Reptilian – Vassh Zak'arrr in their native language – are a kind of militaristic space empire."

"Pretty much. They have a god king of Reptilkind, or something like that, and are mostly expansionists, though after the formation of the Intergalactic Community it mostly stopped." She responded by launching forward a wall of spores, that quickly transformed in a mass of hundreds of mushrooms of all sizes, cutting off Izuku's vision.

He looked around, listening for her steps. Suddenly there was a clatter to his right, and he turned that way… Only to then get tapped on the back. "How?"

"I threw my shoe one way and used the chance to sneak the other." She said, showing the shoeless right foot, only covered by a red sock with white spots.

Izuku sighed. The oldest trick in the book, he supposed. He needed to get better than that. "And that way you got the chance to turn me in a mess of mushrooms with one touch."

"Such is the price of fighting a Shroomite." She grinned.

Izuku nodded. It was still weird to think Komori was an alien. He supposed the same went for Hado and Kodai, but the short Shroomite girl felt more down to Earth… he groaned.

"What is it?"

"I just made a pun in my mind."

"Welcome to the dark side of comedy, young padawan." The girl said. Izuku sighed again, before walking to the side of the arena, free his bag from a cluster of mushrooms, and take out a bottle of water he had sealed inside a plastic bag (though he still checked. He wasn't going to drink mushroom-flavored water, thank you very mush- much. Very much).

He sat down on a large white mushroom and looked around. "Are you sure they will just vanish?" He asked Komori as she sat down too.

"Of course. Mushrooms created on the wrong terrain have a very short lifespan. When they die, a special kind of bacteria I grow inside my body and release with the spores will just devour them."

"… Isn't it bad if a mushroom devouring bacterium from another planet is released on Earth?"

"The bacteria are symbiotic with Shroomites. They can't reproduce outside of our bodies, so they die off before they cause any damage to the local mushroom population." She chuckled, "Trust me, the HASC wouldn't let us set one foot on Earth if it persisted for longer."

"Right." Izuku nodded. He had still so much to learn about Alien species. He had already filled five notebooks since joining the HASC, but was still just scratching the surface. "Say Komori, you were born outside of Earth, right?"

"Yup." She said.

"Well then… Uhm…"

"You want to know why?" Komori asked.

"If it's not a problem…"

Komori shrugged, and then looked at him. "I'm the princess of a Mushroom Kingdom. A large fire-breathing turtle alien invaded my planet, so I was sent in hiding until the plumber we hired to fight off the invading force is triumphant, at which point I will marry the short hero from Space Italy. Our marriage will be celebrated with Olympic events where he will challenge a humanoid blue hedgehog and culminate in a massive kart race."

Izuku stared at her. "Is that…"

"Midoriya. It's not true."

He took a deep breath. "Oh. Yeah, I knew that."

"Sure you did, sure you did." She patted his back sympathetically, then chuckled, "But to tell you the truth, it was nothing that dramatic. Shroomites and Mycorians, the two native sapient species of Fungynal, discovered space travel decades ago. Once both made contact with the Intergalactic Community, we quickly found out how to travel the universe… or at least we quickly managed to reach Inter-Systems travel. Once that happened, a lot of people just decided to try other planets. My parents wanted to participate too, so they subscribed to the program and here we are. Earth."

"Why did you want to leave the planet?"

"Earth is a lot safer than Fungynal." Komori replied with a shrug, "Frankly, I don't have that many memories of it. I remember the vast forests of mushrooms, the red prairies covered in those," She pointed at a thin, red mushroom, about the size of a tall grass leaf, "and climbing on my dad's back as he let me get a good sight at the capital," she made a series of sounds Izuku couldn't really decipher, a sort of hissing and popping Izuku couldn't imagine from a human mouth, that he assumed was the capital's name, "and then I remember the final chance I got to look at it, as the spaceship left." She smiled, "I remember I thought my home world looked beautiful, surrounded by its purple atmosphere, the oceans shining in the light of our sun."

Izuku couldn't imagine what that was like. His worldview had been shattered when he had found out Aliens existed, he couldn't imagine leaving Earth for good. And here he was talking with a girl that had done just that, travelling through who knows how many light years to sit next to him. "Do you… miss it?"

"Not really." She said without hesitation, and when he raised an eyebrow she just smiled, "All my friends are here on Earth. All my family is here on Earth. Fungynal is just a distant memory."

Izuku supposed that was true. "Well, I'm glad you made it all the way to Earth, Komori. I'm happy I got a chance to meet you."

"Same here!" Komori winked, "It was a mushive leap of faith, but I guess it paid off!"

Izuku groaned, and Komori laughed again.

-x-

Days turned into weeks and October into November as Izuku fell into a routine. Work with Hado, train with Hado, Komori, Shishikura or Kodai, firearms training with Agent Kugisaki, and homework with Hatsume and sometimes Haya had become pretty much his norm. Sometimes he also talked with Agoyamato, his neighbor in the dormitory. He was a bit of a fitness enthusiast, so they sometimes met during their morning runs, a habit Izuku had picked up on Kodai and Hado's suggestion. Not that she could keep up with either when they went running together. He was sure Hado was cheating by floating whenever he didn't look, but she kept insisting she was just in good shape. As for Kodai, she was a monster of stamina and speed. Izuku just couldn't keep up.

Looking in the mirror, he was starting to have a hard time recognizing himself. All the training he was going through during those months meant his body was growing stronger, and it was starting to show. His shoulders were broader and for the first time his limbs didn't look like noodles, but like there were actual muscles underneath. He even realized one day he was starting to show the signs of a six-pack, something he never thought he would see in his life. He wasn't competing in a bodybuilding competition any time soon, sure, but… Wow.

His mom put it best one afternoon, as he was visiting like he did every Sunday. She had started bawling, saying her son was so grown up she could barely recognize him, and declaring how happy she was to see him like this. Izuku wasn't sure what she meant until she thought back at his self from just a few months before.

He wouldn't say he was a completely different person, but he had definitely changed. He realized that as he noticed the dust that was starting to settle on his Hero Notebooks for the Future. The last, burnt and half-finished, was still in his dormitory, but now that he thought about it, he was keeping up with Hero News only for what concerned All Might and a few of his other favorites. He hadn't met the Number One since he had handed them the Octovian Armory mission – something understandable, he was the Number One Hero and had his health conditions to take care of to, he likely didn't have time to check on the random teen he helped – and the only news he had heard was the rumor of his favorite Hero announcing a new sidekick or protégée soon, because he had been seen training someone. Uh, thinking about it, his past self would have spent every waking hour not used to study on the various Hero forums to read the newest theories.

Instead, whenever he was at his PC, he found himself dragged back to the PIF. Surprisingly, he found the community to be incredibly welcoming, despite the rather cold impression the first page might have given.

The two Admins, SkepticalEye and CuriousityLover, were basically polar opposites. The former, an aliens enthusiast, was always looking for anything to break apart a 'case'. He was firmly convinced that aliens existed, but refused to accept any UFO sighting as genuine unless there was no other explanation. Despite this, his ability to dig up a lot of documentation to back his arguments made him quite the celebrity on the site. CuriosityLover, meanwhile, was the polar opposite. She loved cryptids, but seemed interested in pretty much anything that was unusual, and seemed to use her free time to check every single discussion. She also posted regularly gossip in the off-topic section.

And then there was SpinnerOfTales, resident moderator and almost constantly online. He was an indie developer, apparently, though none of his games, despite being quite well made in Izuku's opinion – he had tried a few, on the insistence of several people – had made any huge success. He spent all of his time online on the Ghosts section, because apparently that was where he found inspiration for his games. The Hotel at the End of the Street was Izuku's favorite probably, despite its simple nature.

Unfortunately, though, it seemed the PIF was just a bit too slow at giving results. Despite Kodai's suggestion of also checking the other forums, not just the Aliens one, it seemed most cases were either already under investigation by other Agents by the time Izuku discovered them, or were not likely to be Aliens.

That was until one day, while he was browsing the Cryptids section.

Yeti Sighting on Mount Upepesanke by Folkteller

Hello everyone. I am currently on vacation in Hokkaido, as I mentioned on the main off-topic thread. Well, while here I've been thinking of looking around for any folk tales. There are a lot here, the Ainu culture being quite rich, but apparently, not all tales are old. Quite the opposite in fact. A mountain climber, apparently, has recently sighted a yeti! I know the site's policy is that Nessie, Bigfoot, the Chupacabra, and other old cryptids are generally not worth discussing, but this is quite unusual because there have also been disappearances linked to the story. At least five climbers seem to have vanished on usually safe routes around Mount Upepesanke, and…

Izuku frowned. He wasn't sure this was worth examining, and several comments from people like SkepticalEye went on about the Yeti just not being worth considering, and wishing well to the lost climbers, who had probably gotten lost in the snow, but…

He flew to search for more information. Thankfully, Folkteller had linked the news articles, so he had a rough timeline of the events. The first had vanished just two weeks before, and three more had gone missing since. The fifth one, an expert tracker, was part of the search party for one of the cases.

He sent in the request, unsure if he would be allowed to work on the case. The fact this was already a news story meant the Hokkaido Office was likely aware of the disappearances, but…

His work mail dinged, and he opened the message.

"Hey Hado, what's a Support Assignment?"

"It's when Central Agents are sent in to reinforce a local office, because a case is dragging or because it just requires additional support." She frowned, "Why?"

"Because we just got one." Izuku said, turning his PC around.

Hado cheered.

(XX)

Izuku is growing up. I've always had the opinion Izuku bloomed after finding friends at UA. Here it's the same, although the different environment means those friendships shape him differently. It's really fun writing him as he discovers his new friends. Almost as hype as a new mission itself. After months of training, the results will also start to show on his body.

No prize for guessing who the Admins and Mod of the Paranormal Investigation Front are. I will however give a prize to anyone that figures out the other users we will meet over time, because most will actually be hard to guess, and of course there is no insurance they aren't one-off OCs. The prize is me going "HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!"

Also, some more focus on Komori in this chapter. She got pretty sidelined during the previous arc - more than the others, who at least got the interviews to give us some character focus - and unlike Hado she doesn't have every mission to interact with Izuku. Plus, this way I got to deliver most of the interview information I cut in the previous chapter. Fungynal is a very... interesting planet, and Shroomite and Mycorian have a rather unique history.