Trtt

by Nexus Sannin

T

21. aim black

Delinquency

by halo4hire

At a young age, Izuku was bullied for not having a quirk, the worst being his former childhood friend, Katsuki Bakugou. After the passing of his mother to illness, he became a ward of the state and got fed up. He vowed to become unbreakable. Seen as a delinquent by the state and a hero to those shunned by society, he gets put into a situation where he is given the choice: become a hero or go to prison.

The Road to Hell

Nezu was many things: a chimera, a super intelligent think tank, dean of one of the most prestigious Universities in Japan, and a master of mind games. What he wasn't, though, was an idiot. When he first laid eyes on the delinquent handcuffed to the table, the first thing he noticed was the eyes. They say the eyes are the windows to the soul, and all it took was someone to see through the panes. In this boy, he saw pain, fear, determination, and love.

Nezu squinted at the boy sitting on the other side of the glass, pondering. He could see so much potential in the boy in his record, so what could drive him to become a common hoodlum? But he wasn't quite so "common," was he? The dean looked back over the boy's file in his head, studying each misdemeanor charge carefully. Sure, the boy was brutal, but why? He never went for the kill, just far enough in each beating to cause severe pain or to drive the person off.

When asked by the detective about this, the boy offered no explanation, no motive, no cause. He just sat there and stared at the wall, quiet and uncooperative. The police were ready to just wash their hands and be done with him, toss him in the can and let a judge deal with him.

What was his crime? Assault with a deadly weapon on a hero applicant. One of Nezu's students, in fact, which was why Nezu was here looking at the boy. He had given no resistance to the police and had even bandaged up the victim, which struck Nezu as odd. Why would he attack someone only to bandage the victim of the attack?

The victim was Kiba Inuzuka, one of Nezu's second years and one of his rowdier students, so maybe Kiba had challenged the boy to prove his dominance? He was now sitting in the ICU with several broken ribs and a cracked skull from where the boy's kanabo had impacted with it. The boy had even admitted he had used the ancient war club.

Every question kept returning to the root question. It was driving the dean insane, really, as he hated having unanswered questions. Loathed them in fact. He had to know the why. He looked over to the detective and at Yagi.

Toshinori Yagi had, oddly enough, just been there to visit his friends when they brought the boy in, who still wasn't resisting at all, like a gentle green giant, which appeared to have catch Yagi's attention as well, as he followed Nezu to the observation room while Tsukauchi went to talk to the boy. When Tsukauchi mentioned that his quirk worked like a lie detector, Nezu noticed a spark of interest and curiosity in the large boy's eyes, like he wanted to start asking questions about it, but he kept his mouth shut.

Nezu looked back over the boy's file again as he tried to piece the puzzle together.

Name: Izuku Midoriya

Age: Nineteen

Height: One hundred eighty-eight centimeters (6'2")

Weight: Ninety-seven and a half Kilograms (315 lbs)

Quirk: Unknown; believed to be a density enhancer due to body mass and weight not matching.

Relatives:

Inko Midoriya (deceased)

Hisashi Midoriya (whereabouts unknown)

Hiruzen Hikitsuga (maternal Grandfather, deceased) Tomaki Hikitsuga (maternal Grandfather, deceased) Known associates:

Rumi Usagiyama

Mina Ashido

Twenty-five misdemeanor charges, one criminal offense Assault (fifteen counts)

Destruction of property (five counts)

Carrying weapon in public unlicensed (five counts) Public indecency [one count (dropped)]

Assault w/ deadly weapon, possibly attempted murder(one counts)

This raised more questions for Nezu, the most glaring of which was the two names of association. How did Midoriya know two of his first-year students in the hero studies? Did they grow up together? He scanned over the file again before his eyes landed on a name: Mustafa High School. They knew each other in high school.

Nezu cracked a smile that made Toshinori teleport to the far end of the room. Yes, this could work. Pulling out his phone, he pulled up his contacts and sent the call.

"Aizawa, kindly escort Usagiyama and Ashido to the Mustafa district police station," he said when a tired voice answered. "No, they aren't in trouble; I just need them to shed light on something." Loud voices could be heard in the background of the call. "Oh good, they do know him, that makes it easier. Good, I'll see you then." He ended the call and left the room to wait for the arrival, leaving a confused Toshinori behind.

After an interim of twenty minutes, a skinny man of about average height opened the door, wearing black clothing and a white scarf. Under extremely disheveled and bedraggled hair were a pair of deep purple eyebags carrying exhausted bloodshot eyes that suggested this man had not had a good sleep since he learned of the concept. Despite the bored look on his face, the man moved with the poise and grace of a cat as he stalked into the room, his body coiled and ready to pounce should the need arise.

He looked down at the dean and let out an exhausted sighed before holding the door open and was about to say something when a white blur charged into the building and hoisted the dean into the air with a loud "WHERE THE FUCK IS THAT IDIOT?!"

Nezu chuckled and simply patted her hands. Rumi Usagiyama was an attractive woman with golden tan skin and a modest bust and hips. Her defining features were the large fluffy bunny ears on top of her head and the cotton ball rabbit tail just above her backside. Long silky silvery white hair hung from her scalp to just above her lower back like a shimmering curtain of liquid moonlight, slightly catching the lights of the police station.

"Calm yourself, Ms. Usagiyama. Though this is a serious matter, it will go smoother if you are calm," Nezu said as if he wasn't facing a woman who quite probably could crush his skull between her thighs.

The young adult's white bunny ears drooped as her excited energy died. "Sorry sir. It's just, Able gets into these messes a lot and has a thing for saving people. Can you tell us what happened?"

"Ruru, you left me behind again!" a voice behind the rabbit girl exclaimed as a pink-skinned woman with fuschia pink hair cut into a short faux hawk and yellow pupils that seemed to just pop off of her black sclera came running in after the Usagiyama. Just like Usagiyama, she, too, was in pajamas, though her clothing looked far more... colorful.

The bunny girl wore an aviator's jacket over a simple black tank top that was tight enough that Nezu wondered how she could breathe. Her grey yoga pants held snugly to her body, following her legs down to her boots that had been custom-made for her unusually shaped feet. Her rabbit quirk was a mutation type, so finding clothing for her was difficult, and Nezu could understand that.

Mina Ashido's sleepwear, on the other hand, made Nezu want to tear his eyes out from the painful clashing colors. The neon green tie-dye clashed horrifically with the pink of her skin, regardless of how well it showed the girl's athletic body. Her fuzzy black jacket did little to take away from the bright colors.

The rabbit started thumping her foot in agitation. "Mina, they have Able. What was I supposed to do? Wait in the car?"

"No Ruru, but you could have waited for me to catch up. It's not fair you can jump like that. Freaking thirsty-ass rabbit."

"Oh shush, you walking fashion disaster, we both know you can move if you try."

Nezu watched the verbal sass like it was a ping pong match, his eyes bouncing back and forth

between the two young adults as they shot gibes at each other with a small smile. He loved being correct, but he still had questions he needed answers to, and since Aizawa had curled up in the corner for sleep in the sleeping bag he had pulled out of the air—Nezu would devise a fitting punishment for that later—the dean was on his own.

He cleared his throat, getting the attention of the two women. "Ladies, am I correct that this "Able" is Mr. Midoriya?"

The two nodded, their playful squabbling forgotten by the mention of the young man's name. How interesting. How very interesting. Obviously they care a great deal for this young man, judging by their actions. Nezu already felt sure he knew the make of the man's character by the company he kept, but he wanted more evidence. So he put on his most judgmental scowl and, to take a leaf from Aizawa's book, prepared to throw them a mental ruse. "Tell me ladies, how long have you known this particular villain?"

The bunny squawked first. "VILLAIN!?"

"He would never!"

He smiled internally. Oh yes, there was a bond between them. Probably friendship or something more. "Ms. Usagiyama, Ms. Ashido, you are aware he is charged tonight with attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, carrying an unlicensed unconcealed weapon and has a record of multiple offenses. He is either a vigilante or a villain, both criminal offenses. He—"

A noise interrupted him at the door, which opened to reveal a slender panicked woman with long blonde hair and horns growing just above her ears. Her legs were bent like that of a cervid or equine, ending with hooves that clacked hard on the floor as she sprinted into the building with a noticeable limp, her baby blue eyes rolling in manic panic as she scanned the room, breathing hard. When she spoke to the desk sergeant, her japanese was broken and she kept switching to English, piquing Nezu's curiosity as he observed the two girls.

"Please, man save me. Beat guy up, save Pony— oh what's the word? Um— hero— damn it— save me," she all but screamed at the wide eyed desk sergeant.

Giving his students a look, Nezu walked over and tugged on the equine-like girl's sleeve. "Miss?" "Oh no, Now—how do I say this um, oh the boy helped me and they arrested him. Think, Pony,

think," she said, fussing with her hands.

The girl was one of his, he was sure, from Heroics Course class 1-B, Pony Tsunotori. He should probably set up a Japanese class for her. He looked back over to the girls he had called here. Ashido had fallen to her knees and had started crying into a shell-shocked Usagiyama's pants leg. Hmm, that wouldn't do. He looked back at the fussing girl and tugged harder on her sleeve.

She turned around, a full southern drawl sounding out in her voice when she spoke in English. "

What! What de ya want Ah'm trahing ta save someone who helped meh so what could bea so ahmportant tha—" Her face paled as realization set in that she was talking to her dean. Her eyes widened further when she realized he could understand her. Her jaw hit the floor when he replied in perfect English.

" Ms. Tsunotori, did the man who helped you have a large physical stature and green hair braided into cornrows?"

"A-A-Ah um... y-yes sir?" she stuttered, still wringing her hands.

"Excellent. Now, I understand you're from Alabama, Ms. Tsunotori, and there is no shame in pride of one's home, but do try not to inflect so much of your accent. It does make your English more difficult to translate. Now, let us get to the bottom of this. The man who helped you; could you tell me what happened?" he asked as he cupped his paws behind his back

"Well um, sir, he stopped me from—um, well, the guy was trying to-to-to, um..." She hung her head. "Ah've never felt so weak in mah life, sir. The guy had me pinned down and tied. Kept saying he was gonna cut me like the deer I was and leave me to..." She sniffed hard, her shoulders shaking. "Then tha green guy shows up and calls out and tha guy who had me pinned told him to find his own mutant bi-bi, like ah was some... some... SOME FREAK!" As she struggled to speak, she began to break down, falling to her knees and fell into back-wracking sobs. Nezu didn't hold anything against her; what had happened would remain with her for the rest of her life.

He placed a digit on her head and patted her crown gently and made odd noises from his throat, doing his best to suppress his anger. So the victim wasn't so much a victim after all, it would seem. Humans, evil even amongst themselves. This Izuku kept raising more and more questions.

"Ms. Tsunotori, I believe I have the gist of it. Rest assured, there will be charges filed. I'm sure you are acquainted with Ms. Ashido and Usagiyama?" The young woman gave him a sniffle and a slight nod. "Good. I want you to sit with young Mina, if you would be so kind. I need to have a word with Aizawa and Ms. Usagiyama.

Midoriya Izuku had been here before. Arrested, handcuffed to a table. When the detective had asked questions before, he had just stared at the man, which probably made the man more frustrated than anything. Izuku just sat there, staring. He never said one word.

At least, that's what the outsiders saw.

How he felt internally was a different matter entirely, as he was still reeling. He hadn't aimed for the guy's head, but the guy had tried to dodge or something, and Izuku's stupid beater, a four-foot kanabo, caught his temple. There was just... so much blood. It was all Izuku could see. He could still feel how the bone gave way under the studded wood, how the sickeningly wet crack of the skull buckling under the force echoed through the vacant lot.

Izuku wasn't one who let things get to him, and he knew he had saved a life, but he could still feel the blood on his hands and see the man's empty eyes. He felt an old familiar heat in the pit of his stomach, one he had sworn he would never allow to affect him again, but his body betrayed him as tears began to well up in the young man's eyes. He had killed a man tonight. With a quick rotation of his wrist, he broke the cuffs holding his hands. It was easy if you knew what to do, and he just let it all out.

For the first time in five years, Izuku cried. He cried for taking a life, he cried for the loss of his innocence, he cried for the mother he lost five years ago to a new strain of the influenza virus. He cried because that was the day his life went to shit.

Flashback

March 23XX, 200 years after the emergence of quirks Five years ago

Izuku stared at the tombstone. He knew the name, he'd heard it all his life. He had wanted so badly to be near her, to hold her one last time, but the doctors wanted her quarantined as they tried to find a cure. The new strain moved fast, reproducing at a horrific rate and attacking the body through

the bloodstream. Highly contagious. Highly fatal.

His mother had contracted the disease only two days ago.

The doctors predicted she wouldn't have another.

In the video chat they had set up, Inko Midoriya looked so pale and tired as she tried to stay awake. She told him she was so proud of him, so proud that he was a part of her life. How sorry she was for saying the wrong thing when his quirk didn't manifest at four and how she had inadvertently crushed his dreams of being a hero. How much she loved him and would always love him and how no matter what, he would always be her hero. Her little green hero.

She passed away an hour later.

School was difficult to return to, as he was now a ward of the state. The child services had tried to get in touch with Hisashi, but had no success, as if the man vanished into thin air. They allowed him to stay in the apartment he and his mother lived in, but sent caseworkers to check on him bi- weekly. They sent him to a quirk doctor, trying to discover why his quirk hadn't activated when he didn't have a toe joint, only to leave confused doctors. The tests all concluded he had an active mutation quirk, but there was nothing abnormal about him in any way. He had the strength of an average fourteen-year-old and the speed and agility of a snail. The only thing they could find was his muscles were denser than normal and he was heavier than he looked. That was, until they tried to take a blood sample. His skin flexed and indented with the needle, but no matter how hard the doctor had tried, he couldn't get the needle to pierce, bending several in the process. In another time, in another place, Izuku would have been ecstatic, but right now? Now it just pissed him off.

He withdrew into himself, talking far less, interacting with the world as if he wasn't a part of it, giving the world a mask of indifference while internally raging at the unfairness of the world. He watched the person who, once upon a time, had been his childhood friend get praised by the world for having a powerful emitter quirk, and saw how it made him think he was God's gift. He watched one of the sidekicks with a frankly useless and gross quirk of stretchy eyes swagger behind the prig like he was important. He just scoffed and walked away.

He got to the school gates when the bully found him.

He got to the school gate, not realizing this was his last day at Aldera High School. That it was the last time he would let the world walk over him.

"Oi! Deku! The fuck you think you're going, you quirkless shit?" the angry voice sounded behind him as he passed the school gates.

Izuku just kept walking.

"I'm talking to you, you piece of fucking trash! What did your mother never teach you how to respect your betters?" A hand roughly grabbed Izuku's wrist and spun him around.

As he spun, all his anger, all his rage, his indignation at the cruelty of the world spun with him and a blow like a hammer swung with the momentum of the spin, clocking Bakugou Katsuki hard across the jaw, physically lifting the boy off the ground and into the wall with a heavy thud. The bully jumped back to his feet and was about to say something, but his eyes widened when he was tackled by the teen he had intended to to be his victim. He tried to set off his explosive sweat to push the normally quiet boy away, but to the bully's apparent surprise, the heat and force just washed over Izuku's face. He wasn't given a second to think as another hammer-like blow snapped his head to the side as his back hit the wall. A loud, wet pop resounded loudly as his spine cracked from the impact. Another fist found Katsuki's diaphragm in a harsh uppercut that folded him over. As the arrogant bully was folded over from the fist, Izuku brought his knee to meet Bakugou's face with extreme prejudice, snapping his head up and back. Blood sprayed across his face as he felt the cartilage of his abuser's nose give way to his kneecap. As the bully stumbled back with tears welling up in his dazed eyes, Izuku finally spoke.

"You think being the strongest is the definition of a hero, don't you Bakugou? You couldn't be more wrong. You, who have never helped a single person in your entire life, could never be a real hero. You'll just be a pretender. A fake. A villain in hero clothing. You, little boy, are so full of yourself that you could never understand that being a hero is about lifting people up instead of beating them down. You attacked me, Bakugou. You saw me hurting and, like a villain, you went for blood. Look how well that turned out. I've broken you; I've beaten you, Katsuki Bakugou; there is no other way around it. You can't break me anymore." The green-haired kid slipped his hands into his pockets and turned to walk away.

"DON'T YOU FUCKING TURN YOUR BACK ON ME! DIE, YOU USELESS SHITTY FUCKING NERD!" Bakugou screamed behind him as he released a large explosion from his palms at Izuku's back.

Izuku stopped walking and let the explosion wash over him, confusing the bully. The force ripped his blazer open from the back and the heat singed the teen's clothes, but his skin? His skin was undamaged. Bakugou's unswollen eye widened.

"Unbreakable. The name of my quirk. A mutation quirk that affects my skin, making my skin impenetrable. The nerves to my skin are slowed to the point I barely feel anything but extremes." Izuku cocked his head around to look at his former abuser. "Too long winded? In short, you can't hurt me." He drew his leg forward before lashing out in a heavy mule kick that threw Bakugou

backwards, landing him six feet away on his back. "Never again."

Needless to say, the school didn't take kindly to their star student being beaten in such a way and tried to have Izuku arrested. When the cops performed the interviews, they learned about how the "star" had used his quirk illegally on those unable to stand up to the bully. With the school on the back foot, they tried to make it sound like Izuku had forced the others into speaking against a young future hero and that he was to be expelled regardless for fighting on school property, not that Izuku cared. They were nothing but sycophants who thought if Bakugou became famous, he would remember them and all they did for him. Izuku doubted it; Bakugou only cared for himself. All the years that Izuku had been in the educational system, it had been like that, people practically worshipping the "powerful" quirks, never really taking into consideration that they were only raising villains with an ego. So he simply walked away from the school, accepting the expulsion with little resistance. He did get an apology from the weirdest source though, Bakugou's divorced milf of a mom, Mitsuki Takihatsu. He got the perfect payback for all the years of abuse from her son that night when she came to his apartment on his eighteenth birthday in an attempt to make up for all the grief her progeny pressed on him, but that is a story for later

The government and his caseworkers eventually managed to enroll him into a school, albeit a government-owned one, Mustafa Academy for Problem Children. There, he quickly became the silent wolf of the school as the people quite quickly learned to leave him alone. Well, everyone except four other outcasts: Mina Ashido, Rumi Usagiyama, Himiko Toga, and Shinso Hitoshi.

Mina was a bubbly sort who had been kicked out of her previous school for jokingly claiming she must have been on acid when she took the exam, a wordplay she had tried to explain was on her quirk, which was literally named "acid," as she could produce acid from her body through her sweat glands, able to control the solubility and viscosity of the corrosive byproduct. However, she was still expelled on the charge of being under the influence of a known narcotic. Izuku believed it was quirk discrimination because her quirk also changed the pigment of her skin, hair, and eyes, not to mention the two horn-like stalks that poked out of her hair. Mutation and emitter combination. People claimed it was a "villain's" quirk and so judged her for it.

Rumi was just blunt and took no one's crap. She had made it clear from a young age that if you messed with her, she was going to kick your ass. She was also extremely affectionate towards those she felt safe around, loving to give hugs and bunny flops (Izuku had been a victim of this when he was napping on the school grounds and she just flopped onto him.) Her quirk was a mutation type that altered her physiology to give her extremely powerful legs that could kick through solid steel, while her bunny ears and cotton tail just made it adorable. And she was, to anyone she liked. Friendly and supportive, always willing to offer a hand to someone in needs. She and Mina struck up a friendly sort of rivalry that, from what Izuku was told, had started when they first met. Fast friends that pushed each other to their limits and beyond.

If Izuku ever had a brother, he would have wanted him to be like Shinso: sarcastic and crude, but willing to put everything he had into helping someone. Sadly though, Izuku could see the years of pain in the man's eyes from the constant abuse and fear of his quirk, "brainwash." By saying

something and receiving a response, he could essentially slip a trojan virus into someone's brain and command their body to perform whatever simple instruction he gave, with the downside of pain being able to break his hold. All it took was a simple pinch from someone. His own parents forced him to wear a muzzle once the quirk showed itself and blamed him for everything wrong in their lives. The school, too, tried to force the muzzle, but as soon as he saw it, Izuku had ripped it off and crushed it, stating that there was no such thing as a "villainous" quirk, as it was just a tool and tools couldn't be blamed for the wielder's idiocy. He then pointed out how many people the quirk could save, from suicide jumpers to hostage negotiations. All he needed was a response and lives could be saved with no property damage, no fight, no messy cleanups. He then praised the boy, saying he was stronger than the strongest hero in the world, All Might, because all he needed was a response.

Shinso's ex-girlfriend, Himiko, had been odd, there was no way to avoid it. She had a physiological need to ingest hemoglobin to get a chemical from her brain. Her body acted like that of an addict, her pituitary glands producing a chemical release that kept her sane unless she was unable to receive blood. She hated everything about this, she hated the coppery taste, the way the viscose lingered in her mouth and throat, how she physically had to drink the red liquid to keep her sanity and how she felt high for a few moments afterwards. Her own parents claimed she was an impure monster of Lucifer and had tried several times to exorcise her, even cruelly branding a cross onto her back. She was odd, sure, but Izuku came to see her as a little sister of sorts, as when she wasn't craving, she was peppy and hyper. Her quirk did have a benefit, however. She could change her appearance to look like anyone whose blood she ingested, which, Izuku learned, helped her calm down. When she passed the point of no return of her cravings, Izuku and Shinso were the only ones capable of controlling her so she didn't attack anyone in her blood lust, as well as being two of the four people willing to sit with her after, when she broke down in tears.

Tragedy struck on her seventeenth birthday, when her parents had decided to burn her on a pyre to remove her wickedness from the world. Izuku and Shinso had tried to get to her when she called them, frantic and hiding, but they were unable to get to her house fast enough. The firefighters were putting out the house fire and taking her body down while the police were arresting the parents, as well as Izuku, who flew into a rage and beat the father bloody. It was Izuku's second assault charge.

Izuku swore on her grave that he would be quicker, he would be faster.

From then on, he kept a watchful eye. Any time he saw any form of hatred or bullying, he put a stop to it, then and there, violently. He quickly became something of a dark angel in his school. Mr. Able, the Unbreakable Juggernaut, they called him, and with his heavy physique, muscles that bulged with every movement and the heavy kanabo war club he carried, he struck a very intimidating appearance. If he found out you were being abused by your parents, he beat them within an inch of their lives. If you came to him with a bully problem, the bully would be kneeling before you the next day with his face in the ground. He went out of his way to target known violent quirk discriminators and made sure they never hurt another person again.

Every breath he took was put to trying to clean up his neighborhood so no one ended up like Toga. Every second of his life, he did his absolute best to protect those that society shunned. The school tried to stop him, the government washed their hands of him, but he kept on. He didn't care about accolades, he didn't care about going to some prestigious rich fuck college so he could gain some fancy title.

No, he only cared about doing what was right. He managed to convince his friends to apply to Yuuei so they could become government-sanctioned heroes and learn from the pros. Their neighborhood needed a licensed hero in the area. He wasn't enough and would probably catch the attention of one for vigilantism. They tried to convince him to come with them, but he refused, stating that someone needed to keep the neighborhood clean and protect those that didn't have "hero" quirks.

He had been on his way home when he had heard a scream coming from the parking lot outside his apartment and had decided to look into it, finding a large man with red triangles on his cheek standing over a woman with horns and horse-like legs, one steadily bleeding on the pavement. She was bound tightly at the arms and ankles and sheer terror shone in her eyes as the man forced a balled up rag into her mouth. He quickly yanked his hand back and slapped her hard under her eye and yelled at her for biting him. The words stopped registering in Izuku's mind as he shouted loud enough to get the guy's attention. The man brushed him off like Mr. Able was some sort of sympathizer, so Izuku grabbed the man and threw him before quickly cutting the women's bindings and putting his knife in her hands, telling her to run. The man got up and tried to run after her, but a fist in his gut promptly put an end to that line of thought. He was quick, slashing at Izuku with clawed hands that sent blades of wind at Izuku, which were the first things that had ever been able to pierce his skin in the last five years, coincidentally, making Izuku gasp in shock. He swung with his war club, going for the torso, but the man tried to duck under it. It hadn't ended well.

It took fifteen minutes for the cops to arrive, two more for them to see him trying to stem the blood leaking out of the man's head and get a paramedic, and one more minute to put him in cuffs when Izuku admitted he had done this. He was read his rights and put into the back of one of the cruisers, but he gave no resistance; he had none to offer. He had just killed a man, after all.

Go big or go home

Chapter Summary

Toshinori Yagi has had a bad day. Oh cool it gets worse!

Chapter Notes

Special thanks to Raef Darksbane over on Epsi's Hoard on Discord for once again editing my horrendous English.

Shout out to Karnath on Epsi's Hoard on Discord for allowing me to use his screen name.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Toshinori Yagi had lived a long, eventful life. In all his fifty years, he had lost quite a number of people dear to him, lost his stomach and part of his lung in a nearly career-ending injury, and failed at being a teacher. After the event at the Unforeseen Simulation Joint, where he had arrived too late to save two of his students from villains that had infiltrated the Yuuei University, his confidence as the Symbol of Peace had shattered. Having to tell the parents of Mashirao Ojiro that the student wasn't going to come home had been heartbreaking, and the Hagakure matriarch had berated him in hysterics, both physically and verbally, when he finally got to the hospital. Her daughter, Toru, was on life support, and the odds weren't in her favor. He let her do what she felt she needed to; he deserved it. He was failing more and more as of late, and USJ was perhaps the greatest failure of them all.

It didn't help him much that his body was telling him it was time to pass on the torch. One For All. A sacred responsibility that had been created at the dawn of quirks and passed down from holder to holder; a quirk that held immense, unbelievable power, passed on from one generation to the next. His former sidekick, Mirai Sasaki, aka Sir Nighteye, had proposed a successor, but when Toshinori met the lad, he felt he was too much like the persona he himself wielded as a hero. The boy had great potential to be a hero, of that Toshinori had no doubt, but he wasn't the one.

Mirai had been furious when Toshinori told him such. He was looking for someone better than him, someone with a stronger heart, someone who could shoulder the weight of the world and not bend. As he looked out the glass to the young man sitting at the table, he couldn't help but wonder how odd life worked. A beat up, broken man who had lived too long and a young man who had barely lived; how both their lives were in ruins.

He closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. Why was he here? He had only come to the station to

see his old friend Naomasa, not to watch a suspected killer get interrogated. It was odd though; the young man gave no defense, no objection, no response. He just sat there staring at the table.

~Oh Toshi, what has become of you?~ a familiar voice asked, her voice ethereal and echoing in his head.

His head jerked up as his eyes widened. Standing behind the boy was a beautiful woman with black hair tied back into a ponytail. She was wearing a skintight solid black jumpsuit with a crimson belt, and a flowing white cape hung from her shoulders. He could see the beauty mark on the right side of her face under her lips, the one he had always stared at, often getting caught. She was as beautiful now as she was then, with her soft, kind smile that went to the eyes.

Before All For One killed her.

~Toshi, what did I always tell you? Where is your smile? You can't save anyone if you don't smile from the heart.~

Rage filled his heart. This was the cruelest of tricks! She had been like a mother to him and they would use her image!

The apparition appeared to sigh. ~Code word Blackbird, Toshinori. Look at the boy; this is no trick.~

That caught him up short and allowed him to truly look. The boy had started sobbing into his hands, the quirk suppression cuffs mangled on the table and She had her hand on his shoulder. If what she said was true, did that mean One For All was choosing the boy? If that were the case, why? What was special about the boy? He had doubts, of course; the power had never spoken to him before like this, but he couldn't exactly disprove it. No one truly knew where One For All's limits were anymore.

~Oh Toshi, we aren't choosing for you; we're suggesting. Talk to him. Despite what happened tonight, he saved a life. Look at the monitor; that life he saved is in the lobby now trying to protest the boy's arrest. Think about it; where could he go if he had a mentor? Someone who cares to help him?~

Toshinori looked at the monitor, noticing Nezu was rubbing a crying girl's head. To the side of the feed, he saw young Usagiyama and Ashido, the latter sobbing into the former's leg. His head tilted

a bit; he recognized the crying women, but why were they all here? He looked back at the apparition of his dead mentor, the pang still in his heart from her loss. All For One hadn't left enough of her to put in a matchbox.

"I'll make no promises, Nana, but I'll try talking to him," he finally muttered. The specter of Nana Shimura smiled, love and affection radiating off the vision like warmth from a fire.

~I know you will, Toshi. You always gave too much of yourself. Remember, smile from the heart and win them over. Don't fake it,~ she said as her form began to fade. ~Remember Toshinori, we are always with you. One For All never truly leaves.~

He stared at the young man in the room, letting himself get lost in thought

Two hundred and fifty years ago, mankind was on the verge of space travel. They had already achieved a lunar landing and placed rovers on the fourth planet of the Sol system, Mars. The world had grown more and more technologically inventive, the power of the internet in their hands. Then the era of quirks had dawned.

It started simple, small even: a babe in Qing Qing City, China, was born with the ability to emit light. The world didn't know how to handle this event, as more and more children started to spontaneously produce abilities that were seen as mutations.

Quirks were incredibly diverse and generally hard to differentiate from each other. Eventually, a general system of categorization was created that separated quirks into three major categories:

Emitter: any quirk that activated outside of the body. For example: being able to produce fire in one's palms or lift things with one's mind.

Transformation: the ability to alter any part of one's body at will for a limited amount of time. For example: being able to grow to gigantic sizes and revert down to a base state.

Mutation: permanent alteration to the body. For example: reptilian scales that grow on the body or gills.

Many quirked individuals showed these traits at a young age, starting from birth to around age four, with the added effect of genetics. For example: if the mother had a frog mutation quirk and the father had a laser emitter quirk, chances were that the offspring could very well be a frog-like child that could burp lasers.

Large groups protested quirks, while some embraced them and others saw them as the end of times. As is often the case with humanity, they didn't understand and began to hate and fear the mutations. Within but a few years, there was heavy discrimination against those with quirks, even hate crimes and slaughter. Some used their quirks for self defense and were reviled for it, while others simply used their quirks for their own personal gain and squandered their power. A select few made their stand, placing themselves firmly in front of the innocent, shouldering all the hatred, all the corruption, all the evil; the age of vigilantes had begun. For many, this was seen as a blessing; the population of quirked individuals were massively multiplying as the quirkless population dwindled. The quirkist hate crimes slowly became quirk-on-quirk hate crimes or quirk- on-quirkless crimes, forcing the United Nations to speak out against public use of quirks. The hatred persisted, however, leading more and more vigilantes to rise up to stand against it.

Eventually, all the world's governments and the United Nations stood as one and outlawed public use of quirks, later amended by the Rhode Island New State Statute which made quirk licensing legal, naming those who fought against the hatred "Heroes" and those who went against the law "villains." One hundred and eighty-nine vigilantes were affected by this statute, and only seven were accepted as government approved heroes. This number grew eventually as government- approved schools that taught heroism sprang up, adding new requirements to be licensed, such as a full rounded education, full understanding and control of one's quirk, and the knowledge of what a hero was. Depending on their performance, heroes had the potential to gain fame, glory, and government pay, paving way to the occupation of "pro-hero." Among these pro-heroes, however, was a well kept secret.

One For All and All For One.

Two brothers under the surname Shigaraki were born somewhere after the dawn of quirks, one with the emitter quirk that allowed him to take others' quirks and give them to other people, the other apparently quirkless. The eldest quickly asserted himself into the world of quirks, taking from quirked individuals that he deemed useful and slaughtering those he deemed inconsequential, while the younger hid away, unable to do anything to stop his elder brother. His brother, who took the name of his quirk, All For One, wanted his brother to take part in his criminal domination, regardless of what the younger might want, and forced a quirk into the younger brother's body, one that All For One considered relatively useless to himself: A simple power-stockpiling quirk.

It didn't do much at first, merely stockpiling and storing the power of the body and allowing the stockpiles to minorly enhance the strength of the person. What neither knew was that the younger brother actually had a quirk, one that was useless by itself. It allowed the user to pass on his quirk

via ingested genetic material. This quirk could not be taken by force, only by willing offer. This quirk was Pass On. In an unforeseen turn, Pass On and Stockpile merged into a more powerful quirk, one that gave the younger brother the strength to oppose All For One, one the younger brother named just to spite his villainous sibling, One For All.

The younger brother tried for years to best and defeat his sibling, tried to get his brother to see reason, but ultimately, he failed. Disappearing from the world, he took on an apprentice, one in whom he saw the potential and the heart to be a true hero and passed on One For All to him. Together, they tried to fight against All For One, but this fight was still one sided, and the younger brother lost his life after sending the second bearer away.

The second wielder eventually took on an apprentice of his own, teaching and training her in the truest ways of being a hero before taking the fight back to the eldest Shigaraki.

The third trained her own apprentice before passing on the torch, but this time, All For One sought them out, having grown bored of the cat-and-mouse game they played and wanting to reclaim the quirk he had given to his sibling. The fourth was cast away and fled in grief as the third was slaughtered.

This continued to repeat in a cycle: one would train an apprentice, pass on the torch, All For One would either confront them or they would confront All For One, and the apprentice would be sent away or be hidden away as the previous user was killed. Each time the torch was passed, its fire grew much stronger, taking all the years of energy it had stockpiled and continuously adding to it, evolving in such a way that it imprinted memories inside the power, copies of the previous wielders, becoming near sentient as it grew. The seventh bearer, Nana Shimura, the Seventh Wonder: Maverick, was the first to push All For One to his limit, sending her best friend and her apprentice away. The eighth bearer, Toshinori Yagi, had watched his mentor, the woman he had come to think of as a mother, take a fatal blow that day while she protected him as he was dragged away by Nana's friend, Sorahiko Torino. They both grieved her passing when the news covered her annihilation at the hands of All For One as they fled to the United States of America to train in secret and learn the fullest extent of Toshinori's limits. He made a name for himself, quickly becoming a symbol, a beacon of power: The Symbol of Peace. With a smile on his face, he let the world know that everything was going to be ok, because HE was there.

The golden age of quirks, the age of All Might, began.

Toshinori coughed up blood as his six year old injury grew aggravated. For the eighth and hopefully final time, One For All and All For One had clashed in a cataclysmic showdown, and in a pyrrhic victory, finally came out on top at the cost of Toshinori's stomach, part of his lung, and All For One's skull. The elder Shigaraki had put a fist through Toshinori's abdominal cavity while Toshinori put his fist through All For One's face. The super villain mastermind was believed to be dead, but there was no body, no trace left when the scene was investigated, only a few blood stains that allowed them to finally name the super villain:

Karnath Shigaraki.

Since the fight, Toshinori hadn't been able to use the full potential of One For All, his body limiting how long he could use the power to its maximum. His current time limit was three hours and even that was dwindling with his deteriorating health. Because he was missing his stomach, he didn't get hungry and would oftentimes get so caught up in whatever he was doing, he could forget to eat, which caused him to lose major weight in his base form. While he could keep up appearances as All Might, once he hit the hard limit of his body, the power and muscle of the form would slip away in a cloud of steam, usually leaving him coughing blood.

Mirai had warned him that if he didn't pass on the torch soon, he wouldn't see the next decade, and with his precognitive quirk, he was probably correct, but Toshinori wanted that needle hidden in the haystack, that shining diamond in the rough, someone who truly exemplified what being a hero really meant. Someone who moved before thinking, who would put the safety of others before their own, someone that wasn't Toshinori, not as he was currently. Depression and anxiety riddled his body, doubts plagued his mind. So many people had died because he was unable to save them because he was burnt out. Washed up. Useless. A great hero, the shining monument to peace for all of three hours only to become a pathetic, heaving mess that can't even stomach a fast food burger afterwards. A useless excuse of what once was.

The age of All Might was reaching curtain's call

He looked back at the boy still crying into his arms, his mind wandering through the whos and whats of the situation, yet it was the whys that seemed to matter the most. The burning, yearning, unyielding need to know why. He was out the door before he realized it, standing in front of the interrogation room with his hand raised to open the door.

"Oh? Does our young Samaritan strike your interest as well, Mr. Yagi?" the squeaky, high-pitched voice of the dean said from down the hall. Turning, Toshinori blinked, releasing a pent up breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Something about the boy is driving me crazy, Sir. I was going to—wait, Samaritan?"

The small eldritch being chuckled, an odd squeaking sound as he climbed up Toshinori's clothes to his wide, skeletal shoulder where he draped over him like a cat. "Indeed, he is quite the hero. The soon-to-be expelled student he put in the hospital was in fact planning to, hmm, ah yes, cull the student population of mutation quirks, and Ms. Tsunotori was to be his first victim. Mr. Midoriya laid that plan to rest quite efficiently. Brutally, without a doubt, but efficiently. I believe, judging from the salt in the air, that it wasn't intentional to drive his kanabo into the aggressor's skull as he

did. In fact, it reminds me of what someone else once did, six years ago."

Toshinori looked at the dean, knowing the chimera was referring to how he had finally beaten All For One, and sighed. The dean patted the side of his head like he was comforting a small child. "So, shall we go talk to our good Samaritan?"

Izuku sat there, staring at the wall in front of him after finally getting his tears under control. His mother would be rolling in her grave if she saw him now. A killer. Sure he had helped a girl, but he had killed a man. He had pushed the fight further than he ever had before, and instead of simply breaking the guys bones, he put the man into the ground. How was he going to live with that? What would his mother and Himeko say?

His head snapped to the entrance of the room as the door opened to admit a tall, lanky, withered skeleton of a man and a...what was that thing? Was it a large rat? Some kind of dog? A small bear? Why was it in a suit? Was it this man's pet? Why was it smirking? How was it smirking?

The walking skeleton sat down in the opposing chair, his electric blue eyes focused on Izuku, but Izuku's emerald greens never left the ratbeardog chimera thing. Even when Skeletor cleared his throat, all he got was a side glance before Izuku went back to trying to figure out what the thing was.

"Mr. Midoriya, my name is—"

"Is that thing edible?" the boy interrupted, stopping everything Skeletor had planned to ask up short. Izuku wasn't going to let them see him break.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The thing on your shoulder, can I eat it? I'm hungry," the boy reasoned, causing the gaunt man to blink and glance at the creature as Izuku masked his internal hurricane behind a mask of indifference.

"Um...you wanna..." Skeletor asked, clearly unsure how to respond.

The eldritch creature simply spoke, "Very well, Mr. Yagi." A small smile appeared on its face as

Izuku's jaw sank lower and lower with each word. "Izuku Midoriya, age nineteen, son of Inko and Hisashi Midoriya, graduate of the Mustafa academy for problem children. Current occupation: cook for the Mos Eisley bar and grill. Known associations: Rumi Usagiyama aka the Rabbit Hero: Miracle, twenty, and Mina Ashido aka the Alien Hero: Xeno, nineteen. Both first years at Yuuei Heroism University-Academia in Japan, both in the hero course, class A under Shota Aizawa. You have twenty-five police charges of aggressive assault and are potentially facing prison time under assault with a deadly weapon—"

"Wait!" the boy interrupted, having snapped out of the talking-mammalian-creature-induced haze long enough to catch what he said. "Assault with a deadly weapon? Why not homicide? Didn't I— didn't I kill him?"

The skeleton leaned forward onto his elbows and looked at the creature, who gave him a nod.

"Young Midoriya, answer me this: how do you know Ms. Tsunotori?" he asked, his blue eyes shining off black sclera like a neon light.

The boy raised his brow. "The fuck is tha—ow mother—are you flicking erasers at me? The f— moth—why?"

The chimera chittered, "I can see why Aizawa does this. This is fun!"

"Who the f—" Another eraser whizzed by Izuku's head, earning a squawk from the young man. "Would you quit that? Who is Tsunotori? Who is Aizawa? Who are you two?"

The lich smiled kindly (why was that more terrifying than a talking rat-thing?), "I believe I can answer that much. My name is Toshinori Yagi and this is Nezu, the current dean of Yuuei. Your file intrigued him and, well, you could say I'm here as a form of security, I guess."

"OK, but question," the young man responded. When the zombie gave a nod, the green-haired kid simply asked, "Why do you look like you belong in a crypt?"

The lich, Yagi, blinked.

Nezu fell off his shoulder and was rolling on the floor laughing.

Izuku continued simply, as if discussing the weather, "I mean, if you're the security, shouldn't you, I dunno, be more jacked instead of looking like a lich king?"

Skeletor just sat there, his jaw hanging low. Had no one ever called him out like that? Trying to ignore the odd squeaky laughter of the dean on the floor, Izuku turned to fully look at the gaunt man who was regarding him in total surprise.

"P-pardon?" the skeleton finally said, as he got over his shock. Seriously, had no one called him out on that?

Izuku leaned back in the chair and folded his arms over his chest. "So what does the big muckety muck, posh rich kid, fake-hero producing, up-town college want with me? And you never told me who those names were referring to"

Nezu's voice came from behind him, making him jump. "Please do not slander my school. I do take pride in the amount of heros I've produced since I took over as dean."

"Endeavor, Hawks, Mt. Lady, Kamui Woods, Death Arms."

The chimera thing blinked. "Wild Wild Pussy Cats, The Water Horses, Ingenium, Nebula, Wash."

"Ok, the WWPC and the Water Horses are and were great heroes. Ingenium is a good role model for his community too. Nebula, however, is a meth addict and secretly sells her body to fund her addiction. Pretty sure Wash is a robot. Knightscope, Speedfreak, Oscillation, Sabertooth, Dream Daddy."

"You are very observant, aren't you Mr. Midoriya?" the dean said with a small smile as he draped himself over Izuku's shoulder. "I noticed you haven't mentioned any of the teachers I've employed. Why?"

"Well, to be honest, I got no beef with your teachers, really. I've seen Eraserhead and Midnight in action. Lunch Rush frequents one of the soup kitchens I used to work for, even taught me how to cook for a large group. Power Loader and Cementoss fixed up a shelter I used to live in and Thirteen cleaned up that one beach they were illegally dumping refuse in. I watched Present Mic and Eraserhead stop at a school playground and take the time to play with the kids there. Had it been for the publicity, I would have said something about them, but I never saw paparazzi, never

saw anything in the news about it. They genuinely did it out of their own free will. Hell, the only time I've ever seen Eraserhead give an interview, he treated it like a mission debrief and then left. Guy has major respect from me," Izuku explained as he looked at the eldritch dean.

"What do you think of All Might?" The gaunt skeleton spoke up, drawing the green eyes back to him.

"That... that is a difficult question. Yes, he is a powerful man, sure, and he has saved countless lives, there is no arguing that. However, how often does he speak out? The dude is a worldwide phenomenon; to say he is famous is like saying the ocean is wet. It's true and factual, but doesn't cover all the bases. So why doesn't he speak out? Use his fame? My guess is, despite the appearance, the man isn't much of a speaker and doesn't like to be in the spotlight, which I can understand, really, but he doesn't do anything else other than show up, punch a bad guy, then leave. Sure, people look up to him, but he still sends the wrong message. The hero never loses and always beats up the bad guy, but what makes the bad guy bad? What is their situation? I've seen many villains turn to villainy just because they wanted society to pay attention to them." He stopped and looked closely at the withered man, noting how he flinched with each point Izuku made before he continued.

"One of my highschool friends had a quirk that people deemed villainous and tried to shun him. Had All might spoken out, talked against quirk discrimination, some of those same impressionable minds would have taken the lessons to heart. Hell, when I was younger, before my quirk fully made itself known, I was bullied and harassed for not having a powerful quirk, but I would always go home and watch that smile. I kinda took some of what I saw from All Might and made it part of me. Unyielding, unbreaking, walking with determination and never looking back, so I'm grateful for All Might, but at the same time, I've always wondered why he never spoke out. Surely he knew about the hate and discrimination that brewed under his perfect world. He claims to be the Symbol of Peace, so where is the peace?" Izuku took a moment to breath. Why did this skeleton man keep flinching, fidgeting, every time Izuku pushed a point? His eyes narrowed as he watched the man. Was he connected to All Might? Actually, his hair was the same color, though it was kinda lacking the luster, and if you lifted his bangs and inflated hi—

Izuku blinked as puzzle pieces started to come together in his mind: The oversized suit that hung from the man's shoulders, the way his eyes glowed with hidden power, the remark of how the lich was there as security, the skeletal frame that looked like it was meant to hold mass that wasn't there, the wrinkles on his cheeks and eyes from constant smiling. With a mental click, it all came together.

"Oh God, I just berated All Might." Chapter End Notes

Quirkist/Quirkism- I have no real idea what discrimination of quirks would be called, so I used the term quirkism. Thought I made it up, but apparentlyits already active in the fan fiction community. Thought process: hate against race is racism, with the person hating being a racist, and hate against sex is sexism with the person hating being a sexist. Thus, hate against quirks would be quirkism with the person hating being a quirkist. It sounds awful, but I couldn't think of a better term.

Nana Shimura, the Seventh wonder: Maverick- This is a fan-favorite codename of the seventh holder of OfA and personally one of mine. I also love the concept that Miruko is a big fan of hers, something I'll make clearer in the next chapter.

Ultimatum: What Makes A Hero?

Chapter Summary

retelling from Rumi's perspective and a get out of jail free card

Chapter Notes

Special thanks to Raef Darksbane over on Epsi's Hoard on Discord for once again editing my horrendous English.

Secondly, shout out to Lenny88 for beta-ing and helping me with ideas

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Once upon a time, there was a bunny owned by a strong, powerful marine who tore through hell

itself for her. Her name was Daisy.

Rumi Usagiyama was not Daisy. She would rather be the one busting herself out of hell to get back to the man she adored as opposed to being some flimsy damsel in distress. To put it bluntly, Rumi would have thought Daisy was pathetic. She would have thought the rabbit pathetic simply because, four years ago, she had been that poor helpless bunny that needed defending.

When she was transferred to Mustafa Academy for Problem Children, she had tried to stay out of sight, be unseen, but it was made immediately apparent that she had been unsuccessful by how quickly the bullies found her. It had started off small: shoulder checks, gum in the hair, but it started getting worse. The pranks started becoming cruel, painful.

Then a large green-haired boy had approached her. At first, he just sat with her at lunch, saying absolutely nothing while she watched him like a hawk. Soon after, the pranks started lessening and people started showing up with black eyes or broken fingers. Some even apologized to her, shocking her to the core. All the while, that same green-haired guy watched silently. Rumi had been the first to call him Able because he had been able to help her. She came out of her shell around the gentle green giant and he, in turn, opened up to her. Their duo soon became a trio when Able introduced Shinso to their group, then Ashido and Himiko. The five of them quickly became a sort of anti-bully group, passively at first, before...

Himiko.

Rumi had been inconsolable when she learned of her friend's murder, locking herself away in her den with all of her Seventh Wonder: Maverick merchandise. For days, she sat in the darkness, replaying the videos the five of them made together, Hitoshi always looking bored, Mina's bright exuberance, Izuku's smart-ass remarks, and Himiko's cat-like eyes shimmering with tears of laughter.

Rumi cried herself to sleep a lot for the first few days after. That is, until Able spartan kicked her apartment door open, which scared the crap out of her, and pulled her into a tight hug until she started crying on his shoulder. Mina and Hitoshi soon joined in, and they spent the rest of that day crying into each other's arms, grieving the loss of a life. The loss of a light to their lives.

For the next two years, Rumi poured everything she had into getting stronger, tougher, meaner. She would never let another friend, another loved one, go through what Himiko had. The four of them pushed their bodies to the absolute limit and beyond under the oath that they would band together to fight the injustice that had grown under the hero society. They would purge the cancer that had begun to leech on society, but to do that, they needed to be strong. They needed to be icons, symbols. Pillars.

Another turn of fate impeded this though. Able was arrested for another assault. This time, it had been a school professor that turned out to be a quirkist bigot who had been biding his time, and the school pressed charges after Able broke his arm. The four were heartbroken when they learned this would block Able from Yuuei, since this was his twenty-fifth charge, and one that was a major injury. So when the entrance exams were held, Rumi, Hitoshi, and Mina tearfully hugged their soft-spoken giant of a friend and, with his encouragement, did their absolute best. Hitoshi easily racked hero points (unknowingly), Rumi got the most points on the written exam, while Mina brought home the most villain points of the three. Able took up a bartending job near the university at a small pub frequented by the campus students. The three would often help Able close and, with the owner's permission, sit around and chat after hours, sometimes until the sun came up. Rumi and Mina would end up falling asleep against the gentle giant, while he and Hitoshi would chat in depth about the quirks of their classmates, how they could be used and expanded upon. Rumi and Mina went to class 1A, while Hitoshi found himself in class 1B.

At first, classes were simple for Rumi; get up, go to class, go back to the dorms, study, rewatch Maverick's debut interview again, talk to the other three in the group chat, then wrap herself up like a burrito in her green blanket. Her favorite green blanket that always helped her feel cozy and safe, reminding her of the only person who always seemed to know when she needed a hug or a smile. Her closest friend, her gentle green giant.

She had never had the courage to tell him, but she had grown fond of the man. At first, it was because he was a safe space to grow and learn about herself, but eventually she saw the side of him he hid. He hid behind a mask of wit and sarcasm, but under all that bluster and thick skin, the man was an absolute teddy bear. Unless you pissed him off; then you ran and never looked back.

Rumi sighed and she looked through her phone files where she kept all her pictures, letting herself reminisce. She had to wonder what Able would say about how she had done in the sports festival. She, Mina, and Hitoshi had made it into the tournament, even going to the semi-finals. Sadly, Hitoshi had been frozen by Endeavor's bitch of a daughter, and Rumi and Mina had fought each other. The class ass, Katsuki Bakugou, pushed Todoroki to her frozen limit and met Rumi in the finals. With the burns on her skin and the loud explosions bursting her eardrums, she did not have much of a chance. Still, she put her best effort forward. With a bunny foot-enhanced leap forward, she nearly kicked Bakugou out of bounds, only for the bastard to use his gross sweat to propel himself back into the ring. She wore a smile the entire fight though, like her favorite hero, Maverick, even with the severe pain and vertigo overwhelming her. The rabbit fighter launched forward, landing a sidekick with such force she almost broke the explosive teen's leg.

Unfortunately, Bakugou braced for the impact, using the opportunity to launch a counter punch that nearly dislocated Rumi's arm. What followed was a rough roll along the arena floor before she fell out of bounds, the smile never leaving her face as she passed out.

It had been all kinds of satisfying to see the angry pomeranian limping during the awarding, but it really didn't matter to her. She was here to learn how to be the best of the best and they had only been at the school for a month, not really enough time to really go above and beyond their limits. Wasn't that what the school festival was for? To show them where their limits were against other people, to show them where that glass ceiling was so they could smash it? If so, Rumi had more to learn than she thought if a blond pomeranian punk with gross sweat could beat her. Maybe she should talk to Able about it, see what he had to say. A knock on the door drew her out of her thoughts, making her smile when she saw her pink friend.

"Hey, Ruru. I couldn't sleep." The pink haired girl as she stood by the door, rubbing her arm. Rumi smiled. It had become a regular thing for Mina to come sit with her ever since the USJ incident. Their second week of class had shown them exactly how mortal they were, and the grisly scene still played out in their minds. One student dead, the other not expected to make it to the end of May. Rumi had seen what the large black skinned bird monstrosity that the villains called Nomu did to the tail guy. Ojiro hadn't had a chance against the abomination. The only reason they knew Hagakure got hurt when the thing threw Ojiro's body was the blood that covered her. It had been devastating to the aspiring heroes, especially Mina, who had struck up a budding friendship with the invisible girl. A few students left after the event, unable to take the stress. Sero had dropped out of Heroics and moved to general studies after seeing Iida lose his right arm and part of his ribs to the warp gate villain. Koda, one of the sweetest boys Rumi had ever met, decided he would be better in the support course rather than heroics, and even helped one of the support students, a Mei Hatsume, design a working cybernetic prosthetic arm for Iida that attached to his nerves.

Mineta Minoru had dropped out of the university entirely, and the entire female population of Yuuei had rejoiced.

She pulled Mina to her so that her back was to Rumi's front as they sat and began to softly pet the shorter hair on the sides of her head, making the pink girl melt into her with a sigh. Mina had always loved it when she or Able did this for her, having said it didn't feel the same when Insomnia or... well, when Insomnia did it. She sighed as she went back to looking through her

phone, smiling as she looked at the old pictures. They had all decided back in their second year of high school what they would use as hero names, making plans and designs for their hero costumes.

The gentle green giant had just shrugged and said he would go by Mr. Able, which had made Rumi feel warm inside. It had been her nickname for him. Shinso hadn't cared, but had agreed to Insomnia when Mina suggested it. Rumi had declared she would be the smiling rabbit Miruko. She would smile from the heart so that everyone knew it would be ok, just like Maverick had said to do. She wanted to let people know it was ok to cry now so that they could smile brighter tomorrow. Mina said she always liked the movie Alien, but couldn't decide on her name, since she wanted to be known as either Ripley or Alien Queen, but when Able told her she could face lawsuits over the names, she decided on Xeno.

Mina curled into Rumi's side with a moan, smiling into the rabbit's stomach as she dozed. Rumi smiled at her clingy friend, happy that Mina felt safe enough around her to relax enough to sleep some. She leaned against the desk behind her and just let herself be for a moment. A moment that didn't last when someone started beating on her door with vulgarity. The angry pomeranian really did have no subtlety. She turned her ears and listened about how the professor, probably Aizawa, wanted them downstairs. She sighed and woke Mina up.

As they got into the university van to go figure out what Able was arrested for this time, she never noticed the two luminescent yellow pin pricks in the alley that followed the two of them before blinking out of existence.

"Miss Usagiyama, I must ask you not to share this, but I believe I may have found a new candidate for the hero course."

That was what the dean had said before he had wandered down the hallway humming a tune merrily, leaving a very shocked bunny behind. Mina was understandably upset, Rumi wasn't far from freaking out herself, and then the dean dropped this bomb on her like it was some inconsequential detail. Her brain simply refused to compute. She couldn't understand, first she was called here because Able had gotten himself arrested, again, and now she was comforting two upset girls. What even was her life right now?

"I-I fear you are mistaken, young man. I am not—" the lich tried to sputter before Nezu interrupted again.

"He has quite the mind on him, doesn't he, All Might?" the dean chittered mirthfully. "Tell me, Mr.

Midoriya, how would you describe a true hero?"

Izuku leaned forward and put his elbows on the table to lean on his hands. "That's a tough question, Meat. I mean, the general populous would say anyone with a powerful quirk. However, a quirk is like a muscle; it can be worked and improved on, so that point is null. The quirk doesn't make the hero. No, it goes deeper. It's not the power, nor the popularity, no, it's the heart. A real hero doesn't think. Real heroes act. No matter the danger, no matter the cost, they reach their hands out to help with a smile." He stopped for a second and took a breath.

"To quote a very, very old book: 'Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends.' While I don't follow the religion, the old book has a lot of verses and proverbs that tell you how a true hero should be. Drawing from a bygone age again, once the United States Army had an acronym, LDRSHIP. I feel this applies well."

The lich noticeably narrowed his eyes, looking like he was lost in thought as Nezu jumped down from his shoulders and turned to look Able in the eyes, "And what does LDRSHIP mean?"

"Loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage," Izuku replied. "While the acronym is no longer used in their branch, it still can apply to the hero community.

"Loyalty: true heroes must bear faith and allegiance to their community and their own beliefs. Duty: they must fulfill all of their obligations as a name, a brand, and as a hero. Respect: treat others as you would have them treat you." He made a gesture to the glass of water on the table and, after receiving an excited nod from the dean of eldritch nightmares, took a small sip to moisten his throat.

"Selfless service: putting the welfare of their fellow heroes, the civilians, and others before their own. Honor: true heroes should live up to their word. If you can't be trusted to be honorable, if no one can trust you to be honest and good, how will they believe you when you say 'it's ok, for I am here'? Your bonds and your responsibilities as a figure of the public are all you really have as a person, so having someone hear your name and trust the title of hero that you bear should let them know that everything is going to be ok. Integrity: do what is right, legally and morally, no matter the cost; never letting the vices and downfall of others corrupt you.

"Personal courage: a hero is the divide between those who seek to gain for their own benefits and those who are innocent. Courage is not the absence of fear, so being afraid is ok. However, one must be strong enough to stand up and face this fear to be a hero. Without either of these values, a hero is only a hero in title only or, in other words, a fake hero."

He sighed and took another sip of water. The dean was starting to make him feel unnerved with the way his grin stretched wider than it should as Able talked.

After a minute or so of silence the chimera spoke up again, "I have another question Mr. Midoriya —"

"Please. Mr. Midoriya was some asshole who abandoned my mom and I when I was three. Call me Able or Izuku, If you have to, or Mr. Able," the large man said, interrupting the manbearrat.

"Ahem, very well, Mr. Able. What went through your mind when you saved Ms. Tsunotori earlier this evening?"

"Oh, is that that woman's name? Was wondering why you kept mentioning the name. Still don't know who Aizawa is."

The chimera sipped his tea, making Able stare at him in confusion. Where had that come from? He looked at the skeleton, who just shrugged. The conglomerate cleared its throat again, "Funny how you watched him, but never guessed his name. Aizawa is Eraserhead. As to your other question, the young lady you helped today is a freshman student of the hero course by the name of Pony Tsunotori, a transfer from the United States to attend the university. The other was a former second year that is now in the hospital. I say former because as of five minutes ago, he was expelled from the campus for attacking a fellow student with the intent of ending her life. How he thought we would allow such a thing is illogical, as are many things you humans do."

Able blinked. "O-ok. So she was the skinny girl with the horns, gotcha. To be honest, I didn't think. I heard her yell and heard a struggle and went to look. When I saw her tied up, I acted. I know technically it's vigilantism, but I couldn't just stand by and let it happen. I called the cops and went in with the intent to restrain the guy." The giant took a shaky breath before steadying himself.

"Didn't mean to hit him in the head; I was aiming for the ribs. See, making it hard to breath normally takes the fight out of someone. I intended to knock the air out of him and then restrain him, get another warning from the police, and then go home. I was supposed to close tonight, and one of my friends was going to fix my cornrows. Instead, I almost killed a man. Still currently processing that I didn't."

The dean set his tea cup down and patted Able's arm. "Sadly, in the line of duty, extreme means are called on in the act of defense. Almost every hero worth their salt has been forced into a life or death situation. For example, the man sitting in front of you. Mr. Yagi, do you mind showing him? If you do, I won't press the issue."

Skeletor looked at the dean in confusion for a moment before realization dawned on his face. He seemed to struggle with something before lifting up his shirt to reveal a horrific scar where his stomach should have been. The skin was puckered and raised in an almost perfect ring of a crater, surrounded by jagged stitches. The angry red of scar tissues contrasted against his pale white skin, making the whole thing look like a bullet had shattered concrete.

"As you can see, Mr. Able, despite all the glamor the idiots in the hero association try to pander, heroism is quite dangerous, but then, you already knew that. The fight that gave Mr. Yagi that scar, destroying his stomach and part of his lung, was a fight that All Might had to kill someone for the sake of justice. Mind, this is a branch of trust we are extending to you. If the world found out how badly injured the Symbol of Peace is, what do you think would happen?" The dean asked as if the question was rhetorical, expecting the younger man to be stunned by the display.

He was surprised when instead the young man responded after a minute. "Nothing."

The dean tilted his head. "Pardon?"

"The only thing that would change would be that those who lurk and hide their crimes would no longer feel the need to. The film of a perfect society would be ripped away to reveal the rot underneath. So, in effect, nothing would change. Kidnappings, quirk marriages, villain schools. All the things that fester under the supposed Age of Peace would be exposed." He stopped for a moment. 'Should I tell them? Eh, in for a yen.'

"I knew about the injury though. Didn't know you let yourself waste away though. That tidbit threw me off. Compared to how you looked then and now, there's a big difference. However, I was there at the fight, trapped under rubble when the apartment building that I was in got knocked down by the guy in the suit and saw most of the action. Passed out after seeing the arm go through your stomach. Gotta say, it was terrifying; each blow shook the ground and the wind tore through where I was stuck. Had it not been for my quirk's endurance, I probably would have been a casualty of that fight, lucky me. Regardless, nothing changed. I still wanted to help people. If anything, I was more inspired to help people. If the Number One was that willing to go above his limits and risk his life, what was my excuse?"

Skeletor and the dean stared at him.

"What?"

The skeleton cleared his throat. "You knew about my injury?" Able tilted his head. "Yeah, that's what I just said."

"Why didn't you say anything?"

The young man scratched his head above his ear. "Wasn't my place. Besides, what could I say? Who would I tell? What? Should I walk up to one of my friends and go, 'hey guys, did you know All Might has a transferrable quirk and is unable to use it like he used to because he was injured six years ago?"

His statement was met with more silence as the dean and the lich stared at each other, their faces looking like they were having a silent conversation. The dean started excitedly nodding his head and the skeleton shrugged.

The dean turned around to address the impenetrable man. "Tell me, Mr. Able, why didn't you apply to Yuuei?"

The green giant raised his eyebrow. "Between doing my absolute best to earn enough to pay for one of my friends to go to the school of yours because she couldn't earn a scholarship and the fact that I have a criminal record, I can't. Yuuei is expensive as hell, and my friend deserves it. Plus, your school would take one look at my record, see me as some delinquent, and deny me. That's even if I somehow managed to catch a hero's attention for them to endorse me."

The dean seemed to smile wider. "And which friend are you funding?" "Not telling. I won't put her future at risk."

The dean snickered. "Oh please, child. I already know, but I wanted to hear you say Ashido's name."

The blink of an eye, a fraction of a second. In this space of time, many things could happen. A

diminutive dean could be slammed against the wall by his throat, a skeleton could hulk up and grab the wrist that did this, a green-haired titan could be backhanded through a wall. However, nothing happened. Nothing was given, but a cold stare from the large green-haired man. With the one word he spoke, he could have frozen the fiery lakes of hell.

"Don't."

The dean said nothing, simply sat smiling. Both Able and Toshinori tensed as the atmosphere went from gentle and friendly to tense and cold. He hummed as he took a sip of his tea, letting the borderline hostility setting sit for a few moments before hopping down from the table and knocking on the door. A loud buzz sounded loudly through the room as the door opened, revealing the detective who had come in earlier to question Able.

"Detective Tsukauchi, Yuuei will press no charges, and will in fact offer the full weight of its legal defense in the support of one of its students. Mr. Inuzuka challenged Mr. Able to a spar and was injured due to an accident during it. I ask that you return one of the students wrongfully arrested back into our custody. He has had a long day and would probably like to return to his studies."

The detective looked confusedly at All Might, who gave a small snort and a nod before standing himself. The detective looked at the youngest person present, but he looked just as confused as the detective.

"I, er, appreciate that, sir, but Mr. Midoriya was arrested for suspicion of vigilantism and assault. The assault charge can be dropped due to Ms. Tsunotori's testimony, but the vigilantism?

"Ah, but it wasn't vigilantism. In the case of Naruto Uzumaki v. Sasuke Uchiha, in October 22XX, article 37 of the penal code, sub section 9, paragraph B, concerning averting present danger was amended to state that an act unavoidably performed to avert a present danger to the life, body, liberty, or property of oneself or any other person is not punishable only when the harm produced by such act does not exceed the harm to be averted. Mr. Able was merely in the right place at the wrong time."

Tsukauchi stared at the dean. Able stared at the dean. Skeletor stared at Able.

The detective sighed. "For four years, I've been following this case, and of course Nezu would throw it all away with a legal loophole. What makes it even worse is I can't argue it; every one of the people the guy defended claims it was life or death and that he specifically told them not to talk. The only question I have is why, kid? Why did you tell them not to come forward to defend your case?"

The green-haired teen leaned back in his groaning chair. "Most of those people had hard lives due to their mutations. Some got off lucky with just being beaten down. Others... well, it got dark for them. Really dark. I would check back in on those ones now and then. Heck, I work for one of the victim's grandparents in one of my side jobs, not gonna give names for who. These people are considered the dregs of society because they don't have flashy quirks or any quirk at all, so how do you think a society that believes might makes right would treat them if they came forward? When I got expelled from my first high school for defending myself from a bully, the legal system only saw that I had a mutation quirk and sided with the bastard that I defended myself from. Now look at how that turned out? The bully is in the most prestigious hero university while I'm in a police interrogation room. So excuse me if I don't trust the system.

"We live in a society that thinks that the quirk makes the hero, thanks somewhat to All Might's never speaking publicly. Those with less flashy quirks or the victims of your so-called heroes then in turn become villains when they rebel against your system. So yeah, I told those I protected not to say anything. I didn't want them to have to deal with more hate because they got some clown with a flashy quirk arrested. My way gave the perp a chance for redemption while giving the victim some hope of a better tomorrow.

"Hell, since you went and undid my work, you know three of the perps married their former victims and changed to advocate against what they once represented. One pair likes to invite me over for dinner now and then. My point is, I hide the victims to protect them and try to redeem the perpetrator. Sometimes the police get involved, sometimes they don't."

The detective raised an eyebrow. "First we couldn't get you to talk, now we get a speech. Thanks

to the dean pointing out the loophole, there isn't really anything we can try you on. Just please don't make this a habit."

"Bit late for that. My best friends say I have a saving people thing."

"That is a good thing, considering you're going to be enrolled into the Yuuei Hero course," the dean said with a smile.

"Wait, run that by me again," the teen said as he jerked around to look at the furry dean.

"Did you truly think I would allow such a promising potential hero to show up on my radar only to let him slip away?"

"And what if I don't want to be a Yuuei student?"

"Well it's quite simple," the dean said, his smile beginning to send a shiver down Able's spine. "You can either come to Yuuei and learn to be a proper hero, or the kind detective here can ignore everything I just said and book you for vigilantism and assault with a deadly weapon. The choice is yours."

Chapter End Notes

The bar idea isn't something that's canon. I don't think. Don't really know how Japan does it, but in my home state and in Texas, near a college you could find a plethora of bars. I think one small one wouldn't cause any harm really. And yes, I did need to add a Naruto reference. Now see if you can find the tfs one.

A Swing and a Misfire

Chapter Summary

previously on the legend of- oh, wrong franchise.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Shinso Hitoshi took a draw of his medicine, the harsh smoke making him choke and cough slightly. It had been a week since Rumi and Mina blew up his phone saying that Able was coming to UA. Their green-eyed friend had somehow earned a full scholarship from Yuuei for "displaying the truest values of a hero," along with having All Might himself sponsor him. It was overkill, but it did stop the hecklers from harassing them.

At least, it would have, had they not spirited him away to who knows where to test and catch him up with the class he was joining. They hadn't even allowed his classmates to know of his presence, only sending Rumi, Pony, and Mina back to the dorms with Aizawa. Hitoshi couldn't even ask anyone about it because, apparently, Rumi wasn't even supposed to have told him. She had anyway, since she knew Able and he were closer than brothers, but that was beside the point.

He took another drag of his prescription. Severe social anxiety, the therapist had said, telling him to intake the THC-leaden plant product twice a day if he was stressed out beyond his normal limits and needed to calm down. This allowed him to avoid panic attacks.

Honestly, he hated it: the smell, the taste, the looks. He had to carry the prescription card with him wherever he went. It was kind of annoying to him, judged for his quirk and judged for how he handled being judged for his quirk. Not his fault he hadn't won the genetic lottery. Though to be fair, none of his friends really did. Mina had a mutation on top of her emitter quirk, Rumi and Able just had their mutations, and...

'Don't go there, Hitoshi,' he thought, biting down on the heavy sorrow that tried to rear up. A drop of water hit his face, causing him to look up. No clouds, no air pressure or humidity. A bright light caught his eye, hitting him in the corner of his eye. Turning slightly to see what was the cause, the dooby fell from his mouth as his jaw slackened.

There, to the side of the 1-B dorms, in the early morning sunlight, was Pony Tsunotori, in tight daisy duke cut jeans that showed off all of her meaty, well-toned legs and a flannel shirt rolled up and tied under her bosom, allowing Shinsou to see the muscles on her back move and tense as she scrubbed grime off her Harley Davidson Nightrider XLR8, the shiny black finish reflecting the

harsh light around her like a halo of divinity.

The innocent American immigrant probably didn't realize that she was showing off her curves to a dorm half filled with horny young adults. Though with those curves, she could make any sane person cry. The way her clothes clung to her sides, the only thing Hitoshi's intellect could provide him was one thought:

Oh no, she's hot.

"FUUUUUUuuuuu—ack!" Able yelled before he hit the wall again.

Apparently, Nezu and All Skeleton wanted to see how far his durability went, so for the last five days, he had had the All American Reject slap him around enough times that even a pinball would say "dude." All Might wasn't using his full power, thank heavens, but he could still feel the impact of his body and the groans of his joints as his body wounded the poor brick wall. He groaned as he slid from the crater his landing made in the wall that unfortunately had decided to get in the way.

Was it too late to take the jail option?

He sat up and fought to get to his feet. Five days of no sleep and being slapped around by the literal strongest man in the world combined into a massive headache. He was so tired that he couldn't see straight. He put his hand on the wall to support himself as he staggered a bit. He was pretty sure he was hallucinating 'cause there was a cloud of pale white mist with yellow eyes watching him. He blinked, confirming his addled mind needed sleep, as the cloud was gone when he looked again. He took a step to try and walk back to the overpowered Lich king, but sadly his path was impeded when the wall finally succumbed to force and gravity.

"Fuck it, I'm taking a nap."

"Quite durable, isn't he, Mr. Yagi?"

"Indeed, he certainly knows how to take a punch. Do you truly believe he's what I'm seeking for my successor? I will admit, he has a lot of the qualities I'm looking for, but he does have a record."

"Oh pish, Mr. Yagi. We both know we were able to clear that. Besides, did you not see how ready Miss Tsunotori was to fight her way to see him? She was ready to fight a war just to thank him. The boy has the heart of a hero."

"Forgive me if I remain unconvinced," the large man said as he deflated into steam.

The dean happily smiled that evil little smile of his. "Then perhaps you should spend some time with the boy. Internships are coming up and it would be nice to get an intern offer from the Number One, no? Perhaps the touch of an older generation could help you train him as you decide?"

"Y-you can't be serious! You plan to get him involved!" the large American wannabe all but shouted in fear, paling at the thought.

The dean turned and began walking towards the entrance of the training grounds. "Oh please, Mr. Yagi. I've had this planned out since we met the boy. That he continues to impress me only makes the deal sweeter."

He stopped and looked over his shoulder, his smile sinister. "However, before you go, I would like to see how he does against someone his own age. Have him meet Mirio Togata, Shoko Todoroki, and Katsuki Bakugou at the arena. This will give us a good starting line for his training. After all, just being durable doesn't equate to being a good hero; one must know how to lose."

Aizawa was tired and really wanted a vacation. Once again, the hot heads of his class were clashing like mad hounds. He wondered if they were going to start dating; after all, that was how he and Hizashi had started. He had come here to collect one hot head and one cold shoulder for Nezu's pet problem child's test, yet he had been standing at the threshold for five minutes watching a bunny, a bomb, and a robot argue like children.

The robot, his class president, kept chopping the air like he was in some karate dojo, trying to actively restore order while the bunny was screaming at the bomb over the last team exercise they had been paired together for. It had been a major failure due to the blond bomb's ego. He had tried to strong-arm the exercise, claiming that he was the strongest so he didn't need a "rabbit slut's" help. He didn't even get past the first puzzle of the test and got them both a failing grade on the exercise. Aizawa would never admit it, but it was actually rather amusing. He thought his boyfriend was going to pee himself, he had been laughing so hard.

With a sigh and an activation of his quirk, he quickly got everyone's attention. "Bakugou, Todoroki, come with me. Everyone else, do what you want. I don't care."

"The fuck do you need me for? I'm not done digging into this fucking slut about how she fucking failed us!" the bomb screamed.

"The fuck—" the rabbit started.

"Bakugou, Usagiyama isn't at fault; you are. Usagiyama wasn't able to act before you failed the exercise. She literally had no way to fail the test because you, in your idiotic arrogance, thought your quirk is God's gift to mankind. It is my duty as a teacher to remind you that it is not." He glared at the blond bomber. "Now get off the table, stop insulting your classmates, and come with me. Unless you wish to find yourself expelled from the university. I'm sure there are plenty of General Studies students who could make better use of your slot." The professor turned to the bunny. "Inform Todoroki to meet us at the out front. She has five minutes." Aizawa then turned to leave, having said his piece.

The professor, the cold shoulder, and the bomb managed to get to the stadium with relative ease, relative as the hot head continued to try and make it sound like he was blameless. Aizawa sighed, wondering what deity he had pissed off in his past life to warrant his need to deal with spoiled children. Knowing his luck, it was probably Nezu.

The golf cart wasn't loud enough to drown out the growling of the angry bomb, sadly, but it did allow Shota Aizawa time to think. Katsuki Bakugou wasn't necessarily a bad student. The kid was smart and could plan, but he preferred to go it alone. If someone challenged his so-called "dominance" as future number one, he would lash out with noise, be it his verbose sailor's vernacular or with his party-popper sweat. His pride was going to be his undoing if the kid didn't reign it in.

Both of his problem children had this issue of pride. Todoroki took pride only in her ice, never allowing it to thaw around herself, guarding her frozen heart like a winter keep. Bakugou, however, simply seemed to believe he was a gift from the heavens that could do no wrong. Both could very easily fall to villainy if their vanity wasn't handled correctly.

Aizawa had tried several times to investigate their backgrounds, but everything he had tried seemed to only reach some form of dead end, from being blocked by a school administration who deleted any known records other than grades, to police that he was pretty sure were taking slides from the side. He had tried going through his old friend Jocasta Pérez, aka Nebula, but recent information revealed why he never got anything from her. To think his friend had fallen so far.

They finally arrived at the stadium and parked the cart at the entrance of the field, and Aizawa was going to sleep, now that one growling bomb and a cold shoulder had been delivered to a skeleton

and a chimera, who were talking to the third year Mirio Togata or "Lemillion" in the center of the field

Shota would deny that he was curious about the student Nezu was placing in his class, though he still had done some digging on the name he had been given. One report about an expulsion during freshman year, then a quite obviously faked police investigation that further investigation showed said cop was later arrested for altering legal documents. The boy brought many questions to mind and hardly any answers.

The death of his mother had caught Shota's attention the most, a victim of the Q1N1 outbreak. He had interviewed the doctors that had tried to treat her about the boy. Everything he found seemed to conflict hard with what the school had tried to portray the boy as. However, there was something that caught his attention, something that seemed to reach out and absolutely grab his eyes. Inko Hikitsuga and Mitsuki Takihatsu were both Yuuei graduates from the General and Support

Course.

Inko had majored in business and was doing a side course in law when she had met a Hisashi Midoriya and was soon married. She managed to earn her Associate degree before her pregnancy caused her to leave the school. As it turned out, Takihatsu had met a Masaru Bakugou and also left after her bachelor degree. Aizawa had set up a time to talk to Mitsuki Takihatsu over the phone just the day before for the coming Friday at lunch. This might be his break to learn more about this Midoriya, as well as finally get the chance to learn what the Aldera school had kept hidden.

Able stood inside the room the dean had told him to stay in as Nezu went to greet the three students he was supposed to try himself against. He couldn't help but to be excited: fighting All Might was one thing, but fighting someone his own speed was another. For one, he might actually be able to land a good hit! Maybe they'd let him test his mettle against Eraserhead or Midnight! No! Cementoss! Was he even capable of fighting someone like Thirteen?

A knock on the door pulled him from his thoughts. "What?"

The small, smiling face of the dean poked into the room and eyed him. "Good, you're ready! I hope you rested well yesterday. This is the last test I have for you at the school, so do your best!"

"What's the test?" Able asked as he adjusted the cheap MMA gloves he had been given.

"Quite simply, I want to see how you deal with a villain, an overwhelming force, and a friendly spar. Depending on how you deal with each, we'll have your future training tailored to fit your weaknesses outside of your academics."

"Ok, who are my testers?"

"For the villain, Katsuki Bakugou. For the overwhelming fo—"

"Wait. Katsuki Bakugou? Son of Mitsuki and Masaru Bakugou?"

"Oh, you know him?" the dean asked, tilting his head.

"Heh, something like that. How hard can I go?" Able asked as he cracked his knuckles.

"I will allow anything treatable by Recovery Girl. Don't go further," the dean said, narrowing his eyes as he pushed the door fully open, "There is a history between you and him. You mentioned a former bully when we were visiting the police station; this was him?"

"Has anyone ever told you you're too smart?" Able asked, stretching his shoulder across his broad chest. "Let's just say I know the price and let it rest there."

"You know I will find out, yes?" the chimera said as he tilted his head.

"Fuckin' knock yourself out. Not something I want to discuss. Now, the other two?"

"Well, we will have an upperclassman who is about to receive his Master's degree in a few fields other than the hero course. We also have a challenge for you; we need you to get a classmate to realize her full quirk." The chimera closed his eyes and sighed as he crossed his arms. "If you cannot, it won't be a black mark against you, but she will be expelled. One cannot become a hero if they don't know their limits."

Able nodded in understanding. It made sense, as logically, if you hold back too much in a situation

where lives were on the line, it could become quite nasty. "Got a name?"

"Shoko Todoroki."

Katsuki had to admit, he was pissed off. Not only had the stupid hobo of a teacher force him to stop before he put the rabbit bitch in her place, he had him standing in a field with a fucking smiling dandy and frostbite bitch. The fuck was the point of this? He had better things to do than stand here like some kind of side show extra. He could be working on showing those loser's how outclassed they were compared to him. He was THE top dog and the world needed to know that.

"Oi! Ass clowns, why the fuck are we here for? If we're just here to look pretty, I'm leav—" Katsuki cut himself off as a cold shiver went down his spine. He could hear a voice that he hadn't heard in three and a half years, the only person to beat him even when Katsuki got the jump on him. He shouldn't be here; he was a villain! There was no way! The school had even made sure the world knew he was a piece of shit! The voice grew louder from the dark tunnel entrance of the stadium, heavy footfalls echoing loudly as dread pooled in the pit of his stomach.

"...man, bring me a dream, make him the cutest that I've ever seen. Give him two lips like roses and clover then tell him that his lonely nights are over," the voice sang as a large man with thick corded muscles that rippled with every step and dark, verdant green hair braided into cornrows that hung from the back of his head down to the middle of his neck. A happy smile was stretched over his face as the hulking figure stared directly at Katsuki as he walked out onto the field. "Sandman, I'm so alone. Don't have nobody to call my own, so please turn... on... your magic beam. Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream. Hello... Kitty Kat."

Katsuki saw red as he blasted off from where he stood. With a guttural roar, he flew at the larger teen, intending to reassert the dominance he had lost, to remind this overconfident chump of his place at Katsuki's feet. He smirked when he let loose a powerful explosion right in the center of the bastard's face, feeling the shockwave of thunder the explosion brought into existence ripple through him. He had done it! He beat the shitstai—

A hand wrapped around his wrist and held him in place, making Katsuki widen his eyes. "Really Kitty Kat? Did our last fight teach you nothing?"

"Deku!" Katsuki replied through gritted teeth. He spit into the man's face as the smoke cleared. His eyes widened before an evil grin spread over his face. "Learned nothing? The fuck you talking about, you worthless shit? Let me show you what I've learned! FLASHBANG! " he shoved his

hand into Deku's face and used the explosive sweat in his palm to release a bright flash of white light right in the shitstain's eyes making him curse as the villain stepped back. The hand holding him released, and Katsuki took advantage of the slip, using his explosions to bounce around to the larger man's back where he blasted up into the air and used his explosions to add force to his drop as he lifted his foot to try and land a devastating kick to the top of the accursed villain's head. He would regret ever thinking he was worthy of anything but licking Katsuki's boots. A hand caught his foot, surprising the hell out of the Blond Bomber.

"Cute. No one ever thought to go for my eyes. Heh, you're an absolute dumbass if you think my eyes were an exploit here. Newsflash: your bombs are loud and all I had to do was wait for you to hit me. Now, I'm about to do what is known as a pro-gamer move." Katsuki's eyes widened again as he was whipped out of the air and slammed bodily into the ground, bouncing slightly as the force was displaced into the soil.

He wasn't given respite as he was slammed into the ground on his back, feeling the vertebrae click and pop in his spine, the force driving spit from his mouth. He lost count of how many times he was slammed into the ground like a ragdoll, the world was spinning and the ringing in his ears sounded like a cacophony of telephones ringing in his head. When the hand finally released him, he sagged into the crater with a high pitched groan. "Puny bomb," he heard Deku say in disgust.

Bakugou struggled to get up. "YOU WON'T BEAT ME! I DON'T LOSE!"

"Oh Kitty Kat, you've been a loser ever since you've decided to use your quirk on someone you deemed lesser. Just. Like. A villain." Able brought his large, brick-sized fist down on Katsuki's temple, and he saw no more.

Able looked up at the other two. "Y'all saw that right? He attacked me. Pretty sure I didn't do much more than break a rib." Bakugou groaned in the crater and Able kicked him. "Aaaanyways. Lemillion, how the hell are you? If it's been a day, it's been a year." He let a friendly smile stretch across his face as he offered a fist outwards. "Still working for that stiff, Nighteye?"

As the blond dandelion laughed and walked forward and bumped fists with Izuku, the other teen scrunched her face up in what looked to Able as confusion. The scar made it difficult to really read her, but the tilted head helped. She was actually kind of adorable in a puppy kind of sense. He felt an intense urge to give her a head pat.

"In fact, Sir still hasn't forgotten the joke you pulled on him," Lemillion said as he scratched his head.

"Well, if he would just take that beautiful blueberry on a date and relax, he might avoid that heart attack he's gonna have when he pulls that stick out his ass. Heard he just had his thirty-fifth birthday, so send him my regards, yeah?" Able turned back to the present damsel and looked her hard in the face. "You look an awful lot like Fuyumi Todoroki. You her cousin?"

The girl tensed slightly. "How do you know my sister?"

"Oh! You're Shoko? The way Fuyumi talked about you, I thought you'd be smaller, to be honest. 'Cute little sister' this and 'cute little sister' that. Will say this though; your dear old dad is a right prick. Thinks being a hero is about popularity and being the strongest, much like Kitty Kat." He gave Shoko a queer look. "You don't seem upset that I am insulting your father."

"Why would I? I hate my father."

"I see. Just so you know, if I told just the right person what Fuyumi told me, pretty sure he'd have some legal issues facing him. Does he hurt you?" He pressed forward.

Shoko blinked. "What?"

"Does he hurt you?" Able asked, staring at her hard, her eyes narrowed as she tensed further. "Fuyumi said he tries to live vicariously through you." The girl didn't answer his question, looking around with wide eyes like she was looking for an escape. 'Just a bit more Izuku.' "So I'm asking, does he hurt you? Do you feel safe near him?"

"And just why in the hell would I tell you that?" the girl snapped loudly, her left side lightly igniting. "Why in the hell do you want to know if my bastard of a father is an abusive asshole that beat me since I was four while driving my mother to insanity?" Ice began creeping up her right side. "Why would I tell you that the only reason I've obeyed the conceited asshole is because he pays for Fuyumi's apartment and Natsuo's studies abroad? Why would you want to know that? Did he pay you to get me to use my fire? Did he—" she cut off when very large arms wrapped around her, holding her tightly to a very firm chest. She was so shocked she failed to notice the heavy smell of burnt pork for a few moments before her wet eyes widened. "Let. Me. Go."

"No."

"I'm going to freeze you solid."

"Do it. I'm not letting go."

"Why are you even hugging me?" she cried out. "Why are you pushing me like this? Why do you care?"

"Because no one should suffer alone." Izuku leaned his head back and looked down into her heterochromatic eyes. "That hole you dug yourself into for safety? It's so dark and lonely, isn't it? My despair isn't the same, no, but I went through hell myself. I promised a friend that if I ever found someone in the same situation she was, that I would walk through hell itself to save them. So freeze me, hit me, do something, anything and get it all out of your system, then you are going to give big sis a call and tell her Able said it's time."

Shoko stood there staring up at his face, constantly blinking. Each time her eyes closed, they opened to show wetter and wetter surfaces. "Please let me go. Please," she choked out quietly.

"Todoroki, what you're feeling right now, don't bottle it. That lump in your throat, don't fight it. Please, let it out. Don't hold it back."

She stared at him, her face screwing up as she fought with her emotions. "It's not fair," she mumbled as she sniffed and hid her face in Able's shirt. After a few moments her shoulders were shaking as he felt his shirt grow wet. "Why can't it be fair?" she sobbed into his shirt.

"That's it, let it all out," Able said as he rubbed her back. He waved Togata over and gestured with his eyes at the heavily burned arm he had wrapped tightly around the girl who was beginning to sob harder into his chest. Togata's eyes widened as he turned slightly green when he saw the heavy blisters and black patches of burnt skin. The upperclassman started nodding frantically before slipping into the ground with his quirk and shooting quickly to where the teachers were standing.

Able sighed. "Did he really need to leave behind his clothes?"

It took a moment for Shoko to calm down and then even more when she noticed how badly burned he had gotten for snapping her out of her angry hysteria. After a collapse on his butt, Able explained how he met Fuyumi.

"It's actually kind of funny. I was skipping school one day cause I wanted to visit my friend and on my way back home, I came across one of her kids trying to get a cat out of a tree, but I think I scared him more than that cat was when I offered to help get the cat down. Let's face it, I'm not

tiny. Some children find my size intimidating. So anyways, I help this kid and walk him back to his school and this young woman comes marching out of the building to the beat of war drums. I'll tell you this, Todoroki, when I first met her, Fuyumi scared the fucking piss out of me. For such a small woman, I'm pretty sure I saw the Shinigami behind her with the way she looked at me. So anyways, I give the kid a very light push toward the school and get ready to go on my merry way, read: run the fuck away. It's hard to stop me when I get moving, but your sister froze the ground under my feet and made me slip.

"So I'm laying there thinking I'm about to die as I see stars while she's really chewing me out as if I'm some delinquent that chose to make her school my turf. I'm telling you, that woman is scary as hell. So anyways, when she finally let me go, needless to say, I got out of Dodge. That cat though. Not a day later, the same damn cat was in the exact same tree. I got it down and, with a hung head, went back to the school your sister worked at. She chewed me about again for showing up again until I showed her the cat. Three times I returned that damned cat before we found out that the cat had a very weak teleport quirk and would essentially ghost out of its kennel and out of the school.

"After a while, Fuyumi stopped glaring at me in suspicion, but it wasn't until I threw a mugger away from her that she started to talk to me. This was... I dunno two? Maybe three years ago? Anyways, she kinda became a tutor of sorts for me and my friends, really helped us during our senior finals. She eventually told us about the arrangement between the burning o-ring and your mother. My best friend actually had to use his quirk on me and Miru to keep us from charging directly into your house and beating the flaming flamingo until he had to eat through a straw. Fuyumi begged us not to act until we could get her 'cute baby sister' from the flaming dog shit's control. I think I can do just that now."

He pointed over at the two figures walking towards them. "Believe it or not, those two are more powerful legally than your dear old daddy. The Lich that looks like he belongs in a crypt? He works real close to All Might and just has to say the word. Nezu, however—I'm not sure there is a limit to what that eldritch horror can do."

"Now then." Able winced as he sat up, aggravating his burns. "We need to talk about that fire." He held up his hand. "I know, I know. You don't want to use it, but answer me this: who's body is that?" He tapped her gently on the shoulder.

She followed his finger then looked at him with confusion. "Mine?" "Ah, it's your body. You sure? You sure it's yours?"

"Where are you going with this?"

"Simple. Quirks are a part of the body. Ergo, if it's his fire you refuse to use, it must be his body too."

"What?" Shoko asked, clearly not following him.

"It's really quite elementary. My mutation belongs to my body, not my bastard of a father nor my saint of a mother. It's mine. My strength, my weakness, my power. Does Endeavor live in your body? That's the only way your fire could ever be his. Plus, your ice has a downfall your fire neutralizes. You're telling me you're going to freeze up while sticking it to the man, potentially leaving people to die? Do you not want to be a hero?"

Shoko's eyes widened. "I want to be a hero"

Able smiled kindly. "Good! Now, I ain't saying use it to fight, but training with it and using it to negate your freeze? It could prevent this," he gestured to his burned arm and side, "from happening again accidentally. Hell, it could be used in counter-firing, which would help firefighters. My point is, you limit yourself too much with your quirk."

Shoko sighed and hugged her knees. "Will... will you help me?"

Able chuckled, and patted her on the head, ruffling her red and white ponytail slightly. "Even if you hadn't asked, I would've."

"What do I call you?"

"Oh! I'm so sorry. I never told you my name. I'm Izuku Midoriya, but I prefer being called Able."

Chapter End Notes

You can find me hanging out on Discord in Epsi's Hoard , I'm the three halos in a trench coat

Special thanks to Raef Darksbane, from the above mentioned server, for editing this

for me

Rabbit on a hot tin roof

Chapter Summary More talking!

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

When they explained the situation to the undead and the mink, the lich seemed to vibrate with fury. The mink, however, truly scared Able shitless; He cackled. It wasn't the fake cackle you would see in an old Hollywood movie, but rather a true maniacal cackle that came before you saw your life flash before your eyes. Able's eyes grew wide as lightning danced in the clouds of his imagination, seeing the dean in a long black cape, throwing his head back as the cackle became a full bodied laugh.

Just as quickly as it had started, it was over. Nezu calmly pulled out his phone and began shooting emails while Able, the All American Wannabe, Todoroki, and Bethesda all stared at him with looks of terror. When he turned around and asked if they were ready to do the final test, the blond dandy and Able just stood there and stared at the dean.

The Westaboo cleared his throat. "I shall endeavor to bring Endeavor to justice while you observe Mr. Midoriya's—"

Nezu held up a paw, "the United Nations is sending a Investigator. We do not need the Number One's agency involved."

The lich looked shocked before paling. "W-which one?" "The Wasp, from the U.N.B.I.T.C.H."

Toshinori swore aloud in English.

Able looked at hot'n'cold and Bethesda who looked as confused as he was. "Hey, um who is the wasp and what's unbitch?"

Nezu smiled at Able, who shivered at the sight. "To answer your question, Mr. Able, the U.N.B.I.T.C.H. is the United Nations Bureau for Investigation of Turbulent Criminal Heroes. Marguerite Lambert, who happens to be one of the youngest investors they have, has earned the nickname of The Wasp. She is quick to sting, is quite relentless in her investigations, and she doesn't take any flak. I believe she just recently earned a promotion to Senior Investigator last May."

Yoshi looked at Nezu like he was insane, which the dean was. "She tore into my- er All Might's agency because a former secretary filed a sexual harassment charge against Sasaki of all people. The man has as much interest in carnal desires as a bowl of mini wheats."

Able laughed, "Oh yeah, I remember that. The headlines all reported how the lady was trying to leech off your fame by slandering it. Anyways, tell her to seek out Fuyumi Todoroki and use the name Able."

"Oh, Mr. Able, you seem to be misunderstanding something. She will come to you first, as you are the whistle-blower. And since you are here, well, she will know where to hunt for you.

Regardless, Mr. Togata, kindly take Bakugou to the infirmary. It appears we shall have to work on restraint for you Mr. Able."

Bethesda just shrugged and left with the explosive blond over his shoulder as Nezu clapped his paws. "Now, I believe some rest is in order. Mrs. Lambert shall be here within the next week and that ball will roll soon enough, but I believe it is time for you to meet your class-slash-dorm mates."

The American Gladiator held up his hand for a second. "Sir, if you don't mind, I would like to talk to Mr. Midoriya alone for the moment. Shouldn't take long."

Nezu peered up at the tall man before shrugging slightly. "Have him home by eight."

"So...are you gonna tell me where we're going or—" "Not much further, young man—"

"—or you can talk over me, that's cool too."

The lich turned and looked at Able with a queer look in his eyes. "Do you see this as a game? Your very life hangs in Nezu's paws, and yet you quip and joke like there is some universal punchline."

"Oh, there is a punchline alright, old man. I'm the punchline. My life has been hell since the day I was born. I've been bruised, beaten down by someone who I thought once was a friend and the one time I raised my hands in defence, the one time I fought back, I was charged with assault and EXPELLED from a school. That just so happened to be the week after the only supportive thing in my life, the only person who ever believed in me, died from a virus that only infected emitters. I have since then had people spit at me, scorn me, burn me, and yet here I stand. I quip because, by Amateratsu's shiny left tit, if I don't I'm going to lose control. I protect because other than Miru, Xeno, and Insomnia, I have literally nothing in this world so it's better me than them!" Able stopped and took a breath. "What do you want All Might?"

All Might stared at the boy, his glowing blue eyes shown from the sunken pits that made his face look like a skull. The skeletal man looked hard at the boy before loosing a sigh and sitting down on the grass. "My mentor would have had a much easier time talking to you. You may not realize it, but you act so much like her it's not funny. You know, she laughed in my face when I asked if I could become the symbol of peace? Full belly laughed. And I had believed I had succeeded. The crime rate plummeted to a new low and people were happy again, truly happy. She was the only person I ever knew who came close to being a mother to me."

"What was her name?" Able said, sitting down on the grass beside All Might. "Nana Shimura. The Seventh Wonder: Maverick."

"You're shitting me!"

All might looked at Able in confusion as the boy started to laugh. Before the spark of anger could become a raging inferno in the man's chest, Able held up his hands, and said, "wait, wait" through his wheeze. It was then a small sparkle on the younger man's wrist caught his attention. It looked like a hair band. The elder squinted his eyes, it looked familiar for some reason. It wasn't extravagant, in fact it looked quite old and worn, patched here and there, but the faded color of the simple beads struck Toshinori Yagi with nostalgia. Then his eyes widened.

Maverick hummed beside him as she and Toshinori walked down the sidewalk heading to Nana's favorite ice cream parlor so she could outline more of his training schedule. This had been his fifth

month training under her and he had yet to show proof of it.

As they crossed the street, Toshinori spotted a young child still in her school outfit looking nervous as she tried to reach into the storm drain. She would stand up, push her long green hair out of her face and wipe her eyes with a sniffle before trying to reach back down into the drain. People that walked by her just looked at her before moving on, inking the young Toshinori, as not one of them stopped to offer the little girl a hand.

"Hey Master, that girl... she looks like she's upset." He said, looking up to the woman who was still in her hero outfit.

She leaned over with a smile and softly said, "It's ok, Toshi. Let me take care of this real quick."

She walked over to the young girl and let a kind wide smile reach her eyes as the child noticed her approach. When she was almost a meter from the girl, she knelt down.

"Are you lost, young lady? I am Maverick, a hero and a mum, so it will be alright!" She said, touching the dimple of her smile with the tip of her index finger.

The girl looked nervous and bounced her eyes between the heroine and the storm drain. "Oh, no. I- I'm ok. It's just, I dropped my favorite hair tie in the storm thingy and I can't seem to grab it with my object attraction quirk, so it's probably lost," she said as she looked down with wet eyes.

Maverick palmed her cheek in her glove, "lost your favorite hair tie? Well we certainly can't have that, can we?" She stood up. undid the braid behind her head and pulled her own tie off before shaking her hair free. Holding the tie out in her open palm, she said, "here ya go. This is my favorite hair tie, but you know what? I'd be even happier if it became your new favorite," as she knelt back down.

The young girl's eyes lit up like stars. "Ah! But... it's so pretty! Much prettier than my old one! i-is this really ok?"

Nana laughed and patted her on the head with a nod "Thank you so much, Miss Hero! I'll treasure it forever!"

"My! I couldn't ask for more! Take care young lady," she said, standing up and walking back to where Toshinori stood watching with a small smile. She patted him on the shoulder with a smile, "lets go, Toshinori."

He gave her his biggest grin. "Right!"

As he moved to follow her, he heard behind him, "Your mom is really cool!" causing him to turn back to the girl who was smiling wide at him.

He blushed. "She's... not my...um."

He turned to look at Nana as she walked ahead, the sun hitting her loose hair in such a way that it shone like gems. He thought of all the warm kind smiles she gave him when he pushed his limit, how she would encourage him if he failed, how she would laugh when he goofed. How often she hugged him with a caring smile. He smiled, feeling his heart warm before turning back to the girl. "Thanks. Hey, my name is Toshinori Yagi, what's yours?"

"Inko, Inko Hikitsuga."

"Nice to meet you, Miss. Be careful getting home, ok? Take care!"

"Toshi, what's the hold up?"

"I'm coming!" He yelled before taking off after his master, smiling fondly. 'Mom,huh?'

"—and then I told her I wouldn't do it and the next thing I know, I'm wearing this pink frilly skirt!" All might blinked as he let the memory fade from his mind.

"Young Midoriya, may I ask where you got that bracelet?" The younger male squinted at him. "Why?"

"Please."

"It... it was my mom's favorite. She always wore it, rarely taking it off." He said, rubbing the beaded band tightly with a fond look in his eyes. "I keep it to remind myself of her."

"Inko Hikitsuga."

Able's eyes widened and he glared at All Might in suspicion. "Take care of it, young Midoriya, it is more special than you know."

"Then educate me."

"It was the first time Nana showed me how being a hero really was."

"Wait, you're saying Maverick gave this to my mother? You do realize that's kind of a stretch." The young man said, covering the bracelet. All Might wave it off. "Believe me or not, it's yours now. Treasure it."

"I already do. Sorry about laughing when you told me Maverick was your mentor. It's just, and don't tell her I said this, Miru is a massive nerd over Maverick stuff. We used to sit around her apartment watching old Maverick recordings, like her first interview or that one on the fight between her and lady scissor-hands. Rumi's entire hero persona is based on Maverick." Able stopped and looked to the sky with a small smile. "Himi used to bonk Miru on the head with a pillow whenever Maverick said that line in the interview, the whole 'when you're at your limit, remember why you clench your fist, your origin. Its ok to cry now, that means you can smile all the brighter tomorrow and that makes you stronger—"

"—because in this world, the ones who are smiling are the strongest." All Might finished as he leaned forward and put his elbows on his knees, a soft smile on his face as he looked over the younger man. "Young Midoriya, I confess I am curious about you. What is the dream that keeps you fighting?"

"Hope." "Hope?"

"Yeah. I want people to look at me and feel hope. I want to have them look at me and know all is going to be well, for tomorrow will come. It sounds cheesy, I know, but I don't want to be a hero for fame or glory. I want to be a hero to inspire hope for a brighter tomorrow. I want to be what the definition of hero is, someone who stands for what is right and good, someone who fights the encroaching darkness and helps save people from their demons. If someone asks for help, I want to be that hand that reaches out for them," Able looked down as he said this, a look of sadness and regret flashing across his face. "Like I should've done for Himi."

All Might stood up with a large smile and held his hand down for the boy. "Nezu was right, you are the one I was looking for."

Able gave him a confused look.

"For two years now, I've been looking for a successor. We thought we had one but he didn't have the flame that called to me. You however, do. You were willing to go to prison to save a young girl, you were willing to work yourself into the ground so your friend could be a student at this school. You know what being a hero is truly about and strive to walk that path. You are exactly what I've been looking for in a successor. I ask you, Izuku, 'Able' Midoriya, will you take my mantle as a symbol and work towards a brighter tomorrow?" All might said as he began to buff up, still holding his hand out for the younger man. Able looked at the hand and then to All Might's eyes, looking hard at him before giving the man a smirk.

"Not like I have anything to lose," he grabbed the hand in a firm grip and lifted himself up.

All Might grinned as he patted the young green haired man's shoulders. "There is one more secret I must tell you, Able. My quirk. You already know that it is transferrable and—"

"And you want to pass it on to me." Able stated. He stretched his back before stopping as he noticed All Might's dumbstruck look. "What? You bring me out to a secluded area, ask me to be your successor, it wasn't too far a stretch to do the math. So what, do I need to fight you or...?"

All might just stared at the boy for a moment before throwing his head back and laughing boisterously. "No, young Midoriya, you have to eat one of my hairs."

"Oooh, see that makes more sense. Quirks being genetic, so it would have to transfer through DNA. Wait." He looked at All Might through squinted eyes. "How quickly will you depower?"

"I will keep an ember of the power until its fire dies down unless I overuse it. I am planning on retiring soon regardless, since I am in my fifties now. It's time for the younger generation to step out of my shadow and fight for a better tomorrow. To pick up where I failed."

"Nah you did all right, All Might. Society happens."

"Ha, right you are young Able. Now, EAT THIS!" All Might said, plucking a hair from his head. Able looked at All Might with a deadpan.

"Didja have to say it like that?"

"ABLE!" Mina's squeal could be heard a mile away as the pink skinned alien girl rammed into Able as he stood at the door. He chuckled and spun with the flow of her tackle, holding her to his chest with a barrel laugh.

"Hello to you too, Xeno!" he exclaimed as he looked around the room. Sitting on the couch was a red haired guy with sharp looking teeth, a daffy pikachu looking guy with yellow and black hair and what looked like a stylized lightning bolt, what looked like a girl with a frog mutation, a brunette with a blush and a stiff robot butler who was chopping his arm for some reason. Able gave him a weird look before dismissing him, probably faulty programming.

"Where's Miru?" He asked, looking down at the woman fixed to his side. Thought she'd be—" "Excuse me but—"

"Huh, neat, your robot can talk. Who built him?" He looked at the frog girl. "Bet it was you. You look like you know your way around a machine."

The girl croaked.

"Um... that's not a robot. That's Tenya Iida," The brunette said nervously, "who um...who are

you?"

"If he ain't a robot, he needs to calm down with the arm chopping before I punch him. It's starting to get annoying. As for who I am, unfortunately I'm your new classmate. Name is Izuku Midoriya, but my friends call me Able. My hobbies are working out, gardening, and talking about quirks. I like moonlit walks, fighting, chatting with my friends, fighting, and learning new bartending recipes. I can make a mean buttery nipple and my God, will you stop it with the arm chopping. Seriously! It's wigging me out."

The redhead laughed before raising his hand. "What is your quirk?"

"The asshole doctor said it's Impermeable. I call it Unbreakable. Almost nothing can pierd my skin and my muscles are denser. Went under a quirk mutation recently, so dunno what all I can do right now, but Furball and the All American Reject are going to be working with me to try and help me regain control. Mr Iida, I swear, I am this close to punching you. Stop with the arm chopping!"

"Kaguya Crescent!" shouted a voice before all Able could taste was heel as he flew through a wall. He groaned a "why?" from the bathroom tub on the left end of the house.

"You dont fucking call, you don't fucking text, you go black ops level silent after I find out you got arrested! What the fuck Able? I had to find out from Tsunotori what they busted you for, for fucks sake!"

"Thanks for reminding me," he groaned from the bathtub. "Those pricks never gave me back my beat'em up stick. How ye doing Miru."

"Don't you fucking 'Miru' me, Shit-Brick. Do you know how fucking worried I was?" Rumi exclaimed. "Astro Boy, I swear to God, if you keep chopping that arm, I'm gonna fucking break it. Go masturbate to a rulebook or something, the grownups are talking," she said as she stomped her way into the unconventional tunnel she made.

~inside the lounge room~

The redhead looked at Mina, "so... You two know him?"

"Yup. Me, RuRu, and Insomnia went to high school with him. He's the guy I told Y'all about, the

one who stomped the guys who tried to bully me and RuRu. He might seem brash and abrasive, but he's a r—" *CRASH* "—eally good guy. He is really prote—" "DAMMIT RUMI, THIS WAS MY ONLY FUCKING SHIRT!" "—ctive of his friends and loves to push peo—" "SUCK MY HAIRY RABBIT TAIL, ASSHOLE!" *CRACK SMASH* "—ple. He says a smile is worth a mil —" "COME GET SOME THEN!" "—GOD FUCKING DAMN IT! RUMI USAGIYAMA, IZUKU FUCKING MIDORIYA, IF THE TWO OF YOU DON'T FUCKING KNOCK IT OFF I'M GLUING THE TWO OF YOU TOGETHER TO THE GOD DAMN CEILING!" Mina yelled loudly, getting two "yes ma'ams" in return.

The moon was high in the night sky as Able laid against the ceiling of the Heights Alliance, lost in thought. Lost in wondering where his life was going now that he was oddly in a great place. All Might's successor, a student of Yuuei University, back with his friends in class. He smiled, wondering what his mother and Himi would say if they could see him now.

He reached up and made a grabbing motion at the moon before jumping when he heard a "hey" behind him. Turning slightly, he saw Rumi standing on the slope of the building in pajamas walking towards him.

"Hey yourself, Tiny. What brings you out here?"

"Couldn't sleep," she said before flopping on his broad chest. "You know I missed being able to do this, yeah?"

"You did it all the time at the bar. Why is this different?" He asked as she laid draped across his chest.

"No talking. Shush."

Able shrugged and looked back up at the moon.

"Hey, um... Izuku?" Rumi pushed up against his chest and looked down at him. "You used my name. How much trouble am I in?" He said, cocking a brow.

"More than you know" she said as she giggled slightly.

Able looked at her with a raised eye before shrugging as he closed his eyes and relaxed until he felt soft lips press against his for a moment, making his eyes snap open. Rumi was sitting there blushing in the moonlight with her eyes averted. The sight of her ears lower back showing her vulnerability had to have been one of the cutest sights he'd ever seen her show him.

"Jeez, does fucking nothing make you blush asshole?" She asked, still not looking at him.

"Rumi. Look at me." He said, his voice quiet. Her red eyes, glowing like crimson rubies in the moonlight looked at him for a moment before she turned away and began fiddling with her ear, looking anywhere but at him.

"Izuku, I-I'm not all that good with touchy feely stuff. I've spent the last three days trying to come up with a way to tell you how I felt, but fucking hell. God, I'm bad at this."

"Rumi."

"It's just, you have always been there. My constant, you know. My wall—"

"Rumi."

"And now that you're back, I don't want to lose you again and now I might be moving too fast and —"

"RUMI!" Able yelled, getting her attention, her startled red eyes wide as she turned to face him with a jerk.

"You gonna keep talking or you gonna let me kiss you back?"

Her red eyes widened for a second before a playful smirk grew on her face. "I dunno, talking is entertaining"

Able sighed and pulled her to him and kissed her softly, the kiss slowly getting more heated before they broke it, panting slightly. He looked her right in the eyes, a soft smile on his face. "I like you too, Miru."

She grabbed him and began kissing him again, which he was happy to return, both getting lost in the passion and never noticing the white mist with glowing yellow spots that watched them from a distance before it floated away from them to the dorms of 1-B.

Shinso Hitoshi jerked awake to the sound of a girl crying. He jumped out of his bed, alert and searching his room for and sign of trespass. He was confused when he felt water roll down the side of his head, catching it and rubbing it between his fingers as he turned on his electric lantern/desk lamp. He began to grow paranoid and started checking every nook and cranny of his room. Someone had been in his room. Someone woke him up.

He sniffed the liquid, smelling the saline of tears. He poked his head out the door and looked up and down the halls, never noticing the mist that rolled thinly on the wooden floors. He heard the choked sobs again and it was really starting to get under his skin as the echoes bounced around the hallway. His foot stepped into something cold and wet forcing him to look down. Small marks on the dimly lit floor that looked like water drops trailed from his room and down the hall. The sobbing continued to echo as his pulse beat harder in his veins.

"H-Hello?" he called out, holding the light higher above his head. "Is someone there? It's 3:30 in the morning!" He continued to follow the water, entering into the kitchen and seeing the trail leading to the back door. He sighed and lowered the light, probably Ibarra set off by something Monoma said again. He scratched his back and turned only to see yellow eyes streaking at him with a high pitched scream.

Chapter End Notes

the Nana Shimura scene, much as I wish I could, I can't claim it was my own idea. It's from a comic I found on Google that I believe is from an artist that goes by 'PlusUtraaa' on Tumblr. The comic legit made me cry from how wholesome it felt. So, yeah, credit where credit is due.

I hate writing horror scenes. They always wig me out.

90% of you have figured out what the mist is. If so, kindly don't give it away just yet. It's only the fifth chapter and I have plans.

pSpecial thanks to Irmadbro over in Epsi's Hoard, where I hang out. I'm the three halos in a trench coat

Chapter Summary

Hero Names

I don't know how to summarize too well. Awakening

Hero names

Visitation

Relatively short chapter this week, couldn't finish after I got told my mother was in the ER again.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

0900 March 3rd 23XX

Musutafu City, Shizuoka Prefecture, Chubu Region, Japan

Aizawa sighed quietly as he knocked on the door to the large, oddly shaped , two storied house. According to the file, this was where his most troublesome student had been reared up and the only lead he had to find an answer to learning about his new delinquent. Though everything pointed to him belonging in prison, between the assault, the attempted murder, and running down the street stoned off his ass, naked.

Nezu had told him this young man had more hero potential than anyone in his class and Aizawa wasn't really seeing it. The fight with Katsuki Bakugou last night was nail one. The man had egged the explosive boy on, though that wasn't really hard, and then firmly put him down and into traction. The whole fight had not inspired much confidence from the professor.

On the other hand, in sheer minutes of just talking to Todoroki, he had managed to push her into using her fire, something the staff had failed to do. He was even willing to take on an injury just to give her a shoulder to break down on and helped get her into a better mindset. He even went through the right channels for proper legal actions to help the girl instead of trying to do it himself. In short, Izuku Midoriya was a conundrum, one he really wanted to get to the bottom of.

Aizawa was pulled out of his thoughts when the door opened slightly and an attractive blonde haired woman peered through the opening. Her red eyes squinted in confusion until recognition dawned on her face, right before an angry scowl formed. Aizawa could see a lot of her son in her face, her cheeks and eyes especially.

"Mrs. Mitsuki Bakugou?"

"What did he do?" she said with a sigh, fully opening the door, revealing that she had a small blanket draped over her shoulders, hiding much of her torso. "It's Ms. Takihatsu by the way."

"Noted. As to your question he let his anger drive him to attack a hero applicant that the dean found and was testing. However, he was goaded so he isn't in trouble. For now. However, it's his relationship with this potential student that causes me worries."

"Tell me, was it a large man with dark green hair?" She asked, her eyes widening slightly. "Yes?" the shaggy haired man said in a bored tone.

"Let me go put Shizuko down for her nap and I'll fix some tea. Got a preference?" She said, stepping back into the house and fixing something under the blanket. Shizuko? He had not been aware Bakugou had a sibling. It was when the middle-aged mother removed the blanket that he saw it for what it really was: a nursing cover. A newborn. She turned and invited him into the house with a wave, letting him see the babe in the crook of her arm. One thing stood out to him, as the baby gurgled out a yawn: bright green hair with blonde tips.

Able's eyes snapped open when the creaking began, rousing him from the blissful lands of unconsciousness and into the waking world. His eyes flickered from side to side, looking for the source. It was when he heard the creaking and cracks popping under him that he felt panic. Making a quick decision, he lightly tossed Miru to the side, getting a squawk of indignation from the bunny before she screamed as he fell into the building as the roof gave out under him. Whoever owned the really expensive looking bed got bounced out of it as he fell through it and the floor beneath it. He did see a rather nice bum from the recently ejected girl and heard a scream.

He was pretty sure his shoulder was dislocated when he tried to grab something to stop his fall, which was odd. Normally he could easily lift his own body weight with no issue. His back slammed into the third story's floor in a room that looked vaguely like a traditional Japanese style furnishing, caught in ice that soon began to crack. He swore loudly as another wave of ice spread over him as he fell through the floor and through the second floor, into his worst nightmare.

Steam hit his face seconds before he felt all his strength leave him as he sunk into the near boiling water and hit the bottom with an almighty splash. He could feel the pressure of his weight, more than it should be, settle on his body as he touched the bottom of the ceramic lined hot tub. He

struggled and fought against his own weight, but for all his straining, he couldn't even lift a finger. His vision started to blur with red edges as he fought, fighting with everything he had to move; to suppress his panic.

Hecouldn'tbreatheHecouldn'tbreatheHecouldn'tbreatheHecouldn'tbreatheHecouldn'tbreatheHecouldn'tbreatheH —

Lips found his own and air was forced into his lungs. He opened his eyes to see an angel floating in the water above him. Everything was blurry and his head was still fuzzy. Another kiss forced air into his lungs, barely letting any oxygen into his chest from the massive weight of his body. This time he could see her face as his fog lifted momentarily on a panicked Rumi before she jerked back up to the surface two meters from his face.

He felt something pressing hard on his face before AIR! His vision snapped into focus as he began to cough into the face mask that was snapped to his face. He was still boiling, immobile, in the water, but at least now he could somewhat breathe. His chest screamed from the effort of just lifting the weight of his muscles.

Hands scrambled around his wrists as though to grasp them, and tried to pull him from the water, but none seemed able to get under his arms which confused him. He only weighed Ninety-seven kilos, why did he feel so heavy? Why couldn't he or anyone move him?

He strained his muscles again, trying to lift his arm, but he felt as strong as a newborn kitten under the water. It was why he never went swimming, water sapped his strength and made his impenetrable skin penetrable. It took away everything that made him strong. Aquaphobic quirk nullification the quirk doctor had called it. It didn't remove his quirk, and seeing as it was a mutation, it was still active, but some part of his mind suppressed the power of it all when he got wet.

A pair of large hands grasped his sides and forced their hands under him before, with a hard tug, hauled him bodily out of the hot water and onto the walkway that cracked from the weight. Intense heat blasted over him, drying him almost near instantly, leaving him shivering, from the sudden change of temperature on his skin and the chemicals of panic coursing in his blood.

Able snapped open his eyes and looked at the hole he fell through before shouting loudly through his shivers, "what the fuck!"

Katsuki Bakugou snapped his eyes open and began to look around in a panic. Where was he? Light teal walls, bright white ceiling, obnoxious old lady, furry mouse thing, computer, soft bed, and full body cast. He was in the fucking nurses office. His whole body throbbed in pain with each beat of his heart.

e

"Before you try to set off an explosion, do know I put a mild kinetic shielding on the inside. Any form of force triggered inside your cast will be redirected to you. In a way a third rate villain like yourself can understand: if you blow up, you only hurt yourself." The mouse thing said, its beady eyes staring into Katsuki's soul. He felt like he was under a microscope, everything he was was being observed. "Good, glad you understand. Now, this is the third time that you have attacked a classmate. I would have never let you in had the board of directors not gone over my head and signed your admittance papers. The fools have been dealt with, so this won't happen again, but irrelevant. I am the dean of this university and as such, I decide who I let into my school, and you Katsuki Bakugou, don't belong in my school." Bakugou eyes flared with rage, how dare this half pint abomination— "...claim you aren't good enough to be a hero? Oh quite easily. I dare, because I know your history." The creature climbed up onto the bed and walked up the front of the cast so that he could look down into the slit in the plaster for Bakugou's eyes.

"I dare, simply because to me, you are worthless. In terms of power, you could maybe rank in the low one hundreds, but your attitude is severely lacking. You would lose your license the second you attacked another hero or heaven's forbid, a hostage. You show no remorse, no sincerity. You claim to be the best, but instead you are the near absolute worst piece of trash that has graced my halls. You attacked Miss Usagiyama, you attacked Mr Kaminari, you attacked Miss Uraraka, you blatantly ignore directions from your teachers during training exercises and almost fatally wounded Miss Jiro. On the first day! Then just yesterday, I watched you attack an innocent prospective student I personally scouted with the intent to cause irreparable harm."

Bakugou stared at the creature, not understanding. Didn't this cryptid know that Deku was a villain? He had to attack him! A hero never loses!

"I was curious what past you have with Midoriya, so I did some digging. Minor interviews, nothing they won't heal from and do you know what I found out? You were the aggressor in every situation. One witness even said you mocked the boy the very day after his mother was buried. You NEVER would have been allowed on this campus had we known how much of a tyrant you were and are. You treat everyone as if you're the top dog, well allow me to shatter that notion: the alpha wolf? Thats me. I own this school, I have contacts in every major government, I am close friends with the deans in every hero university in the world. I can very easily make your future nothing more than flipping burger patties instead of being a hero."

Katsuki's red eyes glared at the rat, not physically able to quell the shiver of fear that went down his spine. This rat thinks he can frighten HIM ? He was THE Katsuki fucking Bakugou, future number one! He groaned loudly in pain as the explosion he let off in his hand ricochet inside his cast, breaking something in his hand. He would have cursed, but the cast held his jaw tightly immobile.

"Hmmm, see what I mean? You simply do not listen. Tsk tsk. Now, I'm going to tell you what is going to happen and you, child, are going to listen. You WILL be going to therapy sessions with Hound Dog. You WILL be doing janitorial work for two months as punishment for your unprovoked attacks. You WILL formally apologize with a five thousand word document for each

person: Midoriya, Jiro, Kaminari, Usagiyama and Uraraka, in the dogeza. I will proofread each apology and if one does not fit the standard of formality and sincerity, I will put them all through a cross shredder and you will try again. Should you refuse, I will simply have you expelled and blacklisted so hard you will have to fight just to have a position as a fry cooker." The rat peered down once again into Katsuki's fiery red eyes.

"Meanwhile, I am issuing a formal investigation to your former schools that oddly enough I am now the joint owner of. Apparently there has been some complaints raised against each of your schools about the high number of people that become villains graduating from Aldera alone and it makes me suspicious." The rat hopped off the bed and began walking to the door. "By the way. You will be healing without any medical quirk. The quirkless way, if you will. Your mother is already aware and has given consent. So in the meantime, I want you to ask yourself exactly this: what makes a person a villain? We are not monsters, so you will be healed." With that said, the door clicked shut, leaving Katsuki to stew in his impotent rage.

Able's first day of class hadn't begun as he had expected it to, with the falling through three floors and the nearly drowning. One might expect him to be angry, but instead he was quiet. It was odd to see the two most outspoken and loud women of the class rubbing his back and hands. They made it through the day's class slowly, most of the class not really knowing what to make of the new addition. When they made their way to the last class of the day, Hero Economics, the lack of the yellow sleeping bag and the presence of the ever promiscuous rated R heroine: Midnight, made them wonder what was going on.

Once everyone made it to their seats, Midnight handed the large green haired man a slip of paper that he accepted with a nod before she spoke up, "alright class, as you have noticed, Professor Aizawa is currently dealing with something off campus, so I'm subbing for him. It's time for some creativity in those randy little brains. It's time for you to announce your hero names!"

Kirishima raised his hand. "Ma'am, what about Bakugou? Shouldn't he be here?"

Midnight sighed and adjusted her glasses, "Bakugou and Todoroki are currently under investigation for reasons I will not disclose. The rest of you, however, are not excused. You got a heavy taste of Heroics with the USJ, and will be interning under pros like myself. It's time to pick who you will want people to see you as —"

A chair scraped across the floor as the solemn green giant walked to the front with heavy footfalls vibrating the floor. Once he reached the front, he turned and showed the class his whiteboard.

"This name is a nickname someone gave me a long time ago and it has stuck with me ever since: The Juggernaut Hero: Mr Able." He set the whiteboard on the front desk as the bunny eared girl blushed and the pink haired alien girl bounced with a happy squeal.

Rumi looked at Able in concern before she too stood at the front.

"A wise man once told me if you believe in something with all your might, you can do the impossible and make a miracle happen. So, I want the world to see the miracle I'll give birth to, the dreams I will carry. I will become," she said as she flipped over her whiteboard, "the Rabbit Hero: Miracle."

Mina was next up, skidding to a halt beside Rumi, "I once was told I look like a cute alien and that my exuberance was out of this world, so I will be the Alien Hero: Xeno!"

Midnight clapped her hands, "all right you three, go collect your friend and meet professor Yagi at the gate. Remember, Nezu said you have until curfew. Don't forget, you start your internships tomorrow."

Toshinori felt like he was intruding as he watched Usagiyama, Ashido, and Shinso stand behind their friend as Midoriya stared at the grave marker before him. Nezu had given them a few hours off campus for "personal business", which Toshinori had taken to mean getting the rest of Midoriya's things to fully move in. He had not expected the large green haired man to lead them to a graveyard in solemn silence.

It made Toshinori feel all the more awkward that out of the five of them, the middle aged man was the only one wearing color, in his canary yellow pinstripes , while the four young adults wore black, though Shinso had several bandages peeking out of his sleeves. The color of mourning. Midoriya pulled a folded piece of paper out of his pants pocket, creased and aged from years of use and cleared his throat.

"The turning of time

Forgets what it took The danger had no sign Now a name in a book

A number on a page Memories begin to fade A son's grieving rage Fades to a new decade

Thoughts of tomorrow Never seeing the light

Now we lay in sorrow For you have lost the fight

Carrying on,

In your name we go A mother's love Always in tow

I miss you, just so much Mom," The young man said in a graveled voice as tears began to pour down his face. "I wish you were here. I wish you could see me become the hero you said I could be."

Usagiyama and Ashido laid their heads on the large man's shoulders and hugged him as he knelt down.

Toshinori looked at the name on the stone and remembered the little girl he met at fifteen. The little girl who lost her hair tie.

Inko Midoriya nee Hikitsuga Born: July 4, 23XX Died: March 3, 23XX

His thoughts of his own mother echoed in his mind in the solemnity of the graveyard. His heart still aches even after thirty some odd years when he remembers her. 'Those we love, the ones with the heaviest impacts on our lives,' He thinks as he looks up to watch the clouds pass. 'Gone they may be, but never will they be forgotten.'

Chapter End Notes

Special thanks to Irmadbro over in Epsi's Hoard, where I hang out. I'm the three halos in a trench coat

Chapter Summary

How To Be Hero 101

the internships! Who do you think our daring do-gooders will pupil under? Will it be the Titanium Blunderer, the Hoth Thot? Or will it be everyone's favorite, the Scarlet Streaker?

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Hosu Prefecture, Tokyo, Japan March 4

Able stared up at the ramshackled old building in shock, turning to Toshinori in disbelief. The building looked centuries old, with decaying bricks, cracked concrete, and bent handrails hung from the roof. Each and every window had iron bars fixed to them, like a prison. Hell, there was a condemned building fence up around the apartment complex!

"Are we really meeting a guy here? I mean, there is a chalk outline on the sidewalk for crying out loud!"

"Yeah, um, look if you want to leave, we can simply go train on a beach instead" Toshinori said as he rubbed his neck nervously.

"Nah, fuck that. We're here, aren't we? The worst I could do is get laughed out, so let's go chat with this AARP member." Able said, hefting his old US Army duffle bag over his shoulder.

The concrete steps cracked slightly as he climbed up and pulled a still hesitant Toshinori up with him. As lightly as he could, he rapped on the door with his knuckles, though he may have still not restrained himself enough as the door cracked off its hinges and fell inward. When the heavy wood hit the floor with a dull thud, a loud, muffled string of angry curses and swearing that would make a Bakugou blush reached Able's ears. Stooping down, he flipped the door over and before he could react, his face was met with a boot.

He blinked. Toshinori blinked. The surprisingly spry old guy in the yellow spandex dead panned. Then the pretty-spry-for-an-old-guy kicked Toshinori in the gut.

"Didn't even react to getting a foot to the face. What're ye, daft?" The old man grumbled as Toshinori fit the door back into its frame.

"Nah, feather tickles don't bother me." Able responded with a smirk.

The old man threw his head back and barked a laugh, "Sharp wit, that's good. Means you can think quickly on your feet. That'll get you far in life. So how is One for All showing in you?"

The floor under Able began to groan making Able stare at the two older men. With a loud crunch and a "MOTHERFU—!" the floor gave out under the large man and dropped him to the basement under them. Torino looked at Toshinori, "you had ta choose a fatty, huh?"

The dawning morning saw Toshinori, Gran Torino, and Able behind the condemned building, Able doing push ups with Torino sitting on his back.

"So, why did you choose this slub? So far all I see is a heavy brick head." Torino said, getting a raised eyebrow from Able. He whacked the boy in the face with his cane. "I ain't told you to stop. So, Idiot, why him?"

"When Nezu found him, he was arrested for defending a girl from quirk discrimination, we found out he had a record of doing this too. when we talked, he reminded me of Nana, smiling even though he wanted to fall to pieces. Gritting his teeth and shouldering the burden the world has lumped on him."

"I see. And what say you Idiot junior?"

"I say I wonder why I'm doing push-ups."

"Kid, your body is dense. Dense means heavy. For crying out loud, according to Shuzenji, you weigh a literal metric ton. (2204.623 lbs for those who use the Imperial system.) Dumb ass here

had to throw you out of the damn basement. So yer doing push-ups to get you used to yer weight."

Toshinori coughed slightly before speaking up, "To be fair, we didn't know how One For All would interact with Young Midoriya's quirk."

"Toshi, if i slapped two pieces of bread on the sides of your face, what would you be?" Torino asked with a slight glare.

"Confused?"

"No, you'd be an idiot sandwich! Of course One For All would make the kid's body denser, his quirk makes him literally dense. Everything about him is denser, his muscles, his skeletal structure. One For All took everything about the kid and amped it up to freaking eleven."

Toshinori stared at his teacher as the realization dawned on him, "So how do we train him?"

"Way I see it, he needs work in two or three areas: reaction, speed, and using One For All. We got a week to learn how much he can use right now, and how we can get him up to snuff."

"How much he can use? He is built like I was when I received it. Shouldn't it come to him like it did for me?"

"Toshinori, I swear sometimes I wonder if ye have a brain at all. Stop and think about what ye jus' said!" The geriatric hero cried

"I am afraid I don't follow," the blond door mat said as he got a boot to the head.

"I was there when Nana got this shit, I was there when ye got this shit, now I'm fucking here when this shit got this shit. Think about what the damned quirk does each damn time it's passed on!" The old man yelled as he stood on the lich's face.

"Iph gephs stwonpher?" Came the muffled reply.

"'It gets stronger' pah. What I've noticed is it basically doubles in power each time it's passed on! One to two, two to four and so on. So in terms of math, he is sitting with at least a hundred and twenty eight to yer sixty four," the old man stomped his foot as punctuation, "Are ye following now, you dandelion colored dolt?" He exclaimed.

Able looked at his hand. He was going to hate his life, wasn't he? He had wanted to make life better for those steamrolled by society, but how could he do that effectively with double the flashiness of All Shite? He might as well kiss the underground good-bye, that just wasn't possible now. Still, no way in hell he was wearing a damned set of tights. How could he use this?

His quirk was a mutation, so it was always active, so he felt inside for something that was new, something different. How does an emitter type work? Do they have some sort of energy inside themselves? Does he just pull it out and focus it to one part of his body? That sounded like it was a powder keg of nope. Might blow his arm off. Maybe...

There.

He pulled on the new feeling and immediately felt pain as his body began to strain to contain the energy. He felt powerful, but it was far too much. Christ alive, it hurt! He could hear shouting, but he couldn't focus on it as red lines began to glow all over his dense skin. A new kind of pain erupt as he watched green arcs of electricity bounce over his skin, making him grit his teeth to keep from screaming.

He then did quite possibly the dumbest thing he ever could have done: he stood up.

Musutafu memorial graveyard

Aizawa stared hard at the grave marker in front of him. From what he had gathered from Takihatsu, this spot was where one of Midoriya's friends had been buried. It was also a location of ghost stories of a white mist with yellow eyes, but the underground hero chalked it up to urban myths. Takihatsu had been a wellspring of new information, how her own son drank the kool-aid of quirk discrimination and believed that Midoriya was a villain, how Midoriya was expelled for fighting back against the vitriol the child spouted as a kid, and how he disappeared from the grid after this friend died, only to resurface with a string of assault cases where he beat quirk discriminating bigots, often in the defense of a mutant or a quirkless. She was even able to get in contact with the mother of one of the quirkless he had protected, but the quirkless male refused to, as the man put it, "throw Able under the bus."

He had been suspicious of the child Takihatsu had with her, and had subtly brought it up to the woman, but she continuously tried to deflect each time he did, until she finally just told him. The three month old child was the result of a one night stand with the boy on his eighteenth birthday where she had met with him to apologize for her failures as a parent and somehow wound up in his bed. When asked if the younger male knew he was a father, she begged Aizawa not to tell the boy. Especially now that he was at the hero university. She claimed that between her support designs and modeling, she didn't need to ruin his future with a burden like this.

What Aizawa had found so far was essentially a blank face. The world tried to present him as a villain, but he was caught trying to be a hero. He let his actions speak louder than his words and his words were pretty loud... and annoying... and crude.

One of the problem children you had to earn the respect of before they listen to you. He could work with this.

His grin made the mist behind him shudder with fear and dissipate.

"Oh, so why am I letting this geezer do this again?" Able asked, shoe prints all over his face.

"Yer supposed to be reacting, not letting shit hit you," grunted the old man as he rocketed in for another kick that landed, eliciting a squeak. Able thought he knew pain. He was wrong. His eyes rolled up as he fell into the position all men know when their tenders are hit with unwelcome force.

"Oh God, my one weakness, my balls! How did you know!" He squeaked from the ground.

"Hah! There's always a chink in the armor. Don't be over reliant on the fact that ye can tank shit!" The old man said as he whacked Able's watering eyes with his cane. "Ye don't protect yer soft spots!"

Rumi Usagiyama was plenty of things: aggressive, strong, confident, and had a sarcastic sense of humor. What she was not was vain. When she was rushed into a make-up room by Uwambami, she was beginning to wonder why she picked the Snake Hero. She had expected lessons on public relations and rescue, instead she got this:

"Ok girls, first of all we are gonna do a makeup section and then a photoshoot for a new hair product that Midnight is releasing." The Snake mistress said as she ushered Momo Yaoyorozu, Itsuka Kendo and Rumi into the make-up room where she found herself in her current predicament.

"Uhmm, I'm here to learn how to be a hero, not to be a model. When are we gonna patrol or train?" She asked as her ears dropped in disappointment.

"Oh, silly, there won't be any of that. Now hold still so I can put this cream on your cheeks."

Rumi looked at Yaoyorozu and Kendo to see her disbelief mirrored on their faces. She threw herself out of the chair and wiped the crap off her face angrily. "if you two want to be pretty princesses, fine, I'm going to a real agency," She growls, finally getting the blush and other make- ups off her face. She turned and grabbed her bag. "I ain't training to be a priss, I'm training to save lives. Have fun with your spa dates, girls."

She got halfway down the block when she heard a "Wait!" Turning around, she saw Kendo and Yaoyorozu running to catch up, stretching a grin on Rumi's face. Once they caught up, Kendo asked, "So who did you have in mind?"

"I got an offer from Sun Wukong, his dojo is nearby, what about you two?" Rumi asked. Kendo raised her hand and Yaoyorozu nodded. "Then let's go get some real training."

Sun Wukong scratched his neck. When Uwambami called him and told him what happened, he had laughed until his well defined abs burned. Now he was staring at three young women with only one looking like she had formal training. He had already talked with Nezu and had the girls switch to his internship, but it was still hard to believe that the number eleven hero had a complete walk out.

Not that he really cared, if the girls preferred actively learning to defend themselves, then who was he to stop them? Not like he really cared about popularity, he just enjoyed helping. That smile

when someone is safe, it really made his day brighter.

He clapped his hands. "Alright girls, I want your all, come at me with everything you got!"

'I probably should have said no ranged weapons,' he thought as he pulled himself from the wall. The black haired ponytail had made a blooming cannon of all things and probably cracked a rib. He is most definitely feeling that in the morning.

Mina Ashido danced under another swipe from the length of chain Blaze Runner sent her way. When the flaming chain mistress said to dodge, she meant it, as Mina squeaked and dodged a vertical slash from the woman with a flaming skull.

"Stop! Take a breather girl. You're sweating worse than a hooker in a confessional." She tossed Mina a bottle of water, who greedily gulped a third of it down. "Care to tell me where your fluidity went, kid? In the sports festival, you looked like you were doing capo, but right now, you're clunkier than molasses on a cold January day."

"Sorry. What is capo?" Mina said with a head tilt.

"Capoeira. Brazilian kickboxing. Looks a lot like break dancing to the untrained. Some actually mix break dancing into it." The flaming skull of the curvy woman was creepy when she talked. "I can't teach it to you though, my fighting style is more that of a brawler slash gymnast. What I'm saying though is try moving like you're doing a routine. Feel the rhythm, yeah? I know a guy who could give you pointers later, but for now DODGE!"

Mina felt like Christmas arrived early, until a flaming chain wrapped around her ankle and slung her across the room.

Ochako Uraraka grunted as she did the judo throw for what felt like the fiftieth time. The dummy had to weigh a ton and Gunhead kept telling her to use her hips instead of her back. Not to say the man wasn't helpful, in fact it was the opposite, but this was difficult to get: how does one throw

from the hips?

"Again!" The graveled voice yelled

Able grunted as he brought the power to a level he could maintain without severe pain and punched out at the car chassis Toshinori threw at him. The steel and bolts screeched from the impact as it flew high into the air to become a black dot in the stratosphere. Toshinori immediately jumped and caught the frame before it could reach terminal velocity and guided it safely back to the ground.

"Good, but ye need to be faster. It needs to be more fluid in a fight. Can't have ye shattering your legs every time ye decide to stand up, so ye need to flip it on and off quickly."

"Jeezus old man, you say that every time we do this." Able said, wiping sweat from his brow.

"Well until we figure out how One for All works for ye outside of turning ye into an over glorified gridiron player, ye gonna keep punching cars until I'm tired. Seriously, what kinda quirk makes you stronger when yer in motion?"

Piercing golden eyes stared into tired dark purple eyes. - click-

Tired purple eyes stared into piercing gold eyes. -clack-

" This is the most intense chess game I've ever watched, " the woman beside Pony Tsunotori said in English.

When the Nighteye agency had requested Pony, she had been baffled. After all, Sir Nighteye had been the only intern offer she had received after her abysmal showing in the sports festival. Finding out he sent the request because of the woman beside her made her even more confused.

Kaoruko Awata, also known as Bubble Girl, was not a well known Pro Hero, outside of her long term employment as Sir's sidekick. At thirty, the blue bombshell had worked with the Nighteye agency for ten years and it was clear something was between them. Pony didn't know why Bubble Girl wanted her, nor why Nighteye was interested in Shinsou, but it was an opportunity. Or at least that's what she had thought, instead she found herself watching an hour long chess game.

"Can I ask a question, Ms Awata?" Pony asked, watching the chess game with her wide blue eyes. The blunette turned her head and smiled at Pony from where she knelt beside Sir with her hands

on her knees. " Of course! You're here to learn so don't be afraid to ask questions!"

"How do you keep your boobs from falling out the bottom of your shirt? " She asked with a head tilt, causing Sir to choke and start coughing. Shinso jumped, having not understood the English conversation. Bubble Girl just laughed.

"Tell me Pony, who do you think the winner is going to be?" Asked Awata as she looked over the still coughing Sir Nighteye's shoulder.

"Oh, Shinso. He's three moves from checkmate with his left knight, rook and bishop." Pony put her index tip on her chin and looked up, letting the chess game move in her mind. "If he sacrifices his queen though, he could drop it to two moves."

She looked down to see Nighteye and Bubble Girl staring at her with mouths agape. "What? you never answered my question."

"Tell me, Yaoyorozu, You can make anything from your lipids right?" Sun Wukong asked as he tapped his chin with his nunchaku.

"Yes sir?" The black haired girl confirmed as she adjusted her ponytail.

"So why do you stick to molds?"

The girl looked at the golden furred hero confused. "I don't understand, sir."

"Oh! I mean you stick to what is rational. You never really push the creative. You need a hard hitter, you rely on a cannon or a mortar. Which is great, but you stick to the realistic outcomes. You have the perfect quirk to suspend disbelief, but instead you stick to the real, the safe."

The girl looked stunned before she started thinking. Sun bounced his back off the wall, "Tell you what, for your quirk I want you to sit and read." He pulls a curtain aside revealing walls lined with old pre-quirk comics and manga. "I want you to suspend disbelief. Bring to life that which never existed. Experiment, yeah? Spider-Man's web fluid, Batman's gadgets, Hawkeye and Green Arrow's trick arrows. Hell, even Iron Man's tech would be epic if you can figure it out. Push your boundaries, yeah?"

The girl looked stunned, had no one bothered to tell her this? Good lord, had she never been told to improvise? Had—

His eyes widened as Sun Wukong grinned excitedly, it seems Edgeshot might get that apprentice he has been looking for after all. She had the perfect build and quirk for a kunoichi! He gave a monkey woop as he jumped energetically, making the girl jump in shock. He had a phone call to make!

Torino and Toshinori stared in shock at the massive hallway Able had made because he couldn't stop his inertia after he tripped. 'Lucky the building was abandoned,' they both thought before they both rushed to try and get the young man out of the debris.

"Welp, now we know the kid needs brakes. Great, we got something else to work on." The older man's gruff voice sounded through the dust as Toshinori pulled one ton man from the wreckage.

Hitoshi hadn't had a very pleasant week. Waking up in the nurse's office with anemia, being forced by Vlad King to choose a internship when all he wanted to do was sleep and watch the clouds, being told by Recovery Girl that he was found by the girl he was semi crushing on, and randomly choosing the strictest man he ever met to intern under. Seriously, the man could do with a few

laugh lines.

His thoughts went back to what had happened a few days before he went with Able to visit the gravestone man's mother. Had he dreamed the white mist? Had he dreamed the cat like yellow eyes? It couldn't be possible, he had seen the body. She was dead, there was absolutely no way, he had gone to her funeral. It simply couldn't be Himi.

Could it?

"Lift your leg higher, yes like that. Now try again, but to the rhythm" Ken Takagi said as he helped Ashido. When his wife called him and asked for a favor, he was curious at first, but this girl was soaking up Capoeira like she was a sponge, blending her break dancing beautifully with the kickboxing forms.

He had only really had to show her the beginner stuff for it to really click for her, and she started mashing the dance with her fighting style to make something new, something original for her alone. He was hesitant about what she could accomplish if he showed her the next level stuff.

Hitori had warned him about the girl, how hyper she was and how easy teaching her could be if he dumbed it down. The girl was far and away from being an idiot, but she had a lot of energy and the attention similar to the girl Ryuukyu had as an intern, Hado or whatever. To say a goldfish was more attentive wasn't far off. He had met Hado once and regretted it with how the girl steamrolled him with hyper mile-a-minute questions. The pink haired girl was similar, but she did have an off switch once you got her attention.

He looked at Hitomi who had let the flames of her hero persona die, letting her pale angular face with soft, very kissable lips show. Her storm grey eyes sparkled with her mirth as her long sandy blond hair with deep crimson tips flickered and became the flames again, her face exploding into a fiery skull that seemed to glare menacingly at the world. Ken hated seeing the skull sometimes. Hitomi had a truly beautiful face and it was like seeing the Mona Lisa burn away when she transformed. She whipped the chain off her biker corset she wore over her skin tight synthweave long sleeved shirt and gave it a flick to ignite it as Ashido completed her dance.

"DODGE!"

Yeah, Ken loved his wife.

Able wiped the sweat from his brow before taking a gulp from the water bottle. Torino had him doing suicide runs to work on his stopping and turning, but it was going horrible. Once he got really moving, he was at the point he needed to turn and well, his body wanted to go one way, but his weight wanted to continue going the other. He couldn't maintain his speed after he turned and was having to cheat just to keep from falling over by shoving his fist into the concrete like an anchor. It was infuriating!

He huffed and drained the water bottle before crushing it. That wasn't even mentioning the green and gold electricity that flowed and arced over his body when he really got a good head of steam. The All American Lich and Pretty-Spry-For-An-Old-Guy had said it might be the way One for All manifested in him. To test it, they had him pull the power into his body as he ran. Which got him a lot of speed really, at a price. He had needed Recovery Girl to make an appearance when his very dense tibia shot out of his skin like a spear. He got two canes to his head for his attempt for using 100% instead of a low percentage. Come to find out the Impermeability of his skin was one way, who knew?

Iida pretended to listen as the Normal Hero: Manual droned on and on about proper procedures and how to present to the general public. He had chosen Manual for Hosu, where Iida believed the hero killer Stain would be making an appearance.

The villain would pay, even if Iida had to die to make it happen. Chapter End Notes

Special thanks to Irmadbro over in Epsi's Hoard, where I hang out. Look for the glow of the neon Halo

Emerald Clarity

Chapter Summary

the thunder before the lightning strikes

Chapter Notes

so, I had planned to drop this on the 3rd for my birthday, but because of drama that still has me upset, I didn't get it finished until yesterday evening. Thankfully some great people in the discord server I'm in were willing to jump right in to help me with proofreading and brainstorming this chapter, so Big thanks to Der_Schweizer, Irmadbro, and Raef Darksbane for helping me a lot with this.

Without further delay, here's chapter 8 of Delinquency, 2 days late.

See the end of the chapter for more notes

"To truly accomplish anything, one needs will and conviction. Those without it, the weak ones, they will be weeded out. It's only natural. That's why you're about to die," the man said as he leaned on the knife he had pushed through the shoulder of the so-called leader of the League of Villains. Some league. The man only saw two people: the bartender with the gassy head and the shitstained brat he had pinned to the floor with his saw-toothed bowie.

The brat had nerve enough to laugh in his pain before trying to order the barkeep to send him away, but Chizome's quirk was still in effect, holding the man hostage in his own body.

"The word 'Hero' has lost its original meaning in this corrupt society, rife with fakers, shams and criminals who aimlessly throw their weight around. You're all targets of my purge," the hero-killer said gravely as he began to move his second knife to the hand-faced villain's neck. He was slightly surprised when the man's actual hand grabbed the blade while sliding further up the one pinning him to the floor.

"I'll kill you," the shitstain said as cracks began to form on the blade in his hand. "You talk a lot about conviction, huh? Well I ain't got anything as grand as that. If I had to say what my drive is —" the knife was rusting and eroding away quickly before Chizome's eyes "—I'd say it's All Might."

The knife crumbled into dust as Stain suppressed a shudder. He couldn't let that touch him.

"That piece of garbage and the society that worships him, I wanna crush them all to dust. That's my conviction." He swung his hand quickly, just barely missing Chizome's pants leg as he quickly jumped back. 'Touch based,' Chizome thought with a scowl. He was going to have to cut off the hands to disable that, or just the fingers from the look of it.

"My wounds haven't healed from the last encounter. We don't have a healer in our party, y'see?" the psychopath said as he scratched his neck. "So how about you take responsibility for what you've done?"

What he had done? The villain who attacked Yuuei and sent one kid to his grave and put another one's foot in hers and this shit snack wanted him to take responsibility?

Stain growls, his voice cold and harsh. "You first." "Huh?"

"Our respective goals couldn't be further apart, but destroying the status quo?" Stain smiled sinisterly. "That's one ambition we share."

"Get lost! Just go home and die! I'm the type you hate the most or whatever."

Chizome stared at the boy, a grown man throwing a tantrum like a small child. It was rather sad. His immaturity reeked off his body like an infection, but that was fine.

"I was just testing your sincerity. People show their true colors when death is staring them right in the face. You're an odd one, but your will... I can see the seed of some warped conviction within you." The hero killer looked at the cloud man, who should be regaining his movement soon and gave him a calculative once-over before turning back to look at the man-child. "I wonder what that seed will yield," he continued mockingly. "I will deal with you properly once I've seen that through. It might not be too late."

The brat scratched his neck harder. "Deal with me? Can't really say I want this crazy guy as a member of my party."

"Tomura Shigaraki, he'll add some much needed firepower to our efforts. Our negotiations were successful!"

Wait, they were? That was new to Chizome. He was tired of this now and had more important things to do, so let them believe what they wanted. He'd make it clear to them later with a knife in the sweet spot: Left of the spine, fourth lumbar down, the abdominal aorta.

"If we're done here, send me back to Hosu. There's still something I've got to take care of there."

Able groaned as he ate dirt again. Even in his small might form, Toshinori could land a blow that actually hurt! Sure, it was nothing remotely close to what he could do in his pornstar muscle form, but Lich Mode was nothing to scoff at. The reason they were sparring was that Torino had said fuck it and went to go eat his pastry, but not before telling the lich king to get off his ass. It amazed Able that he felt the man's blows connect despite how little muscle they had, not to mention the fact the man had years more experience than Able did and was able to out maneuver the younger man's slower movements.

Able was making headway, though. His newfound strength and density was like a new pair of boots; you had to break the leather in before they were comfortable. He was finding it easier to move and breathe, which helped because pretty-spry-for-an-old-guy kept dousing him with water and sapping his strength. Which was where he was now: soaked, cold, and his face in the mud after Kirabi... no, that nickname was too much of a stretch. Able was running out of nicknames for the all-American lich, and Naruto references weren't going to work. Regardless, the lich had punched him in the dead center of the back of his knee, bringing all of Able's weight down on the ground where he was currently suffocating.

He tried to activate One for All to push himself out of the mud, but the energy just kept slipping from his reach. Psychological issues sucked. Fire and water, literally the only things that could hurt him. Well, acid too, but that was beside the point. Not even Mina was immune to acid. Resistant, sure, but not immune.

Speaking of Mina, Able wondered when she was going to feel secure enough around them to come out. The entire group knew that the big sister of their gang (scary thought) wasn't attracted to men and had seen her salivate over women; they were just giving her the space she needed to feel secure about herself enough to come out.

"Ya gonna keep daydreaming or are ye gonna get up?"

Able really hated that old man.

"Sir, I gotta ask, why did you choose to offer me an internship? I did abysmally at the festival."

Sir Nighteye, also known as Mirai Sasaki, looked up from the shogi board and fixed his glasses before leaning back in his chair, his face pinched with his perma-scowl firmly in place. "My answer is not completely to do with you, Insomnia. Though I am pleased to be surprised, I had fully fallen under the assumption you were similar to your friends, hoodlums and ruffians. I was... curious, for lack of a better term. The hero who took me under his wing years ago as his sidekick is now showing an interest in someone I had considered unworthy of being a hero at first glance. I felt that I had missed something. After years of training someone to eventually learn under him as I did, both refused the idea, and my master took on your friend. This left me confused and so, I sent an invite to the four of you. You were the only one who accepted. I had made assumptions, and I apologize. Though incredibly lethargic and lazy, your mind holds strategic potential that is above mine."

"So you were stalking All Might," Hitoshi said with a deadpan.

"I assure you, it is not that. All Might has many, many enemies who would want to get close enough to stab him in the back. It is less about stalking and more about observing out of concern for the man you see as your elder brother figure. Like you, I was ridiculed for my quirk, degraded and discriminated against because I saw people's future and that scared people. Until All Might came along, I had nothing. My family believed self expression was a crime and that we needed to basically bottle everything up so the world couldn't hurt us, so I had no friends. I could not relate to people, could not understand them—I still cannot, if I am to be fully honest. All Might came along, saw my potential and took me under his wing and helped me learn how to connect better with people. So, no, I was not stalking All Might; I was concerned."

"All Might, aka Toshinori Yagi, quirk unknown. Due to injuries sustained from an unknown villain, specifically severely damaged left lung, loss of stomach, loss of left kidney, perforated upper intestine, not including the blood loss and scarring. He is limited to how much he can do as a hero as his muscled form and extreme power puts a severe strain on his injuries, as evidenced by the constant coughing of blood. This strain has prevented All Might from completely healing and thus leaves him in a state of constant pain," the student said in a tired and bored voice.

Mirai's jaw slacked lower and lower as the younger man kept talking. Snapping out of his surprise, he contemplated the board in front of him. "I see you're favoring the white lotus strategy. Not many people use that strategy anymore."

"Did... did you just make an Avatar reference?"

Momo stared at the man before her as he watched her experiment with a polymer she hoped would be similar to the webbing from the comics that Sun Wukong had pointed her to. He was quiet and she probably wouldn't have noticed him had he not been wearing crimson against the dark cream- yellow paint of the wall. Since he wasn't going out of his way to make himself known, she ignored his presence for now

She tried to stir the fluid and pull it out of the beaker, but the mixture clung tightly to it and stretched as she pulled it away. She nearly screamed when the stirring rod was snatched out of her hand and back into the beaker with enough force to make the glass explode by the elasticity of the sticky goop. She quickly wrote down the results and formula she used before attempting to shoot a line of the mixture out of her index finger, and with a quick thwip a line of the pressurized polymer shot from her finger and hit the wall hard enough to crack a picture frame and pulled itself taut, nearly yanking her from her seat. The ninja in the corner laughed and gave her a standing ovation.

Rumi huffed as she blasted the sandbag with another powerful kick, but try as she might, the Taekwondo kick stances just didn't feel right with her follow through. She was drawing a blank as to why: it was perfect for her Kaguya Impact , but she just couldn't make it fit her Kaguya Descent or Crescent.

She thought back to how Able had suggested her learning Muay Thai. The man had been insistent on her learning a form of martial arts, even going as far as to pay for her classes. She smiled softly as she thought of her now-boyfriend and how she realized she was falling in love with him. The dense man never even realized how he became her foundation, the one thing she could always count on. He had always been there for her, even when all others had left her behind, and their family of four felt so empty without his constant presence. Somewhere along the line, things had begun to feel different; brand new, yet the same.

Able was dense sometimes, but once you earned his heart, he would give you the moon if it would make you smile. He was brash, but soft like a teddy bear, and he let her see that side of him so often. Heavens forbid someone hurt one of his family; he would tear the world asunder to find the guilty party.

Before he was forced to attend to Yuuei, she hadn't been able to really spend time with him in the prior month, but as soon as she had seen him, as soon as she got the call about him being arrested, again, she was so worried about him. Despite his facade of nonchalance, he took a lot of things to heart, and if he thought he had killed, even in defence, it would destroy him. Oh, he hid it, but she could still see the cracks fraying at his mask. The biggest, from when... Himi. He was one big

mess away from snapping and it scared her. He tried so hard to be strong, but he needed someone to be strong with him, so she was going to put her everything into what she had and break past her barriers. She would not let him break on her, God damn it!

She cried out as she lashed another kick into the bag, her grounding leg giving out under her and dropping her onto her ass. Light spilled into the room as the door was kicked open and revealed a tensed and panicked Sun Wukong looking like he was prepared for battle. Once he saw her sitting on the floor rubbing her ass cheek, he relaxed and walked over to her.

"Usagiyama, it's oh four hundred, why are you awake?" he asked as he helped her up.

"It's kinda obvious, Teach. Trying to get my form right."

"Hmm hmm, and what has you so hung up that you're awake at four in the morning? Why is this so important that it couldn't wait?" he asked, pulling on his long golden Fu Manchu like an old martial arts master.

"I can't waste time. I need to be stronger; I can't defend others if I'm weak!"

"And yet, here you are, exhausted and weak. Rest is important in the growth of strength."

"Ok, why are you talking like that, Son?" Rumi asked, slowly edging away from the monkey king hero, who just laughed.

"You woke me up at four in the morning, so I'm entitled to be weird. You ain't gonna rest until you get this form right?" Rumi nodded, making Wukong groan and mourn the loss of his sleep. "Fine, but call me 'Son' again, we'll be sparing with your arms tied together. Just cause my name is Son Goku, doesn't mean I like hearing it. Now let's see the kicks."

"Ok, I can see what you're trying to do. For your drop, you're trying to add a spin, throwing more force into the double stomp than your gravity-assisted inertia and the crescent, you're doing something similar, only with an axe kick instead of a stomp. Question for you though."

Rumi looked up at the pro hero from where she sat on the floor panting and sweating. "Wassup?"

"Not to question your fighting style, but why strictly Muay Thai?" he asked as he patted his face to get the sweat that they had built up from their light spar, out of his Fu Manchu.

"What do you mean?" she asked, feeling a bit defensive.

"Like, why only Muay Thai? I mean, it's great for the stomp, but not sweeping or arcing kicks like your crescent. You have a solid base, so why not branch out? Sticking to just one form can leave you stiff and predictable."

"All right, so what do you recommend? Kung Fu? Krav maga? Escrima?"

Sun Wukong finished wiping his face and tossed the towel over the rope of the octagonal sparring pit. "To be honest? If you were more rhythmically inclined like your pink friend, I would recommend Capoeira to blend with your kicks. Actually, scratch that, I heavily recommend asking her how to blend it with your kicks. That said, most I can do is teach you some Taekwondo and show you how to blend the techniques and forms together."

Tenya Iida stared at the white finish of his mechanical arm as he walked behind Manual. He missed the sense of touch in that hand, but the loss of his arm was worth it as opposed to the loss of the ability to be a hero. He now had to carry the burden of the Ingenium name, the burden of vengeance for his brother. He would bring the Hero Killer to justice. He would wipe this disgrace from their family's name. He would have blood.

The sun was setting on the horizon when Manual turned to the hero in training. "That's another day of patrol done! Heh, sorry it isn't more exciting," the normal hero sheepishly apologized, rubbing the back of his head.

"No, it's... better that way," Tenya said, distracted as he looked around.

"Hey," Manual started as he scratched his cheek, "I really hate to ask, but you're here for the Hero Killer, aren't you? I mean, why else would you come to my boring agency? I mean, I'm thrilled you did, don't get me wrong! It's just, don't let yourself be motivated by personal grudges. We heroes don't have the authority to make arrests or dole out punishment." He gave the speedster a hard look.

"It's only because of advancements with quirk regulations that we can use our quirks at all, but vigilantism is strictly against the rules. If you're caught going off on your own, that's considered a major crime."

Tenya scoffed internally. What did this man know? He didn't have the weight of his brother's legacy on his shoulders. He didn't know what it felt like to have to carry a generation-spanning family dynasty.

"Oh! I mean, I'm not saying the Hero Killer should get off scot-free, of course! Just that you seem really serious about this! You have this intense look in your eyes. I'm just worried," The Pro Hero said, frantically waving his hand.

"I appreciate the warning," Tenya said simply. The clenching of his flesh and blood left hand went unnoticed by the hero.

Katsuki seethed in the quiet, dark room he was in, his whole body incapable of movement. He couldn't help, but feel the isolation set in as he watched the sun set. That damned rodent! Katsuki should be out there, proving to the world why he was number one! Not fermenting in this fucking room! So what if he showed the extras their place? They were below him! They all wer—

"Stop it Kacchan! You're acting like a villain!"

A memory found its way into his thoughts, reminding him of younger days, before aunty Inko passed away. Before Deku turned out to be weak.

'Was he though?'

Katsuki's eyes widened

"How about you stop acting like a villain and be a hero." "How many people have you stood up for?"

"A hero doesn't win because they're heroes. No, look behind them and see the reason why they win."

"Oh Kitty Kat, you've been a loser ever since you've decided to use your quirk on someone you deemed lesser. Just. Like. A villain."

"Stop it, you're hurting me!"

"Please, I'm sorry, it hurts, I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..." "Son of a bitch, what the fuck is wrong with you?"

"Extras like you should know your place." His own words were like a punch to the gut.

"You think being the strongest is the definition of a hero, don't you Bakugou? You couldn't be more wrong. You, who have never helped a single person in your entire life, could never be a real hero. You'll just be a pretender. A fake. A villain in hero's clothing. You, little boy, are so full of yourself that you could never understand that being a hero is about lifting people up instead of beating them down. You attacked me, Bakugou. You saw me hurting and, like a villain, you went for blood..."

"You can't hurt me. Never again."

The young man stilled at those memories; was he really that bad? He wanted to be like All Might, to be better than, but did he ever act like him? The Symbol of Peace always arrived and won the fight with a huge grin on his face, showing the world he was the strongest hero tha—

"I smile to show the pressure of heroes and to trick the fear inside of me!"

Katsuki felt sick and he couldn't breathe. The body cast was beginning to feel like it was too tight! He just wanted to be a hero! He wanted to be the next All Might! This was his story, God dammit!

So when did he become the villain?

Chapter End Notes

Special thanks to Irmadbro and Raef Darksbane over inEpsi's Hoard, where I hang out. Look for the glow of my neon halo!

Intimate Initiations

Chapter Summary

It all begins with a flashback

Chapter Notes

Big thanks to Qale and Zelgius in Epsi's Hoard for helping me work out the first scene. Seriously, check out some of their stuff!

See the end of the chapter for more notes

Watching the sunset was always poetically beautiful to Able. The vibrant orange, the golden yellow, the fading to the purple of night. It was magnificent. He always enjoyed watching from a comfortable spot on the roof of his apartment complex or the top of the bar he had worked at, enjoying the peace as the sky lit up in its plethora of colors, setting fire to the horizon. He wondered if Rumi would enjoy watching the sunset with him.

Before Rumi, Able had only been with one woman and that hadn't exactly been a continued thing. With a sigh he stood up and dusted off his pants as he thought back to that night. Growing up, Mitsuki Bakugou nee Takihatsu had been something of a constant in his life, at least, until his mother passed away, sorta like an aunty figure in a sense.

After his mother passed and he started working just to survive, he had lost touch with most everyone, not to mention Katsuki had made it clear he was no longer welcome in his house before Inko got sick. It still surprised him when he went to get groceries on his eighteenth birthday that he ran into his former bully's mother.

One year prior

July 15th, 23XX

Standing in line at the check out had never been one of Able's favorite things to do. People always seemed to stare at him or send glares, judging him for his size, or his long green hair his friend Rumi kept braiding into cornrows. It was annoying to be stared at like you were a villain all the time. He really didn't give two shits what people thought of him anymore, but that didn't change how annoying it was. A hand being set on top of his head, ruffling his braids, drew him out of his thoughts as he inhaled sharply and looked to the hand.

Standing behind him was an absolute vision that barely looked a day over twenty five. She stood in high heeled boots with long legs that her small jeans hugged enticingly with a red shirt that was so tight; you could see the tone of her smooth stomach muscles and the lack of a bra on her perky breasts. To say the turkey was cooked was an understatement as her nipples stood plainly, straining

under the fabric. It looked as if she had sprayed on the outfit and the slightest flex would blast it off.

The sun shone behind her, causing her golden blonde hair to shine like a star, creating an ethereal look to her, as if she had stepped out of a painting. Her crimson eyes alight with mirth as she kept patting his head.

"Well well, if it isn't little Izuku. Hmm, though not quite so little now are we?" She grinned showing pearl white teeth, with slightly longer than average canines. Her eyes dipped below his chin and she raised an eye at the baggy T-shirt that had "MILF maker" captioned on it with an arrow pointing down to his waist. Able stared at her and scratched his stomach, inadvertently pulling the front of his shirt taut against the front of his torso. The word "HOLY SHIT!" kept repeating in her head as she looked over the presented muscles before the shirt loosened and hid the display.

"It's been too long since I last saw you! How have you been doing?" Her eyes shamelessly moving to his biceps, drinking them in as Able remained blissfully unaware.

"I've been all right enough. Trying to move on with my life."

"Right. Hey, how about I cook you dinner tonight? You still like Katsudon, right? I'll get the ingredients!" She yelled as she flew back into the store, leaving Able standing there in the line, the don ingredients already in his basket, what he could afford at least. He could only wonder what just happened as he watched Mitsuki's taut, shapely rear sway to the rhythm of her gait.

/yarr, here there be lemons/

The smell of food cooking filled the lonely apartment as Mitsuki busied herself in the kitchen. Trying to quell the conflict inside her head. She had been checking out her best friend's son. Her former best friend's son. Her former best friend's son with abs you could grate cheese off of. Fuck, and those biceps! She shivered as she remembered how the part of the leg to his loose shorts had swung like the clapper of a bell. That or he had a tail, but she doubted that. She had been discrete about it, but she had not been able to get her eyes off the swinging dong. From the eyeballing she had done the young man had some heat that could get him arrested for carrying a concealed weapon! The meaty sheleighly had to have hung to at least his mid thigh with a diameter of two inches. Momma was hungry and wanted some of that sausage! It had been ages since she had a good fucking especially after her and Masaru divorced. They still lived in the same house and Masaru was a sweetheart, but there just wasn't that spark between them anymore.

She exhaled. She was going to fuck Izuku Midoriya. She needed to fuck Izuku Midoriya.

Her eyes glinted mischievously as she saw the apron that said "kiss the cook" on it, an idea sprouting in her mind. She quickly shed her clothes and wrapped the apron around her waist, letting her girls hang free for the show. She poked her head out of the kitchen and to see what the green haired soon to be man was doing and snickered quietly as it looked like he was watching a hero confrontation and taking notes, muttering quietly to himself. Skipping back into the kitchen before he looked, she quickly packed steamed rice into a bowl and placed the pork cutlet and egg on top, before pouring the stock into the bowl over everything.

She smiled, it had been a while since she had cooked for anyone other than herself and it made her feel good. She hurriedly set it on a tray and stepped into the living room just as the boy looked up from his notepad. It was the double take that made her feel warm inside, but it was the widening of his eyes and the dropping of his jaw and the tense muscles locking into a frozen state that had her snickering. She smirked, oh yeah, she still had it.

With her best saunter, she moved in front of him, rocking her body just enough to make her girls bounce "Ara~ do you see something you want to eat, I~zu~ku?" She purred out as she placed the meal tray on the table, giving him a healthy view of her moist nether lips and looked back to see his reaction.

The poor boy looked petrified, his eyes firmly on her backside. It made her feel positively giddy that she could still make a man freeze up like this, it made her feel powerful and beautiful. She giggled when he began pushing the notebook firmly in his lap.

"Aww, do you have something you want to show me Little Izuku? Let Aunty Mitsuki help you out," she said, letting her voice sound as throaty and sultry as possible. Turning around she tugged the notebook out of his hands and was shocked, sheleighly indeed. Just by looking at the tent in his shorts, she knew her ovaries would never be the same for days, but she wasn't complaining. She was going to make this bed and get fucked in it, then again, she didn't have high expectations, he was a virgin after all. She thinks.

She climbed into his lap and straddled over him, pressing her heat hard into his heavy meat club. His hard intake of air made her smile stretch wider. "Tell me, birthday boy, have you ever been with a woman?" It took him a minute to respond to her question, but eventually the young man shook his head. "Oh, poor boy. Do you want Aunty Mitsuki to take care of that for you?"

"I-I-I-I-I" he squeaked out, sounding as if his throat was dry.

"Shh~ birthday boy, just nod your sweet little head if you want me to give you your present." She purred, leaning close and nibbling on his ear, making a shudder go down the boy's body. She felt his dick pulsing under her heat as he gave a slow, hesitant nod. She gave his jaw a kiss as she slid her hand under the hem of his shorts and fished out the raging monster out of its tent. She gave it a few pumps before she rubbed it hard over her slit, wetting the bulb with her juices before she lined it up with her canal and ever so tauntingly slow, slid down his girth.

Good God! It was stretching her so nicely! She could feel small microgasms as her folds were stretched wider than she had been stretched in a long time. Hell, maybe even back during her college days. She exhaled with a small moan into Izuku's ear as small dots popped in her vision when she finally got the whole shaft inside of her. "God, you're so big~" she groaned as she rolled her hips, making the thick phallus piston inside her. "Go~od! it fills me up so much!" she gasped, her eyes rolling to the back of her head for a moment.

She was enjoying this but there was a small problem: the young man was just sitting there, watching her girls dance in front of his face. She frowned and leaned in close to his ear again. "Mmm come on, don't be like a dead fish, every action mmmph needs a reaction. Bounce me in your lap, lick my nipples, grab my ass! Don't be shy, I~zu~ku~."

She expected a retort or a stammer. What she did not expect, however, was to be pushed onto her back and folded under him with her knees on his shoulders, nor was she expecting him to start slamming his full length into her. She wasn't complaining as she moaned and mewed like a cat in heat as he slammed into her repeatedly, a tight scowl on his face as if he was straining to hold something. She found out what that was when a sudden explosion of heat bloomed inside of her, making her throw her head back and sing opera as her body clenched up around the invading meat

stick.

She didn't get much of a reprieve as the virile young man hardened inside her again and began thrusting as if he was trying to force their collective juices out of her. Her mind started to go white from pleasure as he continued to rail her lower body, with animalistic abandon. A light gasp left her lips as he bit into her neck.

Then the world slid into focus as he pulled completely out of her and back in. In the wrong hole. The sudden intrusion made her squeal as it was not something she was familiar with. She had never let someone into her backdoor and it hurt. She slapped his chest, getting him to stop moving. It wasn't a bad pain, but it was new to her and she wasn't sure if she liked it or not.

"Huh, nice job kid. Looks like you're not the nngh only one to lose a cherry today. Tsss ooo dunno if I like this. Feels fucking weird." She hissed through grit teeth as she tried to relax around the foreign object.

"Seriously, warn a girl before you shove that megalith into her ass." "S-Should I pull out?"

Now that she was relaxed, she rolled her hips a little to test the water. "Nnno, go slow. You done got me curious."

The new kind of pressure started moving around inside her body and eventually it began to feel less intrusive and slowly began to feel nice. Pleasurable even. Filling her in a new sense as she began thrusting her hips up to meet his hips, his cock penetrating deep into her bowels, exploring virgin seas and she could feel that coil tightening inside her. This was going to be big as she began using her legs to pull him into her faster and harder. Her nails dug hard into his skin as she climaxed, the world exploding into white as she sprayed all over the young stud's navel. Her senses muted themselves to the intense pleasure that had her tongue lolling and her eyes rolling back in her head.

/arrrgh, the booty be plundered/

The rest of the night the two had continued to scream and cuss, worrying the neighbors and locals as they passed by the apartment. The rhythmic thrusts and moaning led to several new urban legends about a haunted site in the city and the Katsudon had completely been forgotten about. Able left for the last week of his high school that morning with a smile on his face that nothing could erase, and Mitsuki?

Well, Masaru had had to come pick her up when she woke from her sex induced coma that afternoon. During the rehydration breaks the two talked, Able finally opening up about what her son had become. He even showed her the burn scar on his back where he had been held down and branded while the teachers that expelled Izuku did nothing but watched on.

If she had any hard feelings about the fact that he whooped Katsuki's ass like she should have, this would have erased it. She sent the picture and the story to her hero cousin and told her about a good detective, but it was already too late. The damage was already done and she could only hope future generations didn't suffer from her failures as a parent. As she rode with Masaru to their house, not really listening to Masaru happily chatting about his new boyfriend who was a designer

like him, she felt her stomach. Maybe, maybe she should give it another shot. She'll do right this time.

Yuuei University, Musutafu Prefecture, Tokyo Japan

Present

"...in later news, Enji Todoroki has been arrested on charges by the Investigator Marguerite Lambert, also known as the Wasp, representing the United Nations Bureau for Investigation of Turbulent Criminal Heroes. The charges include, but are not limited to slavery, rape, murder, bribery, fraud, child neglect and abuse, spousal neglect and abuse, and perjury. A quirk marriage certificate was found in triplicate as well as two new ones that bore the names of two of his children. More on the story aft—"

"—la dernière fois sur Gecko Cube G, Garkon a finalement eu cette selle qu'il criait il y a environ quarante-sept épisodes alors que le gang végétal faisait de son mieux pour lutter contre le réfrigérateur tyrannique! Guitar arrivera-t-il à temps pour sauver son fils adoptif? Le fantôme Nampa proposera-t-il enfin à Usagi? Découvrez-le dans cet épisode passionnant de Gecko Cube G!—"

"— a knockout! What a wingdinger of a hat trick, folks! Mako pulls off the upset of the season, winning the match for the Fire Ferrets!—"

Katsuki huffed as he clicked off the TV. They had finally allowed him to be healed by Recovery Girl and now he was bored out of his mind. After the last couple of days of Katsuki looking in the mirror and introspecting his life, Nezu had released him on the grounds that he visits Hound Dog weekly, stressing heavily on this being Katsuki's only remaining chance. If he fucked this up, Nezu would follow through with his threat to blacklist him completely from the hero community. As if changing your entire belief system was easy. He scoffed and left the dorm building, maybe a walk will give him something to do since tv was apparently a no go.

It was a rather pleasant day, birds were singing, the sky was clear, extras were playing Frisbee or training their quirks. There was even a yoga class out doing their stretches in the warm sun. He never got Yoga, but he never gave it a try either. This should probably be where he shouldn't judge without trying, right?

It was near the science and support building when a sound got his attention. A sound he was well familiar with: sobs of despair and pain. He stood for a moment, indecision warring in his mind. This was not something he knew how to handle, but part of him was urging him to investigate. He looked back towards the dorms, he could ignore it and simply go on his way like nothing ever happened.

Or his legs could move him to investigate before his rational had a plan. Fuck.

Sitting in the shaded area between the science building and the support workshop, in the recess behind a large blue dumpster was a familiar head of blond hair curled into himself, hugging his knees. Where had Katsuki seen that shade of blond before? Shit, he was bad with people. Why is he even doing this? Why should he care about some weak extra? He huffed and glared with the heat of a thousand suns at the sky. Wait. He was a bully. Could he bully in a good way? Piss the guy off, give him a way to vent, then do the hero thing and help him fix his problems?

Alright, he can do this. "The fuck you doing hiding back here?"

The blonde jumped and looked up at him with wide eyes, darting around like a scared trapped animal. A pang in his chest pinched inside of him as a memory of a sobbing Dek— Midoriya as his friends held the green haired kid down and...

Shit he really was a shit person, wasn't he?

The blond sniffed and glared at him. "Why should you care. You think just cause you're from the high and mighty class of 1-A that you need to know everything?"

"Nope," Katsuki said, popping the P. "Unless you belong with the fucking trash though, hiding here is pretty fucking stupid."

"Like you care."

Katsuki shrugged. "You're right, I don't. Why should I, the best student in the best class, care about a secondary extra?"

The blond on the ground just stared at him before he curled back into himself. That was not the expected response. Katsuki had expected him to retort, not die. Shit, what was he supposed to do now? What would All Might do? Nope, fuck that, needs more subtlety than punching someoneinto submission. Softer hands. Wait! There was that skeleton looking motherfucker. He always gave the worst, dumbest possible advice, but Katsuki had seen him sitting with the 3D printer and earlobes listening to them. Maybe that was it. Maybe if he could get this guy talking, he could help. So, against his better judgment, he sat down hard beside the distraught blond and waited. He could feel the blond's wet eyes glaring at him. Maybe an olive branch?

"You know? If you're thinking you're trash, don't. Trust me, if anyone at this school were trash, it'd be me."

The blond raised his head slightly and squinted at Katsuki as the ash blond head scratched his head behind his ear.

"I don't know what happened with you, and frankly it ain't any of my fucking business. I'm not good with these things. For years, I've always been told I'd be the best, that my quirk was the best. That I was hero material without fault. Some fucking crock of shit that was. It went to my head and I've only just begun to realize just how much I fucked up. So whatever made you believe you feel like you belong in the garbage, let this piece of shitty trash tell you, you're not."

"Why the hell are you doing this?" The blond sniffed. Good, get him talking.

"Honestly? I don't fucking know. Heard the crying and my damn traitor legs were fucking moving before I even had a god damned clue what I was going to do."

The blond snorted and rested his forehead on his knees. "I bet you don't even know my name." "Sucker bet, I don't fucking know anyone's name."

"Wow, sad life."

"Eh, never really thought about it. Had my head so far up my own ass that I never thought of anyone else as important. Katsuki Bakugou."

"Neito Monoma. Class 1-B, of course."

"Oh yeah, you're the copycat that pissed off the icy-hot. That shit was funny as hell." "I thought it was more cold."

"Well, yeah. Getting frozen in a goddamned iceberg will fucking do that to you. Was still funny listening to the oh so calm and cool ice princess fucking cuss and rage like a sailor with constipation."

"She didn't."

"Nope, she turned and stormed back to the locker rooms after the match was called," Katsuki said with a laughing smirk.

"Oh fuck you. Had me believing that shit" the blond retorted with a wet laugh.

"So, why the fuck are you hiding back here anyways? Why not in your dorm room?" The blond looked down at his knees, "My birthday was yesterday."

"Ok?"

"Just shut up and let me finish. It was my birthday yesterday and I wanted to spend it with my boyfriend. Go on a date, cuddle while watching TV, kick his ass at Deck em up . So I got permission from Kan to go off campus and went to my boyfriend's apartment. Heard the noise, heard the slapping of flesh and went to go see what was happening cause I thought there was a fight. I caught my loving boyfriend of two years cheating on me with my sister's fiancé."

Oh. Oh shit, this was DEFINITELY territory Katsuki had never ventured into. The fuck was he supposed to say? 'At least he didn't become the moon spirit'?

"That... that's rough buddy."

Now the blond was mad, making Katsuki jump slightly as the boy suddenly stood up with a snarl.

"I gave that man everything. My trust, my dreams, my future, my God damned virginity! I wanted my first time legally drinking to be with him, but no! The cheating assist decided he wanted some other piece of tail!" Monoma cried in his anger as he began to pace in front of Katsuki. "Was any part of our fucking relationship true? Did anything we did mean anything? Was I just a goddamned booty call when he needed to get off?"

He stopped pacing and looked up to the sky with tears leaking out of his red, swollen, blotchy eyes. "Did I ever really matter to him?"

"So... how are you going to get back at him?" Katsuki asked as he stood up and dusted his butt off, a feral smirk on his face. Monoma whirled around and stared at him like he had just solved the cure for cancer and, dare Katsuki say it, he looked... cute.

He blinked, where had that come from? Though, looking at the man, Monoma did have a lot of feminine aspects and probably could easily pass for a tomboy. If Katsuki were into dudes, he could easily see himself dating someone like Monoma. He wasn't though, at least, he didn't think he was. He had never actually dated anyone nor cared about dating anyone, so honestly, he didn't know what his sexuality was. Fuck it, the guy was cute, especially sitting there with a devious look of pondering. The way the guy's hair looked like spun gold in the sunlight, how his pants hugged

tightly to his feminine butt, round, juicy, yet muscular legs, full pouty lips. Yeah, Katsuki could easily not have any issue dating him. If he were gay.

"I could put Icy Hot in his KY." Cute? Hell, this man was fucking beautiful!

"Monoma, I feel this may be the beginning of a beautiful friendship," Katsuki said, his feral grin spreading wide into a cat/canary grin. He always loved a good devious mind.

Chapter End Notes

I wasn't going to do the Mitsuki scene so early, but I honestly got tired of having to delete the death. Seriously, some of you psychopaths need help. If you feel the need to threaten some random dude on the internet, their pets, and their family, you have issues. Seek help.

As always, please leave me comments on what I can do to get better at writing, what I can do better and what I am doing perfectly. As it is, I have no idea what I'm doing, so help is appreciated

Special thanks to Irmadbro over in Epsi's Hoard, where I hang out. Look for the glow of my neon halo!

Chapter Summary

Stained, But Able

In this corner, hated by heroes and villains alike, the hero killer who seeks to clean up the term hero, Stain! And his opponent, weighing in at 1 whopping metric ton at six foot two, Some snot nosed kid! Alright I want a good clean fight, no hits below the belt and no holds. LLLLLLLET'S GET READY TO RUMMMMBLLLLLE!!!!!!!!

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Hosu Prefecture, Tokyo, Japan.

The air was still and calm as the sun began its descent, filling the sky with hues of pink, orange, and violet. The yellow ball of life gave the world a view straight out of a painting, taking the warmth of the day in one last beautiful scene. However, beauty often hides the ugly underneath.

On top of a water tower that stood proud on an apartment building, a small distortion appeared in the air. This distortion quickly ripped open into a dark nebulous ring that revealed three figures as they stepped out of it. The middle one, the shortest of the group looked around the city.

"So this is Hosu? Livelier than I thought." The condescension was clear in the pale blue haired man's words as he scratched hard at his neck. Stain scoffed before looking at his city, his unfinished painting.

"I will reform this city. It just needs more... sacrifices before I move on."

"Like what you did to the prostitute hero, Nebula? Really inspired work, that."

"What are you talking about? I haven't gotten to that slut yet," Stain snarled in surprise as he looked sideways at the petulant child. If what he said is true, Chizome had a copycat, which messed his plans all kinds of up.

The wannabe villain simply handed him a picture. The once beautiful bronze skinned Amazon was

hanging upside down in a parody of a crucifixion. Her once gorgeous face had been cut from the muscles with expert precision and stapled to the wall above her feet. Her intestines had been pulled out and wrapped tightly around her throat, probably post mortem judging by the vomit that looked to have flowed down her skinless face that was locked in agony and pooling under her hair, mixing with the blood. The word "UNWORTHY" was smeared vertically on the wall beside her with pictures of what looked like her lustful actions haphazardly nailed to the wall. Her hero suit was shredded into ribbons, the contusions varying in depth, some to the bone, others barely a paper cut. She had been tortured and he was framed for it. This was wrong, he never left scenes like this. It was horrifying. Distasteful. Dishonorable.

He killed the unworthy, yes, but this? This was gloating. They disrespected the dead. They shamed everything he fought for! Rage boiled inside of him. How dare they? He threw the image away like it burned him and jumped from the water tower without another word.

"Are you sure it was wise to have shown him that? We both know he wasn't the one to do that and the copycat could have been used for our cause."

"They still can. We won't use this two bit hack." The younger man scratched his neck. "All that high and mighty talk and he's not even past the tutorial yet. It's almost precious how hard he's trying."

"You shouldn't criticize him too much," the cloud headed man said, receiving a glare.

"Every city he has been in has seen across the board drops in the crime rates. Some theorize it's due to the increase of hero awareness! Well that's just great! So much for putting a stop to heroism!" He kicked a can off the side of the building with a scoff.

"Hero Killer? More like Hero Breeder. At least... indirectly..."

The warp gate user tapped his earpiece and nodded before opening a gate wide, spilling out three shrieking, monstrous abominations behind the younger man. One appeared to look like an anorexic bat that had been stretched out in a grotesque fashion, another resembled a mole if it were created by H.P. Locrecraft's racist ass. The final one was a hulking brute that looked similar to the one used in the USJ attack, minus the beak and eyes. They had heard All Might was in this area, so this Abomination should be a perfect heel to counter him.

"What about the boy Sensei is interested in? The one with invulnerability and the kanabo? Perhaps we can get this 'Wondering Yokai' to join us as well."

"Later, but first I am going to crush you Stain! I will destroy your pride and your dignity!"

Able ducked under another fist from Small Might, before punching up into the elbow of the arm. Old Man Yoda sat off to the side watching with scrutiny.

"Again!"

Able sighed, backed up and stood in his ready stance. They had been drilling this exact counter for hours now, the sun had set over the horizon and Able was ravenous. He hadn't been allowed to eat since his miniscule breakfast and he was literally running on fumes. He ducked under the punch again and whacked the elbow that was beginning to bruise from the repetition.

"Toshi! Bring out the thunder." "I-er... are you sure?"

"He can move now, can't he? Bring the thunder, I want to see how much he stacks against all that useless muscle you carry."

"But I—" Toshinori didn't get to say much more as Able rushed at him and threw a powerful haymaker, forcing The lich to bulk up. Reacting without thinking, he grabbed the younger man's arm and threw him hard into the horizon. Only to realize that he just threw a man that weighs a metric ton like a missile into a densely populated part of Tokyo. A densely populated rural part of Tokyo. Oh god, the property damage is going to be a bitch to deal with.

At least he was invulnerable. Nothing bad could happen because Able just had to halt ... his... inertia...

Oh god, he made a terrible mistake.

He made a terrible mistake.

He thought that he was strong enough. Why wasn't he strong enough? He found the killer while Manual was busy dealing with the nomu that appeared. He had confronted the killer before he killed the hero Native, but hadn't cared. He would avenge his brother! He had charged in with no other thought, sending a kick directly at the villains head with a shout of exertion. To his dismay, the villain simply ducked.

"What's this? A little hero playing an adult? Pity. I don't like killing baby heroes."

This was it, this was his moment! "In the name of the Ingenium agency and for my brother I am going to bring you down, Stain!"

The serial killer clicked his tongue. "Of course, a fake hero comes to seek revenge. How positively," The serial killer moved faster than Tenya could react, practically flying behind the class president and shoving a knife into his back above his kidney. Tenya screamed in pain as he fell to the ground.

"Feh, missed the sweet spot" the killer said as he licked the blood on the blade. Tenya felt his body lock up, his muscles tensing without his will. The hero killer slowly walked around to his front, drawing the long odachi blade with a loud grating noise.

'Move!' Tenya screamed to himself. He just had to move! He had to avenge his brother! Why couldn't he move?

"I did not think that the rot of society spread so far. To infect even those who carry on their shoulders the burdens of tomorrow. I thank you, youth, for showing me I was too lenient. And take solace. For your death shall not be in vain. Farwell, the last Ingenium." Stain stops, his crude katana edge poised near Tenya's throat, neither noticing the loud whistling noise or the crashes that got louder until it became too obvious. Stain turned in confusion. "what the hell is that nois—"

"—iiiiiiiiiit! I ain't got any brakes!" Screamed a human wrecking ball as it burst through the wall beside the hero-killer and slammed into him. The momentum carried both the devastating blur covered in bouncing yellow and green bolts of energy and the serial killer off the stunned and alarmed boy, through two walls and out into the street adjacent. Tenya just stared before turning to Native.

"What... just happened?" Native just shrugged.

It was with great pleasure when Able came to a grinding stop. It was with jubilation that he wasn't forced to expel all the kinetic energy the throw had generated in the impact. Through several buildings. Yeah, he felt that.

The more you learn about yourself. Apparently when he moved, he absorbed kinetic energy and augmented his physical strength, making him stronger when he was in motion. The more motion and speed, the more kinetic energy. There was a limit as they had discovered, if his body took in too much, he would forcibly expel all the stockpiled kinetic energy and seeing as All Might just freaking threw him somewhere upwards close to Mach one, had he discharged, he would probably have leveled a good chunk of Hosu. Meaning something absorbed some of the force. Something soft. Oh god, did he accidentally a murder?

A groan to the side told him that no, no he did not. Able sighed in relief before kipping up and landing with a heavy thud on his steel toed boots and quickly began to shift through the debris to find... a weirdo dressed to the nines in combat gear and no nose. Oh god, he knocked the dudes nose off! Able began panicking as he dug through the rubble trying to find the nose to give to the paramedics when they arrived.

"What in the hell are you doing?"

"Trying to find your nose," Able said, tossing a car aside from the debris much to nosebleed's surprise.

"... what?"

"Your nose! I knocked it off when I hit you!"

"... You're an idiot, aren't you?" Stain asked with a deadpan.

"Nope, just a student that got lost during his internship. Bloody hero told me to fight him then threw me and mutter mutter mutter mutter mutter mutter ..."

Stain stared at the long braided green haired man as he began to mutter incoherently, before a word caught his attention: hero. This was another hero student. A wellspring of hope filled his chest, minutely cause this guy was a fucking weirdo (pot, meet kettle).

"You're a hero student?"

"Not by choice. Damn dean of Yuuei kinda forced me into it." "What?"

"Yeah, saved a mutant quirked girl from a fate worse than death, though he probably would have killed her too, he had that look in his eye, you know? Then I got arrested 'cause the idiot ducked into my kanabo. Still need to get that back from the cops or get a new one. Would rather have that one back though, the leather was worn in just ri—"

"Just shut up. So you couldn't cut the entrance exam and decided to get attention from vigilantism and hope the vaunted hero school would notice you and you got lucky. You're just another piece of fake Hero trash who treats being a hero like it's a Goddamn joke! You swoop in when it suits you to get attention then disappear when you actually have to work! That's why I kill peop—"

"Waiiiit, hold up. You think I'm a fake hero. Mt Lady level or Nebula level?" Able asked as he tilted his head innocently. the absurdity of the motion infuriated the hero killer.

"Why does that matter?" Stain spat

"Well, one is an attention whore, the other is a literal whore. Like a literal prostitute. Then there is Endeavor, You would not believe some of the dirty secrets his kids tell. Gotta have levels to your wrong beliefs. It's like an onion, gotta have layers. Or was that ogres?" Able said, tapping his lower lip. "Well, was a literal whore. Heard the hero killer got her. The hooker must have refused his dime bag cause he got medieval with that death. Gotta give the man props—" a knife bounced off Able's forehead. "Well, that wasn't very cash money of you."

Stain's eye was twitching as he lunged with his odachi drawn, "Scum like you should learn when to shut the hell up!" He yelled as he swung with all he had in an attempt to decapitate the foolish fake hero.

"So anyways, you never answered my question, but that's ok. You're wrong on all fronts. See, I'm forced to be a Yuuei student by the rodent of a dean, I don't give two shits about fame or fortune, ask anyone I've dealt with and you can easily find out I like to look out for the little man. Hell, this last year alone I have defended at least thirty people from severe quirk hate. So tell me, what about me is fake?"

"Why the fuck can't I cut you?" Stain asked, pointing his bent sword at the idiot.

"Other than the fact that performance issues are common for men your age, I'm literally invulnerable. Can't cut this, Dandy man! Whoop Whoop Whoop Whoop" the eye twitch got worse as the imbecile juked to the side like a crab. "It's kinda why I'm distracting you."

Stain blinked. "Distracting?"

"Young Able, you really should learn how to halt your inertia," exclaimed a boisterous voice behind Stain who slowly went wide eyed as realization kicked in.

"See, I could respond to that, but you're the one who decided to throw me, All Might."

The serial killer slowly turned around, sounding like a rusty door creaking on its hinge, to see the American Lich King in all his buff porn model glory. Dazzling white fake smile firmly in place as he looked down at the hero killer, who quite frankly looked ready to piss himself, from either being a fanboy or the fact that he was a villain standing before the Number One Able wasn't sure.

"Ah! You're the hero killer I've been hearing so much about. The one tarnishing my name and what I stand for."* To say Able was surprised by the sheer amount of fury in that glowing

cobalt blue eye would be like stating that the sky was just blue. The All American Reject looked pissed, making that smile of hope look like the grin of the Grim Reaper.

Stain dropped his odachi and backed up slowly, but the Symbol of Peace was already in front of him with a fist buried in the poor man's gut, forcing everything the psychopath had eaten in the last month up and out his mouth in a violent spray all over the asphalt. The hero killer's eyes rolled back in his eyes and with a squeaked "mommy!" fell to the ground where he lay twitching. All

Might snarled and ripped a light pole out of the street, leaving sparking wires as he wrapped the metal around the serial killer and dusting his hands. Noticing the look Able was giving him the buff porn star raised an eyebrow.

"He crippled a young friend of mine. Tensei actually gave a damn about the community."

"Ah," Able said with a nod, before a hand smashed through the asphalt of the road, grabbed his legs and jerked him hard into the ground. All Might rushed to try and grab the younger man's hands, but was too slow to grab him before the debris and sewage water claimed him.

Able hated being submerged. He loathed it. How weak it made him feel, how pathetic his fear was. It was salt on his wounds that this was sewer water. Whatever it was that was dragging him seemed to understand and was punching and biting him, spreading Able's blood in the septic fluid.

He was pretty sure his nose broke when the thing threw him out of the water and into the sewer wall face first. The thing grabbed his ankle and slammed him back into the wall, Able's spine clicking from the force. It had been so long since the man had bled, so to have blood dripping into his eye was a weird shock to his system. He tried to get up, but the water had sapped his strength and he couldn't even lift himself. He could only groan as he was slammed again into the wall by his face.

This was some karmic retribution, he was sure of it. Whatever gods existed had decided he had fucked up enough that they sent their champion to deliver universal justice to his skull.

Finally he was granted a reprieve when the assailant dropped him. Able managed to roll just enough to see what was happening. The creature that looked straight out of the eldritch lore was swatting and swinging at what looked like a thick white cloud that circled around the beast like an angry swarm of bees, heavy orbs were being pulled from the creature's skin as it shrieked and tried to fight the weird mist off it as it slowly shriveled up into a husk.

When the husk of the mole creature thing fell with a splash, the mist turned to Able with glowing blood red eyes that flickered yellow and orange. He shivered from a trickle of fear, something he hadn't truly felt before as the cloud drifted over to him. It seemed to pulse as it looked him over, like it was trying to hold back. Whatever it was doing, it decided he was too tasty a morsel and rushed to cover him. As he passed out, he could hear sobs that sounded familiar.

'Himi?' He thought before everything went dark.

Toshinori was panicking as he dug into the sewage maintenance tunnel. The sheer panic that he had seen on the young man's face made his heart clench. He had tried to grab onto his hand as the confidence in the young man crumbled and gave way to absolute terror as he was pulled into the water filled with human waste and chemicals. The sheer fear the young man displayed, that was a look he had only witnessed once before, it was the look of someone who knew what was to come and dreaded it with everything they had.

All Might thought back to the scene in the washroom, where young Midoriya had fallen through the roof, through several of the floors of the dorms and into the dorm's hot tub. He had been out for a jog and by sheer coincidence had been passing by Height's Alliance in his small might form when a panicked young Usagiyama and Ashido had rushed out asking him to get All Might and Cementoss or anyone with a high level of strength.

Once they ran back inside, he had quickly hid away, bulked up and rushed into the dorms. He had been quick to understand that water made his successor suffocate under his own weight and snatched him out of the water where young Todoroki splashed hot flash fire over the shivering young man. What a weakness, water. If he was completely submerged in the liquid, it sapped his strength like a sponge. Toshinori didn't know if this affected One for All or not, but it was still worrying.

He ran quickly down the tunnel, glancing down each passage way that he passed, trying to find the young man. He could hear the tinkling sound of ceramic bricks and tiles breaking and the shrieking of whatever it was that grabbed Midoriya. Following the sounds and grunts, he heard the soft sobbing of a... girl? He slid onto the scene and saw yellow eyes in a white cloud that seemed to look at him in shock before fleeing down the tunnel like a rat that ran from a predator. Toshinori blinked and looked at the dried up corpse of a mole looking creature. Mist quirk?

He grabbed young Midoriya and slung him onto his shoulder before grabbing the creature. It looked remarkably like the nomu thing he had fought at the USJ and could carry a clue to All For One so he carried it to the hole he dug and leapt out. Cops were already on the scene and all looked relieved to see him.

He merely waved off the appreciation and, after a quick word to Native and staring mournfully at the three bodybags, told the reporters that were already on location that the local hero had been the one to apprehend the hero killer. He downplayed his involvement, merely stating he had only just arrived in an attempt to find a wayward student, who had been grabbed by the creature in his hands. He bid farewell and immediately jumped away, never noticing the bright yellow eyes watching him, nor the soft, echoed voice that said the single word "Able".

Able slowly came to, blinking the bright sunlight out of his eyes as he took stock of his location. He was in a soft, clean bed, with white cotton blankets, in a room with white walls and an annoyingly bright ceiling light. somehow, there was an IV drip in his inner elbow, which made him confused beyond belief, as with his skin that should be next to impossible.

The door opened and a petite redheaded nurse stepped in, reading over her clipboard and not really paying attention as she walked over to the vitals reader and began to take notes. He let her have a few moments of obliviousness before he cleared his throat, making her scream and jump higher than she was tall. Though it was really cool how she clung to the ceiling like that, maybe some kind of spider-like emitter quirk, or a less obvious mutation like him. She stared at him in panic and she tried to control her breathing.

"Um, ma'am? Could you tell me where I am?" He asked, trying to be polite.

"H-Hosu General H-Hospital. A-All Might brought you here two days ago," She replied with a

stammer. Skittish little thing. The door opened again and Gran Torino stepped in, talking to a very very tall man with a Saint Bernard head. Able gasped.

"Holy shit, it's Scruff Mcgruff!" He exclaimed, making the tall man glare at him.

Torino looked up to the still frightened nurse then to Able before returning his game back at the nurse. "Tell me he didn't try to cop a feel," He said in his gruff voice, making the nurse realize her predicament and easily falling onto her feet like a lithe cat. She stood and cleared her throat, gave the two senior men a slight bow and bolted from the room, presumably to inform a doctor of his awakening.

Torino watched her leave before glancing at Able in askance. After receiving a shrug, Torino simply walked over to the visitation chair and sat down.

"Listen up brat, this is Kenji Tsuragamae, police chief of the Hosu department." "Oh, so less Scruff Mcgruff and more Doggy Kruger. Gotcha."

The chief rolled his eyes and coughed into his gloved hand. "At least Kruger did something more than just take a bite out of crime."

Able's eyes widened before a grin spread on his face. "Didn't figure a man with such a vaunted position would be into the nerd stuff, Chief."

"Oh believe me young man. I have to be able to relate to every generational clique to do my job efficiently. That includes studying what you call 'nerd stuff.' Surely you didn't think you were the first person to make that reference. Plus, in my defense, Kruger had a very nice saber that I may or may not have had made on commission. Woof."

"Ok, first: respect. Second: why is such a high ranking officer of the Hosu station here to see me?"

"The hero killer stain. With your and All Might's help, Manual was able to take him into custody before the hero succumbed to his wounds. At least, that is what we are telling the public, per All Might's request. Stain's bounty will be given to his surviving family."

"So you need my story for the report so you can create a story that abides by All Might's request?" "Precisely."

"Alright. Well it all started when All Might threw me. He and Torino here were training me to deal with the quirk evolution that for some strange reason I'm going through. Speaking of, why is this bed not buckling under me?" He asked, looking at Torino, who looked amused.

"What, you think you're the first fatty the hospital has had to deal with?" The police chief cleared his throat.

"Oh, right. Sorry. So anyways, we were sparring to get me more acclimated to the new aspects of my quirk and the All American Wannabe threw me a little too hard.. next thing I know, I'm crashing through buildings, barely slowing down until I hit the hero killer. At first I was seriously panicked thinking I'd just killed a man, so I dug him out of the rubble and immediately recognized him. Knowing that All Might was going to come looking for me, I verbally antagonized him. My goal was to piss him off to the point he kept his focus solely on me." Able stopped for a breath and scratched his ear.

"Since his M.O. always said that he somehow paralyzed his victims before stabbing them, i knew I was perfect for the distraction. I'm invulnerable due to my mutation, all I had to do was literally just stand there and snipe quips at him until he was apoplectic and unfocused. No quirk usage, completely within the law. He was so focused on me, he never noticed the American Reject landing behind him. All it took was one punch and the killer was laid out. By the way, you have a copycat on your hands as well."

The chief looked startled at this information before narrowing his eyes. "How do you figure that?"

"The Nebula scene. It was all over the internet. When I brought it up, Stain's body language changed. From self-righteous to more... disgusted. As if he saw the attack as something akin to sacrilegious. Plus the scene doesn't fit Stain's modus. He deals in quick efficient kills, not long, painful, drawn out deaths. He doesn't leave his victims to suffer like the copycat did to Nebula. She may have been a shit hero, but she didn't deserve that."

If a dog could pale, Able was sure that Doggy Kruger would be whiter than a sheet of paper. "Shit. We need a handle on this. Thank you for your time, Mr. Able. We'll take it from here. Torino."

"Chief."

The chief of the Hosu department all but fled from the room leaving the pair in an awkward silence before Torino spoke up.

"You did alright, kid. Could've done better, but for an accident, you did alright. The creature that grabbed you somehow managed to break your skin so the doctors want you under observation to make sure the sewage waste didn't get into your blood. They also said you were somehow anemic and want to make sure you get fluids in you, so you're gonna be here for a few days. So get you some rest." The old man said, patting Able's foot as he hobbled out of the room. Able shrugged and relaxed onto the bed. Just before he closed his eyelids, the memory of the white mist and sobbing came to mind.

It... couldn't be, could it?

She felt like she was floating in a sea of darkness, resting on the waters of the abyss as she bounces with each wave. It was peaceful and warm, like she was wrapped in a comfortable cotton cloud as she lay there, weightless. She could hear someone who sounded like her mother sobbing by her side, but no matter what she tried, she couldn't reach out to touch her mother in reassurance. The constant beeping was driving her insane though, shrieking through the darkness every view seconds. It caused the waves, she was sure of it as they coincided with each other.

She could feel something in her throat but she couldn't swallow it, it did keep pushing air into her lungs, which at first had been painful, but eventually it just became background noise that eventually stopped hurting altogether. There was a pressure on her finger as well, but she couldn't shake it off. How long had she been floating in the darkness?

She heard her mother sobbing again, closer this time. The water under her head was moved in a weird way. Water shouldn't move like that. The beeping was getting annoyingly louder. What was it? Was it an alarm clock? She wished she could see what it was. She was getting bored just laying her anyways. She wanted to move. She needed to move.

So she did. She squeezed the hand holding her and tried to sit up making her mother gasp and cry out.

"TOORU!"

Chapter End Notes

winner by TKO! Some snot nosed kid! Someone check his pulse cause he got knocked

the fuck out!

Special thanks to Irmadbro over in Epsi's Hoard, where I hang out. Look for the glow of my neon halo!

All's well that ends well

Chapter Summary

End of the internships and the aftermath

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Izuku "Able" Midoriya sighed as he meandered through the halls of the hospital. Sitting in that bed with a broken arm and nose was already irritatingly boring, but the silence. It was maddening! He should have been released by now, but the doctors wanted to keep him for observation. Kind of malarkey was that? He was fine!

He grumbled in his frustration as he passed through the halls, not really caring where he was going, he was lost so deeply in his own thoughts.

"You!" Came a snarled exclamation snapping Able to reality. In front of him stood the class president, who looked livid beyond belief.

"Oh, hey, Mr Roboto! Why are you here?"

"Don't give me that! Do you know what you've done? That was my chance to redeem the Idaten agency and you stole it from me!"

"What are you on about? I didn't steal anything." Able said in confusion

"You took the hero-killer from me! I spent hours trying to track him! I waited for him and was—" "— probably about to die."

"Excuse you?" Iida jerked back, looking like Able just stomped on his rulebook collection. Did he have a rulebook collection? He definitely had a rule book collection. Those poor, poor rulebooks.

"Tell me something, Metal Sonic, are you a fully trained hero?" "No, but I—"

"Are you disrespectful of the dead?"

"No, but—"

"I did nothing outside of antagonize him while I waited for the hero I was interning with to come find me. I'm not a fully trained and licensed hero and while I could easily fight, and maybe win, the law would have labeled me a vigilante. So, you can take your self-righteousness and hate and shove it up your tightly coiled ass so it can keep that polished stick you keep there company."

The stiff robot's eye twitched and he swung, hard, at Able's chin, making Izuku's head snap to the side, before taking several steps back with a cry of pain as he held his now purpling hand.

"Do you see now why I kept drawing his aggro? I'm, if you'll pardon my phrasing, always hard. I can tank things normal people can't, so I was the perfect distraction" Able sighed. He was minorly surprised that he had even felt the hit, meaning Cialis was much stronger than he appeared. "Now, are you quite done with your holier-than-thou bullshit or are you going to keep trampling on the wishes of one of the few good heroes there has been in the last five years?"

Iida looked at him in confusion. "What?"

"Your brother. Talked to him a few times before I was forced into Yuuei and I got mad respect for him, how he likes to take in troubled youths and mold them into heroes of a caliber not often seen. He tried to do that with me, believe it or not. Hell, the man even had the respect of All Might." Able glared hard at the cyborg.

"Tell me, would a man who did so much good give a shit about vengeance? Or would he have been more concerned about the people injured? Would he have run off on some vendetta leaving the hero he was interning with to die or would he have tried to stand with the hero? Because the way I see it, you let your self-centered self-righteous indignation that big brother got a boo boo cloud your mind and the world lost a good man. Think about that. Three heroes died yesterday and more would have if All Might hadn't shown up looking for me."

Able stopped and took a breath. "Since you woke up, what has been the thought process? 'I have dishonored my family for my failure'? Newsflash, the guy was named the Hero Killer for a reason. He targeted trained heroes, men and women who fight villains on a daily basis, and overwhelms them. Am I blaming you for being angry? Fuck no. But I'll bet you haven't said one fucking word to the family of Manual. The man who arrested Stain before he died from the wounds he got cause he was too worried about you to focus on the fight. That should have been your priority instead of seeking me out because of your wounded pride." The large thuggish looking man yelled before stopping to collect himself.

"Congratulations," Midoriya poked the man's chest hard, "You've just became scum in my eyes," he growled as he shoved past the stammering cyborg and moved on down the hall, leaving Iida standing in the hallway.

Harsh as it was, Iida couldn't find fault in the man's words. He should have seen to the family of the hero first. It was the entrance exam all over again, when he berated Kirishima for protecting Uraraka instead of fleeing, only to find out that was what got his position on the scoreboard. He had been so headstrong that he hadn't even thought about the cost of his actions and now all his beliefs were being called into question by a street thug who apparently was more of a hero than he was.

What was he supposed to do now?

Toshinori lightly tapped on the door in his small emaciated form, or as Izuku liked to call it, his lich form. His black suit hung loose against his frame, several sizes too big just in case some of the sycophants that were decrying Endeavor's arrest tried to attack them while en route to getting the woman who was forced into a now annulled loveless marriage out of her prison and into a safe space.

When asked if he was willing to house them, he had offered that he technically owned an apartment building he could house her in near Yuuei where he had been staying. (The look on young Midoriya's face when he found out Toshinori was his new landlord had been priceless!) He could easily house the three adults however they wished. Especially with college students with provisional licenses nearby and local heroes. The only way it could be safer, in his opinion, was if they built a bank vault and hid them there. Nezu, Power Loader, and Cementoss had even pitched in to make the building up to code and safe, with constant patrols near the area, CCTV, and a few teachers willing to move in.

The Wasp had shown up once and after spending exactly ten seconds glaring at Toshinori, proceeded to give him a list of all the faults he needed to fix before the move in. Once he had her seal of approval, he had called in several favors with the police department, Torino and Mirai and

Sun Wukong to have escorts. Seeing the looks on the three interns faces when Usagiyama, Yaoyorozu, and Kendo saw the brand new Harley-Davidson NightRider 23XX XLR8's when he told him they could keep the bikes after the mission had been, quite frankly, the best part of his day. In short, he had everything ready and, with his fingers crossed in case of Murphy's Law, had gone to retrieve the newly divorced mother of three.

At least, he was until he laid eyes on her. The way the light seemed to radiate off her porcelain white skin, the way the sunlight shined through her snow white hair giving the appearance of a radiant halo. The fierce, guarded, but defiant gleam in her eyes that bore the color of a blizzard about to wreak havoc; their storm grey pierced deeply into his cobalt blues.

He must have stood there looking like a fool, with his jaw slackened and his eyes wide as he took in her beauty. He wasn't prepared for this. What should he do? She was already finishing putting her things away by the time he recollected himself and coughed into his fist, quickly hiding the red on his knuckle.

"Is there a problem?" He jerked and looked at the woman, who was now scowling at him.

"N-No. I take it you're ready to go?" He asked, rubbing his knuckle.

"You're with the All Might agency?" She asked him with narrowed eyes. When he nodded, she scoffed. "Figures he would send a peon instead of coming himself. Don't know why I expected something different."

"Ma'am, please. All Might was concerned if he appeared before you, you would have issues working with him. He sent me instead because I'm better with people than he is."

She stared at him with a blank face, but eyes shone with glacial intensity. "Show me proof." she demanded "I won't leave with some no name paper pusher just because they say they're working for the biggest liar in the system."

Toshinori sighed quietly and showed her his office badge which got snatched out of his hand quickly. There was that familiar tickling at the back of his throat that he tried to choke down, but the cough still came, making him release a wet hack into his palm. The former Todoroki blinked seeing him quickly turn around and start coughing hard. She could see his struggles for breath. Flashes of her baby girl screaming as she covered the left side of her face passed in front of the mother's eyes when she saw the blood. When he finally calmed down, he didn't turn when he spoke, his voice wheezy and watery.

"I'm sorry you had to see that. I'll be waiting downstairs when you're ready." "Wait."

He slowly turned, hiding his hand from her like a child that was hiding a broken toy. She quickly went to the latrine and wet one of the hospital clothes and wiped down his hand.

"How did you get hurt?" She asked, curiosity and concern seemed to warm her beautiful blizzard grey eyes. He could still see suspicion, but he could see no hatred for him. It didn't help that she was five inches from his face and she was one of the most beautiful women he'd ever laid eyes on, causing him to blush and stammer.

"Ah it er. It was uh well—" He stopped and took a breath to center himself. "About six years ago a villain put his fist through my chest. Even after multiple surgeries, I'm, uh, still not fully recovered."

He could see her searching his cobalt blues for deceit before she sighed and backed up. "It figures that All Might would send an invalid to retrieve an invalid." Toshinori stopped at hearing this and just looked at her for a moment.

"Out of curiosity, what would you have done had All Might arrived instead of me?" "Probably punched him. Berate him for being blind."

"Well, my eyes were only recently opened and I was shown just how much I've fucked up by a young man I've taken to seeing something of a protégé. I've been trying to fix that," he said, steam beginning to roll off of him as he bulked up and stood to his full height.

"So please, miss Yuki, rage at me. Hit me. I will take it and offer my most sincerest apologies for being blind."

The woman stared at him, her mind not fully comprehending for a few moments before she stomped up and punched him hard in the nose, a wet crack sounding in the room. She hadn't expected the skeleton man to morph into the number one. Nor did she expect that her punch to his

gut would bring him to his knees before she caught herself and saw that it wasn't Endeavor she was hitting, but instead one of the most powerful men in Japan, who was kneeling before her coughing.

Toshinori clutched his side in obvious pain as he shrunk back down to his lich form as he struggled to stand back up, his voice strained and guttural. "I did not expect that. Should have, but I didn't. Rei Yuki, my name is Toshinori Yagi, also known as All Might. I humbly beg your forgiveness for my ignorance to your plight."

"Please, um, don't force yourself. So you have two forms? Big and ludicrously silly and compact and serious?"

The skeletal man huffed a weak chuckle. "Would you believe my protégé calls them my lich form and porn star form?"

"Crass, but I can see it," She said with a small giggle.

Toshinori finally managed to stand and with a muffled pop , reset his nose. "Now, you're welcome to keep hitting me, but we are behind schedule. Your children are waiting for you."

Katsuki groused as he paced in front of 1-B's dorm door. After spending the previous three days with Neit- Monoma, he found himself wanting to be around the other male more, like there was a pull he couldn't explain. He stopped and ruffled his hair in frustration before stomping back to his dorm only to turn around midway and move to knock on the door, stopping just shy of actually knocking on the wood.

Unknown to him, a green haired girl was watching from her window as she brushed her gay friend's long hair out from around his fluffy cat ears that he kept pressed against his scalp. She giggled as the explosive blond bounced back and forth in his indecision.

"Are you sure you want him though? I mean, he is hot, but aren't you, like, totally against everyone in 1-A?" She asked as she twisted his long blond hair into a French braid. She was seriously jealous of how silky soft Nieto's hair was. And that ass! She would kill to have an ass that looked as taut and curvy as his! It was so unfair! The man was the literal definition of a femboy, with his slim waist and thicc thighs, not to mention golden blond hair that framed his face with his kissably soft lips and cute button nose.

EVERYONE who met him thought he was a girl, which didn't help when he started wearing dresses on their off day. It had been funny when the short guy with the hair balls had tried to flirt with the copycat only to find out he was a dude. He just liked looking and feeling pretty. He got hate for it, sure, but usually 1-B stood up for him. Especially her. When Setsuna heard what the ex boyfriend did, she had wanted to tear the asshole into ribbons, but Nieto stopped her and told her what he and Bakugou, of all people, had devised.

Now here she was, getting Neito prepped for a date Bakugou didn't know he had, listening to the blond talk about how his sister found out about her fiancé cheating on her when the doctor asked her about the chemical burns and icy-hot on his scrotum and rectum. Needless to say, revenge had been served and Neito found it delicious.

"To be fair, he's kinda adorable when he's flustered. Plus he took the time out of his day to check in on me. He deserves a... reward," The cat boy said with a small giggle as he flicked and swiveled his blond furred ears away from the brush.

She finished the braid off with a ribbon and ruffled the man's adorable cat ears, proud he was willing to try again, this time with someone who, despite his attitude, actually seemed to mesh well with her besty. If Setsuna was lucky, she and Mina would have new gossip and the soon to be couple wouldn't be walking straight. Oh, the thought made her so giddy!

Finally the blond bomber perked up enough courage to knock on the door and she listened as Shishida gave him the fourth degree. She could hear Ibarra talking about how sinful it was, while Fukidashi danced happily. She floated her head around and gave the cat boy a good look over.

He was purrfect~!

Bakugou wasn't going to know what hit him!

Katsuki didn't know what hit him. When this gorgeous girl with cat ears came down in a beautiful, if frilly, dress and stockings, he hadn't known what to think. When the separation girl with green hair said to have fun on their date, well Katsuki was even more confused. When the cat girl looked up at him and he realized it was Nei— Monoma, there was a clench in his chest that demanded he kiss the breath out of the attractive man. Rewind, date?

...

Bakugou.exe has stopped responding

Able raged as he stepped into an empty room. Why had he said that to Iida? The poor guy was upset about his brother and tried to deal with it the wrong way. What good did pointing out that he fucked up do when had he not gone after Stain, he would have died just as Manual did. The outcome would have been the same! Even if the block head hadn't said he figured out how to track the psychopath, which he really should have taken to the police or the pro heroes instead of trying to handle it by himself illegally, would Able have snapped at him like that? should Able apologize?

He sighed and walked further into the room. Pulling the visitation chair to the window, he sat and idly scratched at his arm. The puncture wounds had been healed, but not fully, leaving dry scars that itched under the fabric of the bandages. He sighed and leaned his head on the back of his chair. How was Rumi doing on her internship? He would have sent her a message, but the mole nomu thing had broken it.

Rumi stared angrily at her phone, her foot slapping against the floor at a high rate of speed, while Yaoyorozu hung upside-down from the spider goop she learned how to make a reality and Kendo sparred with Sun Wukong. She was going to kill her boyfriend.

He groaned knowing his girlfriend was going to kill his invulnerable ass. He would have to make it up to her somehow, maybe a dinner date? Tagobah would probably be a good place, maybe under the moonlight. They could relax under the stars in the sand. Could he walk on sand now?

Is he going to need special sh—

"Ano...are um... are you ok?" Asked a voice that made Able jump three feet in the air before completing crushing the visitation chair as he fell, sprawling out on the floor with a heavy and loud crash. He quickly looked around the room for the source before his eyes landed on an IV drip that fed into... nothing? Able squinted his eyes and tilted his in confusion as he noticed the outline in the blankets, the dip in the mattress and pillow and the hospital gown that hung in the air like a body was supporting it as the person leaned over to look at him. He was staring at an invisible person. Neat! Also, ow!

How does the light refraction work? Can she concentrate the light into superheated beams like a magnifying glass? Judging by the clothes, she must be either like perfectly clear glass and completely see through, but then he would be able to see her ingesting nutrients, so maybe topical light refraction? Would it be cellular or sort of bio-electrical field that only extends just off her skin? How does she fix her—

"You mutter quickly, huh? I didn't get any of that."

"Oh! Sorry. I get like that when I see new quirks. I'm kinda a dork when it comes to them. Apologies for entering your room uninvited, I needed to get away from a certain class president of mine. Izuku Midoriya, but my friends call me 'Able'."

The invisible girl giggled. "If it's anything like my class president is, or was, then I can understand. I'm Toru Hagakure, nice ta meet you! Wait, 'Able'? As in the invulnerable bodyguard of Usagiyama and Mina? Holy shit dude, when Mina told me about you, I thought she was kidding! You're a freaking giant!" The girl exclaimed, and judging by the bouncing of her bed, she was waving her arms excitedly.

"You know Mina? I haven't been able to really sit down and chat with sis in some time so she hasn't been able to tell me about any of her friends. This is great! So, if it's not too much, may i ask why you're cooped up in this tiny room?"

And just like that the energy was sucked out of the room, leaving a somber depression.

"I was hurt during the USJ attack last month. Mom won't tell me what happened after that, she just starts crying."

Able closed his eyes. He had heard about the attack on the class of 1-A, one student dead, one in a coma and wasn't expected to live. Guess she defied expectations by waking up.

"I don't know much outside of the facts reported. They never gave names, just that there was a fatality and a student that wasn't expected to see the end of the month, which I'm guessing was you."

"Oh. I think I know who it was then." The energetic girl was suddenly so withdrawn and quiet, it felt like whiplash. "If my mother breaks down like that, it was probably the guy I grew up with,

Mashirao Ojiro. Mom used to babysit for his parents. He... he was my closest friend."

Able would be lying if he said he knew what to do at that moment, so he did what came naturally: he put his hand on her hand and rubbed the hair between her horns. Also, he just learned she had horns, which blew his quirk dork mind!

Gran Torino, also known as Sorahiko Torino by what little family he had left, stared long and hard out over the ocean from where he stood on the pier. Roughly thirty years had passed since his childhood best friend had been destroyed by All for One, forty since she ripped his heart out of his chest when she started dating Tomura Shimura and soon married him before Sorahiko could ever tell her how he felt. He still carried that flame to this day, pining for what could have been and missing what had been. He had held her when she was forced to give up her son. He had held her again when she miscarried the last bit of Tomura the man had left in this world when All for One killed the man. She never fully recovered from that. She threw herself fully into her hero work, training Toshinori and doing her best to track down the villain that destroyed her family. She became obsessed, only relaxing when she trained Toshinori or crying into his shoulder. The day before they finally caught a lead on the monster, he finally had the courage to confess everything to her. He held nothing back. Before she went into battle, she smiled and told him she loved him too.

They never found her body.

After the fight, both Sorahiko and Toshinori grieved her loss in their own way, Torino putting all his pain into training Toshinori into the symbol the boy wanted to be, and Toshinori, well the man bottled it all up. He bottled everything, his grief, his regrets, his anger, his loneliness, everything behind that damned smile. That foolish, ignorant, idiotic smile. He turned and began walking back onto the beach of Onjuku, pausing only to look up at the six meter statue of his best friend in her hero garb.

In Honor Seventh Wonder of Japan Maverick.

He scoffed but polished the placard anyways, as he had done since they had erected the statue of the fallen heroine. Very few people even knew he was her best friend anymore, he had been forgotten and he was ok with that. He sighed as he sat down at the foot of the statue, letting his old back pop as he leaned against the concrete and propped his cane on his shoulder.

He would trade everything in the world just for one more day with the woman. Just for one more day. He was tired. He smiled as he thought of the Ninth. He has spunk and fire just like Nana did. And Toshinori, well the idiot may not be of his own blood, but he was the best damned son Sorahiko had ever had and he had been sure to put it into his memoirs.

~Look at you Sora, you got tiny!~

His eyes snapped open. There she was, as beautiful as the day he last saw her. That stupid smile on her lips that made him just want to kiss her breath away. He dusted off his legs with a dry chuckle.

~Well, you sure took yer sweet time, di'n ye?~ he asked as he took her hand. They smiled at each other as they walked into the setting sun.

"Hey old dude? you ok? Old dude? Hey! Someone call an ambulance, he isn't breathing!"

The white mist watched, its yellow eyes locked firmly on the hero agency's door. The sun slowly set as the mist rolled and clung to the grass as it waited for its prey. It could smell her blood, it was intoxicating! The perfect acidity to taste!

It saw her, walking through the park toward the train station, it was the mist's chance! It was time to strike its prey! It separated into banks and began to slowly roll out to surround the girl. She was paying more attention to her phone than to her surroundings which suited the mist just fine. It began to collect into his human self, his hated self, his lonesome loathsome self, his knife sharp as he glided up behind her before his vision was filled with angry red eyes!

He separated back into mist, but the red eyes didn't stop! Its misty tendrils grabbed and dispersed everything that was him, his yellow eyed mist form trying to get away. The prey noticed! The prey screamed! Stop screaming! He collected back into solidarity and lunged, his yellow eyes wide in his desperation! The screaming had to stop! The other mist was there, it was biting him in too many places! He tried to fight back, but it already had a hold on him. His mist form fully coalesced into his ugly form as his body dropped to the ground. The last thing he heard was:

̐̿͑͌ ̎̾

̡̬ ͠ ̼͖̃̿̽ ̢̧͎̥͙͖͇̬͇͂̍͋̃̈̊̑̎̄͆́̈̂̃̿͐̾ ͝ ̖ ͌̑̏̾̚ ̦̒͑͆́ ͇͓̈́̇̿͆̀͜ ̯̿̾͋ ""̴̔͝ͅX̧̯ ̷ͅe̶̊͠n͖ ̷͈̟̈́o̡ ̴ͅ.̵̬̑̐.̴̖̈́̄͠.̴̸̨̫͓͇̄ͅͅs̵͠͝a͙ ̸̻f̵̋ẹ ̴͒ͅ"̻ ̵̲̍̚ ͈̬ ̦ ̘̹̖͓͔ ̗ ̡͓ ̙̩̪͇̘͓̿ ̺̟̟͔̦ ̺̜̟͉̣̭ ̝͚̬ ̣͚͙̱͓̗

̠

He could see the angry burning red eyes fade into a soft yellow as he lay there, fighting the unconsciousness that was sinking in. It was cold. He needed blood.

"H-Himi? But...that... I...how? I'm calling for help, Himi, stay put, we're going to get you help, ok? Professor Aizawa, yeah, sorry to bother you, but..."

His prey had such a cute voice was his final thought as he faded into unconsciousness. Chapter End Notes

I am absolutely not at all confident in this chapter. I fiddled with it and fiddled with it, got some scenes I wanted done, others I feel is missing something

Special thanks to Irmadbro over in Epsi's Hoard, where I hang out. Look for the glow of my neon halo!

If you want a more direct way to find me, come on over to my server, Halo's Extreme Disconnect,

Chapter Summary

Of Crushes and Dates

Hitoshi drowns hopelessly as the American bombshell teases him, Able solves the time-travel paradox, and Mina is a responsible adult.

WARNING: this chapter introduces an adorable little unicorn who's plight her gallant knight hasn't learned of yet. Please, I plan for Able to beat the ever loving shit out of Overhaul when he finds out, but this scene is hard to read. It was hard enough just to write, so I labeled it with trigger warnings, if you have ptsd or are squeamish, no that i clearly labeled it and it was just opening up the idea of her plight. I do not, and will never condone child tormenting to this degree and am more than willing to go to prison if I come across someone who takes part in this kind of act.

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Hitoshi was a simple man. Lazy, perpetually tired, smart as all get out. He could calculate the physics of a pendulum fast enough to know how much force and speed he would need to cross a forty meter gap with a fixed point at a forty-five degree angle. That didn't help his current situation, however.

~In the midnight hour she cried, "More, more, more" With a rebel yell she cried, "More, more, more", oh In the midnight hour, babe! more, more, more

With a rebel yell more, more, more

More, more, more~

The blonde beauty was somehow making cleaning her room the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen as she swayed her thin yet curvy, muscular hips to the rhythm of the music. He couldn't understand the words of the song, but the guitar was getting under his skin as he watched the blonde girl swing her hair and literally prance in place as she sang to the song as if the broom she was holding was a stage microphone.

Her voice matched perfectly in the rhythm as she waved her toned ass around, the tuft of her tail swishing back and forth hypnotically. Her black and blue striped panties were hardly even trying to remain hidden under the long white Pink Floyd shirt. He stood there dumbstruck. He couldn't

remember what he had come to talk to Tsunotori about anymore.

He never noticed her slight mischievous smile as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. She had noticed the looks he gave her and it made her giddy that someone thought she was so mind numbingly beautiful that they would drop their blunt in the mud when their jaw went slack. She had caught him watching when she washed her baby, Ebony.

She should probably go for a ride sometime; her girl was probably getting cooped up in the garage. She had been ecstatic when she discovered Yuuei allowed students to bring personal vehicles. She adored her babygirl, riding the Night Rider whenever she got the chance. It had been heartbreaking to come upon her baby one day with her paint ruined. It took the help of the support department to get the words "mutant freak" and "foreign slut" off.

It took even longer to get the sugar out of the gas tank and repair the bent handlebar when someone had kicked the bike over. They had even cut the cowhide leather of the seat! What kind of monster hurts a beautiful bike like that? What kind of monster tried to hurt her baby? They hurt a gift to her from her Aunt! Let her catch the asshole, she had a sharp hoof for their nose!

Now, however, she was more worried about getting Shinso to make a move. He was interested in her, and she was interested in him; all he had to do was make the first move, but something was holding him back and she didn't know whether to kiss him or scream in frustration!

For now, she should finish cleaning her room, but Billy Idol was just so easy to get lost in. Oh, if only Shinso would join her, she would rock his world.

"You think this mist is your dead friend whose grave was recently robbed and you want me to try my quirk on her to see if it'll return her to her human form?" the hobo asked tiredly, his tired eyes staring at the pink-skinned girl in disbelief.

Mina scratched her cheek. "I mean, yeah, but how did you get that from me asking how you were?" The professor stared at her unblinkingly as he drained a jelly pouch. His eyes quickly took on a red glare as he stared at the mist, scaring the cops and making them hurriedly drag the villain faster to their cruiser. The homeless-looking man watched in shock as the mist began to swirl into a vortex; his eyes widened as the aether blurred into a tornado of white as an ethereal voice screamed in pain vibrated the air around them. His phone was pressed to his ear faster than Mina could blink as the screaming mass coalesced into a naked girl with messy blonde hair who laid on the ground,

shivering and sobbing. Mina rushed to hug her missing friend who quickly clung tightly to her friend, both girls sobbing immensely.

"Shh Himi, I'm here. Oh god, Himi, I'm here. No... nononono, please, professor!" The pink girl began to scream as the blonde began to lose her solidarity and grip as Aizawa's eyes began to water, though he fought against it, he still blinked. In an explosion of mist, the girl was gone and

dispersed into a cloud that fled with a sobbing wail. He reactivated his quirk and forced her solid again before she could get too far. Mina immediately was at her side again, holding the shivering and sobbing girl who was clutching tightly to Mina's sweater.

The sound of tires screeching and doors slamming shut echoed behind him as he fought to keep his focus on the girl in his student's arms. Midnight appeared with Nezu on her shoulder, the R rated heroine immediately taking stock of the situation and slowly approaching, keeping her hands where the two young women could see them.

"An uncontrollable quirk that forced the girl to live in the form of a cloud. Quite depressing, is it not, Aizawa?" Nezu asked beside, the professor who nodded slightly. When Midnight synched the quirk suppression cuffs to the messy blonde's wrist and activated them, he let his eyes close and sighed in relief as the natural moisture did its job. Just what he needed, another mess to deal with.

It took several hours to get the girl, identified as the formerly deceased Himiko Toga, into the Yuuei SUV. It took many failures for them to realize she was not going to let go of Ashido, even for clothes to be put on her. If she was separated from the pink heroine, she would begin to hyperventilate in a panic attack, making the heroes fear for her safety. It had taken Midnight gassing the girl (and Ashido by proxy) just to get a pair of gym shorts and a t-shirt on her. Getting her to Yuuei was less of an issue, so long as Ashido stayed with the girl

Able smiled as he left the hospital room. Hagakure had been a lot of fun to sit and talk with, but eventually she had grown exhausted from their conversations and he had taken his leave. He felt for the girl; he really did. To go through life without anyone really knowing you're there, nearly completely isolated because of her mutation? He could empathize with that. Even more so with all the quirk discrimination.

With her horns, someone had probably made the connection and spread some malicious garbage that had made people ignore her, which would starve the poor girl for attention, explaining how extroverted she was. She practically demanded you pay attention to her, which was difficult when she was unseen. It was the horns, however that threw him off.

He could see the field affecting the skin of his palm when he put his hand on her head, repelling the light to his skin. His eyes widened. That was it! It was an electromagnetic frequency! If they could take the field, alter the frequency just a little, it should make her visible! The medical applications alone for this could make surgeries more effective and lower the fatality rate even lower than it was!

Was that the point of the horns? Were they the origin point of the electromagnetic field around her body? But how was it held to the body instead of dissipating? What if there were points on her skin that acted as receptor points? If he could commission a support device that could slightly alter the frequency, she could theoretically become visible! Then by reversing this very frequency, they could help surgeons all across the world!

He needed a phone!

Hitoshi stared at his phone in shock. He had just gotten off the phone with Mina, who had dropped the mother of all bombs on him, and it was taking a moment to process. Himi was alive. Himi was alive! How was Himi alive? Why was he still standing in the kitchen? He had to go see her!

Toshinori stared at his phone. It felt like his heart stopped when Tsukauchi delivered the news. No, it felt like the world stopped. Gran Torino had been found curled up under the Maverick memorial, cold and lifeless. His dad had been found cold and lifeless. His knees hit the floor of Mrs. Yuki's apartment hard as he collapsed. A guttural cry bubbled from his core, hot tears pouring from his eyes as he began to sob. For thirty-six years, the man had been a figure of strength and a guiding hand for him. Always pushing him in the right direction, like a father would. Eventually he had filled that role for Toshinori and now he was gone. Toshinori couldn't breathe, he needed air!

Rei poked her head out from her kitchen, startled by the sudden noise. Seeing the most powerful man in the world, the symbol of peace sobbing hard and broken on the floor caused her to blink. What should she do? She slowly placed her hand on his emaciated spine, causing the man to jump. He looked up at her as she knelt beside him, his shadowed eyes ringed with red, contrasting the luminescent cobalt blue of his pupils and making the gleam more apparent. She opened her arms wide to offer a hug with an uncertain smile. Her eyes widened slightly and she let out a squeak as he threw his smaller (yet still large, he was a big skeleton) frame into her arms and sobbed on her shoulder.

Her children peered from the kitchen threshold and watched in concern and confusion.

Tomura stared at the door. They had done everything to get the message out that the hero killer was working with them, but it was depressing that no one of real interest had joined them. So far, they had an escaped serial killer, a magician, some guy with multiple identities, and a misty guy they rescued from the cops that was honestly more work than it should've been. The weak hero they put in charge of the delivery had been easily dispatched.

However, the fact remained: They needed more people. Maybe he should stop putting off the asylum raid. The file he had read about Moonfish looked promising.

Katsuki scratched his neck. He had no fucking idea what to do on a date, and Nieto was not helping him. They had spent the day at the arcade, the laser tag arena, and gone to a restaurant that Katsuki's hag of a mother had recommended (which actually was really good, surprisingly). He kept glancing at the cat boy to gauge how he was doing. He was seriously outside of his comfort zone. He plopped down on a bench in the park, Nieto sitting down beside him with a giggle.

That was something Katsuki couldn't understand. Nieto was a guy, but was so unashamed about looking, acting, sounding, and hell, even smelling like a woman. The confidence the crossdresser had had completely blown the explosive blond's mind!

"Bakugou?" And just like that, his day was ruined. One word from one man. He angrily turned before stopping and his jaw dropped. Standing ten meters away on a walkway was Dek— Midoriya, his long green and black hair pulled into a tight ponytail that hung loose down his back, lifting slightly in the wind. The tight leather jacket did fuck all to hide the fact that his arm was in a sling and cast.

"Hey, um... look, Bakugou... Shit. Look, I'm quite frankly not good at expressing things, so I'm just gonna fucking say it. I went too far the other day. The test was supposed to let the dean see my skills; instead I treated it like one of our old fights, so...uh, yeah. I'm sorry," the green giant said, scratching his head.

Katsuki squinted suspiciously at the larger man. That was not what he had expected at all. He had expected punching, screaming, cursing, a date ruined, not the large green man apologizing for supposedly going too far. Katsuki stood up and walked over to the giant and glared up at him. With

a small scoff, he averted his eyes.

"It ain't like I didn't fucking deserve it. I am a shit person."

"You were." Bakugou snapped to look back at Midoriya in confusion. "What do you mean 'were'?"

"Well, from the way it sounds, you had that moment of clarity. That one moment where everything snaps into focus, you know?" Midoriya asked, rolling his shoulder to adjust the bag slung over his back.

"So what, you saying it's all fucking forgiven or something?"

"Oh fuck the hell naw. You're gonna work yourself to the fucking bone to earn my forgiveness. Ever since we turned four, you were the villain of my life and you fucking tortured me. Instead, how 'bout a cease fire?" the green haired man said, setting his duffel bag down and holding his hand out for a fist bump.

Katsuki smirked and punched the offered fist, wincing as he felt his knuckles pop from the impact.

"Now... um... can I use one of your phones? Mine got destroyed fighting some nasty creature thing that looked like a mole and a cancerous guacamole decided to have a lovechild. Damn fucker drug me through fucking sewage, of all things!"

Katsuki looked at Nieto, who shrugged. Midoriya followed the interaction before glancing between the two of them. "I... am being rude and interrupting a date, aren't I?"

Nieto burst out laughing and patted off his cute skirt, looking too god damn cute as he sauntered over with a soft pout. "It's ok. I'm sure Katsuki can forgive a brute like you."

The large green man stared at Monoma, and for a moment, Katsuki was afraid he was going to have to fight an enraged Midoriya. The universe smiled on him when the man threw his head back and bellowed a loud laugh.

"Oh, you and my girlfriend would get along swimmingly. Assuming I still have a girlfriend by the end of today; I'm sure the Stain fight made the news, so she has probably been worried."

Katsuki raised a brow. "You were involved in the Stain fight? I thought Manual caught him with All Might's help."

"Wouldn't have been, had the All American Reject not thrown me," Midoriya said with a shrug. "Any ways, sorry for interrupting your date. I'll get out of your hair." He grabbed his duffel bag and slung it back over his shoulder and started to walk away.

Making a snap decision, Katsuki grabbed the man's arm. "Here," he said, handing the large man his phone, "make sure I get it back."

Midoriya looked Katsuki over for a moment and dropped his duffle on the ground again before pulling up the FaceAss app (what app do they even use for social media in a society 200 years ahead of us?) and firing a message through the Dorm 1-A group chat.

!!!!!!Author note: trigger warning! Skip this scene if it's too much.!!!!!!

The screams of pain echoed around her, and she tried to huddle further into herself as the masked man unmade her arm and remade it again and again, unadulterated rage and hatred stretched across his face as he continued to extract every painful drop of matter from her. The pain made the world weird and foggy. She was pretty sure she upended everything in her stomach, leaving her empty and cold. She shivered when his cold hands touched her arm again and screamed as he tore her flesh down to the atomic level.

She had tried to escape again, but it had gotten her nowhere. Her minder was nothing more than a splash of gore on the wall, a warning for her next minder to hold her tighter. The white-haired masked man glared at the Stain report on the television, utter indifference in his face as the dark- haired man tore her apart over and over and over again.

Then again, she deserved it. She was a monster, after all. Her disease made her daddy disappear. Her mommy sold her cheaply, as the dark haired man constantly told her, reminding her that she belonged to him.

Scene over. All this scene was for was to bring Eri into the story. You won't see her for a while, but I felt now was a good time to bring her in as a character.

King explosion murder:

Miru, it's Able. I'm at the community park near Tagobah Municipal Beach and I should be at Yuuei soon. Would greatly appreciate you, Power Loader, and a support student to meet me at the gate. You, because I missed you and want to hug you. Power Loader and a support student 'cause I have a design for an item I want to get made for someone.

Hard4you : Dude! So manly!

My_AC_your_DC:

Dude, she just tore out of here about half an hour ago. Looked like she was crying. Does the word 'Bathory' mean anything?

Regal_Creations:

She told me she was going to Recovery Girl's office. Something about it being impossible.

Eyes4days:

Eraserhead, Shinso, Midnight, Ashido, and Usagiyama are still at the nurses office. I can see them from my window.

Able blinked at the phone. Bathory? There was...

Himi

He quickly handed the phone back to Bakugou and charged up as much of One For All as he could tolerate over his body, picked up his duffel bag, angled in the right direction of Yuuei and jumped . The concrete shattered from the force of his jump, the updraft vacuum easily dislodged dust. By the time Bakugou spotted his silhouette, he was already a dot high in the sky.

The fuck did All Might control this shit? He tried to angle his body to relieve the wind resistance, he tried pressing his hands together to divert air flow, but nothing seemed to work. He could feel the kinetic energy building up and had a thought. While he liked these shoes, this was more important! He began to merge One for All together with the kinetic energy and moved the searing heat to the soles of his feet and pushed, trying to mimic Gran Torino's jets. This proved to be a bad idea as, while it worked, he lost control of his course and was now spinning in an out-of-control fall.

Shitshitshitshitshit! Ok, let's try this again, he looked at his hand and pushed some of the kinetic energy out his palm. He could feel the heat, he could feel the bursting of the capillaries, and he could correct his spin.

Using the palm of his hand, he slowed his spin and pushed from his feet, slowing down his descent and managed to land in a sprint, his hand bleeding heavily and looking like a mashed grape. He was pretty sure he broke an ankle too with his landing, but that was the last thing on his mind. Pushing the kinetic energy out of his hand, he broke his inertia and managed to slide to a stop outside of the nurse's office, his breaths coming out in ragged bursts as he slammed the door open. His eyes wildly searched over the room in a near panic before settling on the blonde girl clutching tightly to Mina's chest and staring at him with wide eyes.

"A-Able?" she stammered, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Himi!" he exclaimed, rushing over to her and drawing her (and Mina, who squeaked in indignation) into a tight squeezing hug as Himiko and Able bawled into each other's chest, the two adopted siblings reunited after too many years apart.

Toshinori watched as the monument was slowly lowered onto its pedestal. He had thought it was fitting to intern Torino's ashes here; it had been his favorite place to come and think. The statues were pointing to the western horizon where the sun set on the pacific horizon. Looking regal and happy, Gran Torino and his partner Maverick stood, hand in hand as they pointed towards a new horizon. On the pedestal, a large placard sat slanted so that the bronze lettering caught the sun.

In honor of two of Tokyo's greatest defenders Who helped train and guide our Symbol of pPeace And helping to usher in a new golden dawn. Goodbye

Maverick: the Seventh Wonder

Gran Torino: the Jetting Hero

Partners to the end.

Torino's urn had been placed under the statue's feet; Toshinori felt this was the best place to lay him to rest. He could still see them, Nana standing off to the side as he sparred with a younger Torino. He could see the custard-colored hero laughing at something Nana had said before tagging her in to spar with Toshinori. It was bittersweet. Both of these people he had considered his parents, as both of his birth parents had died in his early years from a villain attack, and now here he was, saying goodbye to the one who had raised him from his teenage days. The solid structure he didn't know he had been leaning on until now was gone.

He rested his large hand on the top of the boot where he knew the urn was hidden, tears streaming down his face. It was his wish to be interned here as well, to have his Mighty form complete the familial trifecta he had intended when he had commissioned the first statue. He looked over his shoulder at Rei and her son, who stood slightly behind her. Not just yet, however. He had work to finish, and someone had to look out for Young Midoriya.

He knew the younger man was smart; he had seen him during a muttering fit where he analyzed a quirk, and his heart only wanted to help those in need. Truly, he couldn't have picked a better successor. Toshinori took one last look at the face of the man who had become like a father for him before turning around and walking back to Rei and Natsuo. Rei wanted to train with her quirk, and who was Toshinori to say no to her?

Chapter End Notes

I need to commission art for that statue. I can't help but to want it on my phone screen.

Special thanks to Irmadbro and Reaf Darksbane over inEpsi's Hoard, where I hang out. Look for the glow of my neon halo!

If you want a more direct way to find me, come on over to my server, Halo's Extreme Disconnect, we have Cinnabons

this chapter came too early. I'm not satisfied.

Chapter Summary

Operation Unicorn Sanctuary came early. Merry Halloturkeymas

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

It was quiet in the darkest hour of night as the small girl crept along the wall. The moon was no longer in the sky and the stars were barely visible. Dawn was slowly approaching and her window slowly closed. She had to get away, she had to find safety.

She peered out from behind the wall and watched the guard yawn tiredly as he stood at the compound gate. The big bird with all the muscles, the only bird she liked, had given her her freedom like he had promised. She hoped the bad bird didn't hurt him too much; the big bird always had the kindest eyes when he played with her. He had told her what to do: hide from the shiny parts of the hanging boxes, stay where it was dark, and be as quiet as possible.

She waited until the drunk man at the gate turned away before darting into the brush where the big bird had told her to go. He said there was a small crack in the wall just barely big enough for her to squirm under. She listened, just like the big bird told her to, before wriggling under the slim hole in the barrier. Peeking just out of the hole, she watched for people and waited. When there was no sign of the roving guard, she pulled herself free and bolted as fast as her little feet could carry her to the park where the large muscle bird had told her to go.

She squeaked when she heard the alarms sound in the estate and tried to run faster. The big muscle bird told her not to look back. If she could make it to the park, she would be safe if he was there. He told her to ask for help. He told her to ask for Sanctum.

He told her to ask for Able.

Izuku "Able" Midoriya sighed as he leaned against the park bench. He always loved an early morning jog. There was a moment just before sunrise when even the air seemed to still as it waited for Amaterasu-Ōmikami to shine her radiance upon the Land of the Rising Sun, as if all the world held its breath in waiting to bask in the goddess' splendor. He loved moments of peace like this, where he could just watch the sunrise, often even falling asleep on the roof of his apartment complex.

At least, he had until he started falling through the roofs. His ears were still ringing from Cementoss' lecture from when he fell through the Height's Alliance roof. He didn't know he would wake up weighing a goddamned ton! So he simply settled for taking early morning jogs in places with a clear view of the horizon, namely the Tagobah Municipal Park, near the beach that Thirteen had cleaned. It was his decompression spot when life got too... lifey. Torino's passing and funeral, Rumi kicking his ass up and down Yuuei because he didn't call her to let her know he was ok. The encounter with Stain. The revival of Himiko.

His sister in all but blood miraculously returned to solidity after her quirk somehow evolved during her burned state, forcing all of her body to basically go into a form of stasis as it waited for the evolution to complete. For five years since, she had been healing in the form of a cloud, fighting the urge, the hunger to drain people of their fluids to speed the healing.

Himiko still didn't know how to reform from the cloud and whenever the quirk suppression cuffs were removed, she would lose her solidity and become vaporious. Nezu and Aizawa were working with her, and, oddly enough, Midnight was showing a vested interest as well. Himiko still refused to go anywhere without Able or Mina to hold onto due to her not being able to feel anything tactile as a mist.

She craved physical touch to reaffirm that she was solid now. Izuku, Xeno, Rumi, and Insomnia were her anchors.

Able cracked open his can of coffee and sat on the steps overlooking the beach. He could see the rays of the sun beginning to lighten the horizon line, divide the dark blue waters from the purple night's sky, his scene of Nirvana. This was where Able was truly at peace, the start of a new day, with a new blank canvas to paint. He pulled out his journal and, with a soft smile on his face, began writing.

He was about halfway through the third page of quirk dissection when his new phone vibrated.

right alignment PaRappa de Rappa 05:36 Yo Able! Ned a makor fabor!

Izuku chuckled at the badly written text. His large friend couldn't type to save his life with his extremely large fingers. That wasn't even getting into his passive strength. The big guy had often crushed his phones by complete accident.

Mr. Able 05:39

Rappa, I've told you before, I won't fight you to the death. Take your shit somewhere else.

Mr. Able

Egota Forest? About two, maybe three hours. Why?

PaRappa de Rappa

Frst, fuk u, ull fit me sumday. Scnd, it isn't abut dat. I ned halp. Ho fas can you git to Nakano? Spesifikally Edo Efo Fukn the big damn park!

PaRappa de Rappa

Dere is a kar packej dere. Alb Alb Fukn white haor ted eyes

Mr. Able

Care package? Albino? Rappa, this better not be another fucking kidnapping!

PaRappa de Rappa

No. Rescue. She is in dangwt. 6 yo. Code n9ne.

Code n9ne? What was Rappa for code n9— Able's eyes widened. Code n9ne was life or death. Meaning Rappa was putting his neck out to save this little girl. He needed help, bad .

Looking through his contacts, he quickly selected a name.

"Heeeey Zelta... And you hung up. Fuck," he cursed before hitting a different contact. "Professor, scale of 1-10, how likely can you meet me in Egota Forest?"

"4. Why?"

"Endangered child."

"You have two minutes. Explain."

"One of my contacts reached out to me." Able sighed, looking longingly at the sunrise before clicking his tongue. "The guy who reached out is yakuza. High rank. If he is in danger, that means this girl is close to the boss of the Shie Hassaikai and needs serious protection. His sticking his neck out to save this girl means he told her to look for me specifically.

"I need a license with me so if I'm attacked, I'll A) have back up, and B) I won't be performing as a vigilante, as I'll only be accompanying you except in the case of self-defense. Tried Sir Pink-eye, but the bastard hung up on me."

"Let me get this straight: you have contacts in the yakuza."

"Yup."

"Said contact reached out to you specifically for help getting a child out of a hostile environment. Said child is important to one of the high ranking Yakuza members."

"Yep," Izuku said, popping the 'p'.

"...it's too fucking early for this shit. Meet me at the Egota Hikawa shrine. I will be there in about an hour. I'll try to get Nighteye in contact; he's in control of an investigation into the Shie Hassaikai."

"I'm in Musutafu, so I'll get there as fast as I can, but it'll take a minute. Look for a six year old albino asking for my hero name. I would kinetic jump, but..."

"Don't. Last thing we need is you drowning in the bay"

"Aww shucks, Teach, you do ca—and he hung up."

Shouta scoured the park upon arrival, looking around for anything matching the description that Midoriya gave him as he made his way back to the shrine. Nighteye had refused his phone call so he had dialed up Bubble-Girl who had completely come apart.

To say she had been livid when Shouta got off the phone was like saying the sky was just blue. She had uncharacteristically started cursing everything under the sun before offering Nighteye's agency as a haven until they could transport the girl to Yuuei. Loathe as he was to say this, with the Shie Hassaikai after this girl, the closer to All Might she was, the safer. Not to mention Power Loader and his veritable army of robots.

It caught him completely by surprise that the so-called 'delinquent' reached out to do this by the book. Later, they would discuss the fact that the young adult had contacts with the goddamn Yakuza, of all things. Oh yes, they would be talking. Shouta would be talking as hard as he could throw his fists.

"Eraserhead," came a curt voice behind him.

"Nighteye," he replied, too tired to really put any venom into his voice. He hated working with Nighteye for the simple fact that the man was an arrogant prick who believed that because he was the only sidekick All Might ever took raised him above everyone else. Not to mention the only reason he was here to begin with was that his not-my-girlfriend girlfriend had probably threatened him with castration.

Or he was interested because it was his case. It was difficult to tell with Mirai Sasaki.

"Did the delinquent tell you who his contact was?" the bored-looking man said, fixing his glasses. Shouta opened his mouth to confirm a negative, but a voice answered before he could say anything.

"No, Pink-eye, I didn't and I won't. Not until I know I can get him out of danger without him being a fatality." Aizawa turned to the voice and raised his eyebrow at the simple white and green

clothes the boy wore. Baggy, dark camo-patterned green shorts that hung down past his knees and a white hooded liner with what looked like dyed green sherpa fleece lining the interior.

It was the full-head green and white kabuki mask that held Shouta's attention, slid half-way off his face so that they could see his verdant green eyes. The base was bone white, reflecting the early morning light in an eerie manner, the tribal green patterning was in the design of a laughing kitsune, edged with regal golds and bold copperings. Shouta could see angled lines in between of the gold and copper designs that glowed a bright green. He couldn't place it, but the design was familiar.

"Right now, my drinking buddy is putting his life on the line for this girl, so I couldn't give a rep less about your holier-than-thou spiel, Sasaki. You don't like me, I don't like that you have a stick the size of a light pole firmly lodged in your—"

"Mr. Able," Shouta interjected.

"Right." The young man cleared his throat. "At 05:30, my contact reached out for this extraction. Code Niner: Life or death, meaning he is risking everything he has for this. His description: small girl, around six. Albino, white hair, red eyes, extremely pale skin. Distinctive fixture: small horn on the right side of her head. Unstable quirk. Contact said it's similar to watching a rewind, but she can't control it." He stopped, noticing Shouta and Nighteye staring at him.

"What? I've worked with heroes before, I know how to give a SitRep. 'Course, they always end up arresting me. So... let's avoid that, yeah? Watch out for anyone wearing a plague doctor mask; they're part of the group looking for her. The more fancy, the higher up they most likely are."

"Did your... drinking buddy mention where we should probably start?" Shouta asked.

Able pulled his hood up and fixed the kabuki mask to sit properly, the lit lines glowing in the dark of the hood and shook his head solemnly. His hands reaching into his jacket pockets and pulling out a pair of fingerless gloves with knuckle guards, slipping them one smoothly. Shouta just raised his brow while Nighteye scoffed.

"Please tell me this isn't what you plan to wear as a hero."

"Oh fuck the hell no. I just don't want these shitlickers following me into my neck of the woods. I make it clear that the Tagobah area is my turf. This is just what I could find of my Wandering

Yokai outfit on short notice. Pigs still have my damned kanabo."

"I find it hard to believe that you were the figure of an urban myth," Nighteye huffed. Mr. Able just

shrugged.

"Believe what you want, Priss-eye. We got a kid to find, and hopefully I won't have to break faces to find her."

The sun was completely up in the sky when they met back up at the dogwood tree. They had scoured the park with no signs of the girl or any one wearing a yakuza mask. Aizawa could hear his sleeping bag calling his name like a siren, tempting him like a seductress. He was about to tell Able to go get some breakfast when the young man ran into the thick dogwood trees at full tilt.

Shouta glanced at Nighteye who nodded back at him before they both took off after the younger student, Shouta's capture scarf unwinding around his neck. Able quickly jumped and let his inertia and weight heavily impact against a large man wearing a black trench coat and a bland black beak mask. In his hand was the little girl they had been looking for, unconscious and bleeding from the scalp. Able came up hard, swinging his granite-like fists from the hip and shoulder in a wide textbook uppercut that knocked the large man's head back and sent the beak flying.

The man countered with a hard left, but screamed in pain when the bones of his hand exploded out of the dorsal side with a loud snap. The goon threw the girl down on the ground hard and activated his quirk, bulking up and growing in size only for a hard, green lightning-covered fist to bury itself under his solar plexus, forcing the man to vomit. Green electricity bounced across the kitsune- masked student as punch after punch landed against the man before his body could even register the recoil. A sweeping kick brought the thug off his footing.

Shouta's eyes widened. Even under the mask, the underground hero could feel the rage pouring off the boy. This was the Wandering Yokai. The Alley Way Demon. The Jade Fox of Musutafu.

The man on the ground tried to kick the nightmare away only for his tibia to be twisted in ways it shouldn't when it met an unforgiving palm.

"Mr. Able!" Shouta shouted, activating his quirk to its max as he and Nighteye finally got to the scene. He knew his Erasure quirk wouldn't work on Able's Mutation, but he could suppress it's emissions. He hoped it would, at least. The man's head snapped in his direction, the glowing, toxic

green eyes sending a shiver down the hardened veteran hero's spine.

"You're a hero now, not a vigilante, restrain yourself. Now. Nighteye, if you wouldn't mind, the police know you are here, so see if you can get us a couple of shields and an ambulance, I will make sure he is restrained. Able, tend to the girl; we can't let her go to a hospital, so we'll be rushing her to Yuuei for Doctor Shuzenji to fuss at."

"Teach," Able croaked, fury still radiating off of his tensed muscles. With a flick, he tossed Shouta a small white object that the professor deftly caught. A cyanide tooth. Shouta clenched his hand into a fist around the faux tooth and squeezed. This day just kept getting fucking better. Of fucking course he had a goddamned cyanide tooth. This was probably a low leveled grunt.

Able slipped off his hoodie and wrapped it tightly around the small girl's frame as he picked her up. Red eyes blinked open groggily, temporarily meeting vibrant glowing green eyes before they rolled up in the back of the girl's head and she relaxed. The Wandering Yokai—no, the Juggernaut Hero held her firmly to his chest before breaking a thick branch off a tree and fashioned a very rudimentary sling to hold the girl.

Shouta's eyes widened when he heard the report of a large caliber rifle. Both he and Nighteye immediately dropped low and searched for the source. A meaty thud and a grunt had him glancing at Able who was bending down to pick something up while hunching over to cover the girl, rubbing a spot on his chest. Shouta turned his eyes to try to find the shooter again as he pulled the now unconscious goon behind a tree. Nighteye was yelling hurriedly over his phone for cops to hurry as they were now under fire.

"Eraserhead, ambulance and a few cruisers are on their way now. ETA three minutes. We need to move to better cover."

"We still don't know where the shooter is. Moving could potentially make us better targets."

Another report sounded off, Shouta's eyes widening as Able's head snapped back with a loud crack. The large kid dropped to a knee and held his face, choice curses shouted. When he removed his hand, the college professor could see a deep crack in the ceramic of the mask, blood pouring from the nostrils.

"—with a goddamned Christmas tree up the mothafuckin rectum! Broke my fucking nose! Fuck!"

Shouta sighed in relief. The young man would survive. He glanced at the hollow point round that the boy pulled out of his mask in shock for a moment. That was a 7.62x39mm round. Precision shot or lucky shot? Shouta looked around. The round gave him a close approximation of how close the shoot potentially was, with the range of the round. Unless altered, the max range of a standard 124 grain 7.62x39mm was roughly 366 meters before gravity took hold of the round. Depending on variables such as what rifle the shooter was using.

"Able, you took the hit, what direction did it come from?" Shouta asked. Nighteye gave him a confused look.

The fox mask looked at Aizawa for a moment in thought. "Huh, souff, elefated. Hiff me af a ficking andle."

The welfare center. He couldn't look without letting the shooter know he was made, but that was the most likely vantage point in that direction.

"Nighteye, contact the police. Tell them the shooter is in the Welfare Center. We need to move before this thug gets reinforcements. Able, the girl is priority number one now. If we get held up, I authorize quirk usage only in the need of extraction. Get to the Nighteye agency. Use that bulldozer move you used in Hero Tactics if you have to. If you absolutely have to, kinetic jump."

Able turned to look at the teacher, his green eyes searching Shouta's black pupils before he gave a hesitant nod. Nighteye looked at the teacher in confusion before looking at Able in thought. The thin man slipped a hand inside his jacket and pulled out a card and handed it to Able.

"You don't like me, and quite frankly I think you're a waste of talent, but I can admit you do the job well. Show that card to anyone who stops you. I'm overriding Eraserhead; don't wait for us, go now. Right now you are a civilian and it's the job of the heroes to get the civilians to safety. Tell Kaoruko I... I..."

"I'll tell her you'll be home for dinner."

"Shit, don't tell her that, she'll try to cook. Love the woman, but her cooking could poison the dead," Nighteye said with a snort before realizing what he had said. " Ahem . Kindly keep that between us."

"Did you just break character?" The mirth was evident in Able's voice as he asked, looking at

Nighteye with a tilted head.

"Able, just go," Nighteye said with a sigh. The young man stared at him a moment longer before

green electricity covered his body and he moved.

Shouta watched the dust settle before turning to Nighteye. "You realize that was a bulletproof man with the density of stone that you just sent away, right? I'm not criticizing your choice, merely pointing it out."

"I get it. Let's try and figure a way out of this without the need of body bags, shall we?"

Kaoruko Awata stared at the two red lines in shock and denial. Every time her and Mirai danced the horizontal tango, she had made damn sure he wore protection and she would always take the morning-after pill, just to be sure. The last month, however, worried her, with numerous textbook symptoms, from her boobs getting bigger and painful, constant fatigue, and she was peeing a lot, not to mention she was supposed to start her period last week.

It was quiet in the agency without Lemillion or Nighteye around. Centipeder was... somewhere, but he was quiet and kept to himself, rarely bothering anyone. The biggest thing that had happened hadn't even been at the start of the day. No, she had been woken up by a phone call from an incredibly irate Eraserhead who told her Nighteye ignored a call for help. She was still pissed at him for that.

Ever since his former mentor and team mate All Might visited last year, Mirai had been testy, with moments of serious self-doubt and bouts of quick-tempered rage. How was she going to tell him she might be carrying his child? How would he even react?

Oh god, how was she supposed to react? Was she ready for motherhood? Sure, she always wanted a child of her own, but was she ready? She stared at the test again, sickening dread pooling in her stomach. Would Mirai even want to be with her after this? What if she was just stress relief to him?

Able dodged another heat blast from the eyes of one of the goons that had found him and tried to charge through him, only to hit solid air. The man, who introduced himself as Hekiji Tengai, had smugly informed him that his barriers were indestructible, and Able ran right into one of them. The

other guy, a blank mask, was just told by the monk wannabe to shoot his hot eyebeam things. It would be cool as hell if the guy wasn't currently trying to kill him.

Able looked at the girl in his arms. She seriously needed a doctor; she was too pale and shivering. He didn't have time to deal with this mess. Jumping back to avoid another heat beam, Able looked around the area. The monk's quirk looked like it only made dome-like barriers around him, but it was unclear how big the guy could make them. With the eye guy shooting beams at him while staying in cover—

Able blinked. They were stationary. The eye guy surely wouldn't be dumb enough to leave the barrier, so all monk guy had to do was stand there and hold the bubble. Able, however, wasn't so restricted. He looked behind him, along the walls of the buildings, then to the angle of the sun. Nighteye's agency was to the east by northeast, so...

Able gave the monk a smirk and crouched down, letting One for All course like an electric storm over his skin, charging up his kinetic stores with pure energy and releasing it in a hard push that cratered the ground. With a heavy slam, he landed on the top of the building to the side of the monk and eye guy and blew a raspberry down at them before coiling up and jumping . To the monk, it was like he blurred away, moving too quickly to keep track of.

From the height they were speeding through the air at, Able could see the agency building and pushed the energy out of his hand to angle him in the right direction. The roar of a dragon told him he had someone trying to stop him, probably Ryuukyu, but he only had seconds to get this right.

Please be an empty room, please be an empty room!

Curling himself tightly around the little unicorn, he hit the side of the building hard, smashing through the concrete and plaster like a wrecking ball, his weight, density and inertia carrying him heavily through to the center of the floor, off a balcony and to the ground floor. He gave a heavy grunt as he felt his vertebrae pop from the impact, feeling ceramics of the tile trying to cut into his skin as he slid to a stop. He quickly checked on the girl, wiping the minimal plaster that had gotten on her face. He was really worried now; she was cold to the touch and her breathing was shallow.

"BUBBLE GIRL!" he yelled, trying to pull himself out of the floor. He would have continued, had a large white claw not pressed quite firmly on his stomach.

"Don't. Move," Ryuukyu stated with a small growl.

"Ello, pretty dargon lady."

Chapter End Notes

This chapter was meant to be after the summer camp. GUESS WHAT MY BRAIN DECIDED TO GIVE ME INSTEAD!

Special thanks to Irmadbro and Reaf Darksbane over inEpsi's Hoard, where I hang out. Look for the glow of my neon halo!

If you want a more direct way to find me, come on over to my server, Halo's Extreme Disconnect

we have Cinnabons

this chapter will be deleted

This is not a story update, this is just an author note. Ignore if you don't like reading these.

My doubts have formed a crescendo and left me unsure. I know where I want this story to go, I just dont know how to get it there. For the almost three months, I've been working on this story, trying to ignore all other challenge idea or story prompt that popped into my head. In my eyes this story has become a mess and Able isnt portraying the characteristics I desire of him. I no longer feel the joy I had when I started this fic, my inspiration has fled. I do not plan to abandon this story, mere try to rekindle the spark I once felt when I began this story.

Part of the issue has bee from real life. For the last week my mother has been hospitalized due to the tubes they put in her kidneys slipping and causing infection, so I haven't felt much need nor desire to write as I have been worried for my mother's life. She is already so skinny and pale from the chemotherapy and I'm truly scared. As it is now, she's home, but still seriously ill.

I know, I know, "why are you telling us, the internet?" Well, to be honest, I don't know. I just felt like I had to talk to someone, get it out there, you know?

Venting digression aside, I had a timeline that has been essentially ignored by my muse, in several places. I had intended for izuku to become a figurehead for class A in a way, strong, kind, caring, and all around like that big brother you can't help but to love. I wanted him to be sassy, witty, smart, and humble under a thug like exterior, but as it stands, so far I feel like I've just made him into a brute. I wanted to call out all the flaws of the mha/bnha society through him, to bring attention to the hate and discrimination the society presents in a subtle fashion.

For example, Himiko. She was driven to insanity and villainy because of her parents and society calling her a monster. Yes she is a psychopath, but why is she a psychopath? How do I properly express how I've done her? Its no secret now that I never actually killed her, and I will eventually explain how she lived. It should be obvious that her quirk evolved in a different way than it did in canon, so that much you, my beautiful readers, know. She has spent years trapped as a mist, unable to truly interact with the world, unable to do much more than feed. So how do I reflect that? I think I've already reflected the clinging psychological need to physically hold something familiar as an anchor.

Rumi and Mina have essentially become non entities at this point. I want to write fluff, I want to write romance for them, but God help me, I just dont know how and every time I have asked for help, I've been ignored. Its kinda sad, I'm a divorced man who can't think of a decent romance setting.

Then there is Eri. Full honesty, she was planned for after summer camp, but the scene I intended became to build on her more became a full rescue operation. To use a phrase from Detective Midoriya, it became a Midoriya snatch and grab.

Those of you who have read Kitsune: helping a harlequin can probably see just how much I plan things out, which is to say, very little. I have a document with close to 2k words that I basically ignore unless the mood hits me just right. This is something I'm trying to work on. With k:hah, I basically had it written as it came to mind, then I started working on kip, then Delinquency, now I have Succession Crisis as well. I really don't know what I'm trying to accomplish outside of trying to gain experience with writing to go professional. Its a dream of mine to have my name revered

like Paolini, King, Riordan, Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Ann Rice. To do that, I need to understand what I'm doing and how my writings effect my readers. This is why I ask for criticism and try to replyto every comment that hits my page. Yeah, kudos are nice, but I want to know your thoughts, dear readers. Where can I improve? What am I doing well? Am I writing my stories too much like a d dungeon master, impersonal and letting the players do as they will or am I weaving a proper story that you want to see resolved?

Never let it be said that your opinions don't matter, most of the authors I've spoke to all have said that their readers keep them going, and I am of this camp. Your comments give me a reason to keep writing and tell me what I need to elaborate on.

So I ask you, my dear beloved readers, what are your truest thoughts of Delinquency?

Calm before a storm

Chapter Notes

See the end of the chapter for notes

Rumi stared out the window, letting her thoughts run wild. It had been rather turbulent since Himi had reappeared, with Midnight and Aizawa doing their best to help her with her quirk mutation. Her sister in all but blood had become so dependent. Himiko would ramble on and on about topics that seemed so inane and unimportant to Rumi, to the point of an annoyance, but Rumi held her sister's hand regardless.

Mina had tried her absolute best to be there, but she was making herself sick from sheer exhaustion. It had gotten to the point where Recovery girl had physically tied the pink girl to a bed and force- fed her melatonin. It spoke volumes about how tired Mina was that she didn't even try to produce acid to melt the bindings.

Izuku "Able" Midorya, Rumi's now boyfriend and solid wall, was doing what he always did: internalizing everything. It took work to get him to open up to her more than he normally did, but when he did let her in, she could see just how much all the worry and stress affected him. All his fears laid bare, his doubts, his stress, his worries. Her immutable steel pillar was imploding on himself and all Rumi could do was try and take some of the weight.

Shinso had only made one appearance before Himiko. Just one. Rumi had half a mind to throttle him until he was black and blue before kicking him to the moon and back. She understood he might feel uncertain about everything now, but avoiding the issue wasn't going to solve it!

The rabbit heroine sighed as she looked back through the glass, watching the way the wind seemed to frolic gaily with the grass and leaves on the ground. How it felt like the world was peacefully waiting for the gods to come down from on high and join it in it's merriment. She could see students lounging on blankets. She could see Bakugo, of all people, laughing at something Monoma said as they walked along the school track.

That had been a shock to the system. No one had ever taken Bakugo to be pitching for the same team, and many thought it had been a joke when the angry explosive asshole blew up on Kaminari, declaring that he already had a date with his boyfriend and couldn't waste time perving on the women who were taking advantage of the weather warming up. Able had had a hard slap from reality when he caught Bakugo in a stereotypical cutesy pose in a cheerleader outfit one day in front of Monoma.

From his description when he had told her in confidence, Able walked into the room, tossed his heavy leather duster onto the hook by the door, and saw a red-faced Bakugo staring at him in a

skirt. The two males had locked eyes for a moment before Able had performed a perfect about- face, put his coat back on, and marched right back out the door. Since then, Able hadn't been able to look the nuclear blond in the eyes.

Monoma had been another thing to confuse Rumi. She had never expected the loud-mouthed braggart of dorm Bravo to be a cross-dressing cat boy. She didn't know how he hid the ears, but somehow he did (Mina checked them, they were quite real.) It was a kick to the rabbit's pride that he even looked better in dresses than she did! Of course, she would never wear a dress like that, too frilly, but regardless. His current dress as he walked with Bakugo ( who was actually smiling ) really hugged the boy's very feminine curves.

Not far from the pair sat Kaminari and Jiro, the latter strumming on an acoustic guitar while the former wrote down something and read it off to the musician, who simply shook her head and went back to strumming. Near them sat Kirishima, who looked like he was trying (and failing) to study for next week's Final Exam with Tokoyami, a thin boy with a bird head, his sentient shadow draped over the boy's shoulder watching as its host corrected something Kirishima had written down.

All in all, it looked peaceful. Far too peaceful. She didn't know what was in store, but something was triggering her fight-or-flight instinct hard. She was growing aggravated and angsty, like a taut wire getting close to snapping. There was a storm coming and she could smell the rain.

On the other side of the campus, in one of the training facilities, a pink girl sat with her teeth grit as she watched her sister in all but blood trying to relearn how to be solid again.

"That's good Miss Toga, just breathe. Focus inside yourself and feel your body. You can do this," the quirk therapist said calmly, though Mina really, really, really , wanted to deck him. Ever since he got here, he had been nothing but calm condescension towards her and Himiko. Nezu paid the man's asking price because he was supposedly "the best of the best" so the man could help Himiko control her mist self and reform. What didn't help was that the man was obviously a quirkist bigot, sniffing whenever she was near, giving vague comments and insults about how she obviously couldn't help her friend because of how her quirk was impure.

Mina clenched her jaw and took it on the nose though since he was here to help Himiko, not her. It didn't change how she wanted so badly to melt the man's shoes though.

Chemistry could be fun, if you knew what you were doing. Disconnecting molecular bonds through a catalyst agent and forcing them to bond with something else firmly? Great for pranks. She could easily create powerful adhesives to do just that, as well as the solvent to remove the adhesive. It was funny sometimes to surprise people with it, seeing as a lot of people had no idea that some of the most powerful adhesives were acidic in nature. All she had to do was get the ratio right.

She had left the first victim hanging by his underwear from the flagpole with no idea how he got there.

A cry of pain echoed through the room, snatching Mina from her thoughts. Refocusing on the present, she watched as Himi's mist form swirled in on itself and recollected into her solid state, huddled on the floor and crying in pain. It couldn't be easy to shift from state to state like that, solid to vapor back to solid. The dean theorized that it was due to her quirk's forced evolution and her body not quite adapted to handle it yet. The sneering asshole quirk therapist had merely nodded.

You would think that the guy would be ecstatic to work with the prestigious university to help handle something as rare as a quirk evolution, but no. The bigoted asshat had sniffed and called it a waste of time, hardly offering any help to the vampire girl, and yet Mina had seen him trying to pander to an upperclassmen with long periwinkle blue hair who was shooting spirals of energy from her body. That soon was put to rest when the hyper girl went... hyper. She was all over the place and Mina found it hard to keep up with her. It was even weirder when the young woman met Himiko—who hid behind Mina very quickly—and began asking lightspeed questions to them both.

That had been... different, to say the least.

"Miss Ashido, if you must force me to breathe the putrid... deviant stench you disperse, the least you could do is try to keep your highly limited attention span on the present." Oh, speak of the devil.

Mina sighed and repressed the urge to punch the man. Why in the hell had Nezu chosen him again?

Her brows drew close together as memories played out under her eyelids. Her muscles were taut and sweat was pouring from her skin as she mumbled under her ragged breath.

Fear. Self loathing. Terror.

She could see the joyful, almost rapturous, manic gleam in their eyes, still feel their hands clamped on her arms as she struggled.

Heat. Burning. Pain. Can't breath!

She could remember the laughter of freedom they released as she struggled against the coarse bindings holding her wrists. The suffocating miasma of smoke that clogged her throat. The absolute pain and cold as her nerves were stripped of their feelings from the heat. She screamed, but no sound would break the silence of her mind. She fought the bonds that held her wrists as the flames licked and ate away at her clothing. She cried and struggled, but there was no release to be had for her as a black cotton blanket of darkness draped over her consciousness.

When she awoke, all she saw was black, a world without light. The smell of pine was heavy around her, assaulting her sinuses with its pungent aroma. Her panic grew palpable as her heart beat a staccato against her ribs. She pushed and clawed at the wooden walls, trying to fight through the wood, steam rising from her form as she beat and thrashed on the cloth material around her. Her fingernails peeled away as the skin at the tips of her fingers tore. Ragged, screaming sobs broke from her throat as she cried in fear.

Isolation. Pain. Realization. Panic.

Where was Izuku? Where was Toshi? Why was she in this box? Rumi, Mina—what had she done to deserve this abandonment?

Her hand dispersed into mist.

Wake up.

She was losing grip on reality. She couldn't breathe.

Wake up

Her hand flickered solid again, only to disperse once more. Her legs soon began to steam.

Wake up!

It hurt so much! She was coming apart! She screamed, her teary eyes wide before she exploded into white mist.

Wake up!

Yellow eyes bleary opened with a scream as Himiko jerked up from her bed and into a pair of warm arms that wrapped tightly around her. A voice shushed her quietly as a hand stroked her bedraggled hair. The scent of citrus filled her nose as she looked around her room in a panic.

Blood

She could smell it wafting off the person. Her mouth watered, her fangs itched. She jerked forward and bit down on the person's bare shoulder and shivered as hot liquid sprayed into her mouth, eliciting a grunt of pain from the person holding her. The arms squeezed her tighter and a hand rubbed circles into her back, calming her as she suckled on the puncture, nursing the crimson fluid out of the flesh. Pink flesh. Pink flesh?

Mina?

Himiko blinked and tried to pull away from her friend, but the girl only held her tighter. Mina continued stroking her hair and between her shoulders, humming a tuneless melody as Himiko's golden yellow eyes teared up and she began to sob into her pink friend's shoulder.

Eijiro Kirishima sighed as he kicked the dummy before him. With the end-of-term exams quickly approaching, he had tried like hell to study, but for the life of him, he couldn't understand the math or English. He was Japanese, damn it; why did he need English?

Then there was the new guy, Izuku Midoriya. The unstoppable force. A man capable of internalizing kinetic force to the point where he was able to augment his everything . Eijiro had even seen the man flying! Well, not really flying. More like controlled falling, but still!

The man was bulky, tall, snarky, had a quick dry wit, and had shown himself to be incredibly intelligent when he sat and dissected Denki and Kyoka's quirks within just a few moments and offered some thoughts on more devastating moves. It was frustrating!

Eijiro was the tank, so why did Midoriya have to show up? No! He slapped himself in the cheek. He couldn't think like that; Midoriya hadn't been given much choice in the matter. Not to mention that the guy was incredibly kind hearted.

"Dude, is that a Crimson Riot gold year belt? Those things are incredibly rare! Where did you get it?" a voice from behind him interrupted his thoughts. Turning around, Eijiro saw a young woman with short cut red hair and reddish-brown eyes that were wide with excitement. She wore a very loose subdued yellow tracksuit that looked damp from sweat, giving the appearance of a bruised lemon. The silver reflective lines over the suit caught the light in a way that made it appear like she had paths of molten moonlight surrounding her body. She was quite pretty, in Eijiro's opinion. Despite the fact she was ten centimeters from his face.

"Um... who... who are you?" he asked as he pressed his back against the padded wall of the exercise room.

"Oh!" the girl exclaimed before she rubbed her head with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry. I get onto Nejire for doing that and look at me, being a hypocrite. Sorry!" She clapped her hands together and bowed her head behind her thumbs. "I am Yuyu Haya. Third term student in the support department. I like todesign herosuitsandspendtimewithmygirlfriend.Itakelongwalksonthebe—"

"Woah! Woah. Umm. I'm Eijiro Kirishima, first term, hero department."

"Ooo! What's your costume design like?" Yuyu asked, her eyes so full of excitement that Eijiro could almost see stars sparkling in her reddish-brown pupils.

"Well, I uh... I tried to model it after Crimson Riot, you know. My quirk is—"

"Did you keep the cape or just just the general look?" she asked, interrupting him. "I mean, Big C

could harden his hair, but he left his chest exposed. That didn't work out too well for him in the end."

"Big... C? I can harden my ski—"

"Hmmm... you dye your hair, don't you? I suppose that could work for you. I dye mine too! Still! Don't tell me you leave your chest wide open with no armor? Oh, you better come by the design class on Monday, we gotta fix that. Oh! Off topic! How did you get the belt? Are you a fan? I used to know this tiny kid with green hair who used to be a big All Might fan and he got some of the rarest merch. He was a big softie, kinda a cry baby if you get what I'm saying. Wonder what he's up to now. Haven't seen him in ages! Oh! There's my girlfriend, gotta go!" The girl was gone faster than Eijiro could blink, leaving him standing there with his mouth hanging open in dumbfounded confusion.

He blinked as he tried to figure out what just happened.

Eri peeked shyly out from under the heavy arm that still covered her head at the big white dragon woman. There was a smurfette behind the dragon who looked like she was about to shout dirty words. Eri knew a lot of dirty words; she heard a lot of the grown ups that hurt her say them and they always got that same look in their eyes that Smurfette had. Did Eri do something bad? Was the smurfette going to take her to Chisaki? She didn't want to go back to Chisaki. She didn't want to be unmade! She squirmed deeper into the big man's hooded jacket away from the claw that pinned him down.

She could feel his muscles tighten as though he was getting ready for a fight. Was he going to beat up the big scary dragon? She wanted to cry. She didn't want to be unmade! It hurt so much!

"Don't. Move."

The dragon could speak? She was scary. Make the dragon stop being scary.

"'Ello pretty dargon lady," the big man slurred, his arm coiling tightly around Eri's shivering form. "I said don't move." The dragon pressed her claw harder onto the big man's chest..

"Eh kinda have to. Es Eri ok? I didn't land on her, did I? Shit, Asshole gave me a card ah need to show. Ye gots a phone needing answering, eht's loud. Ok, I'm gonna nap now." The big man's eyes rolled back in his head as it fell back against the linoleum tile with a hefty thud.

Eri peaked out again and looked up at the glowing green mask. She screamed in panic when hands scooped under her arms and lifted her out of the jacket nest she was hid in. The bright room blinded her eyes for a moment as she fought against the hands, trying to get away. Her horn itched bad. She was going to make someone disappear! She needed to get away! She didn't want to be unmade! Don't unmake her!

Something wet popped in front of her nose and flooded her nostrils with a pungent smell and the bright room was suddenly dark. Her eyes felt heavy as her vision faded to from fuzzy to black.

A dark silhouette loomed over a cowering man as he curled into himself in a dark corner of a cell. The figure could see the goosebumps covering his skin, the stretched flesh that covered the many scars and still-bleeding cuts. He could have just turned the man into a smear on the wall, but this? This felt more personal. He sneered down at the almost skeletal man, what had only hours ago been a muscular beast of a brute.

"Rappa, you disappointed me. You know this, yes? All my trust in you, all my faith, and what did you do? You took away my source," the shadowed figure said as he stepped into the cell. "I gave you a chance and you bit my hand. Now Eri is in the hands of the—" the man stopped and shuddered as though repressing bile that tried to climb up his throat "—heroes. Now the eight precepts cannot make the Underworld Demon's demonstration. Do you know what that man will do?"

He reached down and grabbed the thin, shivering man's chin and wrenched it up so that he was looking up into the eyes of his captor, the light gleaming with a sinister edge off the gold inlaid into the plague doctor styled mask.

"Oh, he won't kill us. No, that would be too quick for that man's liking. No, no, no . First thing he will do is take your quirk. Then, before you can get used to suddenly being quirkless, he'll dissect you. That is, if you're one of the lucky ones. If you're unlucky... well, you remember Ichiro, yes? Last time I saw him, he was pumped so full of drugs that he was clinically brain dead when he

threw him at All Might, of all people." Rappa's chin was shoved to the side as the masked man glared down at him.

"Did you know that that man is the only person ever to fight All Might to a stand still? He even swears he injured the showboat, though I've seen no evidence. Would be rather idiotic to voice my doubt though."

The man knelt down with a humm. "Tell me, Rappa, how do you know the wandering yokai?"

His gloved hand grabbed the shivering skeleton by the chin again, defiance shining in the emaciated man's sunken yellow eyes. The Yakuza lord hummed as he turned his face to the lit doorway, "Chronostasis, I believe he is due another swim. Put him in the pool."

"I'll have him moved immediately, Overhaul."

"Do so. In the meantime, I have to find a way to appease the Demon. After all, All for One is not someone you should trifle with if you wish to live. Let's hope we can salvage Rappa's betrayal into something that keeps us alive."

To the one who taught me to love the dragons

To dream of worlds of vibrant fantasy

To dance with faeries and elves inside my imagination

Be free

To the mother who never gave up

On the stubborn son you wanted to show how to be A man even though he only made things tough Be free

To the pillar of strength, the anchor in my internal strife to the one who helped me see

The truest beauty in life

Be free

Chapter End Notes

Though we shall forever feel your absence, The time given us in the years gone by

The treasured memories filled with your presence The lessons taught throughout my life

We shall move forward, and though we cry You are not forgotten

For now you are free.

Rest in peace Mom February 3 2021

Special thanks to Irmadbro and Reaf Darksbane over inEpsi's Hoard, where I hang out. Look for the glow of my neon halo!

If you want a more direct way to find me, come on over to my server, Halo's Extreme Disconnect

we have Cinnabons

Chapter Summary

Announcement! Like anyone really reads these xD

"this is just a tribute" -Tenacious D

Sup lizards, gizzards, and snake people! It is I, the not dead author of this fic!

So, we all know that last year was a hard blow for me, with my mother passing away. She was my rock, my sounding board, my support in almost everything. She had a hand in the ideas that went into making this fic and it was brought up in a dm chat that continuing it would be my way of offering tribute to one of the most influential figures of my life.

This said, I can't help but look through the chapters and see just how my writing style has improved since I started this fic and how my mind was all over the place when I gave up on continuing it. It's gonna need an overhaul, because, quite frankly, the detailing to my chapters sucked. It needs to be better, it needs to be harder, it needs to be... delinquent.

So, this is my announcement, I will be reworking Delinquency into Delinquent Behavior (might need to workshop that). The first chapter has already gained 3k words is in the the hands of my wonderful editor. I'll be starting work on chapter two once I'm done recharging cause man, that was a mess.

If you're still interested in seeing the journey of Able, by all means follow me to the remake once I post it. If you're not... well, can't say I blame you, I've seen authors try to rework their story only to abandon it three or four chapters in.

If this fic inspired you to pick up the pen, or your just a fan of the insanity of my head, I want to say big thanks.

Major shout out to the editors who worked with me on this story. Y'all had to read this crap, so thanks for the patience!

As always, I am willing to answer any questions, ideas, or comments, so don't feel shy. My chapters should have a link to one of the discord servers I frequent if you don't want to talk here. You, my readers, are the reason I post, so by all means, come find me.

As to my other fics:

I took down a light in the dark due to issues that were bugging me. It should be back up shortly.

Succession Crisis currently has me stuck as I don't know how I'm going to get izuku out of the mess I wrote him into without God modding it.

Currently toying with an idea for a speed force empowered Izuku that may or may not be published.

And with that, I shall bid thee adieu!

Please drop by the archive and comment to let the author know if you enjoyed their work!