Spring, season of flowers. Its gentle breeze mixed with the refreshing faint fragrance of cherry blossoms and the cool scent of the ocean that was the beating heart of the Port of Yokohama. It would have been a great day to sit back and take in the peaceful sounds of nature's symphony if it weren't for the fact that she was stuck in this dark meeting room having her eyes blinded by the offending brightness of the projector while listening to her boss droning on and on about sales and numbers and employee performance.
She quietly sighed. The company she was working for was by no means a 'black' company in any sense of the word, but would it kill to just have a company outing? It's spring! It's all about flower viewing! Picnics! Hanayori dango! Glancing around the meeting table, she could sense that her fellow co-workers felt the same way. Probably. Then, she set her sights on Midoriya, who was most likely the only one that was taking this meeting seriously judging by his expression. Him and those sticks-in-the-mud that strived to climb up the corporate ladder.
But Midoriya was different. He wasn't like them.
Despite being the only person in the company that was awarded Employee of the Year three times in a row, she noticed that he never used those awards to pull his weight around nor did he treat his co-workers any differently. If anything, he preferred to work quietly in his cubicle, coming out only to have lunch.
Did she find it weird? Not really. It wasn't like he was anti-social if the somewhat common sight of people walking to his cubicle was anything to go by. There was something about him that made him easy to approach. Was it those emerald determined eyes? The boyish face with freckled cheeks? Maybe it's the fuzzy tuft of green that adorned his head?
Then, she reacted a moment too late when his gaze turned to meet hers. She tried to play it off by looking at the slides being presented but the embarrassment was suffocating. Her cheeks now flush, she chanced a peek at Midoriya again only to find him giving her a smile.
It was only a brief flash of a smile. Blink and you miss it. But it was enough for her to turn bright red.
Get it together! There was no way that she was going to be flustered that easily. What was she, a forlorn schoolgirl with cheap fantasies of romance? Besides, she's a regular office gal whereas he was the one everyone bet their money on to replace their boss. They were worlds apart.
Still, it wouldn't hurt to be asked out by him, would it? Ah! She gave him her business card a week ago, didn't she? Here's to hoping that he cashes in on that offer soon! There's this place in town that she really wanted to take him to! The omurice there was simply killer! The perfect marriage between the fluffy and runny egg over the piping hot fried rice, topped with an opulent demi-glaze sauce that elevates the flavors to the upper echelons of culinary heaven!
"Miss Nakajima! Are you paying attention?"
"Hiee! Y-yes, sir! I mean, boss!"
The tall bespectacled man that was her boss simply harrumphed and fixed his glasses, the projector glare obscuring his eyes to her. "I understand that you are an intern and have been with us for barely a month, but we still expect a degree of diligence and cooperation from you. This includes focusing in meetings and taking initiative when the opportunity arises. This is doubly true for you since the impetus is on you to convince the company that you are an asset if you wish to work with us full-time. Do you understand?" he chided, all the while making choppy hand movements.
"Y-yes, sir!" she replied with her head bowed low.
Her boss let out a sigh. "As long as you bear that in mind… Since this is the first instance of such behavior seen from you and due to the minor nature of it, I'll overlook it. I know you youngsters are still used to the mindset of having long breaks during spring, but sacrifices must be made once you enter the workforce and that includes free time. Besides, it's not within my power to give you all such breaks since the schmucks up in Compiling keep hounding us for more data."
After a collective groan and grin of understanding from the room, the boss clapped his hands once. The lights began to illuminate the meeting room and the blinds rolled up, causing some of the people in the room to wince. "With that being said, this meeting is adjourned. You may leave now. Except for you, Mr. Midoriya. I have a few things to discuss with you."
The meeting room was cleared out with little to no fuss as the office workers engage in light gossip as they exit, leaving Midoriya behind. Making her way back to her cubicle, Nakajima was suddenly grappled from behind.
"Eep!"
"Guess who?"
"Ms. Ishiyama?"
"Hey, I thought I told you to drop the formalities with me! Calling me that makes me feel old, you know?" she pouted, resting her chin on Nakajima's shoulder.
Isn't it because you are already married with three kids?! "Um, sorry, Mikoto. I'm not quite used to it yet."
"That's alright, Naomi-chan! It's only natural to make mistakes especially when you start out doing something," the older woman said while giving her a gentle pat on the back. "Besides, the boss is always a stickler when it comes to such things so don't let what he said bring you down. It's not like anyone can blame you for ogling Midoriya. Young love is always like that."
"Mikoto!" she scolded, her face glowing red.
"There's nothing to be embarrassed about. I thought it was rather cute how you kept staring at him until he noticed."
"W-wha?"
"It's fine, I'm sure everyone thought so as well."
More than a few snickers then broke out from the cubicles. Mikoto stifled a giggle watching the flustered Nakajima storm off. "My, my, how cute."
Then, hearing the meeting room door open from behind her, Mikoto turned around to see Midoriya and the boss shaking hands as they both left the room. Her cheerful and upbeat demeanor vanished, her eyes observing the young man.
What an enigma, that Midoriya. What kind of person exactly was he? On the surface he appeared to be harmless. Adorable even, with his awkwardness that hung about him when talking about anything other than Quirks. However, something felt… off. Having observed and interacted with him on occasion since he started work three years ago, she noticed that he had never once shared anything about himself to anyone. Even the information on his alma mater, the one thing that he did share, was never elaborated on.
No embarrassing stories, no talk of old friends, not even gossip on the teachers there. It was as if he was just… there. But she knew there was more to it than he let on.
It was in the eyes. That fleeting moment of a vacant stare into a place no one else saw before switching back to their usual shine. She had heard stories from her husband who worked there. How the school was one of the hardest hit places during the Escalation, forcing the school to graduate their brightest students early.
She remembered the looks of pity everyone gave him when they heard that the new applicant came from U.A. A Quirkless too. He would fit right in with the band of rejects under the company's employ.
However, either it was the prestige of the school or perhaps it was through his raw talent at collecting information on Quirks but the young man burned through the ranks. Rumor has it that his output was carrying the entire department. Considering the frequency in which the boss called on him, it might be true.
That was also another area of concern: the data. Where in the world did he get it? It was an open secret that some of the people in their line of work either pad out their collected data or engage in corporate espionage to help boost their data collection output. However, even those methods wouldn't be able to yield the amount that he churned out.
An uneasy dread crept up her spine. There was one way to achieve it. She did not want to believe it. She refused to believe it. But if her hunch turned out to be true though…
She sighed and walked back to her cubicle. What was she thinking? Of course not. It's probably just the stress from work messing with her mind.
"Good morning, Mikoto."
She turned to see Midoriya pass by her with a smile. It was a tired one.
Weren't they all?
She flashed a bright smile in kind.
"Good morning, Midoriya."
With a curt wave towards his back, she went back to her cubicle where pictures of her three daughters greeted her. Next to it was a framed photograph of her husband along with his colleagues and students. Despite the clear and present danger at the time, UA High still held a graduation ceremony as a defiant show of perseverance in the face of adversity.
Granted, only the A-classes of every department got an official graduation. The rest were informed through the mail.
Some received theirs posthumously.
But, looking at the radiant smiles of her husband and his students, she'd almost forget that a civil war rivalling the one that birthed the Quirk Revolution went on at the time. It was just so… surreal.
How could they look so happy not long after losing their friends once the walls fell?
How could they seem so calm when they knew that the people they swore to protect turned against them?
How could he leave her so soon after the birth of their darling triplets?
The hum of whirring computer fans and the tapping of keyboards around her cubicle seemed like a joke. A droll office environment generating profits off the information generated by the very same battles that nearly broke the country. Profits that she used to keep food on the table for her family.
A sharp ping from her mailbox stirred her. A small smile wormed along her lips. The anonymous self-proclaimed friend of her husband has transferred a stipend of ¥200,000.
It wasn't enough to support her family on its own, but it was more than enough to add to her savings in addition to her salary.
She didn't have to ask around to know who this anonymous person was. The dates when they first started popping up told enough.
What an enigma you are, Izuku Midoriya.
"Good evening, Miss Yaoyorozu. Is everything okay so far?"
"Yes, I am fine and please call me Momo. Being too formal feels a bit strange in this situation."
"Only if you stop calling me Dr Kaifuku. Now, are you going to let me in or am I going to conduct the checkup in front of the door?"
"Of course. Do come in."
Momo ushered the doctor in and closed the door behind her. Dr Kaifuku had come over to Izuku's apartment to give Momo private treatment for her broken ribs and other possible ailments as Izuku requested. This evening would be their first session.
"Normally, this is the part where the doctor would exchange pleasantries and ask inane questions like 'How are you feeling?' or 'Where does it hurt?' or something like that but I work mainly in the ER so I'm not gonna bother with that. Plus, we're already buddies! Besides, anyone with a working pair of eyes and half a brain could recognize who you are so I'm not gonna bother with that either," the doctor rattled off after they had taken a seat in the living room. She then stopped herself, her brows furrowing.
"Then again, Deku did find you, if I were so led to believe, in a cliché dark alleyway on his way home where no one somehow spotted you, let alone saw you, even once before getting there despite having your face literally plastered everywhere on missing posters and news reports on top of being one of the most well-known Pro Heroes out there?"
"…yes?" Momo replied, resisting the urge to back away.
"Well, I guess that's the truth, then!" she declared with a loud clap and a smile. "If a friend of Deku's says so then so it is."
"R-Right, doctor."
"What did I say about calling me 'Doctor', Miss Yaoyorozu Momo, daughter of the prestigious Yaoyorozu clan?"
Momo gulped as she smiled in exasperation. "Not to call you that, Chiyo."
"Good!" she lit up. "Now, Momo, let's get's this over with, shall we?"
Despite the nature of the exchange they just had, this was really the second time that they had met. Since their first meeting that fateful night when Izuku took her to the hospital, not a word was spoken between them until now. If Momo could describe the kind of person Dr Kaifuku—I mean—Chiyo was, it would be…
"Huh, would you look at that? A deluxe edition All Might t-shirt exact to his exact size! Some things never change with good old Deku," said the doctor, leaning close to her chest to look at the shirt Momo wore with an enthusiastic smile that did not match her dead blood red eyes. While poking at it. With her stethoscope. It was worth noting that her eyes appeared dead regardless of what expression the rest of her face emoted the whole time.
Yes, Chiyo was an interesting person, Momo told herself. An interesting person with an interesting Quirk. Considering Shinsou's Brainwashing Quirk that almost nabbed the General Studies department their first ever win during the U.A Sports Festival during their freshman year, it was to be expected that the doctor still prodding her came from General Studies as well. After all, Izuku did say that she was a good friend of his. Come to think of it, it was almost hard to believe that Izuku was Quirkless to begin with.
The neat and tidy U.A General Studies Valedictorian certificate that hung on his living room wall came to mind.
In recognition of Outstanding Academic Achievement in the Department of General Studies and for spearheading numerous groundbreaking innovations in Quirk Support Gear through multilateral co-operation between the Support Department and the Heroics Department, and on nomination by the esteemed board and staff of U.A High, we hereby confer upon the student,
IZUKU MIDORIYA,
The PLUS ULTRA VALEDICTORIAN AWARD
With all the honors, rights and privileges thereto pertaining.
'Plus Ultra' Valedictorian? Being a valedictorian herself, she knew that a few others from her batch possessed academic prowess that rivalled the potency of their Quirks. However none of their certificates had been given the 'Plus Ultra' extension. How could she not have heard about it?
"I don't blame you if you've never known," said Dr Kaifuku, causing Momo to restrain herself from yelping in surprise. "He never really did like standing out much."
"How did you—" asked Momo before she got cut off.
"You were looking at Deku's certificate for quite some time there," said Dr Kaifuku. "So much so that you didn't even notice where I'm touching."
In an instant, Momo became acutely aware of the soft hands that were groping her abdomen. Heat rose into her cheeks and she just about to scold the doctor before a light finger pressed onto her lips.
"Before you say anything, my Quirk works best upon direct contact," said Dr Kaifuku, her tone matching her eyes for once. "It's my fault for not disclosing this to you sooner. However, considering what you've been through, the fact that your body failed to register applied pressure onto your abdomen and chest is a saddening expected outcome."
Both women said nothing after that. While Dr Kaifuku continued her examination by touch, Momo found herself speechless. A mixture of feelings whirled up in her heart. Her initial anger over the doctor's perceived violation was replaced with guilt and awe. Of course, she was still mad that the doctor groped her to begin with, but the doctor did it with consideration of her well-being. She supposed that such level of perceptiveness came with the job, but she was sure that the cover story she and Midoriya told Dr Kaifuku mentioned nothing about her time in captivity. In fact, she never told Midoriya at all.
It was no secret to her that her savior kept in touch with Midoriya. While she never confronted him about it, the fact that he never contacted the authorities about her discovery made it obvious. Considering that her face popped up in the missing person's report on the news every night, Midoriya must have been ordered to keep her treatment discreet. Why else would Midoriya do so? The Izuku Midoriya that she knew from their brief stints together in inter-departmental projects was kind, gentle and had a will to help people in need.
The Izuku Midoriya she lived with for a week also had the same traits though not quite. He treated her well and did his best to accommodate her. He even went as far as to set some space in his fridge for pudding and castella. He didn't have to sacrifice his love of vegetables for her. He would have given her his bed too if she didn't decline his offer twenty times. However, despite all of this, he remained distant.
The living room that she resided in was only a door apart from Midoriya's room, yet it seemed as though he lived in a world of his own. She only met with him on two daily instances throughout her week; when he left for work and when he came back from work. It was understandable that his work kept him busy as she used to throw herself into it when she was still in active duty. Still, that same kindness that helped ease her into his home also kept her at arm's length. Breakfast and dinner were solemn affairs with both munching away in silence. Meals were always bought from the convenience store a few blocks down. Any conversation they had never went beyond mere pleasantries. It was less like a friend letting another sleepover for the week and more like a hotel concierge accommodating a guest. They were never the closest of friends—the difference in departments saw to that—but she thought of him as a fellow person of education she could hold lengthy discussions with.
Remembering that night she woke up in his apartment, the words that he told her before leaving for the hospital though, she knew that the walls he put up could be broken.
Noticing that Dr Kaifuku had stopped her examination, she took this opportunity to ask her about Midoriya. Who better to ask that an actual friend of his, right?
"Oh? Curious about Deku are we?" said Dr Kaifuku with a smirk, her tone returning to her usual mischief. She glanced at the digital clock hanging on the living room wall and shrugged. "Sure, why not? It's been a while I've engaged in gossip anyhow. Fire away though I want nothing to do with any of hanky-panky you two get on with."
"H-Hey! How crass! We've done nothing of the sort," chided Momo before clearing her throat. "I simply want to know what how Midoriya is as a person?"
Dr Kaifuku raised a brow. "Hah? Aren't you living with him for about a week now? Have you tried asking him at all?"
"Just curious to see what he's like from your perspective."
Dr Kaifuku squinted. "I see what you're doing here but I'm going to play along for now. Well, Deku is Deku. Despite the nickname, he's anything but useless as you've noticed from the certificate. If anything, I'd say he's too useful."
"What do you mean by that?"
A rare spark of life lit up in the doctor's dead eyes. "You'd never understand. You people who won the genetics lottery will never understand," she said with a wistful smile. "He, Izuku Midoriya, our awkward fool of a class president, had a dream. It was a simple dream. A dream where the Quirkless and the ones with less fortunate Quirks will never be deemed worthless. That they would stand a chance to become heroes in their own way. I laughed at his dream, you know? I mean, it sounds like something a five-year old would say. Yet, despite the discouragement from his idol and the bullying from that asshole he called a childhood friend, he went with it. He pursued that dream with earnest.
"Even when the Great U.A Barrier crumbled and the villains broke through, he still held on to that dream in his own way. Together with Hatsume Mei, Hitoshi Shinsou, dickhole Monoma and yours truly, we formed our own resistance group. Considering how insane the fighting got when Trigger got involved, I'm surprised there was even a General Studies department left standing."
Momo shuddered at the mention of Trigger. That abhorrent Quirk-enhancing drug that caused the user to lose all sense of reason. Nowadays, subduing an addict was easier thanks to the development in Quirk Support gear with the advent of Quirk data analytics but the terror facing up against a villain possessing a powerful Quirk enhanced further with Trigger still caused her to shiver. Even that, however, paled to the absolute horror of the effects of Trigger overdose. Fire and ash invaded her memory.
"Remember, no survivors." And thus every tenant fleeing towards them fell.
She shook her head. Focus. Now was not the time for this. Unfortunately, the doctor seemed to agree.
"I'm afraid, I'll have to cut our little chit-chat short, Momo," declared Dr Kaifuku, stretching her back as she rose. "People are dying every day and there's nowhere near enough people with medical-based Quirks in the world to treat them."
"Wait, I—"
"You're right, I almost forgot!" Dr Kaifuku smacked her forehead. She handed Momo a slip of paper with some notes scribbled on it. "Here are the results from today's examination. Don't worry, I'll give you a proper one next time I come around."
"But—"
"If some medical terms are too difficult for the great Yaoyorozu Momo, basically your ribs are going to heal just fine, there are no clots in your bloodstream and no divergences in blood flow towards other lumps of life," said Dr Kaifuku as she waved Momo off and swung by the door.
"Bye~!"
And thus Momo never got to ask Dr Kaifuku how the General Studies department fared against the villains during the Escalation as the door slammed shut. There were a lot more questions than answers received. When did the resistance group form? How did they even survive? Even the Top Ten Heroes had trouble faring against the Trigger-addled villains, let alone fledgling students at U.A.
A sinking feeling settled in her gut as she realized that there was a lot more about her former classmates than she naively thought.
o-o
Dr Kaifuku's phone buzzed as she walked past the municipal office. The protests in front of the building made for a poor calling environment so she was grateful that it was a text message. A devilish smirk wormed its way along her cheeks. No wonder the protests kept going. The madman killed the mayor while cleaning out the gang's headquarters. With that out of the way, the stage was set for the next part of the plan.
She just hoped that their hero-pretender classmate wouldn't lead him astray.
Author's Note: Hello there, readers. Well, if there are any left since I last updated last December. That makes it a record-breaking 8-month hiatus. Whew. Those of you from Court of the Verdant Hero will know that I usually have my reasons for late posts but this is inexcusable. Especially since it's left off at a transition too. However, I now have a beta and I am currently attempting to work in an update schedule of sorts.
Yes, you heard me. An update schedule. I'm not sure if I'm able to keep up said schedule but do know that you reserve every right to crucify me on a cross of your choice should I fail to uphold this claim. As for the schedule in question, it will be a new chapter once every fortnight weekend, switching between stories. So, the next chapter of Court of the Verdant Hero should come out this week and a new Data Collector chapter the week after that. On weekends.
So, do enjoy this highly delayed upload. I hope to keep in touch with you for more chapters to come.
Thank you and have a nice day.
P.S: Don't worry, the next chapter won't be a transition one.
P.S.S: Don't mind the update. Just fixed an overlooked formatting error.