Mha101 - Yes, I'm sure that if you were thrown into a warzone while being eighteen-something and without a proper prior training, you'd surely outperform hardened veterans. Yes. Certainly. If anything, the fact that they are actually sort of winning, at least number wise (2:0 thus far), is a sign that they are performing splendidly (but that's mostly because they actually connected to the police, which has a tiny bit more experience in the field).
(***)
Tsuyu comes down ten minutes later. Wearing her frog onesie, oddly enough. This sight causes an instant riot in the room, which the frog girl ignores with calmness that would impress Principal Sasaki.
"Damn." Shinsou whispers to Izuku as Tsuyu walks towards the fridge. Still ignoring all the looks and quiet comments. "I think I get why you did it. This sight really makes you want to cuddle and protect her, doesn't it?"
Izuku actually shoots him a surprised look.
"You are literally the last person I expected to notice this." Izuku announces. Shinsou looks vaguely hurt by it. "Although I have to agree with your assessment. On the other hand, I think it goes both ways between us."
Their past interactions, at least since Dabi, were pretty much the two of them constantly trying to patch each other up at least a bit. And more or less succeeding at that. Although you don't know how strong a building truly is until an earthquake or a hurricane comes.
Mina took just that moment to come down too. Followed by her boyfriend in his new hero uniform.
It's… a logical outfit. The real problem with Kirishima's quirk is that the sudden changes to the texture of his skin (and to a small degree to its shape) would easily damage most equipment that was too close to his skin.
His equipment is tailored to take that into account.
There are the armored boots, because you never know when something attacks you from beneath (this can take him off guard when he isn't hardened). Their insides' size is varied - they are filled with elastic material that can be easily replaced if it's damaged because of the user's hardening changing his feet shape a bit. Said filling also makes his boots comfortable once he hardens, despite the shape changes.
Above it are the dark pants that only look baggy - they actually have a lot of armor plates sewn into it, enough to not restrain its movement and not get damaged when he goes into full-hardness mode, but also capable of making his impressive resistance even better. Because there is no such thing as too much resistance to hits.
His hands are exposed. While hardened, he can shape them into blades or claws. This is a major asset. Especially when he requires different types of damages. This is further supplemented with a collection of four taser knuckle dusters hanging off his belt, for easy access when needed.
His upper body is mostly unprotected. The changes it goes through and the size of it would make anything else impractical. Instead, all he gets is a comfy black T-shirt that's made from a material that's both elastic, warm and hard to catch fire. While still being cheap enough to be replaced if it gets shredded (as it will probably be often).
There is a deeper meaning in that. His chest area is where Kirishima's hardening is the strongest (yes, they tested that), ex aequo with his arms. Mei and Izuku actually hope that making it be covered (together with part of his arms) with a simple T-shirt will be an invitation for enemies to pound him there. Instead of some potentially more vulnerable places.
His head is protected by a ballistic helmet with a full face-mask. They considered leaving his face exposed (he has rather mean, sharp teeth when he hardens), but they eventually opted against it. It would make secret vocal communication impossible.
There is a T-shaped visor in front of the mask. With night vision, HUD and so on. It also keeps him comfortably anonymous (the Shie Hasseikai knows who he is, but not the other villain/criminal groups they might encounter in the future). And has some air filtration feature, although how well it will work against Mustard's gas (that they had no samples to test - other villains of Overhaul were carrying normal gas masks so it COULD work, but it could be a ploy) was anyone's guess.
All things considered, he looks rather intimidating. At least to Izuku. Although he immediately realizes that right now, he was more afraid of his girlfriend. Mina being here… it would not end nicely for anyone involved, wasn't it?
"Omigosh!" She immediately spotted Tsuyu. "You look so cute! Can I take a picture? Please! I absolutely need to have it in my collection!"
"Ribbit." Tsuyu replies, while obediently freezing for the picture. Mina, naturally, takes several pictures in a quick succession.
Usage of phones became much more widespread once they could charge them on the UA. Izuku has some mixed feelings about it.
"Seriously, you look awesome!" Mina coos. "You'll find yourself a boyfriend in no time with a look like that!" It was undeniably true. Especially considering Shinsou's reaction to it. Of course, it was also a bit too late for that.
"I already have one, ribbit." The frog girl announces. Those who already know pretend that they didn't. The last thing they want is the Shipper Queen of the Network thinking that they hid some salacious details from her.
Shinsou shoots Izuku a wry smile. Izuku wants to die.
"Really?" Mina is surprised by it. So is Kirishima, a fact only visible because he is carrying his helmet in his hands. "Since when?"
Unfortunately, Tsuyu has no filter. She is worse than Mei in that field, since Mei is only oblivious to social norms. Tsuyu has that but is also blunt and considers every occasion to speak with someone a good thing.
"Since this morning, ribbit." Tsuyu replies. "Me and Izuku had sex."
There is a loud bang in the room. It's not an introduction to Overhaul's goon assault on the headquarters, unfortunately. It was the sound of Izuku's forehead meeting the table in front of him. Shinsou pats his head, although Izuku is certain that his smile is that of a smug snake.
"KIRI, I KNEW IT!" Mina immediately yells. Kirishima sighs loudly. "I called it!" Because of course she did. Her ceaseless attempts to ship anyone in the vicinity were normally a feature more than a problem (comic relief was a welcome thing in their stressful line of work). Except, once everyone around her began to form pairs, the result was her going increasingly outlandish in her theories.
Then again, even the broken clocks show the correct time twice a day.
"Alchemist knows?" Kirishima asks. Izuku doesn't see that from his current position, but Shinsou nods. "And she is alright with that?" Another nod. "Well, I guess that's… not unmanly then. Not sure if it's manly, though. This requires more data."
"I think it is. I mean, he manages to satisfy two girls." Mina points out. Izuku wants to fly out of this room, find Overhaul and tell him to end this pain. "That takes a lot of manliness to pull off. Especially for someone this small." Oh great, beat him up while he's down. What a great thing to do.
"... I vaguely remember you saying that you like how manly I am." Kirishima looks at her questioningly. "Should I take those words as some veiled suggestion or…" He dodges the tickling attack. "Alright, alright! I get it, sheesh."
"THIS IS PASSIONATE!" Yoarashi says from his position close to the entrance. How he kept himself quiet for so long is a mystery. "AND HOT-BLOODED! CONGRATULATIONS! ALSO YOUR OUTFIT LOOKS INCREDIBLE, KIRISHIMA! I'M LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING ONE THAT WILL BE AS AWESOME AS YOURS!" As always, his normal speech was almost indistinguishable from what passed for yelling among the others.
Kirishima and Yoarashi then performed a fist bump with enough intensity that it would probably break Izuku's hand if he was mad enough to try that with either of them. Both of them were grinning at each other while doing it.
Izuku is so done with them all.
(***)
"So…" He asks Principal Sasaki as they are loading onto his helicopter again. "... who is it this time?"
"Yaoyorozus'." The Principal replies. Izuku gives him a questioning stare. "To be exact, the girl that they are planning to make into their heiress."
"So first, the heiress of the Hatsumes gets a meta-ability. Then the heir of the Todorokis. And now Yaoyorozu's joined the club as well?" Izuku says as he takes the seat. "Seriously? Where's the Yotsubashi metahuman? And what are the statistical chances of all of that happening?"
"Small." Principal Sasaki replies. "But they exist. If we discover that heirs of all or most of the major industrial conglomerates in the world developed meta-abilities, then I'm going to decide that it's suspicious. As for the Yotsubashis', their heir is seven years old." Which probably excluded him from the list of potential metahumans. At least for several more years.
Well, at least one zaibatsu family that isn't involved in the meta-abilities business. How damn reassuring.
(***)
"Your name is… Koku Hanabata, isn't it?" The man in front of him says, waking him up from the brief stupor.
It was… an interesting time in his life. The discovery that there is more to his charisma than he thought has made his ambitions multiply. He carved his way upward in the ranks of his party, only to get kidnapped.
Not by the man in front of him. But by some freaks who had issues with him using his charisma to influence people and amass more and more political power. The people that freed him worked for the man in front of him.
Hanabata knows good manners are important. His suit might be completely ruined after all that he went through, but he is still a politician first and foremost.
"That's correct, sir." He replies. "Who do I have the pleasure of speaking with, if I may ask?"
"Someone very interested in your power." The man replies. "Someone seeing absolutely no problem with you using it to the fullest potential. The world knows me as Rikiya Yotsubashi." Koku's eyes widen. He was facing one of the wealthiest and most influential people in the country. Someone that even the government dared not to antagonize. "But you? You may call me Destro."
(***)
Yaoyorozus' are significantly less dickish than Enji Todoroki. Then again, that isn't much. In Izuku's opinion, even Kai Chisaki is less of a dick than Enji Todoroki. He at least has a decency to treat Defiant as an equal (and a threat) rather than a bug.
Of course, he loses the points by being a mass-murdering maniac, but… well, he at least isn't that much of a dick.
Their daughter is pleasant. Both to look at (not something Izuku will ever admit openly) and to talk with. She feels… upbeat and optimistic. A rare trait nowadays, though perhaps understandable when you are this wealthy.
"I believe that considering her ability and the fact that she is a bit… sheltered, having her attend the UA would be a splendid idea." Her father says during the dinner. Izuku has never seen half of the food in front of him. "Private tutors brought her far, but social skills and connections are also a necessity."
"This is naturally understandable." Principal Sasaki agrees. "Considering what I know about your daughter's level of education, I believe that she'll be more than capable of attending our university while also being a part of the Special Course."
Momo Yaoyorozu appears to faintly blush at this assessment. Izuku isn't surprised. Considering what sort of person is saying that… It means a lot. Mirai Sasaki is scarce with compliments. This drives their value up.
"That sounds like a good idea." Her father agrees. Her mother nods in agreement. "Especially the chance to meet others like her." Well, it looks like Jirou and Todoroki aren't the only metahumans with supportive parents, although Enji Todoroki's support is a bit… unique. "What exactly is the goal of the Special Course, though? I must say that the fact that its class president stayed in his mask the whole time is a bit concerning." Someone asks the right question.
There is a way of exposing his mouth while keeping the rest hidden. Mei made sure of that. Whether she made his mask that way to let him eat or whether it was to save some time while wanting to spontaneously kiss him all of a sudden was anyone's guess.
"That's an optional part of the Special Course." Principal replies. "I'm afraid that meta-abilities are already being misused by people out there. I know of at least several regional police departments that decided to fight fire with fire and began to field their own metahumans. Most of the Special Course students are a part of that. This warrants a certain secrecy concerning their identity."
"Wait, you mean that…" Masashi Yaoyorozu is trying to say those words, but Mirai Sasaki moves faster.
"Superheroes and supervillains." The Principal deadpans. "What a time to be alive." It takes the elder Yaoyorozu about three seconds to come to a conclusion. Similar to the one that Izuku has at this point.
"This country is really done for, isn't it?" He says bitterly. "We would have survived that normally, but now…"
"I don't think that the government will survive it." Principal replies honestly. "By which I mean both the current cabinet and the government as an institution. We're looking forward to a period of chaos and civil strife, which will most likely include a temporary fragmentation of Japan. My work with the Special Course is at least partially motivated by wanting to establish an organizational framework for dealing with the phenomenon of the meta-abilities. Which includes everything from healthcare through education to law enforcement."
Oh. Well, it makes sense, considering what Izuku knows about Principal Sasaki. Getting some new high-quality graduates is probably as much of a reason for him as that. Mirai Sasaki is intelligent enough to kill two birds with one stone as a matter of standard policy. Something that Izuku should never forget.
"Momo?." Masashi asks.
"If I can help, I want to." She replies. That sounds like a sufficiently heroic mindset, at least in Izuku's opinion.
Well, it's about time that they got a demonstration of her quirk. Izuku is really looking forward to it.
(***)
Momo Yaoyorozu turns out to be a living material printer. Capable of synthesizing about everything that she understands the structure of. Izuku can only wonder how far she was going to get within a few years of learning to use it. In the meantime, though, the situation is a bit more complicated.
"Not a superhero candidate." He says, after he tested the strength of the sword that she made. It took quite a lot of his telekinesis to break it.
Momo looks dejected all of a sudden. Masashi Yaoyorozu fields something akin to a worried frown.
"Reason?" Sasaki asks. He probably wants to avoid having an argument. And clearly trust Izuku's expertise in quirks enough to believe that his answer will be sufficient.
"This quirk is certainly very versatile and useful." It's hard to disagree with that, really. "But there are two major problems. First, she can only generate items from her body. This means that she must expose her skin in order to use her quirk to its full potential. Considering the number of criminals out there that are armed with guns, this is simply too dangerous."
"And the second reason?" Sasaki asks, after the onlookers have two or three seconds to digest the news.
"Tools are just that. Tools." Izuku replies. "Most of them we can simply bring with ourselves to the field without having them manufactured there. Yes, she can react quicker to a change in situation than most of us, but if she is only as powerful as her tools. For example, if she manufactures a gun, she will be simply an armed civilian. Not an equivalent of the supervillains that we know about. Unless she goes through some proper combat training, she probably ca'n't match even the regular villains and criminals."
Worst of all, their current enemy is fielding a small army of spec ops operatives. They wouldn't even notice that they fought a metahuman if they ran into Momo Yaoyorozu. Izuku himself didn't feel comfortable showing up anywhere near them, and he was practically bulletproof.
Well, unless they manage to snipe him when his telekinetic shields are down. Or bring some heavy artillery to the field.
They had a lot of police officers on their side. That went through various degrees of combat training. Putting a zaibatsu heiress with a fraction of their skills anywhere near danger was literally asking for troubles.
"Recommendations?" Principal continues the interrogation. Izuku feels like he is trying to show him to the world (or at least to the Yaoyorozu's) while doing so. This is… honestly, he has no idea what to think about it.
"Alchemist will love to work with her." Izuku says instantly. He can see Momo's spirit making a small return. "Her quirk, with some training, will excel in the manufacture of equipment." Especially with things that were intended to get regularly lost and needing replacement, like Kirishima's knuckle dusters or Izuku's tasers. "Also, once she gets through some training with Kan-sensei, we could deploy her as a support. Having someone with an ability to mass produce gas masks if the villain spreads poison gas among the civilians might save a lot of lives. And with how universal her meta-ability is, she can serve as a counter to many potential threats at once. Without exposing herself to danger."
Despite the bit about lack of danger, self-defense training with Kan-sensei is a must. You never know when someone sneaks close to you. And sometimes those who sneak close to you might have a gun.
"Quirk improvement?" Is the Principal doing that on purpose? Is he trying to make Izuku impress Yaoyorozu's? Is this his way of improving his value as a UA graduate further down the line?
"More technical knowledge." Izuku replies. "And… I honestly don't think that the mechanism of this quirk is fat-to-object transmutation. It needs some further probing to figure out what it actually is."
"Really?" This time it's Momo that speaks. She is clearly surprised by this.
"Look, unless your body weight is counted in hundreds of kilograms, but your meta-ability is letting you compress it to a much greater degree, it simply doesn't add up." Izuku replies as honestly as he can. "Sure, I know of at least a single quirk that seems to generate mass from nowhere, but yours doesn't look like something like it." To begin with, it's clearly an emitter quirk. Kirishima has a transformation quirk. "Fat is much less dense than muscles, too. So considering how much weight in fat the demonstration required, you should have lost a significant amount of weight. But you clearly don't."
"Yes, but if I use much more of it, I eventually…" Momo tries to interject, but suddenly she freezes mid-sentence. "Calories?" Oh, she figured it out quickly.
"My working theory, yes." Izuku agrees with her. "It starts with sugar, then goes through fat and then eats everything else. Except, losing sugar is less noticeable than when it goes through the fat. Especially as it clearly stops doing so before the sugar level drops to the point where it impairs the body's functionality. This means, though, that this quirk is less matter transmutation and more matter… synthesis? Summoning? No clue here. As I said, further investigation is needed."
(***)
"Where did you find him, Mirai?" Masashi Yaoyorozu takes advantage of the person in question being too busy talking about something quirk-related with his daughter and leans toward his old acquaintance.
Not a friend, as otherwise Mirai would know about Momo much earlier. Acquaintance and occasional business partner was a much better word. Yaoyorozus' were famed for having some of the country's best lawyers on their payroll. Mirai Sasaki occasionally exchanged his information network for some top quality legal representation.
Either for himself and his school… and some choice cases among his graduates. For as long as they convinced him they were actually innocent. It wasn't easy, but sometimes it happened. Information wasn't the only thing that Mirai Sasaki traded around when needed.
"As surprising as it may be…" Mirai replies. "I didn't find him. If anything, he found me. But it's nice to know that I'm not the only one who recognizes his value. I only wish that he was capable of that as well."
Mirai Sasaki was especially surprised when Midoriya thanked him for the 'atmosphere' comment. It was, indeed, a small test. One that the principal didn't expect him to pass. Yet he proved him wrong.
Midoriya was smart. Very much so. He wasn't a once-in-a-million genius like Mei Hatsume, yes. But she was a genius in engineering, while being clueless about everything else.
Midoriya, in the meantime, was smart in general, digesting knowledge easily and finding it very easy to connect supposedly disconnected facts to figure out the truth behind them. That was a gift.
What an irony that it was a gift that he mostly used to navigate his vast knowledge about superheroes. Something that would be completely useless during most of human history. Yet it was incredibly useful today.
In Principal Sasaki's opinion, Midoriya had a serious chance of getting into the UA's Wall of Fame. Even without his superpower - if only certain school didn't do their utmost to nip him in the bud.
In fact, it was the place that he truly deserved to be in, superpower or not. Intelligence and desire to help others should be rewarded appropriately, after all. Especially in times like this.
Of course, that was going to happen only if Overhaul or some other villain won't finish Bakugou Katsuki's job.
"Unreasonably low self-esteem despite having a lot of positive traits about them? More than most of the people out there?" Masashi asks. Mirai nods. "Well, looks like birds of the feather and all that."
Considering how deep in a discussion Momo and Izuku were (while appearing completely oblivious to the world), it was a very correct assessment. The principal didn't miss how easily Momo lost her confidence when Izuku mentioned the 'not superhero-capable' thing. And how easily she recovered it once he explained that no, her quirk is still awesome and usable in many things.
It was painfully familiar.
"How did that happen?" Mirai asks. Momo Yaoyorozu will soon be one of his students. Understanding her problems is, thus, crucial.
"I'm afraid…" Masashi says after a few seconds of silence. "... that being smarter than your peers is sometimes a curse. And that the difference between the moral level of what passes for our societal elite and random high school bullies is sometimes smaller than I'd like it to be. I should have had her attend the UA right from the start of senior high school. We would have avoided all that mess."
"Better late than never." Mirai says.
They are a bit too far to hear what it is about. But whatever Izuku Midoriya just said made Momo's absolutely beam at him.
"Hey, do you think that…" Masashi tries to say, but Mirai knows what it is about. And he cuts it short.
"I'm afraid that the Hatsumes' beat you to this." The principal replies. "Mei Hatsume finally found someone who can tolerate her unique personality."
"Oh, well." Masashi Yaoyorozu sighs. "At least she'll finally have some friends."
(***)
Momo seems surprisingly positive about the whole superhero idea. Then again, she is yet to see people like Dabi or Overhaul up close. That explains a lot, at least in Izuku's eyes. He was incredibly optimistic about everything before he met Chisaki, too.
Her parents seemed supportive about the whole superhero idea. Although it was probably explainable by Izuku mentioning their daughter being kept away from direct danger. Of course, they were yet to realize how much of a platitude that was with people like Dabi out there.
Then again, the 'safe distance' could as well be her yeeting items through Eclipse's warpgate. That would make her pretty safe, for as long as Mieko was thinking fast enough to close the warpgate when there is a Prominence Burn incoming.
The talk about potential hero name was left for another occasion. Yaoyorozu was also going to go to the UA the official way, by being a 'transfer student' to the appropriate branch of UA university.
Her being also a member of the Special Course will bring her some additional attention. Especially as Izuku was acutely aware how much gossip about the Course was circulating among the UA students.
That no student has tried to sneak into the 'exclusion zone' surrounding the Special Course buildings was a sign of how intimidating principal Sasaki was. And how lawful his students tended to be. He was really picky with admissions and strict with his teaching.
She understood it was a secret. With lives being on the line. She promised to not mention that to anyone.
Izuku bid his goodbyes to her. Then he and Principal Sasaki began their return journey.
It was time for Uraraka to leave the hospital.
(***)
Destro's going to be fun to write once he finally shows up. For now, a bit like it was with Muscular, he's put in the backseat before the Right Time comes. It will be even more fun once the Right Time comes :3
As for Yaoyorozu, I'd like to point out that her quirk awoke much later than in canon (we speak 16-17 years old). She had much less time to train creating more complicated stuff, and next to not combat training (if only because her parents didn't expect for her to become a hero, as heroes weren't a thing). She is thus much weaker than in canon, at least for now. So try not to crucify me for the events of this chapter, sigh.