The second day of UA started, for Izuku, with a meeting. As he walked to the gates of UA, he found himself face to face with someone he hadn't seen in a while.

"Ah, Midoriya. It's good to meet you." The voice was familiar, and as he turned he realized why. The teen walking towards him was Hiryu Rin. "I hope everything is well."

"I… Yes, thank you. I hope the same."

The teen chuckled, "I do believe my first impression of you was not wrong."

Izuku blinked. What did he do? Did he mess up? Had he made some terrible mistake? Where were Pony and Jiro when he needed Yakuza savviness?

-x-

"How is the plan going?" Melissa asked Pony, the two girls walking together toward the station to take the train for UA. It had turned out that they had to walk in the same direction to go to the school, so had decided it made more sense to meet up.

"I don't know, I can't figure it out!" The horned girl replied.

"You said to leave it to you, master of love!"

"I say a lot of things!"

"You just need to figure out if it's true or not that they are together!"

"Oh yeah, just that, one of the supposedly biggest secrets of the clan, of course!"

Melissa sighed, "I know, I'm sorry…"

"Look, we can figure it out, let's just keep working on it." Pony replied. Melissa sighed, but she nodded, "Where is Izuku anyway?"

Pony froze… "Oh shit I forgot to pick him up at the station…"

-x-

Jiro kept walking, trying to keep a fast pace. She had decided to avoid the meeting with Izuku, because she knew that it would be best considering her current situation.

"For the sixth time, I don't know anything about Bakugo." Jiro repeated, trying to shake off her pursuer. She was relentless, terrifying.

She really wanted some gossip.

"Oh come on, you are a big friend of Midoriya, right? He must have told you more about him." Mina replied.

"He didn't tell me anything." She answered, trying to get the girl to let her be. Pony was good with gossipy talk, but Jiro had always been more into talking hobbies. Everyone in her school called her a tomboy, and while she didn't think that was right – she appreciated girlish stuff too – it was accurate she didn't find gossip enjoyable.

"Uhmmmm…" Mina looked straight into her eyes, "Alright then. So, what about you and Pony? Or you and Masutaro? Is there someone you like?" She asked, her eyes glinting like a lion that had spotted a new pray.

Jiro turned bright red, then coughed, "You know what? I can give you something about Izuku…" She replied, before sending a silent apology to her friend. 'Sorry boss, it's a gossip eats gossip world.'

-x-

"What do you mean?" Izuku asked.

"Well, of course that you have big plans for the future of your Clan, Midoriya." Rin said, and Izuku stared at him.

"… What?"

"Please, no need to play with me, I understand you. We are one and the same."

"We are?" Izuku stared at the Triad son, "How?"

"Well, for starters we are both very, very ambitious. We both decided that obtaining a Hero License was important for our future as leaders, and once we did so we decided to join the best school in Japan for it. From the moment you entered the exam, you presented yourself as a skilled leader, and managed to obtain the highest score in the exam-"

"Wait how do you know that?"

"- And are doing so at exactly the right time, even if that comes by luck more than skill."

"Luck?"

Hiryu sighed, "Please don't pretend to be hiding your plan. I won't speak about it to anyone else, of course, and I'm sure we can be better allies if we cooperate."

'What the hell is he talking about, what plan, what is going on?!' "Ahah, of course. My bad. Can I ask, out of curiosity, how much you figured out of my plans?"

Hiryu looked at him with a suspicious look, before finally nodding, "I suppose it's fair. In exchange, correct me if I make a mistake."

"Of course."

"I believe you are aware of the emergence of the New Age of Criminal Heroes."

'Alright, I already lost you.' Izuku answered, though he nodded, "Mh-mh. Please continue."

"Sure. So, until a few years ago, the government had an assassin tasked entirely with taking out criminal elements among Heroes, be they either Heroes that committed illegal acts or Villains that tried to sneak inside the system. That was why people like you and me becoming Pros in Japan, or at least in UA, would have been impossible. But now it's different."

"It is." Izuku nodded, doing his best to pretend he was not completely out of his depths and struggling wildly to do so.

"Indeed. The previous assassin killed the head of the HPSC – or so we think, officially he just retired, but we don't really buy that excuse – and the new one was hesitant in getting a new one that was so… effective. Instead, they turned to a new one, that could sneak around easily and that isn't quite as bloodthirsty."

"Right…" Izuku remembered about the talk with his cousins and then All Might. It was starting to sound more and more like it was the truth.

"Well, that means the control on both Heroes and Hero Students has become looser, as the new administration shifted to a less Orwellian control over them. They are still controlling, mind you, but especially Hero Schools aren't as tightly policed." He paused, "Honestly I think part of it is Nedzu's doing."

"I see, I see. But where does my so-called plan come in?"

Hiryu snorted, "Well, you and I aren't the only ones interested in becoming Heroes among Japan's criminal underground, right? Nor are we the only ones that would like to make our respective Clans grow."

Izuku nodded. Of course. Pony and Jiro, who were both aware of their family's ties to the Green Valley Clan, both still wanted to become Heroes. Yo, Melissa, Hana and Yuyu were part of the Clan. And Himiko and Masuchan were the same. That made sen- "There are other criminals in our year, and you think I want to hire them for the Clan while we are still in school, while also finding new Heroes to do what we do in America."

"Eh, I knew you'd admit it. Even your ploy to obtain last place in the Quirk Apprehension Test yesterday was clearly a clever way to make your classmates aware of your powers without revealing your full strength."

'Wow this Izuku Midoriya guy that lives in his head is really smart. I wish that were me.' Izuku took a deep breath, and looked to the wall of UA, the gate approaching as they walked. He wondered if triggering on purpose the school alarm and get a concussion from the UA Barrier could be a way to forget this conversation.

"Izukun!" Masutaro waved, spotting him as he arrived by the gate.

"Masuchan!" He waved back, "This is Rin Hiryu." He said when they got closer.

"Hi." Masutaro extended his hand and Hiryu shook it, "Soooo, how do you know each other?"

"Midoriya and I worked together during the exam. I hope it will be the beginning of a strong comradery." He said. "I…"

"There you are!" A new voice called out. They all turned to see a black-haired teenager march toward them. Taller than Hiryu, even if barely, the teen put both his hands on his shoulder. "Hiryu, give me one valid reason why I shouldn't get really angry right now."

"Ahah, I don't know what you are talking about, Sen." Hiryu awkwardly chuckled.

"You mean that running away from your…" He paused, looking at Midoriya and Masutaro. Izuku didn't even need to ask if the young teen he was looking at was a member of the Seiryu Clan. It was clear merely by what they had been talking about.

"You can talk freely Sen, that's the Green Valley heir and the other is an associate of his." Hiryu responded.

Izuku immediately looked around, terrified someone had heard the Seiryu heir, but the students entering were all moving in small groups, since it was still quite early. None of them paid attention to the quartet.

"Alright, then explain why you ran from your bodyguards."

"I wanted some privacy?"

"Rin!"

"Relax, Sen, relax, let's not get angry." The future Triad leader replied, and the teen called Sen sighed.

"You always do stuff like this. We are both just worried for you. You know that, right?"

Hiryu nodded, putting a hand on Sen's shoulder. "I know, I know. Anyway, allow me to introduce to you Izuku Midoriya, the future leader of the Green Valley."

'Again, really just spilling it like that?' Izuku thought, "Uh. Hi?"

Hiryu gestured toward the young teen with a smile. "Midoriya, this is Sen Kaibara, my bodyguard, as you might have guessed.

"Nice to meet you." Kaibara, the teen in question, said with a smile, even bowing slightly.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Izuku replied, unsure of what else to say. It was nice to meet the teen, though knowing there were two more students that were future criminals was still a bit… worrisome.

Kaibara made to say more before frowning, "Wait a minute." Kaibara looked past Izuku, to Masutaro, "You are the gas mask guy!"

"Do I know you?"

"You stole my points at the exam by using your gas and forcing us away!"

Masuchan blinked, then Izuku noticed his expression change, "Ah! You are the guy with the spinning arms!" He paused, "Wait, stole your points?"

"I could have gotten extra points if you hadn't blocked the road completely and forced me to back away."

"That's a lot of ifs, isn't it? Are you just salty cause I won?"

"You…"

"Sen, enough." Hiryu called, and the teen sighed raising his arms in defeat, "A rivalry is fun and all, but it doesn't really hel- wait, I have an idea." The teen turned to Izuku, "Let's make a bet?"

"A bet?"

"Yes. A friendly bet between future leaders." He smiled, "A simple challenge of recruitment."

Izuku took a moment to process the proposal, "You mean a challenge to see who recruits the most?"

"Indeed. A friendly competition between the both of us. Given your quite ingenious plan, I'm sure you feel confident enough to do so." He looked at him, and Izuku was about to say not when Masuchan stepped in.

"What would he get if he wins?"

"Why do you care?" Hiryu asked, "This doesn't really concern your group."

"It does, actually. He is marrying the boss' daughter." Masutaro waved his hand toward Izuku, "He is the future boss of his Clan and, through marriage, my future boss, he should know."

"Are you guys even trying to not sound sketchy?" Izuku asked, but Rin was thinking, Sen glaring at Masutaro and Masutaro himself focused on Rin, so no one listened. Bummer.

"I see. Very well, let's see. Do you like Heroes Izuku?" Hiryu asked.

"I do, but really I don't think-"

"Then I will give you the Ryukyu signature my father obtained two years ago."

"I'm game." Izuku replied. Masuchan flinched, but he was barely restraining himself from salivating. A Ryukyu autograph was a collectible that went for tens of thousands of Yen, maybe even hundreds of thousands in the right market. He could never buy one in his life, and while eventually he would maybe meet the Pro, it was only a possibility.

"Ehm, Izuku…" Masutaro started, but Sen interrupted by turning to Rin, staring at him like he was looking at someone going insane.

"Rin, your father will get really angry if you lose this bet…" The teen hissed. Izuku was surprised that a Triad boss would collect Heroes autograph, but everyone had hobbies.

"I'll explain dad that it was a deal to make our relations with the Midoriya stronger. I'm sure he will approve." Hiryu replied, and Sen sighed, but did not add anything else. "Also, you are talking like I will lose."

"You know that's not the point." Sen replied, before giving up, "Fine, do what you want."

"Well, what do you want back?" Izuku asked.

"Mmmh… Well, fair is fair, so I think I should ask for an equal favor. And since your family also works in America, I think Cow Lady's signature should be enough."

Izuku pondered the situation. The autograph was surely worth a lot, so he probably would have to return something of equal value. He noticed Masuchan shake his head left and right, making a x with his arms, and he could see why. Izuku himself didn't have Cow Lady's autograph, so it would end up being an expense his father would have to make, at least to get it from the US to Japan. The clan would cover the price, but the autograph of an high ranking American Hero was expensive, especially in Japan.

Then again, his father and the Clan wasting money sounded like a good thing for him, so even better. He could just take the challenge and then lose. No one gets dragged in the Clan, and the Clan itself loses money. Absolute win. "Alright, sure."

Hiryu frowned for a moment, then extended his hand. Izuku shook it, and Hiryu smiled. "May the best one win then."

"Right."

Izuku watched the other turn around, shadowed by Sen, then sighed in relief. "Man, can you believe it? He thinks I'm some sort of Yakuza genius." He turned to see Masuchan with his hands in his hair, pacing left and right.

"No, I can't, you are a moron Izuku." Masutaro groaned, finally stopping and pointing a finger at him, "Do you know what a Hero signature means?"

"Sure, an autograph, right?"

"Goddammit of course you don't know. I only know because my dad explained it to me, but I guess your father was too busy to tell his son 'son, don't take the absolutely idiotic decision of betting signatures'. Fuck." He took a deep breath, "A 'Hero signature' is a pledge of alliance of a Hero to the group you represent. You just promised him that if he wins, the Seiryu get Cow Lady, and if you win, the Green Valley gets Ryukyu." He paused, "Also this means Ryukyu works for the Seiryu clan. Is it just the dragon theme?"

Izuku just stared at him.

For a long, long minute.

"Masuchan, this is going to be very out of character for me." Izuku took a deep breath, both hands over his face for a long moment, "Why the fuck didn't you stop me?!"

"You said yes immediately!"

"Alright. Yeah. I did. But you are my best friend! You are supposed to stop me if I do something dumb!"

"Well how was I- Wait I'm your best friend?" He blushed, "That's nice."

"Focus Masutaro! And don't get excited, your only competitor right now is Kacchan, you are basically playing on beginners' level." Izuku pointed out, though he did feel himself blush a bit.

"Oh, right." Masutaro coughed, before patting Izuku gently on the back, "Well, anyway, you can do it, don't worry, you just need to recruit the rest of the class in the family business."

Izuku took a deep breath, "The family business I hate? The one I have no interest whatsoever in joining? The one that I ardently wish I could watch burn to the ground? That's the family business I should now recruit people into?"

"Yes, that family business." Masuchan replied, showing either an extreme sense of sarcasm or an equally incredible ability to not understand irony.

"I won't recruit my – potential – friends in the ya…" He lowered his voice, "The yakuza." He then paused, thinking about what the rest of the conversation had been about, "Oh god some of them are criminals."

Masutaro stared back at him, "Yeah, duh."

"What do you mean 'Yeah, duh'!"

"Well, Izukun, think about it, we all made it in, you think we would be the only ones? It wouldn't really make sense. I guess Nedzu doesn't give a shit or we are that good."

Izuku dropped on the grass of the courtyard, "And you didn't tell me."

"Again, sounded rather obvious to me." He looked at the gates, "We should really go to class now, before the rush comes in and we have to get squeezed in the hallways to reach it."

Izuku nodded. Alright, maybe it wasn't so bad. Worst case scenario, his dad just lost a strong Hero. I mean, is not like it mattered to I- 'Oh shit, Pony.'

-x-

"What do you mean you bet my mom's signature?!" Pony shouted. He had decided to wait for her outside the school, not wanting the girl to explode in class. As it turned out, he had been remarkably right in predicting she wouldn't take it kindly.

"… Can you repeat that again? My English isn't that good. I only got 'mom'."

Pony took a deep breath. "Boss, what do you mean you bet my mom's signature?"

"Oh. Yeah I… Sorry."

"Boss, don't you get it? If you lose, I have to join the Seiryu!" Izuku gulped. Yeah, he had just fucked up, colossally. Was it too late to go back on the deal? Pony probably sensed what he was thinking, because she grabbed both of his shoulders, "Don't even think of going up there, boss. If you try to go back on your word, they will say you are untrustworthy, and since you are the heir, that makes the Clan untrustworthy."

"But…"

"No buts. There is only one solution. We have to win."

Izuku whimpered, but as he followed Pony to their class, he knew she was right. He wasn't about to risk losing his friend because he didn't understand what he was doing. The girl was angry, and frankly, he couldn't blame her. 'At least this day can't get wo- oooooh, nope, I'm never saying that.'

Pony opened the door of the class, and walked in, followed by Izuku. Everyone, Izuku noticed, was staring at him. Himiko was blushing as she did, Masutaro was desperately looking away, Kacchan was grinding his teeth so hard Izuku could swear he could hear them, and Mina was standing next to the blackboard.

"The boyfriend is here!" She shouted, rushing toward him, "Midoriya, is it true you and Shimura have been dating for almost a year?"

"I-Is it?"

"Answer the question!"

Everyone in the class was staring at him, as Ashido pointed a pink finger toward him, waiting an answer. "Yes?"

"Yes!" Ashido shouted, jumping, "We just started and we already have an established relationship. Thank you Jiro, this will be so much fun."

Izuku looked at Jiro who sheepishly coughed in her fist. "In my defense, boss, it wasn't a secret."

Izuku sighed. Yeah, nice going UA. Two days to fuck up this much. At this rate he was going to be dead and buried by the end of first year.

Nothing could make this day better.

"I am here!" All Might's voice boomed from the door, as the hero walked in with his Silver Age costume, specifically the last model designed by David Shield and known to be the last model with a cape.

Awww, for once the universe was being kind to him.

-x-

No it wasn't. Nope. The universe had decided that no, fuck him, he suffered.

Combat training. On his second day. In front of All Might. With a Quirk he could barely control. While Pony was angry, Kacchan was glaring at him and Himiko every time they walked within eyesight of him, and Jiro… No alright Jiro was fine. She was right, it wasn't a secret he was with Himiko.

The only good thing was that he got his new costume. Looking in the mirror, he was happy with it. Maybe the mouth guard needed a redesign – right now it looked a bit too much like a theatre prop more than a real mouth guard, and it was a bit bulky – but the rest was nice.

"You know, I knew your favorite heroine was Miruko, but the rabbit getup was unexpected." Masutaro said.

"What?"

"I mean, the ears are really cool."

"No, Masuchan, this is-" He stopped himself. Did he want to explain he had All Might's hair as his inspiration? "You know what. Yes. Bunny ears."

"Knew it." He replied, and Izuku looked at his costume. Masuchan had opted for a simple black jacket over a dark purple shirt. His pants were also dark purple. His gas mask had been redesigned, now covering only his mouth and nose, making it considerably less bulky. For his eyes, he was wearing a pair of goggles. Around his wrists were two tubes that connected under his jacket to a metallic container on his back, from which five smaller containers, about the size of a fist and shaped like barrels, protruded.

"What's that?"

"It's a surprise." Masutaro replied with a grin, "We are having combat training, I'm not telling you what they made for me. He paused, "Uh, they also gave me this back." He showed him his gun.

"Wait, they really didn't realize that is a gun?"

"I don't know what you are talking about, this is a Projectile Launching Multifunctional Support Item."

-x-

"I swear this is a gun." Snipe frowned, looking at the picture.

"Snipe, Snipe, Snipe." Powerloader shook his head, "I understand that the intricacies of Support Item can be hard to grasp for a neophyte, but the documents are clear, this is not a gun."

"So why did you show me the picture?"

"Well, it looks similar to a gun, and you looked interested during the training."

"Yeah… I guess I can talk with All Might. Training Masutaro might be a good idea." He replied. Frankly, he had forgotten about it, but it was nice of Power Loader to remind him. The fellow Hero winked at him and left.

Snipe looked at the picture again. "I swear this is a gun." He said, scratching the back of his head, "I really don't get Support Items I guess."

-x-

Himiko sighed.

"Something the problem, Shimura?" Uraraka asked.

"I'm just admiring the mounts and valleys." She replied, while finishing to dress-up. Uraraka blushed and she chuckled, "I'm joking. Mostly. I'm just thinking that something is off today."

"You think so?" Uraraka asked. Himiko pointed to Pony, who was walking up and down the changing room while dressing up, clearly worried. "Uh, right. Any idea what's up with that?"

"She said she would explain later. She also mumbled something about murdering Izuku…"

"Ouch, that sounds like a problem alright." Uraraka glanced at Himiko, "You ok?"

"Just hope nothing is going wrong with my friends." She replied, "I'm sure we can work this out."

"Absolutely. And if you need help, you know me and Yaoyorozu are here. Right Yaomomo?"

"Did you say something Uraraka?" Momo asked, turning around toward them.

Himiko gulped, "Oh blessed sight…"

Uraraka sighed, "What did she eat to get to that level?"

-x-

Mineta frowned, "I feel like I'm missing something very important right now."

-x-

Izuku waved at Himiko as she joined him, Masutaro and Jiro, but pointedly not Pony. She stood close enough that she could see Izuku, but didn't stand next to him. "Ugh…" He sighed, "I really fucked up."

"Yes you did." Masutaro and Jiro both replied in unison.

He sighed, before looking at Himiko. "So, that's your Hero costume Himiko?"

"Oh, yeah. Do you like it?"

The costume was made up of a pink sweater – in April? She must have been sweating uncontrollably in it – a blue skirt, black stockings, and a red scarf. Under the scarf was what seemed to be some sort of black mask with a pink heart on it, and there was a black pouch on the right. "Yeah, it's really good." Izuku replied, "Aren't you just a bit too warm with the sweater?"

"Well, I guess I can take it off, I have a shirt under it."

Izuku nodded, but before he could ask more All Might explained the exercise. It was a simulation with Villains defending a bomb, and Heroes trying to stop them from taking it. Simple enough.

Each of them pulled out a number, and Izuku found himself in Team D, paired with Tsuyu Asui. He walked up to her, but didn't manage to say anything, too nervous now that he was talking with someone he didn't know. He watched the rest of the team-ups. Himiko ended up teamed up with Eijiro Kirishima, who Izuku had never talked to yet, in Team B. Uraraka and Jiro ended up together in Team F, while Masutaro found himself teamed up with Fumikage Tokoyami, a student with a crow head, in Team H.

And then Pony ended up teaming up with Kacchan in Team A. He all but roared at her as she walked up to him, and Izuku really hoped it would go well. With her so angry, and Kacchan being Kacchan, he pitied the poor pair that ended up facing them.

"And for our first match, we will have, for the Heroes…" He pulled out a ball from a box with a D on it, "Team D."

"Oh god no…"

"And for the Villains…" All Might's hand rustled inside the box.

"Please, please, please, please…"

"Team A!" The man declared after looking at the sphere he had pulled out.

"Fuck!"

"Young Midoriya! Language!" All Might shouted, sending him a stern look.

Midoriya bowed apologetically and repeated sorry profusely, before glancing at Pony. She very casually detached one of her horns from her head. She also very casually sent it into the ground, were the horn started to drill. It ended up completely embedded in the pavement, and Izuku had no trouble imagining his guts in place of the pavement.

Izuku took a slow step back. Forget a year, his own bodyguard was going to kill and bury him today.

(xx)

What you thought Izuku sooner or later wouldn't get in trouble for having no idea of how the Yakuza works? He went for a year without trouble.

... Well, much trouble.

Also, let's start the game of 'spot the criminals'. Partecipants: the entirety of UA. Ready? Go!