"You are as beautiful as the first day we met." Hisashi said, his glass and Inko's meeting delicately. "I don't think I tell you enough."
"You are always so sweet Hisashi." She chuckled, "I love you too, silly." She said, drinking the beer from her glass, looking at the small diner.
Some people might have objected at inviting your wife out to a place like that, especially if you were also a Yakuza leader that could have afforded to eat the best sushi every night. Hisashi glanced out to the street, spotting his bodyguard, Kuraudo, silently watching the entrance of the diner from the side of the car, a cigarette lit in his mouth. This was the best compromise they could make to give him privacy without having to leave him defenseless. For all his skills in dealing with people, Hisashi wasn't exactly a fighter.
The diner itself was an American-styled Japanese food restaurant. As in, the place itself looked like an American diner, but it offered mostly Japanese food. The only American thing in the menu were the size of the portions really, and Hisashi had wondered many times how the place even stayed open past his youth when it was such a mismatched combination.
But at times like these, he couldn't be more thankful. "I'm not joking. I'm really the luckiest man alive."
"I think Masaru would object. His wife really didn't age a day." Inko said.
"If Mitsuki asked me, I'd still marry you a thousand times." He firmly replied. "And the same goes for Mika. As far as I'm concerned, you will always be the only choice worth making."
Inko blushed. Hisashi smiled. He still knew his wife, even when working abroad had taken its toll on the time they could spend together. She was always weak to that kind of romantic talk. It helped it was genuine, of course. He meant every single word.
"Remember when we first met?" She asked, changing the subject.
"Why yes, I think you were swept off your feet instantly."
"Really?" She smiled wryly, "I seem to remember a certain Yakuza son getting swept off his feet."
Hisashi laughed. True enough. "I suppose I was an idiot."
"Walking up to a group of biker girls from your same school in broad daylight, telling them 'you now work for me' and handing them a stash of cash? Yes Hisashi, I think you were an idiot."
"You did end up working for me." He replied. In reality, back then Hisashi had been desperately trying to prove himself to his father and his aunts. All Might had just debuted when he was in his last year of high school, and was mopping the floor with many criminal groups. His father had moved to America, and rumor in the clan was he was considering choosing his cousin over him, since he was stronger and more rowdy, something back in the early days people assumed could put down All Might more than smiles and secrecy. Oh, hindsight was always good at telling you an idea was horrible, but it did float around nonetheless.
"You were insistent." She replied. Hisashi was. After she said no, smashed his face on the table by pulling his hair toward the hand under it, and then beat him up, he had walked off, only to come back the next day with a better plan.
She beat him up again, but Hisashi had kept coming back, until she had finally heard him out.
"Conquering the high-school biker gangs of Japan." She remembered, "All united under you. And you believed a four-girls gang could do that."
"Four girls did do that, and I think I still hear rumors of the legendary Musutafu Tigers."
After that, the Clan had absorbed the gang, and Inko had joined him, along with the others. She had worked for the Clan, had finally fallen in love with him, they had married, and then… she had retired, her other identity vanishing from the records forever, to raise Izuku while he run the Clan. At this point, All for One and a handful of older Pros were probably the only ones who remembered Inko's other self. Not that any of them would have cared.
-x-
All for One shivered.
"What is it sir?" Compress asked.
"Memories, Compress. Some memories came flowing back all at once, for some reason." He shivered again, "That terrifying woman…"
Compress didn't say anything, but All for One knew he didn't understand. He couldn't. Only someone that had been there could know the horror of that woman. If he ever met someone that could, they would have certainly bonded over that.
-x-
All Might shivered. For some reasons, the memories of one of the scariest days of his life had decided to resurface all at once.
He always wondered where that Yakuza assassin had gone. She had just disappeared.
He was glad about that, shameful as it might have been.
That had truly been the scariest fight of his life…
-x-
Hisashi sighed, shaking his head to stop reminiscing on the past. Which brought back his present wondering. "What do you think about Izuku?" He asked Inko.
"What do you mean?"
"This whole… new thing. The Hero Course, the Quirk…" Hisashi sighed, a spark of fire leaving his mouth, "Not the life I expected for him."
"No, you expected he would fail the Entrance Exam and then live a normal life." She replied, "Or you would recruit him in the Clan."
"Only if I had to. It's not an easy life."
"It's a life you didn't prepare him for." She stopped him before he could argue, "And I know I agreed to it. But I was selfish, and so were you. We wanted Izuku to live a normal life when we knew… who his family was."
Hisashi sighed, "I didn't do a good job. I should have been around more."
"You were doing what you had to." She gently touched his cheek, and he smiled. "If you hadn't moved away from Japan, who knows where we would be today. But… You need to do right by Izuku."
"I will." He moved his hand to hold hers, "I haven't asked about his Quirk, after all."
"You really think Shiggy gave it to him."
"I'm sure. But I don't want to interfere. If All for One tried to ingratiate my son with a Quirk that will allow him to be a Hero, I'm sure Izuku will put it to good use. And he is in UA. If someone can teach him how to use it, it's them."
Inko hummed. "A Hero and a Yakuza boss. Think he can do both?"
"I think Izuku will do just fine. He is our son, and he got all the best qualities of both of us." He smiled, "And we will be here to help him."
Inko nodded. "To help him and to push him a bit."
Hisashi noticed her smile. "What are you thinking about?" He asked. She explained, and he smiled back, agreeing wholeheartedly. He kissed his wife, and they spent a happy night they hadn't been able to enjoy often in the past few years.
He felt like the luckiest man alive.
-x-
"Are you from the Hero Course?!" One of the many, many journalists loitering around the school asked Izuku and Pony as they pushed their way through to reach the gates of 1-A.
"N-No, I'm from the General Course!" Izuku tried to lie. This was the fifth reporter that tried to interview him, and he was getting sick of it.
"That's great! What do the General Course students feel like knowing All Might walks the same halls they are in?" The persistent interviewer asked without missing a beat.
Izuku looked around, but before he could find a way through Pony shouted. "Enough!" And released both of her horns, grabbing one and using another to grab Izuku by the back of his clothes. Both of them floated off, passing through the gates and landing safely within UA. "Ugh, journalists."
"Well, we made it. Think the others will be fine?" Izuku asked.
As they said that, they heard a sound to their left and looked at another section of the walls, were a bag had just appeared. Izuku walked towards it, and frowned. "This looks a lot like Himiko's…"
"Incoming!" Masutaro shouted, and Izuku had a second to process that before another bag hit him square in the face.
"Oh gosh, boss!" Pony walked toward him, "Are you ok?!"
Izuku nodded. "Yes, I think I'm…"
"Incoming!" Himiko's voice shouted, and then Izuku watched his friend jump over the walls of UA. From below, which gave him a fairly great view of the Forbidden Land of Underskirt. Unfortunately – no, bad brain, this is not unfortunate – a second later said view was replaced by the realization Himiko was falling right towards them.
"Boss, watch out!" Pony shouted, pushing him aside like he was a VIP in the way of a gun. The result was also similar, considering it was his bodyguard that took the blow, rolling on the grass in a complex shamble of legs and arms as Izuku watched.
"What the heck?!" They both shouted, one in English and one in Japanese.
Izuku considered trying to help the two disentangle each other, before he heard Masuchan's voice from behind the wall. "Goddammit Tomura stay still!"
"I am, is just that you have shit balance!" Tomura's voice replied from behind the wall, "God I hate co-op so much."
"Can't you hold my legs any tighter?! I'm falling."
"I give you one second to consider what that would do before I do just that." Tomura replied, and Izuku heard a yelp and watched Masuchan push himself up on the wall. "You ok, Masuchan?"
"Yeah we just wanted to dodge the crowd."
"And you chose to climb the wall?!"
"I mean, it worked, didn't it?" Masuchan asked. Izuku turned around and stared at Himiko and Pony, that were awkwardly managing to extricate from one another, and then back up, just in time to see Masutaro look down and gulp.
Izuku looked at the ground, then back up. "Are you serious?"
"It looked lower from my side."
"No shit, you were on my back!" Tomura shouted, before yelping, which with his raspy voice sounded more like a choke. "Who said you could use me as a ramp?!" He shouted, as Jiro, clearly having used the teen as a trampoline, reached the top of the wall.
"Masutaro and Himiko, actually." She replied casually, before looking at Masutaro, "Are you going to go down?"
"Ahah. Y-Yeah. Sure." He said, and then gulped. Jiro rolled her eyes and pushed him. Masutaro yelped and then landed on the grass, followed by Jiro.
"See, it wasn't so hard." She said with a smile. He mumbled something, his face buried in dirt, and she leaned forward to help him back up, doing so before turning toward the wall. "Thanks Shigaraki!"
"I hate you all!" The man shouted back, and then Izuku could almost hear Tomura stomp away. Himiko, finally free, caught that and snorted.
"What's funny?"
"Tomura's suffering." She said, loud enough to be heard, and for the weirdest reason Izuku was sure the man behind the wall had just flipped them the bird.
"Right… Uh, a-actually, I wanted to talk to you about something, but first…" He turned to the other two, and back to Himiko, "You guys should watch out." Izuku said, doing his best impression of Iida, "What if a teacher caught you-"
They all watched as a large figure with blonde hair and bulging muscles casually somersaulted over the wall, dressed in a formal suit, and brushed off some dust. All Might smiled, "Good morning, students! You better hurry to class." And with that, he stormed off.
Izuku looked at him go, and then back at the wall.
He then turned to Pony. "Pony, we are going back outside. I'm climbing that wall."
"Boss, no!"
-x-
"So, there are a few communications for today." Professor Aizawa stated with a bored expression as he emerged from his cocoon-like sleeping bag like the most tired butterfly ever seen. "First of all, today you will elect the Class President and Vice-President-"
Almost everyone in the class started cheering at once.
Kirishima, fist raised, grinned wildly, "Vote for me guys, and I'll be the manliest president!"
Mineta grinned smugly, "A vote for me is a vote for shortest skirts!"
"Good way to remove the entire female portion of the class from your voting pool!" Ashido replied, "A vote for me is a vote for more juicy gossip! Did you know Himiko and Izuku have a date this weekend?"
Himiko and Izuku both turned toward her, staring, "H-How did you know that?" Izuku asked. He had done that only twenty minutes before, under his mother's suggestion during breakfast. Well, her actual words had been 'You need to go out with your girlfriend a bit more, Izuku. And I mean alone, you haven't had a one-on-one date since October. I understand you prefer less… personal meet ups, but if you don't do it…' And then had looked at him in the 'you know what you should do' sort of way.
Izuku couldn't really fault the logic, and he did need to keep up the pretense him and Himiko were dating. That was the reason he had been so quick to take up the suggestion. Definitely.
"I have my ways." Ashido replied.
"Yes, I'm ways." Jiro nodded, her hand raised, "Also, vote for me and I promise rock will play every day from the intercom."
"Traitor…" Izuku mumbled.
"It's a gossip eats gossip world boss, and I will feed a thousand to Ashido before I let her try to dig up on me."
"Quiet." Aizawa called, his Quirk activating as his mane of hair stood up, "This is inefficient. You have half an hour to elect someone, or I will pick the President at random."
"That's not punishment for one of us!" Ashido called.
"It will be, because Bakugo will be the Vice-President." He said, and that sentence made everyone turn to him and stare at the blonde for a moment.
"Fuck do you extras want?!" He shouted, and everyone agreed that they would not spend a year with Bakugo having to be their Vice-anything.
"One hour, or you are saddled with him for a year." Aizawa repeated ominously before leaving the room. Apparently it had taken two days for Professor Aizawa to figure out the explosive teen's effect on the class.
"Alright everyone!" Iida called, "I propose we do this simply by voting for the person we think is best suited for the job!"
"Won't everyone vote for themselves?" Sero asked, Kaminari nodding next to him.
"Bullshit." Kacchan called as well, "If we vote the nerd will win." He pointed at Izuku, who turned around in surprise.
"M-Me? Who would vote for me?"
"Oh I don't know, shitty nerd, how about the b…" He bit his lower lip, "your girlfriend, Gas Mask, Earlobes and Horns? Frog too probably."
"That's a fair point, and no offense Midoriya, but that would be a vote dictated by friendship or… other feelings, rather than a genuine vote for ability as President." Iida mumbled, before raising his sight, chopping the hair with his hands, "But is there any other way that isn't randomly picking?" He asked.
"We could fight it out." Kacchan suggested, and everyone immediately turned away, "Tch. Stupid Extras."
"How about we make a list of everyone that actually thinks they can be President? Then we can vote among those. It wouldn't be fair per-se, and I think mist- Bakugo is right that Izuku will win either way, but it would make it more balanced and fair. It will give people a chance to know who is in the race too."
"That's a good suggestion. Raise your hands if you wish to be elected President!" Iida called, before his hand shot up.
Izuku timidly raised his own. Is not that he wanted the seat so much, but… All Might had been Class President during his three years, according to his interview, and it was time he did something worthy of the successor of One for All, even if it was just menial work.
Almost everyone in the class had raised their hands. The only exceptions were Masutaro, Uraraka, Pony, Jiro, and surprisingly Todoroki. Izuku didn't know what to think of the latter, and then looked at Himiko. She shrugged and mouthed a 'sounds fun', and Izuku couldn't help but chuckle.
"So that leaves fifteen people. It didn't really reduce the pool that much." Iida frowned, "Oh well, no other way to do it."
Izuku nodded and wrote down Himiko's name. If he could be President while spending more time with his friends, that would be ideal, and since everyone else had dropped out of the race, he would vote for Himiko.
Yes, that was definitely the only reason.
-x-
Iida finished tallying the votes, and then turned around. "Well, this was both more and less one-sided than I expected. We have five votes for Midoriya, five for Shimura, and two for Bakugo. Everyone else got either one or zero votes."
"Alright, who the fuck voted for her!" Bakugo shouted, and at the same time completely canceled any possibility that he could find out who voted for who. "I can underst- understa- understa-" He looked like he was physically struggling to speak, like someone was prying the words out of his mouth.
"You are saying you can understand why someone would vote for Midoriya?" Yaoyorozu offered.
"Yes. That. Thank you, Yaoyorozu. But who the fuck voted for her?!"
"I did!" Mina said cheerily. Himiko looked at her in surprise. Uh, someone was going to admit it then.
"Why, Pink?!"
"Love, duh. It will be so romantic." She started to grow dreamy, "They will have to spend afterschool together working on assignment, and as they do high school love will blossom and bloom!"
"I am so close to puking right now, please don't say anything lovey dovey on them again…" Katsuki muttered, but before he could press this further, Iida coughed.
"Midoriya, Shimura, you two have a draw. Who should be the President?"
"Izuku/Himiko should be." They said in unison, pointing at each other. Mina cooed. Katsuki retched. Meanwhile, Himiko spoke first, "No Izuku, you should. I just wanted to make sure we were working together…" She looked down, like she was looking to say something, but before she could, Izuku interjected.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes! I don't actually care about the role."
"Then alright. I will be the President Iida!"
"I'm not actually sure I approve of a Vice-President that just said they don't care about the role, but alright! Though, Shimura, please work hard!" He gave her what was probably supposed to be an encouraging thumb up, though it was delivered with a ton of air chopping.
"I will." She replied, and Izuku smiled too. He didn't know if he would have liked being the President with someone else, but with Himiko he knew he had a good chance of doing well.
Professor Aizawa walked back in, looking around. "Did you choose?"
"Yes, Professor, Midoriya is going to be the Class President and Shimura the Vice-President."
"Good. Now, talking about the other announcements…" He pulled out a piece of paper, "A new teaching assistant will join us starting tomorrow for practical training. He will have the right to take aside students for practical individual training, including, if the student agrees, after school private tutoring. Otherwise, he will participate in any class training."
"Who is he?" Kirishima asked.
"I don't know, I haven't met him yet. All I can tell is that he is male, and I think everyone caught that." He pulled out a last piece of paper, "Speaking of which, some of you have been already asked to join a class with him later today, while the rest of you has gym class."
Most people in the class tensed up, including Izuku. Getting trained by a seasoned Pro sounded amazing, even in a school where all teachers already were Heroes.
"Izuku Midoriya." Aizawa read.
Izuku smiled wildly, while everyone waited.
After a few tense seconds, Aizawa looked up from the paper, "That is all."
"Oh, come on, you said some!" Kaminari shouted.
"One is some." Aizawa looked at Izuku, "Midoriya, I expect you to show up on time at Gym B, alright?"
"Y-Yes sir!" Izuku nodded. That sounded threatening somehow.
-x-
Izuku was walking toward the cafeteria in what he noticed was a rather large group. Besides him and his usual friends, Ashido, Iida and Uraraka had joined in. "So, who else voted for the power couple of UA?"
Izuku blushed, then looked around as literally everyone raised their hand. "What?!"
"I still owed you for the robot." Uraraka replied, "Sorry Shimura…"
"No, it's fine. Perfect in fact."
"I think Midoriya has been doing a good job those past few days." Iida replied, with a stern but friendly expression that only he could pull off, "During the exam I was rude, but he proved he understood the requirements better than anyone. And then, yesterday he won his match by working excellently with his teammate. I can't say the same."
"It wasn't your-" Izuku started, but Iida shook his head.
"No, two people form a team, and I failed to work in synergy with Todoroki. I will have to better myself further before I can aim to be Class President."
"But you still tried to run…" Masuchan mumbled, and everyone chuckled at Iida going bright red.
"W-Well I just wanted to see if the rest of the class had different opinions." He replied, before shaking his head, "Anyway, now you are Class President, and I will support you happily."
"Alright, so that's two votes for Izuku. Plus Himiko…"
"No, actually I voted for myself." She awkwardly said, "I… kinda wasn't sure if I would get more votes."
"I voted for you." Izuku said with a smile, "And three more people did too."
"Like me!" Ashido replied, grabbing her by the shoulder.
"And me." Masutaro added, "Sorry Izukun, but you already had two votes." He said, pointing at Jiro and Pony, who both nodded. Ashido smirked and grabbed them both by putting her arms around their shoulders and dragging them both in.
"Hm? You both voted for the same man? And Himiko's boyfriend at that?" Her look now was almost predatory, "That sounds juicy…"
"Ashido… I'm suffocating…" Jiro said, tapping her arm.
"Help…" Pony called.
"Wait, but that's still four votes for Izukun and four for Himiko. Who else voted for them?" Masutaro asked. Everyone thought for a moment who it could be.
"Maybe Katsuki voted for Izuku?" Ashido asked.
This time Izuku couldn't hold back a laughter, followed by Himiko and Masutaro. "No… No he wouldn't." He finally managed to say.
Ashido blinked. "Uh. You never realized?"
"Realized what?"
The girl grinned. "Nothing." She said wryly, and Izuku wondered what that was about. No, it definitely wasn't Katsuki. But then who could it be?
Eh, it probably wasn't important anyway, he decided as they entered the cafeteria.
"Hey!" A voice called from their right, and they both turned to see Melissa walk forward, "Hello Izuku." She said, "I hear you are the new class President." She added, before smiling to Himiko, "And you are the Vice-President!"
"Yeah." She said.
"Great! So, some of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents formed a table together to meet up, want to join?"
"Wait, we?"
"Yep, I'm the class President of Class 1-H!" Melissa smiled, "We have the Presidents and Vice-Presidents of Class B and C and the Vice-President of Class I." She grimaced, "The other Class Presidents were busy or refused, so if you want to join us…"
"That's a good idea, I guess." Izuku replied, and Melissa smiled, before he turned to Himiko, "Want to come too?"
"Alright." She said after a moment.
"Very Well, Midoriya, we will leave you then!" Iida shouted, "Everyone, let's go!" The rest of the group walked away, leaving Izuku and Himiko to follow Melissa toward the counter to grab some food and then to a table. Besides them, they saw a girl with red hair accompanied by a shorter team with ice blue hair and a robust physique. Next to them was a teen with purple hair kept upward and a blonde teen with a large tail, and behind them… "Oh, Hana." He said. He hadn't seen the shy girl since the Entrance Exam, and she shivered in surprise when he called her.
"H-Hi M-M-Midoriya." She said with an indecisive wave.
"You are Izuku Midoriya, right?" The girl with red hair asked, "The President of 1-A."
"Yes. And this is Himiko Shimura, my Vice-President." He added, pointing to her.
"Nice to meet you. I'm Itsuka Kendo, and this is Nirengeki Shoda. We are the Class Representatives of Class B."
They quickly shook hands, before Izuku sat down next to the purple haired teen and Himiko next to him, on his right. "You two are from 1-C then?" He asked.
"Yeah." The teen laconically replied, but the tailed teen leaned forward.
"Hi! I'm Ojiro Mashirao, and grumpy over here is Hitoshi Shinso." He chuckled, "He is gloomy today because the class saddled him with the role of Vice-President."
"I didn't ask for this..."
"Why did you get elected then?" Izuku asked, genuinely curious.
"Oh, no one wanted the role in our class." Ojiro replied, "So we just chose randomly."
"That's surprising. It's a big honor to be Class President at UA." Kendo commented.
"Not if you are in the General Course." Shinso said, "It's like regular high school there, so really boring."
"Ah. Yeah, makes sense." Izuku winced at the look Shinso sent him. He had the impression the purple-haired teen really didn't want to be there. "So… Melissa, where is your Vice-President?"
"She is hidden in the lab." Melissa replied, "Hatsume is so cool, and she has so many great ideas for the future! We had a test the first day, and mister Power Loader said both our works were excellent, though flawed in different ways. We got first place together and free access to UA's lab!" Her eyes were shining now, "It's not quite I-Island, but UA has one of the best students' labs I've seen in my life! I kinda want to hole up in there like Hatsume, but I also have to… Do other stuff."
She smiled, and Izuku couldn't help but think she was looking straight at him. 'Yes Izuku, you are stuff.' The treacherous portion of his brain Izuku didn't know he had until he started going out with Himiko and the others said. 'Curse you Masuchan for putting all those anime in my head.'
"Anyway, we were talking about working together for some things." Itsuka added, "Melissa actually had an idea."
"Yep! See, back in my old school in America, we would have a thing called a prom. I know here you have the Culture Festival, but it's not really the same thing."
"So she wanted to know if we would bring up to the Principal the idea of organizing one later in the year. Sometime in December." Shoda completed.
"Why that late?" Himiko asked.
"Technically it might actually be a bit early." Melissa replied, "But proms are pretty famous to be the right place for relationships, and I figured making it fit around Christmas, that here in Japan is basically a romantic date either way, would work well."
"Would the Principal actually approve?" Ojiro asked, "It doesn't sound like a bad idea, honestly, it might even be fun, but…"
"Oh, I totally get it, that's why I wanted to talk to everyone! Hana is on board already, right?"
"I-I think it would be fun…" The girl with white hair said, blushing and looking down to her knees.
Itsuka and Shoda glanced at Izuku, and the same did Ojiro and Shinsou after a moment, "Want to give it a try?" Izuku asked Himiko in turn.
She went in thought for a moment, before nodding, "Yeah, it sounds fun."
"Then… I guess I'm on board." Izuku added, nodding to Melissa, who seemed… a bit conflicted, for a moment, before she nodded.
"Amazing! What about you guys?"
"Sure, whatever." Shinsou replied, and Ojiro nodded. Itsuka took a moment longer before nodding, "Alright, if Class A is ok with it, I guess Class B can join in too."
"Great! Thanks guys, I'm sure it will be fun. I'll get your signatures when I've talked with everyone else. Later I will try to get a meeting with the older years too."
"Are you sure you aren't in the Business Course?" Ojiro asked jokingly.
"Knowing how to sell your Items to investors is a great tool for someone that builds them." Melissa said back. "Actually, I…"
The alarm sounded at that moment.
-x-
'I wonder how Plan Prom is going.' Pony wondered. When Melissa had told her about the idea, it seemed crazy, but she could see her point. Setting up a deadline tended to push people to do better, and Melissa had just set up an eight-months deadline to get Izuku to go to a Prom with her. That would force her to be more assertive. 'That is, if Himiko doesn't snatch him first.' She added. The only basis she had to know Izuku and Himiko's relation was fake were her mom and her best friend's words, but she could tell they were probably right. While there was affection there, if you knew the two weren't in love, you could tell. It was that awkward bit of distance they kept from each other; the fact she had never seen them do anything that went beyond walking together…
Problem was, maybe they were just awkward as hell. Himiko had publicly said she loved Izuku. Was that part of the ruse too?
And why did they need the ruse? From what her mom and Melissa's dad had said, it served to keep some sort of deal up, and Pony didn't like that. Forcing people together was unfair. She might not have been Ashido, but she did consider herself a romantic.
Then again, maybe you could fall in love even if your relation started as forced. Possibly. And well, Melissa didn't even like Izuku. Yet. 'Plan Prom gives me a deadline, so I can try to see if me and Izuku could even work together. I want to know more about him. If I can't fall for him, then there is no point, right?'
"What's on your mind Pony?" Jiro asked, and Pony stiffened. She had been spacing out for a bit, hadn't she?
"Oh, nothing, it's just…"
The alarm sounded. "What's that?" Someone asked.
"Security Level 3 has been broken. All Students, please evacuate in an orderly fashion." A mechanical voice shouted from the intercoms.
"The alarm for intruders..." Someone else replied, while chairs started to scrape on the ground as more people stood up. "Maybe we should leave."
"Yeah."
"Right."
That was what started it. The worst stampede Pony had ever seen, and she had grown up in her family ranch in Texas. Everyone started to head for the doors of the cafeteria, and as they did, they started to mass together, pushing into each other. Pony could read the sign, but by the time she realized she had already been pushed between Jiro and Iida, more people pressing them on all sides and toward the large windows of the cafeteria.
She tried to look around for the boss, but there was no way to find him. 'I hope he is ok…' She thought, as her eyes caught something outside when Iida was pushed, along with her, further toward the windows.
-x-
Izuku was in hell. Some other guy might have thought this was heaven, but he wasn't Mineta, Masuchan or Kaminari.
It had started when him and Himiko had been pushed toward each other, continued with Hana, who had been walking next to him, panicking and grabbing his arm to not lose the one anchor she had from getting swept away in the crowd, and concluded when Melissa had started pressing on his back, as all four where dragged toward the wall, more students amassing and pushing to get out.
Now fully trapped between the wall, the three girls and the crowd, Izuku looked around. He saw pony's horns against the windows, and he assumed the blue hair in front of her were Iida's. No trace of Uraraka, Jiro, Ashido and Masuchan, but they were probably somewhere else in the crowd.
"Are you all ok?!" He called to the three girls.
"Y-Yeah." Himiko replied, though she sounded distressed.
"It's so c-c-crowded…" Hana whimpered, getting pushed – or maybe pushing herself – even closer to Izuku, his arm starting to go a bit numb. She really had a vicious grip. He put up the titanic effort to not blush at the fact she had shoved her face right in his arm too. He knew the girl was awkward even by his standards but right now she was really doing her best to make him blush too. Luckily the emergency was keeping his mind out of it.
"If we knew what was going on…" Melissa commented from behind his head, and Izuku could feel her body pressed on his back. "I have something that could be useful here…"
Izuku looked around, then spotted Pony again. She was frantically trying to reach one of her horns, but the crowd seemed to have trapped her completely, unable to grab onto the object. Then they made eye contact, and she started gesturing toward the window. Izuku looked there, and saw a group of people talking with two figures he could barely identify as professor Aizawa and professor Mic.
The journalists.
And now the teachers were all busy. If someone didn't do something fast, people would get hurt.
"Melissa, you said you had something?"
"Y-Yeah, there's a portable megaphone in one of my pockets." She explained. Someone must have looked at her in confusion, because she coughed, "It's something I made, professor Power Loader said I could keep it, and…"
Izuku nodded. "Can I take it?"
"Yes, it's in the left pocket."
Izuku nodded and moved his left arm between the wall and Melissa's hip, trying to reach her pocket, trying to grab his way into it. Once again, he had to put his best effort into ignoring the hip he got ample chance to feel in his search for the pocket's entrance. Oh boy…
"W-Wait, it's the r-right one, I was wrong!" She suddenly said, and Izuku heard her stammer a lot, "S-Sorry."
Right. The arm trapped by Hana.
"Hana, can you grab the megaphone, please?!" He asked. Hana whimpered, but let go one of her hands – good, Izuku's circulation was on the line too – and started searching Melissa's pocket. Meanwhile Izuku looked around. He was the only one that could be called free, provided Hana let him go. To prove it, he raised one arm, just as Hana put the small megaphone – more of a mic with an amplifier, judging by the shape – in his hand. Izuku waved toward Pony, and she caught the message. The horn flew towards him and Izuku grabbed onto it, while gently letting Hana grab onto Melissa.
"Everyone!" He called into the mic as soon as he was completely free, everyone's attention focusing on him, and he suddenly felt incredibly unprepared, "I-It's all r-right, p-please calm down!" 'Oh man, what do I do…' He looked down, and spotted Iida again, the teen having been dragged forward. He made a gesture and Pony nodded, floating him toward Iida, who Izuku grabbed. He noticed Pony strain a bit, but soon Iida was lifted too, megaphone now in his hand.
Of course, Izuku had a perfectly good reason to choose Iida out of all people.
No one could lecture people their age like him.
"Everyone! Please calm down and control yourself!" Iida shouted immediately, a second horn flying in to hold him up. "There is nothing to be afraid off! Let's behave correctly, and we can easily get out of trouble!"
Thanks to Melissa's megaphone, the voice reverberated through the cafeteria, but it seems it also reached beyond that, because, just as people were calming down, a new figure emerged from the corridor, the now calm crowd opening in front of him. A short man with grey hair, a cane and a hero costume with an oversized yellow cape in tow marched into the building. "What the hell are you youngsters doing?" he shouted, pointing his cane around, "Back to your class, all of you, or I will give you an actual reason to get scared like headless chickens! Is this the level UA students are at?!" He paused, and then pointed the cane toward Iida, Pony and Midoriya. "Except you three." He pointed at the mic, "And where did you get that?"
"I made it!" Melissa called from her spot, next to Himiko and with Hana now holding her arm.
"You too then, come here. Everyone else, scatter or I will make you!"
Most people obeyed, though a few, unsure of who the man was at all, lulled behind. That earned them another scolding. Himiko, Jiro and Masuchan – who had apparently been stuck with Uraraka and Ashido further back, like Izuku thought – tried to stay, but the old man sent them away too, assuring their friends weren't in trouble.
"Good. Now, you four." He said, once the cafeteria was completely empty, "What were you doing?"
"We solved a problem." Pony replied, "I'm not sure where the teachers were, but when the alarm sounded it started a stampede."
"She is right." Iida nodded, before giving a series of wild air-chopping gestures as he retold the full story.
"Tch, this happened right in the mid of Lunch Rush's break too. The man always listens to music with his headphones on during those." The short elder noted, and right on cue Lunch Rush walked in, saw the empty cafeteria, saw their group and the man standing with them, and promptly walked right out again, "You can run but you can't hide, you underqualified dish-washer!" The elder shouted, before turning around, pointing his cane at them all, "Who came up with the whole thing?"
"Pony/Izuku." Izuku and Pony said, before looking at each other.
"What? No, boss, you were the one that found the megaphone and gave it to Iida."
"I-I was just lucky. You were already trying to take flight, I just happened to have a free arm." He turned to Melissa, "And she just happened to have… You know, that's the craziest coincidence."
"I mean, I also have a solar battery charger and a portable multitool." She said, showing both items.
"Enough, enough." The elderly Hero – and of that much Izuku was sure – pointed his cane to Iida, "Who decided to grab you?"
"That would have been Midoriya, sir."
He turned to Melissa, "Who got the megaphone?"
"Hana, sir, a classmate from the business course." She replied, before looking at Izuku, "But it was Midoriya that told her to."
He pointed at Midoriya, "And after she told you what was happening, who came up with the whole plan?" He asked again. Izuku looked at Pony, but he got the elder's point. Even if Pony had been the one with the idea to fly above the crowd first, he had realized that Iida was more suited for the job, got himself free and gotten the device to make both heard over the shouting of the crowd without having to do something crazy to catch everyone's attention.
"I did." Izuku said, looking down.
"Good. You three, back to class. You, your name."
"Izuku Midoriya sir." Izuku replied, worried. He hadn't done anything wrong, but this didn't sound like what was coming next was a compliment.
Nothing came instead. As he looked up, he noticed the man was just staring at him. "You are-" The man stopped himself, "My name is Sorahiko Torino." He replied quickly, beating his cane on the ground, "Come with me."
Izuku nodded, following the man as the others walked away, though Pony had to make a gesture to follow, only to be stopped by Izuku himself with a shake of the head and a mouthed "Tell the others". She nodded before walking away following Iida and Melissa.
"Youngsters those days. What if you fell? The crowd would have stomped you black and blue, or you would have fallen on someone and broken some bones."
"I-I didn't really think…"
"Yes, I can tell!" Torino sighed, "Well, get moving."
"Uhm, is this going to take long? I-I have to be in Gym B in fifteen minutes."
"Then I suggest you walk fast." Torino said, and to emphasize the point used what had to be his Quirk to jump forward. "Keep up, youngster!" He called, reaching the end of the corridor in seconds. Izuku started running after the old man, and then after his voice, until they reached an open door. Walking in, Izuku realized he was in a gym.
Gym B.
"See, we are here." Torino replied, "And with ten minutes to spare."
"I- Thank you sir, but why are we here?"
"Because I was the one that called you here." Sorahiko Torino replied, turning around and pointing his cane at him, "I'm your new teaching assistant, Gran Torino. And I'm here to make sure the next One for All user is competent."
Izuku stared at him in disbelief mixed with awe. This really was his new teacher? He didn't know of a Hero called Gran Torino, but still, he was a Pro! What words of wisdom would he have to share?
Gran Torino and Izuku stared at each other for a long moment.
Then Gran Torino spoke. "Now, who were you again?" He asked.
Izuku buckled.
-x-
Shigaraki grinned as he studied the timetable he had snatched from the UA teacher's lounge while they were busy handling the press.
A great job, if he did say so himself. With that, he now knew that the next day All Might, Aizawa Shota and another Hero called Thirteen would be at the USJ the next day. There was also a class of twenty and a teaching assistant. With that knowledge, him, Tesla and Kurogiri had then snuck in the USJ so Kurogiri could teleport them.
Having to carry Tesla around to shut off all cameras was annoying, but he also needed to be hidden there in advance, so not much they could do. He pulled out his phone. For some reason, for the last two days, someone kept changing the name of the group to 'Handjob's party'. He knew that technically he had scrapped the bottom of the barrel during recruits but still…
He quickly switched it back to Tomura's party and typed in the message. "The event is tomorrow at 9:30 AM. Meet up is at 9:00 AM at the usual place."
Ryukyufan
Ah fuck, I have a birthday tomorrow, can I skip?
KomodoModo
Dude, who the fuck has a birthday at 9:30 AM on a Tuesday?
Ryukyufan
… Oh wait, 9:30 AM, I thought it said PM. Mb
GreedyToothy
Be there HJ
MuscleAndHairIsHot
Same
TheOtherMummyIsAPoser
Same here
Confirmations kept raining in, though a lot of them mentioned an HJ he didn't know, and he smiled, looking up at the Noumu. Yes, everything according to plan. 'Tomorrow, I'll take care of two problems.' He thought with a grin. After all, if his underlings just happened to kill two annoying brats, who would notice? And once Midoriya and Toga were out of the picture, he could go back to be All for One's Heir.
Dad would be proud.
Everything would be perfect.
-x-
Snipe stiffened, letting the fork drop on his plate. "Something wrong?" The rather attractive Pro Hero he was meeting on his day off asked.
"Nothing much. Just feeling like the time I have been waiting for is finally coming."
"My, aren't we rather… bold to assume?" The woman asked, her hand touching his over the table and his feet brushing his leg under it. "Not that I dislike a bold man." She added leaning closer. He was also fairly sure he heard a purr. Rather in character.
He smiled. Not what he meant, but he would definitely take it.
-x-
Himiko sighed, running her lap around the training field with the others. "Keep running, keep running." Vlad King, the Gym Teacher of 1-A, kept shouting. She was keeping up easily with the middle of the crowd, thanks to a mix of Stain and mister Yagi's training.
"Something wrong?" Mustard asked.
"Just thinking about Izuku- For the date!" She corrected herself when Mustard looked at her with a smirk, before covering her mouth and looking around. Thankfully, Mina was busy talking with Kirishima about something else. They were both glancing at Bakugo from time to time, so Himiko was fairly sure she was safe.
"Yeah, I'm sure you will have fun."
"No, you don't get it. He invited me so randomly. What if… What if he is starting to get into… me?"
Mustard shook his head, "Nah, you are overthinking it."
"What if I'm not!"
Mustard hummed, "Ah, I see what you mean. I just don't think it's likely. You don't like him that way, right?"
Himiko took a moment to think about it. Did she like Izuku that way? He was a great friend, and she had to fight the urge to drink his blood once or twice, but she never felt the need to stab him. Of course, she was doing better now that her 'dad' was giving her regular blood, but she should have still wanted his blood constantly if she had fallen for him, right?
She didn't know. The truth was, for Himiko, blood was love and love was blood. She knew that, and she wouldn't deny who she was, but… she didn't know what that meant. Did she like Izuku and where those few urges she had felt signs of a crush that was being kept calm by being so regularly fed, or did she just like him as a friend?
"Hello? Himiko?" Mustard tapped her head, and she gasped.
"Uh, sorry. No, uh, I just think he is a good friend." She replied. Yeah, that felt more likely.
"Well, if you do than tell him gently. Only if he does something though, you don't want things to get awkward. You had a friendly date before, this will be more of the same, right?"
Himiko thought back to November. They had a nice day back then, eating together and then going to an arcade. She still had the knife Izuku had won for her, carrying it around with her other weapons. Not to use it, but it worked as a good luck charm.
"I guess. Maybe I'm overthinking this." She sighed, I'm sure this will be fun."
Mustard nodded.
Neither of them noticed the look Ashido, Kirishima and Bakugo shared, despite Bakugo looking extremely annoyed by it. Nor did they notice Uraraka's frown as she looked at the trio.
(XX)
My False Love Academia is going really well honestly, after twenty chapters (counting the Prologue) I can say that confidently enough. This is just a random consideration but eh, thanks everyone for sticking around for this silly story of False Love, hope you are having fun.
So, speeding through the day before what everyone knows is coming, but we aren't there quite yet. I figured though I'd give some space to also some of our other characters, like Hisashi and Inko, who haven't been around in a while.
You know, regarding the cafeteria, I always forget if they show Lunch Rush do something, so I decided to not check and just give him a reason to not be there.
Meanwhile Snipe is having a good day. Try and guess who he is on a date with.
And yes, a date is coming for our new Presidential duo too, while stuff moves in the background.