Chapter 8: To Grow in Your Abilities
After the Sports Festival, Hitoshi and Midoriya quickly learned that they couldn't get anywhere without being recognized. It was a huge problem. They couldn't even buy groceries.
"You'd think being a part of END would scare them away," Hitoshi muttered after narrowly escaping a mob at the grocery store, hiding behind a cart of watermelons.
Midoriya sighed. "END's popularity has only gone up, though. We're probably the most famous pair too, thanks to the Sports Festival."
"I LOVE YOU, SHINSOU!"
"SIGN MY SHIRT, MIDORIYA!'
The brainwasher sighed. "Wonderful."
-.-.-.-
"Oh my Korosensei, it's the winner of the Sports Festival! Could I give you my phone number? Oh, wait, you already have someone's number."
"Shut up."
Hitoshi easily pushed Nakamura out of his face. It was annoying enough that this was his life; he didn't need it from his friends too. And he definitely didn't need the reminder of the phone number still written on his palm, no matter how much soap he used. He had to wear a band-aid to cover it up. Stupid permanent markers.
Sugino laughed. "Man, and I thought I was popular after the Sports Festival. I had five club captains beg me to join their teams — before the festival, no one would even take my application!"
"My chemistry teacher asked me to lead a demonstration today in class." Okuda proudly exclaimed, earning her lots of praise.
Okajima came in wearing sweats and slippers and dramatically collapsed in a chair. Muramatsu scowled. "Man, do you really need to rub it in?"
"Of course!" the ex-class-pervert declared. "I've been trying for weeks to make the top five, and I finally did it! Enjoy intensive training, suckers!"
"Intensive training is canceled today," Karasuma announced as he walked into the base. Okajima fell out of his chair.
"W-What?"
Okano cocked her head. "How come, Karasuma-sensei?"
Karasuma gestured for everyone to gather on the second-floor command center before explaining. "There's been new information that's come out after the Sports Festival, and the unit leaders and I agreed that we needed to share it with you immediately. Ritsu, if you may."
The screens shifted, pulling up two different pictures. Hitoshi automatically recognized the first one as the Nomu from the USJ. The second photo was a rugged, creepy looking man carrying a large sword and—
"Uh, where the hell is his nose?" Yoshida asked.
Karasuma pointedly ignored the comment. "As you know, the enemies at the USJ attack somehow obtained a Nomu weapon. While there wasn't much left of the creature, Takebayashi and Okuda have been cross-checking the remaining DNA with DNA remains of the Nomu-Reaper—"
"We have the DNA remains of the Reaper?" Hitoshi repeated, unsettled by the thought that any bit of the Reaper still existed in the world. The scars on his body tingled at the mention of the man.
"—and found that while they are similar enough to say this Nomu was a purposeful replication, the differences suggest that they were definitely not created by the same person. Which makes sense, given that Yanagisawa is dead."
"So what, a copycat?" asked Kimura, and Karasuma shook his head.
"Unlikely. Some of the genetic code is eerily identical, and I doubt a random copycat could do that. No, whoever made this was at least aware of the original Nomu creating process."
"A successor," Midoriya realized, and Karasuma nodded.
"Korosensei explained that he was created in a lab, and while he claimed to kill everyone working there except Yanagisawa the day he escaped, it's possible a scientist avoided the slaughter. Whoever contracted Yanagisawa originally has likely hired this scientist to recreate his work."
Mimura hummed. "At least the genetic coding related to anti-sensei material is the same, or else this would be a huge headache."
Karasuma went on to explain that the Gamma unit was working non-stop to find out who this mystery contractor was and where the Nomu was created. But, until then, they were to keep their eyes and ears open.
"A special reconnaissance team headed by a government agent will go out in hopes of digging up information on where the two USJ villains are hiding out," Karasuma explained. "So be prepared that you might be asked to participate."
"That's great and all, but can you please explain Voldemort already?" Terasaka grumbled. Their ex-P.E. teacher glared but nonetheless moved on to the nose-less elephant in the room.
"This is Stain, but you all might know him as the Hero Killer," Karasuma explained. Everyone in the room tensed. Of course they knew about this guy, and just about everyone did. A crazed villain who went around killing and critically injuring Pro-Heroes — yeah, they knew about this guy, alright.
"Is he our new mission?" Kurahashi asked, clearly terrified, and Hitoshi was grateful in that moment that Sigma never got deployed. Facing the Hero Killer was not on his bucket list exactly.
"No. I tell you this because you'll likely start hearing more and more about him in the news, and I'm here to command you to not engage. If you hear he's anywhere near where you are, run away immediately."
The shocked and indignant responses were instantaneous. Sure, no one particularly wanted to chase after a mass killer, but were they really being commanded to not act when people were getting hurt? To run away?
"Are you kidding?! We're just going to let a murderer run around?"
"This isn't what Korosensei would want us to do!"
"Since when did you become such a crazy overprotective dad? Family issues getting to your head?"
"Guys, enough!" Nagisa snapped when Karasuma failed to rein them back in, and instantly Hitoshi felt calm and receptive. Damn empath quirk. "All of the captains and lieutenants agreed this is the best thing we can do. We know Stain hates heroes, but we have no idea how he'd respond to us. For all we know, he could hate us more. It was either this or go on lockdown until the authorities finally catch him."
Okay, that was understandably the worst option (who would want to be in lockdown for months?), but Hitoshi still didn't like the idea of this. If anyone could stop a crazed killer, wouldn't it be people who were trained to kill themselves? That not only knew how Stain would think, but could take the necessary measures to take him out? Hitoshi eyed the documents Ritsu pulled up about Ingenium getting attacked. That's Iida's brother, right? Iida's brother was in critical condition because of Stain.
Someone had to do something. And if Hitoshi can't do something as an END agent, he'll do it as a hero.
-.-.-.-
The day they got back from their break after the Sports Festival, Nedzu called Hitoshi into his office. And for once, it was a good thing.
"Due to his abysmal performance in the Sports Festival, along with a plethora of sexual harassment complaints, Mineta Minoru will no longer be apart of the hero course," Nedzu chipperly explained. "And as the reigning champion, it is only fair you take his spot. And might I say, I was quite blown away with your performance."
Hitoshi smirked. "I didn't want to leave any room for questioning."
Nedzu's tail flicked and the principal smiled. "I thought you should also know that, after seeing the performance by your classmates, the board has also agreed to revise the entrance exam practical to cater to more student and hero types. Also, I am personally making revisions to the General Education workload, specifically regarding Sports Festival preparations."
About damn time, Shinsou wanted to say but instead settled for, "I'm glad to hear that. When will I officially move into 1-A?"
"Right away. Both Nemuri and Shouta agree that it would be foolish to let you get behind in the hero course any longer than you already are. Official transfer papers will take a while to go through, but you can attend class with 1-A from now on. Congratulations, Shinsou."
Hitoshi smiled.
-.-.-.-
"Awwww, we're going to miss you Shinsou."
Hitoshi went to 1-C one last time to pick up his things and say goodbye to his old classmates. It was weird, walking in here knowing it'll likely be the last time he does. It was uncanny to think of the first time he walked in this classroom and compare it to now. You'd think they weren't even the same classes.
He's mostly surprised that he's going to miss it.
"Don't worry, I'm sure this isn't the last we'll see of the hero of 1-C," Midnight cooed, winking. Well, miss most of it.
"It's going to be so boring now, not training at the warehouse anymore. What am I supposed to do with my free time now, study?" Kunimi grumbled, and Midnight squawked.
"You mean you haven't been studying?!"
"What are you doing with the warehouse, anyways?" asked Amanai. Hitoshi scratched the back of his neck.
"I think Principal Asano said something about turning it into storage space? I don't know, I didn't feel like questioning him."
"Shame. How will we train for the Sports Festival next year?" mumbled Miya #2.
At hearing that, Hitoshi felt his heart soar. Hearing that the work they did here, the change they experienced, it didn't end with the festival. The experience for 1-C, the influence of Korosensei's methods and ideals would be passed on even further. Maybe one day they'll change someone else's life the same way.
"Hey, doesn't that mean we'll be your competition next year, Shinsou?" Oohira asked. The brainwasher blinked because, well, they would be.
Shimizu smirked. "Looks like we'll have to keep you on your toes then."
This response. This resolve. What more could Hitoshi ask for?
-.-.-.-
r/END of the world
49.7k likes - Posted by u/randommmmfactsss158 - 6 hours ago
Endeavor is Canceled, END said so.
Here's a meme of Endeavor being kicked out of the Sports Festival by END agents lmao
[Photo: Endeavor screaming at Midoriya, captioned, "I WILL DESTROY YOU!"]
[Photo: Karma easily stopping him with just his hands, captioned, "Imma about to END this man's whole career."
trashdeavor - 4 hours ago - 15.2k likes
The best part is that it's super accurate #EndeavorIsOverParty
sp0rtf3stivalfanat1c - 2 hour ago - 9.6k likes
The most BAMF moment in this BAMF-filled festival, prove me wrong.
-.-.-.-
"Ayyyy, Shinsou, welcome to the party!" Kirishima greeted the moment Hitoshi stepped into 1-A's classroom. He threw an arm around Hitoshi's shoulder, and the brainwasher blinked because, sure, he was Midoriya's friend, but they definitely didn't know each other like that. Was all of 1-A this friendly?
Arguably, yes.
Everyone (except Bakugou) was very civil with him, offering polite greetings, but they were clearly more reserved. Based on how they also interacted with Midoriya, this was just a side effect of them being somewhat terrified of END still, but it wasn't bad by any means. Hitoshi could work with this.
At one point, Jirou, Yaoyorozu, and Uraraka all approached him and thanked him for getting Mineta kicked out.
"He was terrible," Jirou stated. "I'm actually going to feel comfortable in school again."
Which, quite frankly, is a terrible thing to hear. Why did they keep the purple creep around so long?
Kaminari also came over, swatting his back and exclaiming, "Now we really can get a rematch! And don't forget to message me sometime, dude!" (an unneeded reminder), while Iida merely nodded his head in acknowledgment. The class president clearly was bothered by something, and Hitoshi knew it wasn't the Sports Festival. It looked like the situation with his brother and the Hero Killer was really getting to him.
"Hey," Hitoshi decided to check in on the boy. He knew better than anyone what Iida might be feeling right now. "I know we didn't exactly get off on the right foot, but...remember that there are people here to support you."
The class president blinked widely. "I'm afraid you're mistaken. I'm fine, just a little tired-"
"Of feeling helpless?" Iida's mouth slammed shut, and Hitoshi sighed. "Just...talk to someone, if you feel you need to. Suffering in silence only hurts yourself more; trust me, I know."
"I, uh." Iida shook his head and cleared his throat. "Thank you, Shinsou, but I promise I'm fine. Welcome to the hero course, by the way. You deserve it. No hard feelings from the fight, yes?"
He held out his hand and Hitoshi took it to be civil, but he wasn't stupid enough to believe Iida. No one went through what Iida was going through and was 'fine.'
He was trained as an assassin, after all. He knew what it looked like when someone was concealing their bloodlust.
Eventually, Aizawa came in, his arms no longer covered in bandages. He gave an official introduction of Hitoshi to 1-A, and bluntly informed them that it was time to pick their hero names. Hitoshi grinned victoriously while Midoriya slammed his head against the desk.
"This is totally unfair."
"Wow, Jolly Green, nice to see how much faith you have in me."
Aizawa explained that they were picking them in time for internship drafts. After the Sports Festival, management agencies can put in offers to students specifically, but even those who didn't get offers were still expected to work internships and get real hero experience for a week.
"Because of this, you need to pick temporary hero names, but make sure you take it seriously or—"
"You'll pay for it later!"
This time, it was Hitoshi's turn to slam his head on the desk when Aizawa announced the newcomer who would approve their names.
"Shinsou~ I told you this wouldn't be the last you see of me!"
Because of course it had to be Midnight.
-.-.-.-
They were handed boards to write their hero names on. Hitoshi very smugly plucked Midoriya's out of his hands.
"Hey, Midoriya, what's up with that?" Sero asked.
The green-haired boy sighed. "We made a bet that whoever won our match at the Sports Festival would get to pick the other's hero name."
"And I won," Hitoshi needlessly pointed out, just to rub it in. Bakugou growled and started writing more aggressively.
"Wow, I guess that explains why your match was so intense," commented Kirishima. "I was so sure it would have to end in a tiebreaker or something before Shinsou did that cool trick with his bandages."
"Why were you wearing bandages, Shinsou-chan?" Asui asked. "You didn't look like you were injured."
There were suddenly way too many eyes on him for a topic that is way too sensitive to talk about with classmates he hasn't even had for a day. Hell, he didn't even feel comfortable sharing them with 1-C. Hitoshi awkwardly rubbed his arms and turned his head away.
"Old wounds," he answered blandly. No one asked any more questions.
-.-.-.-
One by one, their classmates presented their names. There were the more...interesting ones, like Aoyama's, or the more practical ones, like Yaoyorozu's. Shouji stood up there and stared Hitoshi and Midoriya down as he presented his name.
"All I've wanted to do is turn the stigma around me and others like me around, and it starts by reclaiming my abilities." He turned around his board. "I'm the tentacle hero, Tentacole."
The whole class paused, and some even glanced back at the ex-E-class students to see their reactions. Midoriya was smiling sadly, while Hitoshi arched an eyebrow.
"Hope you can achieve your goal," he finally said, easing the tension in the room. Hope you know what big shoes you're trying to fill.
The closer they got to presenting, the more fervently Midoriya tried to get a glimpse at the board Hitoshi was very purposely angling out a view. The green-haired boy pouted.
"Can't I at least have some input?"
"Nope."
To be honest, Hitoshi felt more confident with Midoriya's hero name than he did his own. Despite thinking on this topic for nearly his entire life, nothing ever seemed right when it came to his hero name.
Mindjack? Cliche.
Mindblock? Sounds like Maehara's quirk.
Brainwave? Maybe?
Cerebrum? Um. Science.
Puppeteering Crossdresser? Wait, what?
Hitoshi scowled at the message that just appeared on his Ritsu-watch. Very funny, Nakamura.
Another message popped up on the watch and Hitoshi tilted his head. Well. There were worse ideas out there.
-.-.-.-
3-E Group Chat
Isogai: Hey Midoriya, Shinsou! Have you picked out your hero names?
Shinsou: Nakamura can't keep quiet about anything, huh?
Nakamura: I plead the fifth
Nagisa: wrong constitution?
Midoriya: We did!!! Well, Shinsou picked mine lol but I like it .
Fuwa: don't leave us hanging, what is it???
-.-.-.-
Hitoshi eyed his (annoyingly long) list of agency offers with disdain. How was he supposed to go through over 3,000 offers and pick the best fit for him? Why were there that many agencies in Japan?
Midoriya was having a similar issue and was mumbling at the speed of light as he went through his list and weighed all of his options. This was definitely going to take a while.
"I bet you have some really great agency offers, winning the festival and all," Ashido said, looking at his list with jealousy. "I didn't get a single offer."
"You got beat by a General Education student. Who would put in an offer for you?" Bakugou grumbled.
Kirishima scratched the back of his head and gestured to Hitoshi. "Uh, Bakubro, technically we all got beat by a General Education student."
"Shut up! Eggplant doesn't count!"
Hitoshi rolled his eyes. "Whatever helps you sleep at night, Poofy."
Before the bickering could get any further, Yaoyorozu cut in. "Are there any particular agencies that have caught your eye, though?"
Hitoshi shrugged. "Sure, but I feel weird about it, considering I've met a lot of these heroes during the Mountain Raid…"
Midoriya jolted. "Oh no, I didn't even think about that, will any of the heroes hold grudges about that night? I should probably play it safe, I doubt all of them are like Aizawa-sensei. I'll go through the list again and cross out every hero that was there the night of the raid. Should I cross out anyone who is a part of the All-Might response team too? What should I do?!"
Hitoshi sighed and went back to looking at his offers. Maybe if he stares hard enough, the one he's actually interested in doing will pop out at him.
-.-.-.-
They were leaving class when All-Might appeared and suddenly requested to talk to Midoriya. Immediately, Hitoshi got suspicious.
"Is there an issue?" he questioned. Midoriya and All-Might exchanged panicked looks, and his suspicions grew.
"Not at all, my boy!" All-Might declared. "I just came to inform Young Midoriya that he had a last-minute offer put in. I understand that you already have plenty to consider, but this one was marked priority. To be honest, the rest of the faculty was quite confused. No one's heard of this agency before."
All-Might passed over the paper. Midoriya glanced at it and yelped.
"What is it?" Hitoshi snatched the paper. When he saw what it said, it felt like the air was ripped from his lungs, as if the man was actually here.
Lovro Specialist Agency
"What the hell?" Hitoshi voiced. Why was this man requesting Midoriya? How was he even able to submit an offer, much less get it marked priority? Does U.A. really not know who this man is?
"Huh? Is something wrong?" All-Might asked.
That seemed to snap Midoriya back to reality. He grabbed the paperback and, using his hands at full speed, ripped the request paper to shreds.
"Izuku!" Hitoshi hissed, making sure All-Might couldn't overhear. "You can't just ignore Lovro like that! He's going to be pissed!"
"He's never going to know," Midoriya argued before turning back to All-Might and smiling. "Nope! Nothing's wrong, sir!"
All-Might's smile deflated slightly before snapping back into place. "Right! Well, on that note, there's something else I would like to discuss with you, Midoriya. Would you mind walking with me?"
Hitoshi arched an eyebrow as Midoriya frantically looked between the two. "Ah, Hitoshi, I'm sorry—"
"It's fine," the brainwasher said blandly. "I'll be at the base if you need me."
He walked away, but didn't take his eyes off the duo. He's noticed for a while, but what the hell was going on between Midoriya and All-Might? It didn't seem bad, so maybe he's just being an overprotective best friend — in all honesty, he should be happy for Midoriya, getting to know his idol and all. He's just being paranoid.
(Justifiably, given what happened with Takaoka and the Reaper and Shiro, and Hitoshi never fully trusted Lovro, and Korosensei is dead, so the trustworthy adult influences in Midoriya's life are limited.)
However, that didn't mean he won't be watching that duo a lot closer from now on.
-.-.-.-
The day to leave for the internships came, and Aizawa escorted the class to the train station to see them off. One by one, they departed. Midoriya left to go intern with some random dude named Gran Torino, claiming they had similar quirks. Hitoshi was 99% sure All-Might had something to do with this, but at the end of the day, at least he didn't cave and intern with Lovro.
(Hopefully Lovro wouldn't kill Midoriya for that.)
Once everyone was gone, Aizawa turned to Hitoshi and scowled. "You never picked an internship."
Hitoshi returned the stare. "I didn't."
"Why?"
Aizawa was clearly losing his patience, and Hitoshi was surprised the man hadn't tried to hit him or something yet. That was a good sign, right?
"None of them would be beneficial for the type of hero work I want to do," Hitoshi argued, and Aizawa paused, his eyebrows arched.
"Oh? And what would that be?"
"Underground."
He said it without hesitating, not once breaking eye contact with his new homeroom teacher. He could see the mild surprise cross Aizawa's face, followed quickly by hardened realization.
"No."
The Pro-Hero started to walk away, and Hitoshi sputtered, running to cut him off. "No? What do you mean, no?"
Aizawa rolled his eyes. "I don't do interns, kid. Never have, never will."
Hitoshi couldn't believe his ears. What kind of teacher bluntly rejects a student's effort to learn? Korosensei would never—
He must've accidentally voiced his thoughts, because suddenly Aizawa was spinning on him, his eyes glowing red. "I'm not ignoring your efforts. I'm merely telling you to look somewhere else."
Instead of dissuading Hitoshi, it only pissed him off further. "Where? You know better than anyone how hard it is to make it as an underground hero! If I knew another or got an offer from someone underground, I would have taken it. I'm not going to waste my time following around some Pro while they soak up the spotlight when I could spend my week learning something useful."
This at least got Aizawa to back down, releasing his quirk and sighing heavily. "Look. I respect your ambition, and I respect your desires — happy about it, even. At least you're not delusional, trying to make it big with your quirk and fighting style. But unfortunately, I don't have time to babysit a student this week because, as an underground hero, I've already committed to cases—"
"Like the Nomu? Or the Hero Killer?" Aizawa blinked, and Hitoshi rolled his eyes. "They're my cases too. And I'm willing to bet I know some pretty valuable information about them."
Aizawa paused, clearly conflicted; he wasn't the type to ever give in. But finally, finally, he relented. "You're persistent. And annoying. If you want to survive this week, I'd stop immediately."
Relief hit Hitoshi like a ton of bricks, and he smiled. "Sure thing, sensei."
Aizawa went back to glaring. "Nope. This week, I'm Eraserhead and only Eraserhead. And you're — what'd you pick, again?"
Hitoshi tried to stand up straighter. "Zugzwang."
The Pro-Hero blinked. "Chess, huh?" He rubbed his eyes and walked out of the station, signaling for Hitoshi to follow. "Could be worse. At least it's not annoying like half of your classmates choices — or your goddamn first name. Well, let's get going, Zugzwang."
Aizawa suddenly kicked off between two buildings to reach the roof. "And try and keep up."
-.-.-.-
Nakamura
(8:53) fine, fine. what about Zugzwang, then?
(8:53) it's a chess term. it means that no matter what move someone makes, it'll be to their disadvantage
(8:54) so when someone responds to you and says your name, they're admitting that they're totally screwed. it's perfect
(8:54) come on, i know you agreeeeeeee
(9:02) you're welcome
-.-.-.-
When All-Might suggested the prospect, Izuku didn't really hesitate to accept Gran Torino's offer. Sure, he didn't really know much about the Pro-Hero, but it just made sense: someone with a similar quirk as his who's especially skilled in training control. The fact that he knows about One For All, therefore someone else he can talk about it with, is a definite plus.
He didn't exactly have high expectations and all, knowing this man was long retired. But that didn't mean he was prepared to open the door to Gran Torino's house and find the man facedown in a pile of his own blood.
I thought he was supposed to teach me to not do that? his brain originally cried before realizing, oh my Korosensei, is he dead?!
But then the man's head popped up, and Izuku got flashbacks to the time Shinsou brainwashed Korosensei and made him shoot himself in the head, only for the man to regenerate seconds later. He resisted the urge to faint like he had back then.
"S-Sir, are you okay?!" he squeaked, rushing to help Gran Torino up. The man rose shakily, heavily relying on his cane.
"Yes, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm just so clumsy I slipped and fell all over by food," he hummed. "Now, who are you?"
"U-Uh, I'm Midoriya Izuku, sir."
The man blinked. "Who?"
Oh no. This was not going to happen. After getting so many hero offers, why did he have to choose the crazy old man? He should've gone with Kamui Woods all along. Maybe if he begs, he can convince All-Might to let him intern at his agency? Shinsou said he was successful in convincing Aizawa in the end.
"I'm sorry, sir, I just need to — hey, what are you doing?!"
The crazy old man had picked up the case carrying Izuku's hero costume, newly repaired by Itona with a few upgrades. He pulled out the suit, carefully inspecting the crescent moon on the chest.
"So really are the Tentacle's boy, huh?" His voice was harder, sounding nothing like the frail old man from moments before. Izuku's mind instantly switched on the defensive. Just who was this guy?
"Even though I've been retired for a while, they called me in when he first appeared, hoping I could match his speed." The old man laughed. "I couldn't even come close. His power was greater than anything I've ever seen — maybe even greater than One For All. Thank goodness the bastard's dead now."
Izuku saw red. "Don't say that! You don't know him, you don't—"
He came to his senses much too late and slapped a hand over his mouth. Great, his big old mouth was going to probably get him kicked out of U.A. because he got in a fight with a Pro-Hero on his internship.
Gran Torino, however, didn't seem to be bothered by the outburst and raised an eyebrow. "There's rumors going around that you're as fast as him. That true?"
Izuku tensed; he didn't like the idea of rumors flying around in the hero world about his quirk. "N-No, I'm not—"
He barely dodged the kick to his head in time, having to tap into his Mach-2 speed to do it. The man landed and perched on the wall behind Izuku's head and smirked.
"You're right. You're damn quick, but I never came that close to hitting him before." He eyed the blood Izuku coughed up and tried to hide. "I watched you very closely in the Sports Festival. While your combat skills are out of this world, you rely too heavily on them. When you're faced with a powerful quirk, you're forced to weaken yourself with your own. It's strange. It's almost like your body wasn't designed for your power."
Izuku tensed at the implications and gritted his teeth. "I came here because All-Might said you could help me control my speed, not to get lectured on the circumstances surrounding it. If you're not going to do that, then I'm leaving."
Izuku reached for his case, only to get cut off by Gran Torino zooming in front of him. "So testy. Fine, I will train you, but it won't be easy."
Izuku grinned. "If my training in life was ever easy, I wouldn't be here today. So, give me everything you've got!"
-.-.-.-
Izuku switched into his hero suit, mentally taking note of all the changes made. While the base suit was basically the same, just with more durable material, the tech was where the real changes were made. There were new 3-E inspired add-ons in his utility belt, including hot-sauce bombs kindly invented by Karma. His gloves and shoes were tweaked slightly so that the suction cup aspect was more refined, and they added a hologram projection factor to the glasses.
It seemed Gran Torino's preferred form of teaching was jumping around at supersonic speeds. Izuku was easily able to track the man's movements and moved out of the way before the kick to his back landed. The old man scowled and jumped around before going for another hit, which Izuku again dodged without needing to tap into his speed. Was this training actually supposed to be beneficial?
"C'mon, boy, stop dancing around and actually try to hit me back!" howled Gran Torino.
Izuku, accepting the challenge, waited for just the right moment to pull out his nerve-knife and swipe at the retired pro. Since he wasn't moving at Mach-2, Gran Torino was able to dodge and land on the wall, but Izuku went after him. He triggered the sticky feet aspect on the boots, stuck to the wall next to Gran Torino, and fruitlessly sliced again.
"Too slow!" Gran Torino mocked, jumping away, and that's when Izuku fired the grappling hook he was hiding behind his back. It wrapped around the old man's foot, and he came to a screeching halt before crashing on the floor.
"Well that was unexpected…" the old man mumbled before spinning on the hero in training. "And it's a prime example of what I was trying to tell you! You rely much too heavily on your combat skills and fancy superspy technology that you purposely avoid using your quirk. How do you expect to get better if you won't use it?!"
Izuku flinched. "I-It's not that, it's just, my injury, I might cause complications if I use it too much—"
"That didn't seem to stop you in the Sports Festival." Gran Torino sighed. "Look, kid, Toshinori told me about your old wound. It's been months; you should be fine by now. The reason you keep coughing up blood is that you're letting the power harm your body, not because your body's already harmed. You're letting it be your greatest enemy."
Izuku blinked, stunned while Gran Torino carefully freed his foot and walked to the door. "Think about that while I'm out, kid."
-.-.-.-
To be quite frank, Izuku was pissed off. Not only was he annoyed with Gran Torino, but he was angry with himself. Why couldn't he just figure this out? His quirk being his greatest enemy? Letting his quirk hurt him? How does he even address that? Too bad Gran Torino's best advice seemed to be limited to 'Work on it.'
While the old man was sound asleep for the night, Izuku went in the back alley to train away his frustrations. Everyone else in the class was probably getting to go on patrol and witness real hero work, and here he was, training himself outside the house of a crazy old man. Maybe he should see if he could finish out his internship with END? At least he'd get real field experience with them.
Izuku sensed the man's presence before he ever stepped out of the shadows and instinctively threw out a nerve-knife. A gloved hand shot out and grabbed the weapon mid-air.
"Good to see your instincts haven't dulled."
That voice. Izuku knew that voice. But what was he doing here? How did he even find Izuku?
"You seem shocked to see me," Lovro said, stepping out of the shadows. "Did you think I'd really train a student and then forget about them? Especially a student that makes a spectacle of themselves on live TV?"
Oh shit. Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit.
"M-Mr. Lovro, sir! What, um, why are you here? How did you even find me?"
The Pro-Assassin leveled him with a hard glare. "I am the most powerful assassin in the world, and you are a child wearing a giant crescent moon on his chest in a dark alley. With my connections, it was very easy to find you."
What does that even mean?! Izuku wanted to scream, covering up his chest self-consciously.
"I also called Karasuma and he sent me your location based on the tracker in your watch," Lovro continued, and Izuku sagged for a second before processing the words. How could Karasuma and Ritsu betray him like this?!
"I must admit, it was very shocking to see my ex-student, who I always knew as quirkless, moving as fast as that damn octopus on television. I'm sure you can understand my concerns."
The man glared murderously and Izuku jolted, waving his hands frantically. "I promise I never lied to you, Mr. Lovro, sir, I really was quirkless while I was in E-class. It's just that when the Reaper attacked, he kinda maybe stabbed a hole through my chest and I kinda maybe died, but it's okay because Korosensei stitched me back together and saved my life! And, uh, I guess he kinda maybe gave me a small percentage of his speed quirk as a parting gift because he knew I wanted to be a hero and it would be hard for me and—"
The oxygen in the alleyway disappeared for a short second, long enough to shut Izuku up. Lovro huffed, aggressively pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Dear problem child, what do I even do with you?" he mumbled, and Izuku chuckled sheepishly. "Nonetheless, that still doesn't explain why you ignored my internship offer."
"Huh?" Izuku blinked. "Sir, it's a hero internship program. You — You're an assassin, not a hero! How did you even submit an offer in the first place?"
"I have my connections," Lovro answered simply, which Izuku deduced translated to 'I called Karasuma.' Izuku was going to have words with the END handler once this internship program was done.
"Besides, it would appear that interning with me would have been much more beneficial for your training," Lovro said, eyeing Gran Torino's rusted house and the crummy alleyway. Izuku sighed and moved to gather his things.
"I came here to learn to control my quirk, not assassinate people." He brushed past his old mentor and bowed his head. "You helped me a lot last year, Mr. Lovro, and I'm grateful for that. You had no reason to train me, to help me, but you did and I won't forget that. But I don't need that kind of training anymore. I need to learn to control my quirk before I hurt myself or anyone around me."
He left the Pro-Assassin in the alleyway. He was a fool to think that'd be the end of it.
-.-.-.-
The next morning, while Izuku was pouring over old hero notebooks for inspiration, there was a knock on the door. Gran Torino was singing about a microwave or something, so he didn't think anything of it when he went to get the door.
"Huh? You're here for Midoriya, you say?"
The green-haired boy's head shot up, and sure enough, standing at the door was Lovro.
"Sir?! What are you still doing here?"
Lovro expertly maneuvered his way into the house without Gran Torino realizing it until the door was already closed. "I've decided I am going to oversee your training."
"HUH?!" Gran Torino and Izuku exclaimed at the same time. The green-haired boy scrambled out of his chair and ran to his old mentor.
"Mr. Lovro, I already explained that I don't need your training—"
"Which is why you won't be getting mine. I am simply going to oversee your progress. You are and forever will be one of my students, and I don't take such matters lightly."
Izuku gaped, absolutely speechless, while Gran Torino looked terribly confused. "Huh? Who is this man, Midoriya? He's not the delivery man, is he?"
Lovro looked extremely insulted by the notion, and Izuku scrambled to make peace before the Pro-Assassin could do anything drastic like kill Gran Torino. "U-Um, this is Lovro. He's my — well, he was my — back when I was in E-class—"
"I am Izuku's old mentor and one of the greatest assassins in the world," interrupted Lovro, and Izuku facepalmed. Did he have to add the assassin part?
Gran Torino hummed, his eyes narrowed as he took in the tall foreign man. "You're sure he isn't the delivery man?"
Lovro growled, but Izuku's starting to realize that this is what Gran Torino does when he's observing something knew — playing dumb, throwing off suspicion.
Gran Torino sighed and walked away to the kitchen. "Well, whoever you are, I don't see any reason for you to be here. Sounds to me that you'll only be a distraction for my student."
This situation was hilariously similar to the first day Izuku training with Lovro and Korosensei crashed the meeting, getting all defensive over his student. Oh, how the tables have turned.
Lovro scowled. "I've known and worked with Izuku for a year now. I don't see how my presence can be anything but an assistance for your training."
The two powerful men stared each other down and Izuku stood to the side, quaking and terrified that his mentors were about to duel to the death or something. Should he contact Ritsu? Is this an issue worth reporting?
"Midoriya," Gran Torino said. "Do you trust this man?"
The green-haired boy froze. Trust him? Why was a question like this even necessary? But nonetheless, not wanting to start a fight, Izuku answered truthfully.
"He was my mentor, sir. I trust him a great deal."
Lovro blinked and smiled faintly while Gran Torino nodded firmly. "Very well. He can stay, so long he keeps himself and his assassin skills out of the way."
Izuku exhaled, relieved that the two skilled men weren't trying to attack each other anymore, but then the reality started to settle in. "Wait. Does that mean…"
"Yup. Mr. Scary Assassin is going to help us figure out how to control your damn quirk."
Izuku's mind began piecing Lovro and Gran Torino's teaching styles together. He wondered if it was too late to run back to U.A. and hide. Or maybe to the middle of the Pacific Ocean.
-.-.-.-
Izuku spat up large globs of blood into the trash can. It felt hard to breathe, and it wasn't because of Lovro's quirk. His lungs were collapsing in on themselves, and he'll probably die if he keeps this up.
"This is pointless," he coughed. "It's still the same, nothing is changing—"
"Well, have you actually tried changing anything in your approach?" challenged Gran Torino. "You're smart — too smart, maybe. You can analyze another person's skill set incredibly well, and you're innovative enough to think of ways to apply it to yourself. However, you're not doing much analyzing on your own capabilities."
Lovro hummed, leaning forward in his seat. "The old man is correct, Izuku. We both know the circumstances surrounding your ability are very unique, yet you turn to others for inspiration. It is possible this isn't working because they simply do not….how do you say...translate over."
Izuku huffed, slumping against the trash can. "Well, what do I do then? If there's no one else to compare myself too, then what do I look to so I can learn?"
"But there is someone, isn't there?" Gran Torino murmured. "Someone who had this quirk before you."
Izuku tensed. Did...Did he know? How could he know? Did Yagi tell him? The government? Lovro? No, Lovro just learned himself, it couldn't have been him.
"I told you I faced the Tentacle. Did you really think I wouldn't recognize his power, even if it's only a small percentage of it?" Gran Torino continued, smirking. "After all, you're not the first person I've met with an inherited power."
He's talking about All-Might! Why is he talking about All-Might in front of Lovro? Doesn't he know Lovro is going to get suspicious and then reach out to his 'connections' to figure it out and then he's going to learn about One-For-All and All-Might and—
"Oh, you are talking about One-For-All, yes?"
...what...the…
"HUH?!" Izuku and Gran Torino exclaimed, turning to the professional assassin. Lovro looked vaguely exasperated by their reaction.
"I have been in this business for a very long time. The underground knows the ins and outs of heroes and villains better than anyone else in the world. I'm well aware of All-Might's mysterious power, as well as All-For-One."
Izuku blinked. "All-For-One?"
The two adults exchanged looks. "A conversation for another time," Gran Torino decided. "For now, let's focus on fixing your quirk. I can tell you aren't nearly as fast as the Tentacle — is this a conscious choice or a limitation?"
Izuku tried to focus back in, but his brain kept slipping back to this mysterious 'All-For-One.' "Uh, it's a limit. Korosensei only transferred me ten percent of his speed, so my limit is Mach-2."
The elderly hero whistled. "Still insanely quick. Ever thought of using less?"
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"You hardly need to go Mach-2 constantly, especially with your combat skills to back you up. Hell, you don't even need to go Mach-1; I'm lucky if I can even come close to that, and I was fine. If you restrain your power, use less speed, maybe that'll work."
Lovro nodded. "One of the main lessons I teach my students is to treat their quirk like a muscle. If you try to pick up the biggest weight right away, you're going to hurt yourself. That's probably why your body responds the way it does — you haven't built up your muscle."
It...made a lot of sense, actually. His body went from having no quirk to suddenly being able to move double the speed of sound. Of course that would cause strain beyond the injury in his chest. He needed to start small, work his way up to full speed, let his body adapt.
After all, Korosensei always treated their quirks as just another weapon for them to train. This whole time, he's been seeing his quirk as a completely different entity to his skill set, but in reality, it wasn't much different than his preferred weaponry. Which means he should just treat it that way.
Before, he treated his quirk a lot like firing a gun — pull the trigger, let it go. It worked, but it was violent, uncontrolled. He needed to control his power, the amount of force behind it. He needed to treat it like...like using a knife. He could go all out, throwing it, or he could wield it, slicing and jabbing and cutting. Deliberate. Controlled.
"Okay…" he said. Wield the knife. "Okay, I'm going to try it."
He closed his eyes, visualizing the weapons in his hand. Don't pull the trigger. Don't throw the knife. Just...slice it. Go small, think small.
He ran across to the other side of the room. It took him about 1.5 seconds — much slower than before, but still inhumanly quick. He froze and waited for the hot, metallic taste of blood, dreading it…
"I'm...I'm not coughing up blood," he whispered, turning to his two mentors. "It-It worked! It actually worked!"
Gran Torino grinned triumphantly. "And you still moved plenty fast — around the same speed as me."
Lovro nodded and hummed. "You'll need to work up your speed on your own, but this should be sufficient for now. I expect updates, however, no more disappearing without a word like last time."
Izuku flinched under the assassin's glare. "Y-Yes, sir!"
He looked down at his hands in awe, still unable to believe it. He actually figured out a way to control his quirk. Korosensei's quirk. If Korosensei were here, he'd probably be tossing Izuku in the air, and gathering the whole class to celebrate, and…
Oh, if only Korosensei were here.
Thankfully, Gran Torino snapped him back to the present before he could get too low on himself. "First and foremost, though, let's see how well you can keep it up." The retired hero shot to the other side of the room and grinned. "Let's try the challenge again, huh?"
-.-.-.-
They've been training for three days now. Izuku's new control with his quirk was shaky but manageable. He would still lose control sometimes, pulling the trigger, but he was getting better with each mock battle. It was entertaining and terrifying to see Gran Torino and Lovro working together to train Izuku, but it was even more bizarre during breaks. Gran Torino would go back to acting like a crazed old man, and Lovro would hide in the shadows and tap away on his phone.
Izuku wondered if he was coordinating assassinations while helping with Izuku's hero training. Probably.
Izuku spent his breaks catching up with his old and new classmates. Kirishima ended up at the same internship with Tetsutetsu, which he wasn't happy about. Isogai and Kataoka were so overrun with PR work ever since the Sports Festival — everyone wanted to get the scoop on the 'new' and 'loved' END — that they had to recruit Sugino and Kanzaki to help out.
In the most recent news, the special reconnaissance mission Karasuma mentioned was being headed by Ms. Jelavić. Izuku quirked an eyebrow and wondered how Shinsou was taking that information. He quickly sent a message to his best friend.
Izuku: Have you heard about Ms. Jelavić heading up the Stain mission?
Hitoshi: oh trust me. i've heard
Izuku: Oh! Well, how's your internship with Aizawa-sensei going?
Hitoshi: it was fine until bitch-sensei got her mission. now she's trying to kidnap me
Izuku: ???
Hitoshi: she got to choose her team and is trying to get all of the honeypots together. aizawa is big mad about it, and midnight keeps trying to fight her about boob sizes. any chance i can crash your internship?
Izuku: Oh, um!
Hitoshi: jolly green…
Izuku: Okay, so Lovro may have tracked me down on my internship but it's okay, I swear! He's actually been helpful and focusing on hero training and everything.
Hitoshi: …
Izuku: (‿)
Izuku paused in his messaging when Lovro suddenly stood up. "I'm afraid I must leave now. I have a meeting I must attend in Shinjuku."
"Shinjuku, huh?" Gran Torino repeated, rubbing his chin. "Highly populated area, probably a lot of crime. Perfect place for an assassin meeting, I bet."
Lovro glared, and the elderly hero cackled. "Ah, so serious. Though, it's not a mad idea, going to a city like that. I'm sure there's lots of hero work there." Gran Torino nodded to himself. "Yup. Midoriya and I will be coming with you."
Both Izuku and Lovro jolted. "What? No, you will not."
"Nope, my mind's made up," Gran Torino said, munching away on one of his snacks. "You called a taxi, right? Midoriya, go put on your hero costume."
"Uh…" Izuku paused, looking between his two mentors. "Okay…"
He wondered who had it worse, him or Shinsou.
(Probably Shinsou. Ms. Jelavić, Aizawa-sensei and Midnight was a combination he never wanted to think about.)
-.-.-.-
They were on the train to Shinjuku when a Nomu attacked it. Because of course it did.
The creature burst through the side of the cart, a Pro-Hero in its claws. It looked different from the one at the USJ, with four eyes and pale blue skin, but the large exposed brain gave it away. Izuku didn't hesitate, firing a nerve-bullet between its eyes. It didn't do much, but it distracted it from the Pro-Hero.
"What the hell is that thing?!" Gran Torino exclaimed. Izuku activated his glasses so they'd send video transmissions back to the END base (hopefully someone was there this late), and turned on his comm.
"A Nomu is attacking a train in Hosu City! I repeat, there is a Nomu in Hosu City!" he declared and prayed someone would hear. He turned to his Ritsu-watch. "Ritsu, what's going on?"
The AI girl appeared, looking terrified. "Multiple reports of giant monsters attacking Hosu City have appeared. By my calculations, there are possibly three different Nomus in the city right now. I'm calling in all the END reinforcements that I can, but I cannot guarantee they will be permitted to deploy."
"Why-"
But then Izuku remembered why. Karasuma wasn't letting anyone go to Hosu City right now because that's where the Hero Killer was.
Was he a part of these attacks? It seemed a little too flashy for him, but maybe he wasn't alone. It wouldn't be surprising if he was working with the League of Villains.
"Just...keep me updated, Ritsu."
He turned off the watch and focused back on the Nomu. Lovro was shooting at it freely, but even his real bullets still had little to no effect. They needed anti-sensei material. Oh, why wasn't he as paranoid as Karma and carrying it around all the time? He should've learned after the USJ incident.
Suddenly, Gran Torino pushed off the train wall and into the Nomu, knocking the two of them out of the train. Izuku cursed and put away his nerve-gun. "Lovro, c'mon!" He grabbed his ex-mentor and, making sure to watch his speed, rushed them out of the cart and into the streets where Gran Torino landed.
Hosu City was in complete chaos: people ran down the streets, fires erupted on all sides, the screams of civilians and Nomu blended together. He found Gran Torino protecting citizens from the Nomu, using his quirk to strike and get out of the way. As Izuku put Lovro down, he stole a large, serrated knife from the Pro-Assassin's trench coat and launched himself at the Nomu. Using his speed and momentum, he sliced the beast's arm clean off.
"Eh, g-gross," he whined, eyeing the squirming limb. The Nomu screamed and...didn't regenerate. It didn't die, and only seemed mildly fazed by the lack of limb, but the arm never grew back. Huh. Then that must mean…
"You're not like the other Nomu," Izuku realized. "You're weaker, not as developed... If our theory is right, and someone is trying to replicate Korosensei's experiment, then they must've created you from a different trial. Which means you're more susceptible to normal attacks."
This was honestly the best news they could receive. If these Nomu were weaker, then the Pro-Heroes might actually be able to take them out without END intervening.
The Nomu screamed again, but before he could charge again, he was engulfed in flames. Izuku shot back to avoid becoming collateral damage in the wild attack.
"I think it's time you went back to creeping in the alleyway, END," Endeavor said. "Leave this one to the real heroes."
Izuku gritted his teeth (of course it had to be this guy), but then Gran Torino shouted out another warning. The green-haired boy grabbed Lovro and dragged him to safety before the Nomu suddenly shot back the flame with an absorb-and-release quirk. His muscles started augmenting as well — so he still had multiple quirks, even if his body was weaker — and his tongue shot out at Endeavor and Gran Torino like a giant web. Izuku didn't hesitate, using his quirk to shoot right through the tongue and, mid-air, fired an entire round of nerve-bullets down the monster's spine. It paralyzed it long enough for Gran Torino to slam down onto the Nomu, fully knocking it out.
"I think our focus should be protecting the city, Endeavor," said Izuku, reloading his gun. He eyed the sidekicks surrounding the famous Pro and frowned. "Where's Todoroki? Isn't he interning with you?"
Endeavor scowled. "He got a message and ran off somewhere — 4210 Ekou Street. Said a classmate might be in danger."
"A classmate?" What classmate could be in danger in Hosu? Was there someone interning here? Izuku racked his brain, trying to think of any classmate who would've wanted to work in Hosu City; it wasn't exactly well-known for crime or hero work. Until tonight, the Hero Killer was the only big crime in this—
Wait. The Hero Killer.
Iida.
-.-.-.-
Izuku took off without a word, sprinting through the streets as fast as his body and quirk would let him. Thank goodness Endeavor knew the address; he found the alleyway within seconds, which was almost a few seconds too late as he spotted Todoroki, Iida and the Pro-Hero Native on the ground. Stain stood above them with his knives drawn.
He plowed into the murderer, knocking him away from his classmates, before landing a good distance away from the Hero Killer.
"Midoriya?!" Iida said. "What are you doing here?"
"And where have you been?" Todoroki muttered, which, okay, weird. Did he expect Izuku to just magically be where danger was at all times?
(...okay, given his track record, maybe that was a fair assumption.)
"You guys need to get out of here!" Izuku exclaimed, but neither of his classmates moved. Why weren't they moving?!
"That symbol, on your chest," rasped Stain, and Izuku froze. This crescent moon was causing more trouble than he planned. "You're an END agent, aren't you?"
The villain licked his lips, his tongue abnormally large, and Izuku reached for his nerve-knife. "And if I am?"
The Hero Killer tracked the movement. "I've been quite curious to meet one of you. It seems like everyone I meet has their own opinion on your group, yet no one can agree on one narrative."
Stain dragged his blade against the ground, painfully slow. "Some say you're monsters, others call you heroes. Murderers or victims. Assassins or children. Quite the conflicting storyline."
"Midoriya," Iida rasped, still frozen in his spot. "Don't let him cut you with his knife. Just run. Get away from here while you still can."
Izuku blatantly ignored the boy, his eyes trained solely on the Hero Killer. "Wanna know what I think?" Stain continued, lifting the blade and pointing it at Izuku. "I think your little class is just another example of why these false heroes need to be purged."
The three heroes-in-training tensed. Out of the corner of his eye, Izuku could see Todoroki starting to move again. Stain's quirk must have some kind of temporary paralysis aspect, something with his knife-like Iida said. Now he could just pick up Iida — but no, wait, there's still the Pro-Hero. It's going to be a lot harder trying to escape with three people, especially if two were paralyzed. He's going to need to stall until the quirk finally wears off.
"It's disgusting to think about. Our precious heroes were too weak, too pathetic to stop the Number One Villain, so what do they do? Throw their burden onto children and move on. Let the children take care of the problem, let the children suffer and become killers, and then try to come in at the end and take all the glory." The Hero Killer laughed hollowly. "But what can you expect from these fakes? If something isn't going to bring them money and fame, then they don't care. If you ask me, the best moral influence you had was the Tentacle."
Izuku felt like he couldn't breathe, each word coming from Stain's mouth a stab in the heart. Well, at least we know what he thinks of END now…
"Todoroki," Izuku breathed. "Take Iida and get out of here. I'll protect Native and take care of Stain—"
"No," Iida growled. "I will not run until I bring this man to justice for the crimes he committed. For what he did to my brother!"
Even without Nagisa's quirk, Izuku could feel the bloodlust pouring out of Iida. It horrified him. The burning drive for revenge blinded Iida's ability to think logically; no wonder he stupidly charged after the Hero Killer. And until Stain was taken care of, no way was Iida capable of making rational decisions.
"You're better off saving yourself, END agent," Stain drawled. "I have no reason to fight you right now, but if you get in my way, I'll have no choice but to eliminate you too. These are my targets to kill, and you have no right to interfere. Isn't that the assassin code?"
Izuku gritted his teeth and pulled out his own set of knives. "I'm not here as an END agent or an assassin, Stain. I'm here as the aspiring hero Korosenai—" he pointed a knife at Stain, "—and as a hero, it's my job to interfere."
The Hero Killer charged and Izuku rushed to meet him, parrying Stain's knives with his own. He probably could've taken Stain out with a few slices, but he still needed to focus on getting his classmates somewhere safe. Well, that, and Stain was way faster than Izuku expected. He was able to keep up with Izuku's reduced speed irritatingly well.
"Korosenai, huh?" Stain gruffed, pushing his blade against Izuku's and leaning in close. "That means unkillable, right? A bold name for a hero, kid. A little arrogant."
"The Tentacle was Korosensei to us, and I carry on his legacy more than anyone else." Izuku jumped back long enough to clutch the crescent moon on his hero costume. "It's not being arrogant; it's honoring him."
Stain's eyes narrowed and attacked again. Izuku needed to devise an escape plan for his classmates, so he decided to copy Korosensei's double-creating technique to talk to Todoroki and fight Stain at the same time. He was moving a fraction of Korosensei's speed, so the communication was choppy.
"Todoroki—" block the attack, "-you need to get—" twist Stain's knife away, "-Iida out of here—" kick Stain's arm, "-I don't know why—" roll underneath the swipe, "-you're here but if—" grab Stain's wrist and push, "-it's for revenge, you need to—" narrowly keep Stain from advancing, "-put your feelings behind you and—"
"What do you mean, you don't know why I'm here?" Todoroki asked. "You're the one that sent me the location to this place."
"What? No I didn't-"
He foolishly let himself get distracted, and Stain attacked, slicing his knife across his arm deep enough to draw blood. He watched in slow motion as the Hero Killer smiled triumphantly, slowly bringing the knife up—
But wait. I can still move, even though he cut me…
Before Stain could bring the blade any higher, Izuku tapped into his speed a little past his limit, going about Mach-1, and ripped the knife out of Stain's hands. He coughed up the smallest dribble of blood before sprinting to the other side of the alleyway.
So his quirk isn't activated just by cutting you. Then what—
Izuku watched, horrified, as Stain reached down and dabbed his finger in the small dot of blood he coughed up.
"Sorry, kid." Stain ran his long tongue over his finger, and Izuku's body went stiff. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't move.
"Huh. So that's how it works."
Izuku couldn't turn his head to see who spoke, but he didn't need to. He'd recognize that condescending tone from anywhere.
"Your quirk was quite the mystery, Hero Killer, but I think I get it now," drawled Karma, jumping down from the rooftop. "By ingesting someone else's blood, you can paralyze their body. From my calculations, how long varies from blood-type to blood-type, right? Pretty useful for someone with a vendetta like you, but I have to ask — how do you not catch diseases from the blood?"
...really Karma? Of all the questions to ask?
Stain tilted his head. "Pretty accurate analysis. How long have you been watching me?"
"Long enough to hack Midoriya's phone and send this location to half-and-half here," Karma answered, patting Todoroki's shoulder. "We decided as END that we wouldn't engage you since we didn't know your thoughts on END, but our handler never said anything about observing. We knew Hosu City was your next target, so I had Ritsu monitor the area until you finally made a reappearance."
The Hero Killer hummed. "I was wondering why your little team hasn't tried attacking me yet."
"Yeah, none of us really want to do anything for END, being forced into being government dogs and all. We take any pass on a mission that we can get," joked Karma as he casually strolled over to where Izuku was frozen. He grabbed Stain's stolen knife, twirling it around with a smirk.
"Oh?" Stain mimicked, licking his lips. "Then why are you here?"
Karma grinned sadistically and brandished the blade. "Well, if the government is going to let me get away with murder all I want, then I might as well take advantage of it!"
It was a blatant lie. Karma doesn't kill, just like the rest of END, and he doesn't engage in a mission unless he has to — that, or if there's someone he's trying to protect.
Stain scoffed. "Much different outlook than your little friend here."
Karma eyed Izuku and winked. "Well, he is a hero-hopeful. What else can you expect from them?"
The red-haired boy was clearly just stalling at this point; Izuku guessed he was mentally timing how long Stain's quirk worked on Izuku. Iida was finally starting to move again, shifting so he stood next to Todoroki, but the two stubbornly wouldn't flee.
The Hero Killer hummed and pulled out the katana on his back. "Well, your friend said he interfered with me because he's a hero. What's your reasoning then?"
"Oh? Isn't it obvious?" Karma laughed, high and condescending. "Because you're my target. And as an assassin, it's my job to take you out."
He lunged, sudden and sporadic yet so controlled. He sliced the jagged weapon at Stain's chest and it connected. The cut was shallow, but blood still sprayed everywhere. Izuku worried for a second, wondering if Karma was serious about killing Stain.
But then Karma secured the knife to his belt and pulled out his set of nerve-knives. His golden eyes seemed to glow as he slowly smeared Stain's blood across his cheek.
"Hey, your quirk wouldn't happen to work against yourself, would it?" he questioned. "Because it'd be an awful shame if you accidentally ingested some of your own blood, now that it's covering everything."
The Hero Killer tensed, and Izuku sang mental praises for the ingenious move. Karma smirked. "Hey, First, Glasses. You guys gonna actually help me or are you just going to keep staring?"
His words jolted the two hero students into action. Todoroki sent a wall of flames at Stain while Iida activated his Reciprio Blast. He kicked Stain's katana, shattering it with the force. Stain growled and pulled two new knives from his waist, but they were met with Karma's. The red-haired boy forced Stain back, matching his skill level with the knives easily. Stain swooped low to cut Karma's leg, but he was knocked back by a wall of ice from Todoroki.
"Thanks, First!" Karma said, falsely chipper. Todoroki scowled at the continued nickname.
Finally, finally, Izuku felt the immobilizing effect of the quirk wear off. He zipped over and barrelled into Stain's chest again, kicking off him to launch himself where his friends stood.
Stain chuckled as he slowly pulled himself to his feet again. "Oh, you END kids are turning out to be just as entertaining as everyone said you were. You act on selfish desires like this scum—" he pointed at Iida, "Yet you openly acknowledge it, not bothering to mask it with claims of goodwill or duty. You act for money, you act because you want to, because you're forced to — I can't tell if I'm disgusted and amused."
Karma rolled his eyes. "Well, at the end of the day, we're not much different than you. You hurt and kill for your own selfish desires, don't you?"
It was apparently the wrong thing to say. The Hero Killer bared his teeth and spat pure bloodlust. "I kill to purge this society of the cancer that is these false heroes. I do not kill without reason. I eliminate those unworthy of the title of hero."
"Mhm, that's nice and all, but who's to say your moral standard is the end-all?" Karma scoffed. "Don't get me wrong, I agree with you. Hero, villain, they're all just a bunch of nonsense titles that supposedly differentiate the good from the bad. In reality, they just perpetuate the divided society we live in. I mean, they call Endeavor a great hero and the man's an abusive asshole, amiright, First?"
Todoroki flinched and Izuku and Iida's jaws dropped. Karma plowed on, unfazed. "When you said the Tentacle was our best moral influence, you couldn't be more right. They called Korosensei the Number One Villain, but the worst thing that man did was read porn magazines during lunch breaks. Oh, and supposedly blow up the moon." Karma scoffed. "And yet he's dead and Endeavor basks in glory. Trust me, I see the issues in this society plain as day, but murdering people you deem as 'unworthy' is hardly a righteous cause."
There was silence for a long time as Karma's words sunk in. As much as Izuku hated to admit it, he could see sense in Karma's words. Korosensei was undoubtedly a hero, but the world instantly dubbed him a monster. They condemned him to death.
Suddenly, an explosion of bloodlust unlike any other — unlike Takaoka, unlike the Reaper, unlike Shiro — came off in waves from Stain. Izuku gritted his teeth and struggled to remain upright, to breathe. He grabbed Iida's shoulder.
"Follow my lead!"
Iida blinked but nodded, and together they charged Stain, kicking and punching him at the same time. Stain went flying back and, barely conscious, tried to slice at them with his knife. However, instead, he got a face full of fire from Todoroki. He crashed to the floor, burned and unconscious. Karma pulled out his gun and fired a nerve-bullet, ensuring the Hero Killer was out.
For a second, no one moved. Everyone breathed heavily as they stared at the fallen monster. Izuku felt sick to his stomach observing the murderer. This man really wanted to kill Iida, a child, just to fulfill his own ideals.
Finally, Karma moved, handcuffing Stain and removing all of his weapons. He grabbed the stolen knife from his own belt and...held it out to Iida?
"W-What?" Iida breathed, flinching away from the weapon. Karma tilted his head.
"Isn't this why you're here? To get revenge for your brother?" He flipped the blade so that the hilt was facing Iida. "Well, now's your chance."
"Karma," Izuku hissed, not even caring to use the boy's codename. The red-haired boy blatantly ignored Izuku and stared into Iida's horrified eyes.
"So what will it be, Glasses? Do you want to be the man who avenged his brother? Or do you want to be the man your brother actually wants you to be?"
The dark-haired boy flinched back. "I-I…"
His eyes lowered to the floor, and Karma stared a little longer before sighing and tossing the blade away. "Acting on revenge is foolish and counter-intuitive. Nothing is going to change what happened to your brother, especially not this. So if you really want to do your brother justice, move on and become a hero worth respecting."
Karma left to go check on the injured Native and call in back-up. Izuku placed a gentle hand on Iida's shoulder, and he could feel the boy trembling.
"He's intense, but he means well, I promise," Izuku assured him. "He was probably just annoyed when you tried to interfere with Stain while he was stuck observing. He doesn't like it when people get hurt and he's not allowed to do anything about it."
Iida nodded silently and hung his head. Todoroki frowned and eyed the END commander. "Why would he contact me of all people? And why would he pretend to be you?"
Izuku shrugged. "He probably knew you were in the area. Until he got confirmation on Stain's opinion on END, he wasn't allowed to interfere. As commander, he could get in huge trouble for going against orders. He probably figured you wouldn't respond to a text unless it was from someone you knew."
Todoroki nodded slowly and lowered his voice so only Izuku could hear. "Midoriya. I'm going to ask you a question. It is going to sound strange, but I need you to answer me truthfully."
"Sure, what's up?" Should Izuku be concerned? He felt very concerned.
"Is your commander adopted?"
Izuku coughed up blood and choked on it.