The Heroic Nakano Sisters
Part 1: Five Heroes
Futaro's eyebrow gave a twitch.
It was a sensation he'd become quite familiar with recently, so much so that he might have thought he'd developed a nervous tick, were he not also very familiar with its trigger by this point.
Yotsuba gave a small bit of nervous laughter from where she was seated on the floor. Futaro was across the table and standing well above her and yet even from that bit of distance it was quite easy to see his irritation.
"Maybe... Oh! Maybe they're all back at the apartment! They probably just forgot our study session was-"
"I checked the sign-in at the first desk." Futaro swiftly cut off her attempt to cover for the others. "You all checked in at the same time. You included. And since you knew you were supposed to stay and had ample opportunity to remind them..."
Almost like rabbit ears the ribbon atop Yotsuba's head drooped down, her lie quickly defeated. "Um..."
"I also asked the secretary to check the locker room for me. All their bookbags and school clothes are in, but noticeably not their costumes."
"Umm...!"
"And, according to his schedule, the boss' meeting, which he's still in, started before they got here, which I'm guessing means they didn't actually ask him first if it was okay to go out on patrol early, did they?"
"UMMM...!"
He could practically see the spirals in her eyes as her brain overclocked itself to try and think of a better lie. Or any lie, really. She had few strong suits and that wasn't one of them.
Futaro rubbed his face with both hands to try and calm down.
This wasn't the first time those four had skipped out on him. In fact, had Yotsuba not been here that also would have been pretty within the norm.
Another day where he'd come all the way out here and all that was going to be accomplished was likely his own studying, which admittedly wasn't a fully bad thing. Ever since starting this job he was having to push back his own activities to later and later in the day in order to still maintain his grades.
He slid his hand down to hold his chin, pondering his next step.
"Still, if I don't get those dunces to cooperate with me I'm going to have to refund my entire payback back to their father since I'm essentially getting paid for doing nothing right now."
The temptation was there to just call Yotsuba's presence a win. Having at least one was better than having none... But...
"Alright, that does it!" He firmly declared. "Yotsuba, get changed into your costume!" He pointed at her as he gave the order. "You and I are going out to find those idiots and dragging them back here! I'm going to tutor you girls even if I have to handcuff you to this table!"
"Yes, sir!" Yotsuba leapt up to her feet, giving a playful salute. "...Wait...I'm being handcuffed too?"
"All men are not created equal."
Futaro wasn't sure when he'd first realized that truth of the world. It was definitely when he was a kid but his exact age? Hard to say.
Now don't worry, he didn't buy into eugenics or any of that nonsense. Usually when people go spouting off about how some are born better than others it's usually because they very conveniently believe themselves to be one of those superior beings who should therefore be allowed to do whatever they want, and Futaro was well aware that in a "Might make Right" world he'd be one of the first to get trampled.
It was actually one of the many things that made him glad to have been born in Japan.
"HA HA HA!" The deep, muffled laughter was caught by Futaro's ear. It didn't take much searching to find where it'd come from, as Yotsuba was already glued to the shop's window, her face pressed up against the glass as far as she could, eyes wide to take in as much of what all nine of the TV screens were showing.
"-and so ends the "Road Rippers" short lived debut." The reporters voice said over the recorded footage. "For only about ten minutes this roaming gang of thieves committed a series of smash-and-grabs across Kessel City. But before the eleventh minute had even finished counting down all six members found themselves rounded up and swiftly brought down, and even they shouldn't be surprised at the man responsible for it all."
He took up almost the entirety of the screen. One's immediate assumption would be that the camera was simply pulled in too close, but then you'd notice the others in the shot to give a better idea of the scale.
Two were laid out on the street itself, one on top of the other and both held in place by the bright yellow boot on top of them.
One was out cold and being held by the back of his collar, giving the best idea of what the rest of his gang's attire looked like. It somewhat resembled a flight suit, even equipped with an air hose by the look of it, probably to feed him oxygen when moving at high speeds, given the name Road Rippers and...well...the roller skate wheels along his forearms and feet. He had a Mutant-type Quirk it seemed.
All that being said, despite the clear view there was to him, that man likely wasn't the member of his group that eyes would be most immediate drawn to. No, that would be the other three of the gang, all still conscious and struggling fiercely to free themselves from the bind that held them together.
That bind being...a single arm.
Three grown men were being carried underarm like they were no heavier than a bundle of sticks to those bursting blue biceps, sold further by the man himself, who continued to laugh jovially with not a hint of strain in his voice.
The reporter was right that the gang shouldn't have been surprised. There wasn't a single person in the country who didn't know who this veritable giant was.
"Everything's fine now, citizens." He addressed the surrounding crowd, the camera pulling back to show not just them but also the piles of money, valuables, and other ill-gotten goods the Road Rippers had acquired in their short-lived crime spree. "Because I am here!"
So spoke All Might, Japan's #1 hero and the man everyone called The Symbol of Peace.
The stars in Yotsuba's eyes were so bright they practically reflected back at her from the window (though that was probably just the glare from being so close to the TVs). "AAAAAAAAAAAA, he's so cool!" She squeed, her ribbon standing up to almost mirror the two distinct tufts of hair that stuck up above All Might's own head, almost resembling a V-shape.
Thankfully, such a feature also made for an easy handle for Futaro to use when needed.
"Focus." He said, grabbing her tightly by the ribbon to pull her along and away from the shop.
"Ow ow ow! Okay! I'm coming! I'm coming!"
It was only when they were far enough away for Futaro to be sure that she wouldn't get distracted by the screens again that he released her. Anyone else might have at least pouted at him for minute after that but almost immediately her cheeriness returned, causing Yotsuba to skip merrily past him, her long white cape flittering behind her.
"That thing is so impractical." Futaro thought the same thing he did every time he saw her costume, though he'd long since given up pointing that out to her. Not like he had much of an eye for design anyway. He could at least be thankful hers was one of the few costumes with a skirt that still made sure to wear shorts underneath. She wasn't going around flashing people.
They lived in a superhuman society. If the lack of odd stares at Yotsuba's outfit, just as green as her ribbon, wasn't proof enough of that, then the people who waved back at her with wings attached to their heads should be, and those were just the powers that were obvious.
About 80% of the human population possessed some strange ability or another, and that number was steadily going up every cycle of new births. By the time Futaro reaches middle-age it'd easily be 90%, if not higher.
"Here, kitty kitty."
Futaro had taken his eyes off Yotsuba only for a minute and she was already halfway up a tree, trying to call a stuck cat towards her for the children on the ground. He had half a mind to lecture her about getting off track again but he supposed if she'd been directly asked to help and ignored the kid it would have looked pretty bad for her image, so at least this would be quick.
With the emergence of superpowers, which over time came to be known as Quirks (the history which was part of the very lesson plan the girls had skipped out on...!), came the rise of superheroes; people who'd use their incredible gifts for the protection and betterment of society.
"Oh, thank you. You're such a kind dear." Said the old woman Yotsuba was helping cross the street. Futaro hadn't even seen her get out of the tree and she was already onto something else. At least this was in the direction they wanted to go, so two birds, one stone, he supposed.
Not all men are created equal. Some are born stronger. Some are born smarter. Some are born with the power to literally warp the very world around them. But if anyone gets the idea in their head that that inherent specialness means they have the right to take over the world, they run the risk of 600 pounds of primary-colored muscle dropping down from the sky to put an end to that delusion.
He might not have gone gaga like Yotsuba had but he had no problem admitting some admiration for the big guy too. It was because of people like All Might that people like Futaro could actually live peacefully in this world. That people like him had the opportunities available to close the gap in any inborn inequality if they were willing to put in the work.
"I figured out a long time ago I wasn't cut out to be a hero." Futaro thought to himself, though it didn't upset him as much as it once had, checking the time on his watch to make sure they'd still have plenty of daylight left to burn.
The smell of fried dough wafting past his nose would have told him that they'd arrived at their destination even if his eyes had been closed. This market square was a popular place for business vendors to set up their stalls and mobile shops in order to sell whatever people would be willing to buy, from food to knickknacks for kids and tourists. If the other girls hadn't gone too far yet from the agency, this was the best spot to check for them first.
"Alright. Yotsuba, you go left, I'll go right. We'll circle around the marketplace and see if we can spot them. Got it?" He gave her his instructions, his eyes scanning over what he could see of the decent crowd from his current location, though no such luck in finding a one of them yet. "Got it? ...Yotsuba?"
Futaro turned his head to where he had thought Yotsuba had been, finding only an empty space.
He looked around every which way his head could turn. He saw men, women, and children alike, most either buying stuff for themselves and loved ones, selling their wares, or just passing through on their way home for the day...but somehow a teenage girl in a cape and costume was illuding his sight.
Yep...there was that twitch again.
He closed his eyes and breathed in deep, needing a moment to collect himself.
"I don't believe this. Now I have five idiots I need to look for."
"Ohhh...where'd they go? We all arrived here together."
"Did someone shake keys or something shiny in front of her? How short of an attention span can you have?!"
"I hope they're not lost. ...Actually, I hope that I'm not lost too."
"I need to find them."
Upon hearing that other voice speaking in unison with his last line, Futaro finally came back to his senses and turned to his right, meeting eyes with the girl looking to her left in a very similar reaction. A very familiar pair of blue eyes.
"Oh! Yotsu-"
"Wait." His brain stopped his mouth.
The face was the same as Yotsuba's. Exactly so. But...
Longer hair.
Stupid-looking star hairclips.
Cheeks puffed-up like a chipmunk from all the food they were stuffed with.
Two empty skewer sticks in one hand while the other held a stick with some half-eaten glob of something doughy, deep-fried, and loaded with fat and carbs.
"Itsuki!" Futaro pointed his finger at her in his declaration.
"You were thinking something really rude just now, weren't you?!"
She folded her arm, staring at him with a bit of a glare as she finished swallowing. This was Itsuki alright. He'd found one of the four! ...Or at least traded one of the five for another.
"Great. Why are you here?" She asked, making no effort to hide her annoyance.
"I'm here because you're not supposed to be." Futaro shot back without hesitation. "Our study session, remember?"
The cowlick atop Itsuki's head stiffened. He'd say it gave her away, were her nervous expression and deliberate attempt to avoid his eyes not already making that painfully obvious. "Oh? Study session? M-must have forgot."
"Don't bother, I already interrogated Yotsuba and she's an even worse liar than you are."
The girl almost reminded Futaro of a dog one of his neighbors used to have. Whenever it did something it knew it wasn't supposed to do it'd put on the most obvious guilty and ashamed expression you'd ever seen. While Yotsuba couldn't lie to save her life, this one had a moral compass too strict to let her get away with lying.
He could practically see the gears switching in Itsuki's head. Feigning ignorance didn't work, so time to go on the defensive.
"W-well, what of it?" She turned her head away from him in a huff. "I already told you that I don't need or want you as my tutor."
"Oh really? Managed to get that 28 up to a 29 yet? Or, dare I say, an even 30?"
He hit her where it hurt by bringing that up, and judging by the increasing redness of what he could see of her face it'd been effective. What's sad is that that pitiful score on the practice test he'd given the girls was still the second highest out of all of them, and yet even if it'd been double she still would have only just barely passed.
"Dammit, what am I doing?!" Futaro chastised himself. Wasn't he supposed to be winning her over? Just suck it up and be nice! ...Easier said than done. Why did she have to be so stubbornly prideful?! It was always like this with her!
"But-! But I can see that you're clearly trying!" He spoke happily in a tone far louder than was necessary, gaining a few stares from those passing by. "All you need is the right guidance! Just trust yourself to me and I guarantee I'll lead you towards the future of acing your exams!" He even held a thumbs-up and everything.
"...Don't hurt yourself." Itsuki said, not buying the nice guy act any more than he did. Credit where it was due...the disgust she was feeling did seem to take away from some of her anger.
The costume she was wearing, you could tell it was not only made by the same designer but done so to complement Yotsuba's, like a subtle way of saying that the two are on the same team. The chest, skirt, and gloves were basically exactly the same, just red in color, though Itsuki had pants to go along with the ensemble instead of shorts and long socks. There was also a long, curved visor currently resting atop her head, as it wasn't needed right now. The shine made it obvious its purpose was to protect the eyes from bright light, though given the (very few) times he'd seen her study she'd wear glasses so he wondered if these lenses were somewhat corrective as well.
"I'm busy, alright? So just go away." She tried to dismiss him once more. "For your information, I've been studying just fine on my own. As long as I pass you'll still get your paycheck, so you've got nothing to worry about. That's all you're worried about right?"
"If you pass."
"I will pass. Now, if you'll excuse me, citizen, I'm on patrol."
"Oh yeah, I can see that." Futaro quipped at her harshly, his head gesturing at the kabobs still in her hand.
The blush of embarrassment extended to her ears, allowing Futaro to still see it even when Itsuki quickly turned around to hide her array of snacks. "It takes a lot of calories to do this job, especially with my Quirk! I'm just staying fueled up."
"The stars must have truly aligned in order for you to be born with such a convenient excuse." Futaro only barely held that thought in. Come to think of it, hadn't all this started between them because of that horrendously expensive and high-calorie lunch she'd bought for herself when they first met?
Even from behind he could see her cheeks moving as she speedily wolfed down what remained of her food (did she think he'd just forget about it now that it was out of sight?) and tossed the skewers away in the closest trash can. "Now, I have to go!"
She tried walking away and leaving him behind, but within just seconds found her arm grabbed forcefully to stop her.
"Will you just listen to me already?!" Futaro yelled at her. Was his face feeling warm because of his frustration or because this was steadily building to them causing a scene right in public? "You and I both know how close you and the others are to failing! Like it or not, like me or not, you need me just as much as I need you, which means I'm not going anywhere!"
Itsuki's face when through a few shades of red, some even matching her costume, as her brain cycled through a few emotional states in response.
Unfortunately for Futaro, she settled on angry.
"Why don't you listen?!" She threw his hand off of hers in a huff, her patience clearly at as much an end as his was. "I won't get in the way if my sisters want you to help them but I will never, EVER, accept someone like you as my-!"
The explosion of rubble and the tumble of debris drowned out the rest of Itsuki's words, though not that the sentence continued on much further as both teens turned with a start towards the violent noise.
There wasn't a hint of fire or fumes in the air. It thankfully hadn't been caused by a bomb, just pure force. A vendor's cart sent clean through a brick wall, with a line through the crowd of fleeing pedestrians who'd ducked out of the way leading back to the ones who had...well...thrown it.
Though admittedly it probably wouldn't have been that hard to spot them regardless.
"The hell, that was my take!" The shorter of the two said to the other, though still towering over everyone around him, as evidenced by the blasts of hot air they felt push down on them from his snout, the nose ring swaying with its force.
"What, you sayin' you're too slow to cut it? You think a gang will want to follow someone like that?" He said with a sneer and a cocky poke of his clawed finger to the other's chest, his other hand carrying the entire cash register from the cart by its number display. "I've taken the lead."
The other pushed his forehead right up against his, his protruding horns being close enough to almost shave off part of his rival's thick mane. "If I just knocked you right out they'd probably respect that even more!" He warned him. He may have been smaller but he was definitely wider with muscle, though again it was relative. Both were large enough to fit at least two or even three people from the crowd within their frames. Four if they were built like Futaro.
"Yeah, cause knockin' out your own guys will be real helpful when dealin' with Pro Heroes."
A lion man and a bull man. Both having a pissing contest in public over who could steal the most.
"Oh, thank goodness. It wasn't any of you." Futaro gave a genuine sigh of relief.
"What is it that you think of us?!" Itsuki rightfully shot back.
The two animal men took a moment away from their arguing to notice that while some of the crowd had dispersed...a decent number of them hadn't yet. Phones were out and snapping pictures, some were calling to say that they might be late coming home, and some were at least smart enough to not stand too close, but the majority regardless were staying where they were, watching to see where this would go.
That apparently was quite to the irritation of lion man, who let out a roar booming enough to nearly deafen half the crowd as the wave passed over them.
The change was instantaneous. The bystanders who had been so passive and curious just literal seconds ago now started running away in a mass panic. It was so quick Futaro wondered if it was in fact the effect of this guy's Quirk, like his roar could trigger a fight or flight response. Even from this distance he felt his own legs nearly ready to trip over themselves in order to run.
"That's right! Run! Run, and be sure to tell all yer friends that this city's soon gonna belong to Lionsmane!" The brute cackled with laughter, quite pleased with the sight of so many fleeing from him.
"I keep tellin' ya, man, that name is dumb."
"It's better than King Beef!"
"King Beef is at least creative! You basically just named yerself after your body hair!"
And they had names too. Wonderful. The final thing on the checklist, right after property theft and terrorizing the innocent.
"Villains. Crap, this is bad!" Futaro felt the sweat bead against his temple.
His eyes glancing over, he wasn't sure if it was a relief or cause for further concern that Itsuki seemed to share the same expression. This city had its own share of Pro Heroes. Where in Japan didn't? But Itsuki and the others were allowed to patrol this route specifically because it wasn't usually so hectic, and even then they would often have the agency's boss supervising them on most days, just in case.
It would take at least some time, even with the fleeing crowd, for an actual Pro to be alerted that there was trouble going on, and until that time how much damage could these two massive beaters end up-...huh? Wait a minute...is that...?
King Beef then felt the light poke of a finger against his forearm.
"Huh?" He turned to look down.
For a moment Futaro thought Yotsuba had finally made her reappearance, though in fairness if Itsuki wasn't right next to him he might have also thought she'd somehow teleported over there. The base design of the costume was the same, with the skirt and such, only this blue palette swap came with sleeves and leggings. She was covered up much more than either Yotsuba or Itsuki, even in the face area, where her long bangs partly shrouded her right eye.
"Well now, whatchu want, cutie?" The big bull grinned toothily at her. His large size and mutation made it difficult to tell what his actual age was, thus his leering at a teenager could easily be even more uncomfortable than it already was.
"You know most people pay with credit cards these days, right?" She asked him, her half-closed eyes not withering in the slightest even under his gaze.
"...What?"
She pointed at the cash register in Lionsmane's hand. "Even small venders tend to have their registers equipped with card swipes that connect to banks over the internet, since most people don't carry a lot of money on their person anymore."
It took a few seconds before her words really got through to them. Once they did, King Beef turned his head to look at Lionsmane, silently asking the needed question.
Lionsmane lifted up the register, pushing in its drawer hard with one finger in order to break the lock and cause it to pop out.
Inside was only a few thousand yen.
The two stood staring at the pitiful pile of bills for the longest time.
"RRRRAAAAGGGHHHH!"
King Beef brought his head and horns smashing down on the girl, sending debris flying up from the street itself. They say don't shoot the messenger but they never talk about how much you want to.
He brought his face back up, shaking off what loose bits of rock got stuck in his hair. "Teach you to be mouthy, you little-...huh?"
There was enough upturned asphalt to look like a small meteor had impacted. Heck, he thought he could even see the indent of his own handsome face. But there was something pretty significant he wasn't seeing that he should be.
The girl.
The broken body of a 16-year-old know-it-all should be right there before him, yet not even a drop of red or a scrap of blue was anywhere to be seen.
Actually, there was some blue. Some kind of vapor wafting up from the impact zone. Had he burst a gas pipe? But wait, gas wasn't usually blue, ri-?
"What the fu-?!" Both villains nearly tumbled back over their own feet as a thick cloud of blue fog rapidly sprang up to consume the entire area
"That amount also won't be enough to cover the damage to the road. Or that wall you broke either, I suppose." Said the familiar voice.
The two twisted their heads every which way, trying to locate its source, barely able to see more than a few feet in front of them.
"There!" Lionsmane declared, his sharper eyes finally spotting the outline of a human form in the fog. He lunged forward, having no hesitation in swiping with his claws across her body. Whatever she was up to, his instincts told him to put an end to it fast.
He cut her clean in two. Diagonally, right across the torso.
...Her torso then simply put itself back together again. No, it was more like the wind from his slash had just momentarily pushed her body apart.
"...You're not very observant, are you?" The girl asked, still with that same neutral tone and expression. Actually it was probably even more so now. Nearly all color and features had been drained from her form, with only the outlines of her head, hair, chest, and upper arms serving as any evidence of a human existence. Even her face stared at Lionsmane with eyes lacking any pupils. Everything else was just the wafting fog.
[Present Mic: "Miku Nakano! Hero name: Swiftwind! Quirk: Aerosol! She can disperse her body into a non-toxic gaseous form, making her completely untouchable by conventional means. She can ride the winds for easy travel and spread her cloud out to an area of nearly forty feet."]
"Who said that?" Futaro looked around in confusion, having no idea where that voice had come from.
[Present Mic: "It's me, your ever-present main man on the main mic! This might be a non-canon crossover but you gotta have someone liven up the exposition, you dig?"]
"Uhhh..." Was all Futaro could say in response, as that did nothing to actually answer his question. Was no one else hearing that? They certainly weren't reacting to it.
Lionsmane continued to slash away at Miku, each furious swipe being just as fruitless as the last.
"Forget it, man! Let's just go!" King Beef yelled at his partner, though it seemed he was intent on ignoring him. At this point their competition was a bust and since the fog didn't seem to be hurting either of them there was no reason to keep wasting their time with the girl. They were prepared for the possibility of some Pro Heroes showing up but fighting one now after making such a scene to barely get any money out of it would be more humiliating than brag-worthy, even if they did beat them. Best to just cut their losses and try another time.
"You're seriously running away?" A new voice said after King Beef had only moved a few feet. "Bad boys really are all talk and bluster these days."
The fog was most concentrated where Miku herself was, and thus near the cloud's edge King Beef could see her. Arms folded and looking down on him (despite being much shorter) with disgust.
Just like the others, the base of the design was same. However, while the exposed skin on Yotsuba's costume was meant to show off muscle, this more resembled a pop idol. Gloves and boots as the only coverings for her hands and feet, showing off her arms and legs with confidence in contrast to Yotsuba's innocence, especially if you took the color into account. There was some red but most of it was her lengthy hair. The rest was as black as her two butterfly-style ribbons. In a way she almost looked more villainous than the two actual villains did.
"Red's a bad color for you to have around me, little girl." King Beef snorted at her. "I suggest you get out of my way."
"Because you're a bull, or because that's the color you see every time your heart gives out and begs you to stop stuffing your face? That is what your name is referencing, right? Your eating disorder and addiction to cheeseburgers?"
The torrent of air left his nostrils practically as steam. He already didn't seem to have much of a lengthy fuse on his temper and this girl had just deliberately set a match to it.
He dropped to all-fours, his hands breaking apart even more of the street under his weight. Like the animal he resembled, King Beef broke out into a sprint, horns pointed forward and aiming to gore this cocky teen who pictured herself a bullfighter.
The girl prepared to run...but not away.
"Oh no..." Futaro groaned, hands partially covering his face. He knew exactly what was coming next. It couldn't be anything else with that sneer he was seeing from her.
She charged towards the man-bull.
Admittedly at a speed much slower than his own...at least at first.
With each footfall that brought her closer and closer her speed seemed to be increasing at an unnatural rate. A barrier of red energy steadily began to grow in solidity around her body, becoming fiercer, denser! As her momentum continued to climb. Did King Beef notice when her speed began to overtake his? Or was he too distracted by the sheer absurdity of the situation? There was no way she was really headed right for him, right?!
At the center of their mutual path, the two finally collided.
The single quake that rumbled through the marketplace was finally enough to pull Lionsmane's attention away from Miku.
He was confused at first. It wasn't that the fog was obscuring his vision. In fact a path had been cleared in it, like sudden winds had pushed it back from the epicenter, leaving a clean view of view to the second red-haired girl to pester them today...but not King Beef. His partner, his rival, nearly as big as he was, and not a hair of him to be seen.
And then...he was.
Lionsmane nearly leapt off his feet in a start as King Beef slammed back down onto the street, both his horns broken and his body a pained, groaning mess. How high had he just fallen from? How high up did he get sent?!
"K-...KB?" Lionsmane called over to him, getting nothing more than a sore moan in response.
To deliberately add more insult to injury, the girl stepped on the beaten bull's body with one foot, allowing her to lean over slightly to blow Lionsmane a kiss; one eye closed to mock him.
[Present Mic: "Nino Nakano! Hero name: Locamotive. Her Quirk: Juggernaut! By building up kinetic energy as she moves she increases her speed and durability to become an unstoppable force! However, a significant enough impact with an obstacle will mean she needs to rebuild that energy all over again. Isn't physics fun?"]
Along the surface of her cloud, Miku moved her head and torso to place herself up to Nino's face. "Excuse me, I was going to take them out." She said to her with a low, annoyed tone.
"Oh really? And how exactly were you going to do that?" Nino asked her bluntly, folding her arms cockily. "You can't even touch anyone when you're like this and this one was about to run away." She tapped her foot down on King Beef again.
"They can't run away from me when I'm like this and they would have exhausted themselves trying, like that one was." Miku solidified her arm just enough to point over at Lionsmane.
"Are you really pouting just because I took him out first? You know I can just go over to that one too and be done with the whole thing."
"You're too close to build up enough charge from this distance. All you'd do is make it so that I'd have to save you again."
"Save ME again?! Since when have I ever needed you to-!"
"Are you two seriously doing this right now?!" Futaro called over to scold them, unable to keep it from slipping out.
Both turned in surprise to his call, though their expressions soon returned to normal upon seeing who it was.
"Oh, it's you." Came out of both mouths, though the tones were different enough to match the face that came with it.
Miku's was...bored? Uninterested? Difficult to read as always. She certainly wasn't overjoyed to see him anyways.
Nino looked offended by his very existence.
Yep. Normal.
"Itsuki, please tell me this isn't a date." Nino said once she noticed she was there.
"As if! I didn't bring him here! He found me and then all of this happened!" Itsuki vehemently denied such a possibility.
Lionsmane just kept turning his head towards each one of the teenagers, his brain trying to comprehend how completely he was being ignored.
High above the commotion below, a lone figure stood watching from one of the rooftops, his lengthy tail scratching at his head. He was less confused than Lionsmane but it was still quite the odd sight going on down there.
"Huh. Would've thought they'd have lasted longer." He remarked, more vexed than actually upset by this turn of events.
He rested his chin upon his knuckles, every bit of movement from his body sounding like sliding blocks. Were these building less modern he might have been mistaken for a gargoyle statue.
"I guess it doesn't really make that much of a difference. I just needed them to make a mess and get their asses kicked. Thought it'd be by some Pro Heroes and not some schoolgirls, but as long as it makes the news I suppose it works out. Heck, maybe this is even better. If there are kids running around that tough, the others will only be able to imagine what a pro will do to them."
His face broke out in a big mischievous grin, much like the monkey of myth he resembled.
"Your gang makes too much noise, that's the fastest way to have All Might come dropping in on you. You want to survive in modern world, you gotta be smart and know how to operate quietly. The others may have been debating between those two but once they see where all brawn and no brains gets you, they'll all be begging to join up with the great Wukong!"
"Wow. Villains really do monologue to themselves." Every hair of his stone body stood on end at the sudden voice. "I thought that was only a thing in movies."
He turned on the spot, finding himself eye-to-eye with those pools of dark blue.
Forth verse same as the first. Her costume was the same base design as the rest of the girls, only with a very clean white as the color. Her legs were exposed while her arms were covered and her hair was the shortest by far. A very relaxed, almost big sister air about her. Wukong had only just met her and he could already see himself falling for a girl like this, were it not for the inescapable fact that she'd just heard a lot that she wasn't supposed to.
His claim to having more brains than King Beef and Lionsmane wasn't all just empty boasting. Another teenage girl with red hair and the same face as the others approaching a villain without even the hint of fear? After what he'd seen Wukong knew that whoever this was needed to be taken seriously, and as such wasted no time in throwing himself forward, his palm aiming straight for her face.
Sadly, the strike touched upon nothing but air, as the girl easily moved her head to the side to avoid the blow.
Still, it wasn't as if Wukong did not have appendages to spare. Even if the lion and the bull didn't consider him to be a rival because of his more normal size, his speed and fighting prowess were something he could more than take pride in, matching what they had in their strength.
It was a flurry of attacks that he sent the girl's way. Jabs, kicks, swipes. Some even all at the same time. What was the point in making hands for feet if you weren't going to use them, after all? In a one-on-one fight, let alone one as close quarters as this? Even Wukong didn't always like seeing the state he'd leave his opponents in afterwards. Hands made of flesh and bone could break the same with enough effort. It wasn't pleasant what those of stone could do.
Unfortunately...
"Why can't I hit her?!" His thoughts screamed.
It was like a dance the way she effortlessly moved around him on the rooftop, though one that was becoming a bit sloppier on one side as Wukong's agitation increased. She weaved, ducked, and slid around everything he sent her way, yet still staying in so close to him, never straying more than a foot or so away from his own body. Even his tail, that extra fifth limb that unusually was able to catch even seasoned fighters off-guard because of how unused they were to combatting such a thing, it passed harmless inches away from her nose, leaving not a scratch on her.
Fists of stone could do damage but that's somewhat irrelevant if they never actually connect.
As an extra blow to his pride it was like she was barely even trying to avoid his blows.
No... No, it was worse than that. She was practically falling asleep!
"I'm sorry..." She yawned sincerely, eyes closed and everything and yet still dodging his fist like it practically screamed its presence to her. "But can we hurry this up... I had a really late night."
[Present Mic: "Ichika Nakano! Hero name: Stuntwoman. Quirk: Choreograph. By watching someone she can store information about them and predict their movements, up to for as long as she was watching them. If she watches long enough she can even replicate their fighting style perfectly. Though the more people she tries to keep track of the less effective the predictions become."]
Wukong attempted a feint, aiming for her face while his true attack would go for her footing. He was ready for her to move left or right, even backwards, but instead she stooped down low, catching him by the leg.
Eyes wide in surprise, having been lulled into letting his guard down because she'd only dodged up to this point, he swung his tail in an attempt to free himself from her, but a quick shove of his leg caused Wukong to be turned around, not only missing her...but also seeing where he was.
Their little dance around the rooftop had brought them almost right back to where they'd started. Almost in this case meaning that he was now much closer to the edge than he'd been before, as evidenced by the great and very terrifying view he was getting of yard down below.
On reflex his arms stuck out to their sides and his tail out stiffy behind him in an attempt to maintain his balance.
He then felt a single finger poke the tip of his tail.
Wukong looked pleadingly behind him as his field of vision slowly started going lower and lower.
"Bye!" Ichika waved him off with a smile.
While the crash wasn't as hefty as King Beef's, it certainly didn't fail to garner as much attention. A stone monkey seemingly fallen from heaven was certainly not a sight any of them thought they'd see today, though one of their number did at least recognize him.
"Wukong?" Lionmane gawked in bafflement at his unconscious...well, they weren't really friends...rival? Acquaintance? The upside-down ape currently sitting on his head. Why was he here? Had he come to watch to see who'd win the contest between him and King Beef?
The eyes of the others followed Wukong's likely path down back up to the roof from which he'd fallen.
"Hiya, teach." Ichika called down to Futaro flirtatiously, though from his impression of her that's just how she was in general so he didn't think much of it.
"How the heck did you end up up there?" Was his natural question to her.
"I found a bunch of bent fire escape ladders on that side of the building." She pointed with her thumb while the rest of her body was laid out on her stomach. She honestly looked like she was about to take a nap right up there with how comfortable she'd made herself. "I think that guy's a lot heavier than he looks, and considering what he looks like he's made of, well..."
Lionsmane just stared at the fallen Wukong, his eyes only flickering away for a second to check on King Beef, confirming he was still as motionless as before. He'd known both of these fellow thugs for long enough to tell that they weren't dead. But searching his memory as hard as he could, he couldn't remember the last time he'd ever seen either laid out cold like this, especially not King Beef. How many times had they gone at it, knocking the crap out of each other from dusk to dawn, with the big lug refusing to fall no matter how battered and bloody they'd made each other.
That they could be taken out so easily...
His attention was regained as Itsuki took a step forward to him. "If you surrender now we promise not to hurt you. We'll escort you to the police station and you'll only be charged with a bit of property damage. This can all be over with before it gets worse."
Lionsmane scowled and growled lowly at her offer of peace, though admittedly it was something of a bluff for the sake of his own pride.
This whole thing may have proven to be a very dumb venture but even he was smart enough to pick up on the same pattern Wukong had by this point. Four girls in costumes. This one talking to him hadn't even done anything yet but two of these kids had just taken out members of his gang and the other one he couldn't even lay a claw on. Whatever she could do, odds were good it wasn't anything he wanted to deal with. Even if he could take her, the other three were sure to join in to back her up.
He was screwed. Pinned down between four heroes. Well...four heroes and...
His eyes came to rest on Futaro.
A few dumb decisions had led him into this situation. What was one more if it could maybe get him out? At least that's how a desperate brain rationalized the impulses it sent through Lionsmane's limbs to push him to break into a charge at the boy.
That wasn't a costume he was wearing, just a school uniform by the looks of it, and he could practically smell the unease coming off him. This wasn't a hero, just a civilian too dumb to clear out once the fighting had started. Which meant if there was anyone who'd make for an effective hostage in getting these girls to back off...!
Futaro felt a jolt go through his body, more than able to recognize the danger of the hulking monster headed right for him. You didn't have to be smart to know that the last thing you'd want is to be caught by someone like this, though if your brain was rational enough to think straight, which his understandably wasn't at the moment, you'd also recognize how little good that'd likely do, given the beast's speed.
For a second there Futaro thought he'd heard someone yell "Uesugi!" but it was drowned out by a roar.
Interestingly enough though, not a roar from the lion-man, or even an animal at all.
Lionsmane tumbled out of his charge and flat onto his back, frightened out of it by the furious column of fire that had erupted before his face, so bright he'd nearly gone blind from the sudden burst of light.
Even through his fur he could feel the heat start to dry his skin. What would have happened if he'd run into that?!
Quick as they came the flames were soon to dissipate. Behind the wall of fading embers and cooked air Lionsmane saw Itsuki, having placed herself between him and Futaro, palm still raised to face him and steaming from the power she'd just summoned forth.
From behind Futaro could see her shoulders rise and fall from her panting. Was that because of the heat of her Quirk, or had she really rushed herself that much to get in front of him? Either way...
"Uh...thanks."
Itsuki turned her head slightly to look back but soon after pushed it back straight, like she had to remind herself she was still mad at him. "...I'm just doing my duty. Don't think anything of it."
[Present Mic: "Itsuki Nakano! Hero name: Meatbun Monster!"]
"It's Takoyaki!" Itsuki yelled to the sky, her temper quickly coming back to her.
[Present Mic: "What? R-really? But I'm reading it off the official paperwork right here."]
"It was supposed to have been fixed! I've put in the request three times already!"
"Wait a minute, you can hear him too?!" Futaro asked, his fear from just seconds ago completely forgotten.
[Present Mic: "Uhhhh...anyway! Her Quirk: Calorie Burn! She can convert her body's stored fat, proteins, and other such food-related properties into blazing hot fire. At her maximum recorded temperature she's managed to reach over 1,000 degrees Celsius, nearly enough to begin melting solid rock! It's much harder to keep her flames going on an empty stomach though."]
Lionsmane's terrified stare was drawn away from Itsuki by the footfall of Nino's boot.
"Well, I'd consider that last chance officially blown."
She was on one side. Miku's cloud was on all. Even Ichika had used a drainpipe to slide her way down the building to be on the ground with the rest of them. Apparently all of them had moved to protect Futaro when he was being attacked, it was just that Itsuki was the closest and naturally got there first. And none looked particularly happy with Lionsmane that he'd made such an attempt in the first place (though some were trying to hide it more than others for whatever reason).
In such a situation, there was only one thing left to do.
"MEW!"
With a literal meow, like the kind a kitten would make, everyone was just thrown off enough by the sheer bizarreness of such a cute noise from such a large brute for Lionsmane to bolt.
He ran, not just away but up the side of a building as well, claws extended to act as grips as he bounded his way towards the rooftops. He wasn't thinking anymore, he just wanted to be anywhere else but here.
Darting past Futaro's vision was a blur of green and white.
In order to make up for the distance Lionsmane already had on her, she headed not towards the wall he was scaling but rather the small alley at the building's side.
Leaping at the adjacent building's side, she bounced off that wall and onto that of the other building. Then back again, each jump carrying her further and further up the structures until not only did she reach the same level as Lionsmane but soon sailed past him to leap above the roof well before he ever got there.
"Nakano...!"
Lionsmane heard the word like it was charging up, looking above him to see the single body summersaulting its way through the air down towards him. Her cape clung to her backside from the centripetal force until her body opened itself up, unfurling the cape dramatically behind her as her green gloved fist began to encompass the entirety of his vision.
"SMASH!" Yotsuba's cry echoed throughout the square as she clocked Lionsmane clean in the face.
For the third time in less than five minutes, another manimal fell to earth; knocked out cold upon hitting the ground.
[Present Mic: "Yotsuba Nakano! Hero name: Ribbon Warrior! Her Quirk: Five-Man Headband! By channeling energy through the ribbon she wears atop her head she gains different abilities depending on its color, though for reasons not yet known it only works with five specific colors."]
"Green is my favorite! It up my strength, speed, and agility!" Yotsuba happily declared as she stood atop Lionsmane's unconscious body, both hands proudly giving the proper "V for Victory" as the green electricity faded from her ribbon, returning it to its normal oddly gravity-defying state.
Finally, the battle was over. The two destructive beastmen (plus a third) had been brought down.
"And where the hell have you been?!" Futaro called over to Yotsuba, gaining her attention.
"Uesugi? Oh! And you found the others! That's so great!" She cheered happily, skipping on over to the group.
...Putting herself right in range for Nino grab at her ear.
"You seriously ratted us out?!"
"I didn't! I didn't! I didn't!" She cried and flailed about from the pain of the pinch. "He figured it out on his own, I swear!"
"Yeah, I kind of figured it wouldn't last long." Ichika sighed, though still with a smile, as she gently removed Yotsuba from Nino's grip. "Still, I wonder how long it would have taken you to find us if there hadn't been a villain attack?" She jokingly needled Futaro. Well...half-joking.
"You know, if we took off right now he probably wouldn't be able to catch us if we went in different directions." Miku pointed out.
"Don't even think about it. We've already wasted enough time. Let's head back to the agency already." Futaro crossly warned them, though internally begging they wouldn't actually make him chase them down. He knew exactly how that story would go and it wasn't exactly dignified for him.
"You really just hear only what you want to hear, don't you?" Itsuki crossed her arms at his refusal to take the world's most obvious hint. "After we did all this to-"
They heard the shutter of a camera lens, though the noise had an artificial touch to it.
They all turned, seeing the somewhat middle-aged looking man who had just taken a photo of the group with his phone.
"Holy crap, they really are identical."
Civilians were slowly making their way back into the square, curiosity over the ceased noises from the battle spurring them on.
"They really beat those massive villains?!"
"I'd heard about them but I'd never actually seen them in person."
"What agency are they with? How'd they snag girls this cute?!"
A rowdy crowd had begun to form, with Futaro finding himself rudely shoved further and further away as the number of bodies increased, naturally no one paying him nearly as much mind as the true centers of attention.
Within minutes the five were surrounded on all sides by their sudden but adoring public.
"This is-! Getting a little tight-!" Itsuki winced nervously against the pressure of so many people.
"Here you go." Ichika handed back the notepad one of the children in the crowd had asked her to sign.
"How the heck did you sign an autograph that fast?" Nino commented, having at least three pads, books, and other such papers being shoved in her face for her to sign, though notably from men about her own age...and older...
"Uesugi? Where'd you go?" Yotsuba looked around in confusion, unable to see even a single hair of the two strands that stood atop his bowl cut as he was drifted further and further out to sea.
"Wow! Her Quirk is amazing!" Some of the crowd commented excitedly as they watched Miku's body dissipate into her gaseous form, few seeming to notice or care that she was keeping behind the other four and not saying a work to anyone.
[Present Mic: "Presenting the fabulous Nakano sisters! Second years in Asahiyama High's Hero Course! Your eyes don't deceive you, folks. It's a modern miracle and mystery of birth! Five identical quintuplets, yet each with a different Quirk to call their own! They're here to save the day! Look good while doing it! And-!"]
"-do equations until your fingers fall off!" Futaro said as equal parts threat and promise, his face in an unshakable scowl as he glared down at the lot of them.
The five sisters were all seated at the table before him, each in a various state of whining or full-brain meltdown as they pushed themselves through all the homework they needed to catch up on. It was no small miracle that he'd actually managed to get all five cooperating at once but he supposed being back at the agency instead of their apartment helped a lot. They may not care what he thought of them but they most certainly did with what the boss thought.
"This is crap!" Nino finally exclaimed in frustration, her hand indeed cramping up from the constant motion of her pencil. "We just saved all those people! Why are we basically being punished for it?!"
"You beat up a couple of vandals while you were supposed to be here." He put it back into context for her. "You did good work but there were also actual Pros nearby who could have handled it."
"Ichika's asleep again." Miku cut him off with that simple comment, watching her sister dozing away facedown into her notes.
"Oh, for the love of-…"
"I got her." Itsuki volunteered herself as she got up, in part just give herself a break from the work. Yotsuba was closer but given the dizziness of her eyes and similar sway of her head, her brain was likely a tad too overcooked to be of much help right now.
Itsuki gave Ichika's shoulder a light shake, slowly but surely prompting her wake up. She must have only been half-asleep, as she seemed aware of the conversation at hand. That or maybe they were all just a broken record at this point and she knew odds were good they were talking about this subject again.
"It's not like we were acting illegally or anything..." Ichika yawned, rubbing her eye to get the sleep out of it. "We do have our provisional licenses."
"Emphasis on provisional." Futaro reminded them all. "You may be allowed to act in the field but you are all still students, which means you have to fulfill some of the basic requirements of students in order to keep your licenses, let alone graduate to full Pro status."
"Which, unfortunately, is where I come in." He commented to himself, only barely able to keep from airing the grievances aloud. It'd been labor enough to get this far. One wrong move and this entire house of cards would come crashing down.
[Present Mic: Futaro Uesugi. Second year in Asahiyama High's business course. It's about as boring as it sounds, or at least it was until he got roped into this gig."]
"Hero managers and PR departments make a ton of money. Have you seen how much an All Might doll can go for?" Futaro defended his life choices.
"Who are you talking to?" Miku asked him.
"No one. Don't worry about it." He said, quickly moving on.
When his sister had called him that their dad had gotten this job for him, despite his reservations it sounded like a godsend. A tutoring position at five times the normal rate!
Naturally...there was a catch. Five times the pay because it was five times the work, with him only discovering at the last minute that he wouldn't be tutoring just one girl but rather a full-on set of quintuplets. He'd hate to see what that delivery did to their poor mother, whom he'd yet to meet (he hadn't met their father yet either and he was the one who had hired him for this apparently).
"Honestly, even if I had known I still probably would have accepted. We need the money." Futaro remarked internally, being more than aware of the reality of his family's situation. "With that much our debt could be wiped out in no time, and I might still have enough left after all this is over to finally spoil Raiha a bit!"
Thoughts of his little sister's happy smile got him through many a challenge...and it was a crutch he seemed to be relying on more and more these days.
"He's making that weird face again." Nino whispered to the others.
"I think he has a tendency to disassociate when we frustrate him too much." Ichika gave a quiet giggle at the idea.
"This could be our chance to sneak away." Itsuki put the idea out there.
"We'd have to leave Yotsuba behind. I don't think she can move right now." Miku pointed out.
"AAAaaaaaAAAaaaaa..." Yotsuba groaned...moaned...? ...Gave indication she was still alive and had heard someone say her name. Her sisters could practically see the heatwaves emanating off the top of her head, and she wasn't even the one with the fire Quirk.
All five gave a jump in their seats as a new pile of textbooks was suddenly slammed down onto the table.
"Don't even think about it." Futaro warned them, glaring down at them all. "Because once you're done with your homework we still have the actual tutoring session to get through. And since you went and got your (unauthorized) patrol out of the way early today, we won't have to stop for anything and can work straight until it's time to go home. Won't that be fun?"
He flashed them the most evil smile they'd ever seen, like he was some dark demon lord right out of an old comic book. Even the actual villains they'd fought just a short time ago hadn't made a shiver go up their spines like this.
His pay was dependent on them being able to graduate and he was going to let nothing stop him in making that happen, however steep the hill he had to roll this boulder up.
Yes, these girls had their provisional licenses...because transferring schools meant they couldn't technically be taken from them yet.
All five of them. ALL. FIVE. Had flunked out of their previous school's hero course. That they'd somehow managed to get their provisional licenses prior to that, Futaro couldn't even imagine how. The gods must have really been watching over them on that day and abandoned them quickly after, because from what he'd seen of their grades it would take something truly divine in order to keep them from flunking out again.
He tapped on the textbooks, his face going completely serious. "The next exam for obtaining a Provisional Hero License is in September. For you idiots, that's basically your make-up exam for your entire previous year. If you don't pass, they'll take your licenses away. That means you can basically kiss this entire internship goodbye and almost guarantee no agency worth anything will ever take you on again even if you were to somehow regain them."
He could feel the animosity towards him in the air, from some more than others, but he could also see it in their faces and the quick glances they stole at each other. His words were registering to them and causing them to consider their futures.
They may not care about schoolwork, but he had seen them take on those villains. Being heroes clicked with them. Whatever their motivations were (as their tutor it wasn't any of his business), it was clearly something that mattered to them. It was a job they loved doing and could only get better at over time.
They had a path available for them that few others did, including Futaro himself, and so help him he wasn't going to let them waste it. He had that much pride in being a tutor at least.
"I'll get you stubborn brats to that finish line. ...Even if you are all dumb as bricks."
"You're thinking something rude again, aren't you?"
Author's notes: I wrote this chapter to test the waters somewhat to see if 1.) I actually could mix My Hero Academia and The Quintessential Quintuplets in a way I actually liked, and 2.) to see how much others would like the premise. Please, tell me what you think. Depending on the response I could easily see myself writing more chapter, especially since I've already got some thoughts for chapter two, naturally with it focusing a little more on Futaro with a specific sister instead of all five one after another.
I got the inspiration to make this for a really simple...and honestly incredibly nerdy...way. I was on the 5-Toubun no Hanayome Reddit and someone posted artwork by a Twitter artist name Kisaragi of "Pro-Hero Yotsuba". For fun I came up with what her hero name and Quirk would be in the comments. Then some time later the same Reddit user posted artwork they had commissioned from Larkei of MHA-style profiles for each of the quints, Futaro, and a few other characters, each also with their own hero names and Quirks. And that just got the gears turning in my head. I adore MHA, TQQ got me really sucked into it, so I figured...why not?
Yotsuba's costume in this story is right out of the Kisaragi artwork, with the costumes of the other sisters based around that, though Nino's has bit of her idol outfit in the mix too. I tried to still have them keep their own respective color scheme, as well as how much skin they tend to show/not show (though I think because of the short hair and her being the "oldest" I tended to imagine Ichika's costume along the lines of a boobwindow-less Power Girl).
I should note that, like I said, this story was inspired by that Reddit art, meaning the profiles for this story are not exactly the same as what was on those. I kept Miku and Nino's Quirks overall the same because I thought those were brilliant ideas that fit the two really well (and yes, I intentionally spelled it Locamotive instead of Locomotive) and I originally came up with the Quirk for Yotsuba that was used in the profile so of course my ego favored that. But I changed Ichika's Quirk from Shapeshifter to Choreograph because I liked the idea of her acting abilities being purely her own skill, and while I kept Itsuki's Quirk being eating related I felt Lipid Batteries (despite me loving that name) made her too similar to Fat Gum and Yotsuba given it was more or less another strength Quirk. A Fire Quirk felt somewhat fitting for Itsuki's sometimes temperamental and stubborn personality (especially early on when she's interacting with Futaro), it helped vary up the abilities a bit, and I had some ideas I liked for how it could be used for her character in this specific story, though naturally that's down the line.
As for Futaro...well, I'll leave it up to you theorist out there whether or not he has a Quirk (I've already decided the answer, so don't worry there). But like stated, yeah, he's not in the Hero Course or aiming to be a Pro Hero. I thought him not only being in the Business Course but choosing to be there fit with his character a lot more and would be fun to explore that dynamic between him and the Quints.