"Hello everyone, you're watching the Power Hour, I'm your host as always, Makoto Tsukauchi, and let's jump right in." As the talk show's audience began to applaud, the attractive woman with black hair and green eyes walked from the stage's center to a chair positioned further to the left before taking a seat.
When the crowd finally quieted down once more, the host spoke again.
"Well, I can say that we have a treat for you all today." Makoto continued. "Rising to the position of the No.1 Hero almost directly out of high school, he has a… unique charisma that certainly leaves an impression. Please give a warm welcome to…Lemillion!"
The host gestured to a curtain across the stage just before it lifted up to reveal…Nothing.
There was an audible silence from the crowd and host alike as nothing happened for a solid ten seconds. Makoto frowned, leaning to peer behind the stage, looking at her stage crew. An intern wearing a headset merely shrugged in response, just as lost as she was.
"Ahem, well…" The raven-haired woman tugged at her collar before continuing. "As you know, pro heroes are always battling their schedule as much as they do villains. Why don't we-"
"Well this isn't right!" A loud voice declared as a crop of blonde hair sprung up from the floor.
Everyone in the audience turned in surprise to see a blond man with round blue eyes and the number '1,000,000' printed across his costume's chest poking half of his body out of the floor as though he'd just dug his way up from the ground.
"I knew I should've taken that left turn at Albuquerque!" The No. 1 Hero, Lemillion, smiled as he turned to the studio audience. Instead of the laughter he'd been expecting, he was met with silence that was only broken by one man awkwardly coughing in the back. "Wow! That was supremely unfunny!" Lemillion smiled before laughing to himself, popping out of the ground completely.
"Well um, w-welcome to the show, Lemillion." Makoto finally spoke up again, trying to get things back on track. "Maybe next time you want to make an entrance…run it by us first, before you give another innocent talk show host a heart attack."
"Sure thing Boss!" Mirio Togata gave another hearty laugh before taking his seat.
"Ahem, why don't we get started with some questions?" She asked rhetorically before beginning, not giving the man another chance to tell a bad joke. "We asked our fans to send in their questions for you and picked out the most popular from those. Are you ready?"
"Lay'em on me!"
"First off, one of our more controversial questions. User 'B4Life' asks: Is the fact that Lemillion is the #1 hero proof that Class B is superior to Class A?"
"Huh?" Mirio raised an eyebrow. "I don't know so much about that. Well, it's true that I was in Class B during my time at UA. A lot of people outside of the school seemed to believe that our class was made up of the lower ranking hero course students, but that isn't true at all. To my knowledge, the classes were evenly divided among entrance exam scores. So I guess, no. There is no superior class."
"Well, let's hope that debate is finally put to rest." Makoto replied, but looked doubtful. "Next, why don't we address this popular question? User 'MightyMan' asks: If Lemillion's suit is made of his hair, does it itch like a shirt after a haircut?"
"Hahaha! Totally!" Lemillion gave a hearty laugh, leaning back in his seat. "At least, the original did. See, the support course had an especially tough time trying to figure out Permeation, so much so that they were furious with me for months! When they finally figured out a version that worked, they had so little material, my costume was practically a speedo. And it itched! Badly! Eventually we worked out the kinks and got to my current suit which, I would say, is pretty darn comfy. Thank you again Kenranzaki-san!"
There was a chorus of laughter from the audience and even the host, appreciating the funny anecdote.
"Our next question comes from user 'NdevR' who asks:" Makoto glanced down at her card for a moment before turning back to Mirio. "Do you think you're the most powerful hero?"
Mirio's eyes widened.
"I know just how powerless you are." Shigaraki's voice echoed in the back of Mirio's mind as images flashed through his memory.
Tamaki, Nejire, Miruko, Bakugo, all the heroes who'd given their all in the fight against Shigaraki in the war, lying on the ground with only Mirio left standing before the monster of flesh and fingers in front of them. His role in that battle had been to support and protect the fighters, but they'd been utterly defeated regardless.
He had failed them, just as he had failed Sir. If it hadn't been for Midoriya showing up in the nick of time…
"Lemillion?"
"Oh!" Mirio's grin suddenly returned, though a bit more forced than usual. "Sorry about that! Am I the most powerful hero? Of course not! There are tons of heroes who can do waaay more than I can! My best buddy Suneater for one, he's way stronger than me and can do pretty much anything! Not to mention my good friend Nejire-chan!"
The interview continued smoothly from there, but a question lingered in the back of Mirio's mind. The same question he and so many others had been asking for three years now.
'Midoriya…where are you?'
—
"You know," Mei Hatsume began. "You wouldn't have to come in for repairs so often if you took better care of your equipment." The pink-haired woman stated as she pried open an armored plate with a flathead screwdriver. Sitting on the table before her was an artificial left arm, one of her most advanced pieces of work, it nearly made her cry seeing it in this state.
"Well, maybe I just like to stop by for the riveting conversations." A green-haired figure replied from the bench he was sitting on in the corner, his eyes shut as his head leaned against the wall.
"Hardy har har." Hatsume rolled her eyes at the hero's response. "So, what…eww." She pulled her hand from the inner circuitry, a trail of slime clinging to it. Shaking it off, she finished her question. "What could've done something like this to my baby?"
"Sludge villain." Came the hero's simple reply. "Kind of took me back to old times honestly."
Izuku Midoriya reminisced about the day he first met All Might, years ago now. Leaning further back against the wall, Midoriya winced in pain, his right arm moving to the stump that remained on his left, cut off halfway down the humerus. At the end of the stump was a surgically attached metal plate with a large hole that the artificial arm plugged into.
His final battle with Shigaraki had left its mark, as it had with so many other heroes. They were the lucky ones though, so many others were no longer here today because of that man.
Despite only taking place three years ago, it felt like another lifetime to Midoriya. Now nineteen years old, he'd grown into a successor worthy of his quirk. While he didn't believe he'd ever be quite as tall as his idol, he now towered over most other heroes at six foot four inches. And though he wasn't anywhere near All Might's massive build, Izuku's lean figure was densely packed with muscle and fully capable of the same feats of strength as his predecessor.
Hearing a low grunt from her customer, Hatsume turned to her customer, raising her goggles to her head.
"You doing alright Stumps? You didn't get injured fighting a goo monster of all things, right?"
"No just-urgh." Izuku shifted uncomfortably. "It's raining out today. The barometric pressure is-mmph just getting to me a little." The hero had practically destroyed himself, inside and out, over his many battles. Following all of the intensive surgeries done on him after many battles, he probably had enough metal in him to assemble a small car.
Hatsume gave her oldest friend a sympathetic look, stepping over to the bench before taking a seat next to him.
"Please tell me you're going home after this." The pink-haired woman examined the baggy skin beneath Izuku's eyes with her quirk. It was clear he hadn't slept in days. "Maybe sleep for like, a week?"
"Not unless every criminal in the country decides to take a holiday." The green-haired man replied. "Besides, you're the last person I'd expect to lecture me on rest." His weary green eyes met Hatsume's gold ones.
"Hey, I'm not the same girl who blew up the support lab every day back in high school." Hatsume softly elbowed Izuku's side. "I even remember my customer's names now."
Izuku chuckled at that.
"Are you sure about that? I don't think I've heard you call me anything other than Stumps since well, y'know." He held up the remainder of his left arm.
Hatsume's expression fell as she gazed at the limb, moving her gaze upward, she saw the scars across her friend's face, trailing down his neck where they only grew larger and more frequent. The rest were obscured by his clothes, but she knew all too well what lay beneath.
"It isn't fair, everything they make you go through." She said softly. "Bearing all that weight for no recognition at all."
"Hatsume," Izuku turned to her. "I'm happy with the way things are. Everything's finally starting to get back to some kind of normal. It's good. It's enough."
"It shouldn't be, Izuku!" Hatsume protested. "You've torn yourself apart fighting for these people, and they don't even know it! You were the one who always said he wanted to save people with a smile."
"I can still do that, Hatsume! Even if it's from the shadows." Hatsume merely grumbled, standing up and walking back to her work table. Deciding to change the topic, Izuku spoke once more. "How's the arm looking? Think I can walk out of here with it?"
"Pfft, you're lucky I'm letting you walk out of here." The mechanic pointed a screwdriver at her customer. "At best the arm's gonna be an overnight fix, at worst…ugh, I'm gonna have to postpone so many orders."
"That's okay, you can take your time. I've got the spare back at home. Melissa's been begging me to get some more field data for her model anyway." Izuku stood up, ignoring the pain in his reinforced joints and walking toward the exit. "Let me know when it's ready, alright? You're the best Hatsume!" He called out before disappearing in a flash of green lightning, leaving the mechanic by herself.
Mei stared at the empty space in her workshop left behind by Izuku for a moment before turning back to her work.
Alone.
Once upon a time, Mei had preferred it that way. She'd be annoyed when customers would come in while she was working on one of her babies, always having a new request or complaint for her, she simply wanted to invent to her heart's content. Now, things were different, she was different, all because of one boy she met in high school. Izuku was the first person Mei's age that she actually enjoyed the company of. He was attentive, interested in everything she had to say, and actually willing to stand her constant antics.
And then he had to go and get himself another mechanic.
"Melissa." Mei scoffed at the girl's name. "Oh Melissa, you're so perfect!" She said to herself in a mock Izuku impression as she tried to loosen a particularly tight bolt. "Your tech never blows up in the field! I'm gonna make you my sole mechanic for the rest of time!" Mei frowned as the bolt refused to budge. "Then we can go live together on your stupid science island, in the middle of the stupid ocean, and get married. And I can keep stupidly fighting crime until I die from exhaustion in a stupid alley!" By now Mei was yelling at the bolt which still refused to move.
"GAH!" The mechanic threw her wrench across the room in a fit of rage.
Breathing heavily, Mei looked down at her calloused hands, before looking back at Izuku's artificial arm. She remembered how the boy's face had lit up when she'd first presented it to him, how he'd thanked her over and over as he accepted it, and how he'd pulled her into a tight, one-armed hug afterward. Her heart had fluttered in that moment, and at first, she'd been unsure of why. Only after repeated encounters with Midoriya afterward did she realize why he made her feel that way.
"...Stupid Deku…" She muttered to herself, her cheeks red from her outburst.
—
Meanwhile, Izuku was running between rooftops overlooking Mustafu prefecture, his movements so quick that if someone were to look up, they'd most likely mistake him for a lightning bolt flashing across the stormy night sky.
As he ran, Midoriya dwelled on Hatsume's words to him. Sure it stung, not being recognized for all of his efforts following the Villain War, but this was the only option. The only way Japan could rebuild.
His mind flashed back to the discussion that led to his current living situation.
"Simply put, Izuku Midoriya needs to die." Said the man standing at the foot of Izuku's hospital bed. Izuku believed he recognized him from the licensing exam.
"WHAT!?" Inko Midoriya screamed, causing her son to flinch from the sudden noise.
"Mom, calm down." Izuku turned to the woman next to him, taking her hand into his remaining one. "I don't think he means it quite so literally." He turned back to the man. "You don't mean it literally, r-right?"
"Of course not literally." Yokumiru Mera clarified, his eyes looking more tired than ever. "But following this battle, and the information that has come to light regarding your…ahem, family situation. The Public Safety Commission has determined our next course of action to ensure a smooth recovery after everything that's happened these past few months." Mera took a moment to loosen his tie before speaking again. "But before we continue, I need you to confirm something. Can you say with absolute certainty that the man known as All for One is indeed your biological father?"
"..."
"..."
"...Yes." Izuku nodded. "He is. I didn't realize it until seeing his face, his real face during the final battle. It was the same face I've seen in our family pictures from when I was a child."
"And you don't think he might have used your father's visage as some sort of psychological tactic against you specifically? It wasn't just one of his quirks that let him change his appearance?"
"No. I have err…sources that confirmed for me that that was All for One's true face and had been all along." Izuku replied, placing a hand on his temple. The voices of the other One for All users had been quiet ever since the final battle.
"I see." Mera nodded before taking a seat and letting out a heavy sigh. "Then that brings us back around to my earlier statement. As best as we at the Commission can tell, we have two possible paths laid out for us."
The man held out his hands as if holding something in each one, raising one he spoke again.
"The first is that we announce to the public that Izuku Midoriya survived his final battle with Shigaraki. You get all of the fame and glory that comes with it, to say you'd be considered the second coming of All Might would be underselling it. You'd be Japan's, maybe even the world's greatest savior, receive every award you can imagine and then some, and be immortalized in history." He stated, only for his tone to suddenly drop. "Until they begin asking the big questions. Why does he have multiple Quirks? Who is his family? Who could even stop him if he ever turned against us? Questions they'll begin to come to their own conclusions about. All for One's cover as Hisashi was well-made, but not airtight, sooner or later, someone will learn the truth. And when that happens, they'll assume the worst. They'll begin to wonder if we just traded one despot for another, that maybe this entire war was simply theatrics by All for One to make his son the most powerful and influential man alive."
"You can't be serious!" Inko interjected. "After everything that's happened? Everything my son and the heroes sacrificed? Nobody would believe-"
"They would, and they have. When Dabi and Skeptic revealed the truth about Hawks' criminal father, he was ridiculed relentlessly by the public, and with everything else going on at the time, they lost their faith in him completely. Now picture that, but with the father being the most dangerous villain in human history." Mera sighed.
"Maybe we could get ahead of it then?" Inko suggested. "Tell the public outright before someone else finds out?"
"That won't do either." Mera shook his head. "The wounds left on society are too fresh, still festering even. If we put it out there now, people will just hear that the son of All for One now stands at the top of Hero Society. They'll believe we lost the war regardless of which side is left standing, after all, it ended with a Shigaraki as the most powerful man alive." The man's eyes turned to face Izuku.
Izuku lowered his head, staring at his mangled right hand. Him, a Shigaraki? Maybe it was fate that One for All ended in the hands of the family who started it. That or just sheer cosmic coincidence. The thought would've made him laugh if not for the circumstances.
"And the other option?" Izuku finally asked. "What's the second path?"
"The second path is that Izuku Midoriya died of his wounds shortly after his final battle against Tomura Shigaraki." Mera stated. "You become a martyr for humanity, a cause to rally behind. Even if they dig up your family history, you become the heroic heir who turned against his father and gave the ultimate sacrifice. Public faith in heroes begins its long road of healing and people and heroes alike rebuild Japan together."
"Well then there's really nothing to decide is there?" Midoriya replied, forcing himself to sit up.
"Izuku hold on," Inko placed her hand in front of her son, not wanting him to strain himself further. "What…What happens to us? To our family?"
"You go into witness protection." The man answered simply. "We place you wherever you wish, preferably outside of the country. You won't need to worry about money ever again, I can assure you-"
"I don't care about money, I care about my son!" Inko interjected. "We'll be together, won't we?"
"Ma'am…" A sullen look crossed Yokumiru Mera's face. "The Public Safety Commission has actually tasked me with another proposition for your son, one that will in no way affect our prior offer." He turned to face Izuku once more. "There are still hundreds of escaped prisoners currently unaccounted for, more than our remaining heroes and police are capable of handling on their own. We could very much use Deku's assistance in recapturing them."
"I-I'm confused." Izuku gave the man a quizzical look. "Am I not supposed to be dead to the public?"
"Hero student, Izuku Midoriya, would be dead. His grieving mother would still receive a very generous insurance payout and be moved to a private location." Mera clarified. "However, the vigilante known only as Deku would continue to fight crime from the shadows."
"How. Dare. You." Inko stood up abruptly. "My son has given you people everything! Sacrificed all that he has to give! Will you not be satisfied until he gives you his life too!?"
"I have to admit." Mera grimaced. "This is a far less tempting offer than the first. Out of respect, I'm gonna be straight with you kid, we're essentially banking on your good will for this. You wouldn't officially work for Public Safety in any capacity, no salary, no public recognition, and police and heroes outside of those who know your identity would most likely try to arrest you, given the opportunity." The man looked out the window at the ruins of the buildings around the hospital. "Look, I know-"
"I'll do it." Both Mera and Inko turned to Izuku with shocked expressions. "If someone needs my help, then I'll do everything I can to help them. That's what my power is for." The hero stated, clenching a mangled fist.
"I-Izukuuuu…" Tears began streaming down Inko Midoriya's face.
The sound of a chair screeching against the floor sounded through the room, causing both Midoriyas to turn to the man in front of them. Yokumiru Mera was kneeling on the floor, his head pressed as low as it could go.
"On behalf of the Public Safety Commission and Japan as a whole," He said, his voice surprisingly much more audible than before. "Thank you for everything you've done for us! You are a true hero, Izuku Midoriya!"
Izuku began frantically and awkwardly explaining to the man that there was no need for such displays and that he was happy to help.
The memory cut off there as Izuku arrived at his apartment complex, a simple two-story building containing eight studio apartments near the edge of the city.
Landing in an alleyway a few blocks away, Izuku casually walked the rest of the way home. It would do no good for Izuku's neighbors to see him rocketing out of the sky and landing on his back patio at 2 in the morning. Walking up the stairs to his apartment, he reached into his right pocket, searching for his keys.
"Ugh, dammit I always leave it on the left…" He said to himself, stretching to reach the pocket on the other side of his jeans, his empty shirt sleeve flapping around as he struggled.
"Need some help?" A voice asked to Izuku's left, causing the nineteen year old to nearly jump out of his skin.
Turning to the source, he saw the woman from the neighboring apartment standing outside her door dressed in her pajamas with a plastic bag in her hand. She was a pretty and kind, twenty-eight year old woman with chestnut hair and amber eyes.
"Ah, Tamashi-san, sorry you uh, startled me there." He waved awkwardly. "What are you doing up this late…err I guess early?"
Moko Tamashi yawned, holding up the bag in her hand.
"Trash day." She replied. "Forgot to put it out earlier and I fully intend to sleep until noon tomorrow."
"Rough day at the office?" Izuku asked.
"More like a rough week and a half. Still though, can't be worse than your job. How many consecutive all-nighters does this make?"
"Ha, too many to count." He gave a forced chuckle. "And I won't be staying long, just picking up some things then I've gotta head back."
"Seriously? You have got to find a new job. That or report your boss to the cops. No way is it legal to treat your employees that shitty."
"Haha, yeah…"
"..."
"..."
"So do you want some help or…?" She tilted her head questioningly.
"Oh! N-No, I've got it, thanks." He replied, finally grabbing his keys.
"If you say so, later Yagi-san!" Tamashi replied before walking past him to dump her garbage. In his exhausted state, Izuku was confused before remembering the name he'd leased the apartment under, Tatsuki Yagi.
As she neared the steps, the woman turned back to her neighbor.
"Oh by the way, I think you left your TV on while you were gone. Better be careful, I heard the landlord is jacking up the utilities bill."
"Thanks." Izuku gave a smile before turning back to his door with a serious expression. He knew for a fact that his TV had been off when he'd last left the apartment.
Charging One for All in his hand, Izuku readied himself for what might be waiting for him on the other side of the door. Quickly swinging it open, he first checked both sides of the entrance, finding nothing there. He shut the door behind him as he advanced further into the room, his fingers prepped to fire off an air bullet.
The lights were off, leaving the TV as the only source of light throughout the one bed apartment. Moving to his dresser, he eyed the cardboard box sitting on the floor next to it. He quickly bent over, opening the box before reaching inside to grab its contents, his spare artificial arm.
Melissa had designed it for him specifically following his battle with Shigaraki. The white metal arm was much sleeker and visually pleasing than Hatsume's more mechanical design, however he considered both to be precious gifts from dear friends and alternated them frequently.
Plugging the device into its port on Izuku's left arm, he took a moment to let it turn on before quickly whipping around, his fist poised to attack, only to see a familiar, scarred face staring back at him, her hand held up to his head in a finger gun shape.
"Bang." The figure stated, firing her pretend gun. A smile crossed her face as she lowered her hand.
"Tsutsumi-san! What the hell!? I could've seriously hurt you!" Izuku yelled as he deactivated One for All. Standing before him was an old enemy turned ally who'd been of great help to him since turning to his vigilante lifestyle 3 years ago, Lady Nagant.
"Really?" The former hero tilted her head. "Because unless I'm mistaken, it seems like I'm the one who got the drop on you." She pointed out.
"If I'd been in actual danger-" Izuku began, only to be cut off.
"I know, I know, you would sense it or whatever." She replied snarkily before moving to sit down on his bed. "Geez, the springs in this thing are worn to shit. I take it you have 'guests' over often? I didn't take you for the rough type Midoriya."
"Wha-? N-No!" Izuku shook his head, his cheeks turning red. "It's just an old mattress! Look, what is it you're doing here?" He asked, flipping on a nearby lightswitch. "I take it this isn't a social visit."
Kaina Tsutsumi's expression hardened as she sat up, the bed creaking beneath her, and gave Midoriya a serious stare.
"Alright, straight to the point then." The woman ran a hand through her blue hair streaked with pink. It had grown out some since Izuku last saw her, but nowhere near the length it had been during her hero career. "During my time in Tartarus, I made some contacts in the criminal underground. One of those contacts reached out to me recently with an offer, one that, to my knowledge, has been extended to several other…contractors within that circle."
"What are you talking about Tsutsumi?" Izuku narrowed his eyes.
"Someone put a price on your head, Izuku. A big one." She explained.
"And you'd better believe that these people are gonna come to collect."
