A/N: So, an interesting thing happened before I posted this chapter. My ever-loyal fan Ryuujin96 had an idea for this story, so I added a couple of new scenes to the beginning of this chapter. Ryuujin96, I hope they're to your liking!
Meanwhile, in Moscow, Pakhmutov and Shaposhnik were discussing the current situation:
"What say you, Sergei?"
"Comrade President, the situation is not good. As time passes by, our hope for a quick victory evaporates."
"And what makes you say this? Is not the Russian Armed Forces the mightiest military force in the world?"
"Well yes, but…"
Pakhmutov leaned in a bit closer. "But what?"
"Not only are the Japanese holding out against our attacks, but the Americans have joined the fight as well. Rumor has it that they're planning on sending their mightiest hero."
"I'm not interested in rumors. What I'm interested in is why we're doing so poorly."
"Surely, you've heard of the one we call 'Green Death', have you not?"
Pakhmutov stroked his chin. "Do tell me more."
"Remember that child Izuku Midoriya that we tried to force the Japanese to hand over?"
"So he's the one our forces are so scared of? But he's only a child!"
Shaposhnik clasped his hands together. "But Comrade President, you don't know half of what he's capable of! He's decimated entire regiments with nothing but an M16 and an array of powerful Quirks! Our generals report that our men have fled at the mere sight of him!"
Pakhmutov nodded. "Very well. If he is as powerful as you say he is, then we'll have to call a few of our best…"
Meanwhile, in the White House, President James Braeden – a balding old man of average height and build – was sitting in the Oval Office, attending to whatever matters he would usually attend to in the course of the Presidency. Then, he heard knocking on his door.
"Come in."
The door opened, and in stepped Secretary of State Moira Sanchez, a petite, somewhat voluptuous woman.
"What's up, Moira?"
"Mr. President, I'm here to deliver the latest news on the situation in Japan."
Braeden leaned in a bit closer. "Yes?"
"According to the latest reports we've received, the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the Hero Public Safety Commission are holding off the Russians very well so far, partly thanks to assistance from our own armed forces and also partly due to the efforts of someone the Russians call 'Green Death'."
Braeden blinked. "Green Death?"
"According to our intel, this is the Russians' codename for a hero student going by the name of Izuku Midoriya, whom the Russians tried to get the Japanese to surrender to them to avert the threat of war."
Braeden nodded. "I've heard of him. Director Feldberg of the CIA said that some of his agents were in attendance at a battle tournament at UA High School when they witnessed his incredible feats. He should be able to hold off the Russians judging by what I know about him."
"It does seem so. However, it is clear that unless we continue to render assistance to the Japanese, then they will fall to the Russians."
"Then we'll send whatever aid we can. Any news from Congress?"
"Congress has recently approved a $2.6 billion aid package for Japan that not only includes weapons and ammunition, but also medical supplies. A good number of representatives and senators are also talking about sending more troops there."
"Then we'll send what we can. Why don't we also put her on standby as well?"
Sanchez' eyes widened. "Mr. President, you don't mean…?"
"Yes, I do, Moira. If things get any worse, we'll send in Star and Stripe."
Early next morning, Deku woke up, only to feel a strange sensation on his neck. As it turned out, Todoroki was nibbling on his neck.
"SHOKO!"
Deku shoved at Todoroki before she dislodged from his neck, smiling.
"I'm sorry, was I not supposed to enjoy the company of the sweetest, sexiest boy ever?"
Deku attempted to give a dead glare to Todoroki. However, he found that her heterochromic eyes were too beautiful to resist, and he broke down laughing.
"What? What's so funny?" said Todoroki.
"I'm sorry, I just can't get over how beautiful you look with that smile!"
"Awww!"
Just then, Iida had woken up:
"Good morning, Midoriya and Todoroki! Why don't we fetch breakfast?"
Breakfast was a rather quiet affair today, though for Todoroki, it was a bit of an unsettling one:
"Deku, you still seem upset. What's going on?"
Deku put down his chopsticks. "To be honest, I'm still troubled that the Russians would willingly massacre innocent civilians, but on the other hand, knowing that you were there to comfort me and knowing that Lazar and all the Serbian students were offering their condolences meant a lot to me."
Todoroki wrapped an arm around Deku. "Well, I'm glad I could help!"
Lazar wrapped an arm around Deku as well. "We're here to help too, Midoriya! You and your friends have done so much for us Serbians that we'll never forget what you've done!"
"Glad to hear it, Lazar! And please, call me Deku!"
"That's an interesting name! Where did you get that?"
"Kacchan originally came up with it, saying it stood for 'Defenseless Izuku'. However, Uraraka really liked it and said that it gave off a 'can-do' vibe, so it stuck."
"Yeah, you should definitely keep it!" Lazar gave a thumbs-up.
Kacchan smiled. "Ordinarily, I would be all 'what the crap' about you liking the nickname 'Deku', but I'm actually happy that you made it into a positive thing."
Deku smiled. "Thanks, Kacchan!"
"You're welcome, Deku!"
"Hey Deku, do you mind if I ask you something?" asked Todoroki.
"Sure, what?"
"You've complained multiple times of a sharp pain in your head recently. Is everything OK?"
Deku nodded. "I had a thought about that: All Might told me that one of the holders of One For All had the ability to sense danger, at the cost of feeling that sharp pain."
Milovan slammed his fork down. "WAIT! Midoriya, are you SERIOUSLY telling me that you have FOUR Quirks now!?"
"I um…"
Milovan got up from his seat, spun Deku around and grabbed him by the collar.
"If you're some sort of god, you'd better tell me…NOW!"
Deku shook his head. "Milovan, I swear, I'm not a god!"
Zorana put a hand on Milovan's shoulder. "Brother, calm yourself! Even if Midoriya does have multiple Quirks, does he not eat, breathe, sleep and have feelings like the rest of us?"
Milovan looked at Zorana, and then at Deku before letting go of him.
"Forgive me, Midoriya. I just…I'm having trouble accepting the fact that someone could be in possession of more than one Quirk. I feel so useless compared to you."
Deku smiled. "It's OK, Milovan! Just because you don't have a Quirk like mine doesn't mean you don't have worth! I mean, yours has proven useful in battle from what I've seen."
Milovan nodded and smiled. "Thank you for your kind words."
"You're welcome!"
Zorana put her hands on Milovan's shoulders and pulled him into a big hug, which he gladly returned. This elicited a collective "awww" from the students. Nevertheless, there were those among Class 1-B who were jealous of Deku:
"I still can't believe that ultra kid is in Class 1-A!" said Tetsutetsu. "Now we'll always be playin' second-fiddle to them!"
"Relax, Tetsutetsu!" said Monoma. "Even if Midoriya is with Class 1-A, at least the Serbs have a buffet of Quirks worth copying that are almost as good!"
After breakfast and freshening up, Deku went to Iida with an announcement:
"Iida, I'm gonna go up the hills to the north to scout for any more Russian troop movements. Tsu, you check the hills to the east."
"Ribbit!"
"Hey, mind if I take a little walk?" asked Ashido.
"Go ahead, but don't stray too far, OK?" said Deku.
Ashido gave a thumbs up. "OK!"
Deku headed to the hills up north to check for enemy troop movements. While the massacre was still weighing down on his mind, knowing that his fellow students were supporting him through these trying times made it hurt that much less. Eventually, he got to the northern hills and made some careful observations of enemy troop movements. He could see a large detachment of troops coming in from the north, but the pro heroes, the JSDF and the US Military seemed to be holding them off…for now.
"Funny meeting you here, Midoriya…or should I say…'Green Death'?"
Deku spun around and saw Shigaraki sitting down next to a rock, curled up in the fetal position.
"Wait…how do you know about that nickname!?" said Deku.
"You know, for the inheritor of One For All, you're so naïve. You forget that we have our own ways of gathering intelligence. Plus, ya izuchayu russkiy."
Deku nodded. "Good point.
"Come…sit down."
Shigaraki patted the ground next to him. As hesitant as Deku was to associate with him, they were on the same side for now, so he did so.
"Would you like some popcorn?" Shigaraki held out a bag of popcorn.
Deku furrowed his brow. "Wait…where did you get popcorn?"
"I swiped it from an abandoned movie theater. As far as I'm concerned, anything less than the movie theater buttered popcorn is heresy. Now…do you want any or not?"
Deku nodded. "Yes, please."
Deku took a small handful of popcorn, not knowing for sure whether or not it was poisoned, but figuring that it wasn't based on how he was reading Shigaraki. He popped a couple of pieces into his mouth and nodded as the unique buttery taste massaged his taste buds.
"Thank you," said Deku.
"You're welcome. Now then, I heard about the massacre at Fushoji. Ordinarily, I would laugh at the deaths of innocent bystanders, but I'm genuinely sickened by what the Russians did. I myself would at least give heroes and innocent civilians a chance to run for their lives before I tried to turn them into dust."
Deku nodded. "Interesting. I never thought the leader of the League…er, the Paranormal Liberation Front would have any sort of morals."
"You'd be surprised. Now tell me this: why do you fight alongside the heroes? What could you possibly hope to gain knowing that fighting crime is a losing battle?"
Deku crossed his arms. "Whether or not it's a losing battle is someone's opinion. I want to be a hero to show people that no matter how bad things may seem, no matter who threatens Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness, there will always be someone out there who's willing to stand up and sacrifice their time to make sure that they too can be happy. I realize that not everybody can be happy all the time, but I'm going to do my best no matter what!"
"Hmmm…flawed reasoning, but I understand and respect your opinion, nevertheless."
"Thank you. Now tell me: why do you want to destroy society?"
Shigaraki rubbed his cheek. "I could bore you with the story of how I accidentally killed my entire family and of my tutelage under All For One and Dr. Garaki, but there's an even bigger reason: when I was around your age, I met a girl. For some reason, she saw past my hideous figure and took me as a guy who just wanted to be loved. I'll never forget the way her blue eyes sparkled whenever I made eye contact with her, the way she laughed whenever I made jokes about destroying the world or the way her voice bounced whenever she called me "handsome". For the time we knew each other, I had actually found true happiness, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. Sadly, she found out about my association with Dr. Garaki and All For One, and she no longer wanted anything to do with me after that. I wanted to disintegrate her so badly, but when I reached out for her, I froze. It was as if some force beyond my comprehension told me to let her live. I hated her for leaving me, but at the same time, part of me still loved her and hoped that she would see the error of her ways."
Deku nodded. "Interesting. Even if I don't think that it excuses your behavior, I too understand and respect your point of view."
Shigaraki smiled. "Thank you. I don't expect you to like me, but I'm glad that we actually took the time to sit down and hear each other out. Speaking of hearing out, I'd be grateful if you listened to this…"
"What now?"
"According to what I know, this 'Green Death' business has scared the Russians so much that they're calling the Heroes of Lenin."
Deku scratched his head. "Who?"
Shigaraki facepalmed and shook his head. "Wow, for the inheritor of One For All, you're more ignorant than I originally anticipated. Anyways, when the era of Quirks began, the Soviet Union began a program to select citizens with Quirks they deemed worthy and have them breed with each other to produce a new generation of pro heroes. Most of these experiments produced unsatisfactory results, but eventually, a few children were born with Quirks that turned out to the Soviets' liking. When they came of age, they were dubbed the 'Heroes of Lenin' and became the Soviet Union's – and later, Russia's – mightiest heroes. Their current leader is a man named Pavel Isaev, better known as 'Steeleater'. His Quirk allows him to create weapons based on whatever he eats, and supposedly, he can eat materials not known to be edible, hence his alias. He can be really dangerous, but I'm sure that someone of your caliber can take him on."
Deku nodded. "I'll be on alert. Know anything else about the Heroes of Lenin?"
"Nothing other than Isaev. Anyways, I've talked to you long enough. Before you go, promise me one thing…"
Deku tilted his head slightly. "What?"
"Dabi informs me that you're in love with his sister Shoko. In the hopefully unlikely event that the heroes beat me in the end, promise me that you and her will live happily ever after, as sickening as that thought may be."
Deku smiled and gave a thumbs up. "Will do!"
"Good. Farewell, Izuku Midoriya."
"Farewell, Tomura Shigaraki!"
Deku parted ways with Shigaraki.
While Deku and Shigaraki were having a heart to heart, Ashido was taking a walk on the southwestern side of the city. So far, things were going well as she hummed "Rapper's Delight" to herself. Then, she ran into a familiar face…
"Hi, Pinky," said Gigantomachia.
Realizing just who this guy was, Ashido gasped and dropped to her knees.
"HELP! IT'S THE SCARY GUY!"
"It's OK, I'm not here to hurt you! I give you flower!"
Gigantomachia handed Ashido a daffodil. Upon seeing the flower, Ashido let out a happy gasp and gladly took it.
"OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS!* That was so nice of you! You know, maybe you're not such a bad guy after all! Maybe you just need a pink girl to teach you right from wrong!"
Gigantomachia chuckled.
"Ah, I see you and Gigantomachia have become acquainted!"
Ashido turned around and saw that Mr. Compress had addressed her. The other members of the Paranormal Liberation Front besides Shigaraki were there as well. Seeing them, she pulled a Smith & Wesson Model 66 snub-nose from her cleavage and pointed it at them.
"HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!" shouted Ashido.
"Easy with the six-shooter, lady," said Dabi. "We're on your side."
"Huh?" Ashido slowly blinked.
"Strange, right?" said Toga.
"Really? Why?"
"Allow us to explain: our master Shigaraki decided that letting the Russians interfere in our business was impermissible," said Mr. Compress. "Thus, we decided to form a temporary alliance with the heroes."
Spinner shook his head. "I still don't like this, but if the boss says it's so, I'm going along with it."
Realizing that the members of the Paranormal Liberation Front were telling the truth, Ashido lowered her .357
"Sorry!" Ashido smiled awkwardly.
"It's quite all right!" Mr. Compress raised his hand. "We've been through worse!"
"Anyways, I gotta get going now. Best of luck out there!" Ashido waved at the Paranormal Liberation Front.
"You too!" The Paranormal Liberation front waved back at her.
Meanwhile, a little ways north of camp, another two people were about to have their own heart-to-heart…
"Um…Kacchan…"
Kacchan blinked. "What's up, Sladja? Why the long face?"
Sladjana frowned and tapped her index fingers together. "So…there's something I haven't told a lot of people, but I'm going to tell you because I trust you."
Kacchan crossed his arms. "Just tell me. I promise I won't get angry or anything."
"OK. My great-grandmother's family on my mother's side fled Russia to escape the Revolution, and my mother is a Bosniak. Because of this, I faced discrimination a lot, and growing up was tough. I wanted to become a hero so badly because I wanted to bring peace and happiness to people, and knowing that the Russians are trying to invade this lovely country causes me great pain."
Kacchan stared deeply into Sladjana's eyes, not with contempt, but with concern, something he hadn't always afforded to people. He could tell by the trembling of her lips and the flickering of her eyelids that she was trying to hold back tears, so he put her hands on her shoulders.
"Listen, I know I've acted like an asshole towards people, and I don't know what it's like to be where you've been, but it's OK to feel whatever ya want. It doesn't matter to me that you're White. You gave me love and caring like nobody else did, and I just wanna let ya know that I'll love you no matter what."
"K-Kacchan…"
Sladjana swiftly pulled Kacchan into a hug and cried. For the first time since his loss to Deku at the battle tournament, he actually felt genuine hurt. Nevertheless, he gladly hugged her back. He decided that even if love hurt sometimes, and even if this whole thing was new to him, he wasn't going to try to hide from it. She'd helped him to feel much better about himself, and all he could think about was what a wonderful person she was and how he wanted to return the favor to her. Besides, he figured that returning said favor would help him to further patch relations with Deku and help him to feel much better about everything. At the moment, though, hearing his new girlfriend cry made him want to cry as well. Still, he held himself together as well as he could and vowed not to let go of her.
Despite her tears, Sladjana rejoiced in the fact that Kacchan was hugging her. For years, she'd done her best to give her love and caring to people who were in need of it, and knowing that someone was returning that favor to her definitely eased her pain. With every second she cried, she could feel the darkness of her past being obscured by the bright, shining future that lay before her. Granted, nobody could know if that future involved her new boyfriend, but she vowed that no matter what happened, she was going to do her best to be the kind of person that brought peace and happiness to people, standing as tall as the Statue of Liberty. Eventually, Sladjana stopped crying, but she continued to hold on to Kacchan because she loved having his strong, manly arms wrapped around her. She backed away when she had her fill, but kept her hands on him as she looked deeply into his eyes.
"Kacchan…thanks! You have no idea how much I needed that!"
"You're welcome, Sladja! Here…"
Kacchan handed Sladjana some tissues, which she promptly blew her nose and dried her eyes with.
"Kacchan, you're the sweetest boy I've ever met!"
"And you're the sweetest girl I've ever met! Even if you are kinda overbearing, I like bein' with ya!"
"Glad to hear it! Here's something else you'll like…"
"What the…AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
"I knew a cute boy like you would be ticklish!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! KNOCK IT OFF!"
"But I'm just getting started!"
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! STAHP, YOU BITCH!"
"Oh, now you've done it!"
Sladjana knocked Kacchan to the ground and straddled him as she continued to tickle him.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! OK! I'M SORRY! STAHP!"
"Tell me that you love the tickles and I'll stop!" said Sladjana.
"OK! OK! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I LOVE THE TICKLES! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Sladjana tickled Kacchan for a couple more seconds before stopping. He huffed and puffed for a bit.
"Hey, sorry I called ya a bitch," said Kacchan.
Sladjana smiled. "It's OK! I've been called worse!"
"Right. There's only one problem…"
"What?"
"You tickling me made me kinda hard."
"Well, then I'll just have to take care of that!" Sladjana reached for Kacchan's pants.
"Wait, hold on!" Kacchan grabbed Sladjana's hands. "I think you're really sexy and all, but what if someone sees us?"
"Oh, good point!" Sladjana rubbed the back of her head. "At least let me snuggle with you, mili!"
"Fair enough."
Sladjana lied down next to Kacchan and snuggled with him.
"You're really sexy too, you know that?" said Sladjana.
Kacchan smiled. "You're the first girl to tell me that. Actually, I gotta be honest about somethin'…"
"Yes?"
"I don't wanna get married at all, but at the same time, I don't wanna spend my life with anyone else."
"Kacchan, you don't have to get married right now, but you can always change your mind later on!"
"Fair enough!"
And so, Kacchan and Sladjana continued to snuggle. As Kacchan gazed into Sladjana's green eyes, he forgot all about his rivalry with Deku. Even if they hadn't always been on the best terms, this pink-haired Serbian girl made the blond bomberanian want to act like a true friend towards the green bean. Still, there was one other thing he had on his mind:
"Hey, Sladja, tell me somethin'…"
"What?"
"You call me 'mili' a lot. What's that mean?"
"Oh, in Serbian, it means 'honey'!"
Kacchan's eyes widened, and he gasped and blushed when he found out what 'mili' meant.
"Something wrong, Kacchan?"
"I-I'm sorry…just…knowin' you were callin' me that this entire time, I…I just got so hard."
Sladjana straddled Todoroki. "Then there is no question! I must give you release!"
"Sladja, WAIT…!"
Sladjana prepared to undo Kacchan's pants when…
"Deku! Deku!"
Sladjana and Kacchan turned to see who'd been calling out: it was Todoroki, who blushed when she saw them together.
"Um…did I come at a bad time?" asked Todoroki.
Sladjana got up from Kacchan, who got to his feet as well.
"No, everything's OK here!" said Sladjana. "Kacchan and I were just talking!"
Kacchan crossed his arms. "Todoroki, would ya mind tellin' us why the crap ya barged in on us when Sladjana was tryin' to do it with me?"
Todoroki put a hand on her hip. "I don't know what she was trying to do with you, but I was just looking for Deku."
Kacchan pointed over at the hills. "He was goin' to do some recon. That's all I know."
"Hey, Shoko!"
Everyone turned to see who'd addressed them: none other than Deku.
"Oh, hello there, Deku. May I have a word with you in private?"
Deku nodded. "Sure."
Deku followed Todoroki to a bombed-out apartment building.
"OK, Shoko, I can tell you wanted to see me for a specific purpose. What's on your mind?"
Todoroki put a hand on Deku's shoulder. "You were gone for quite a while. What were you doing?"
"I told you, I was scouting for Russian troop positions."
Todoroki leaned in a little closer to Deku. "Were you?"
Deku clenched his fists. "All right, what's this about!?"
Todoroki grabbed Deku by the collar. "I suspect that you've been a little too trusting of the Paranormal Liberation Front. I feel like you've given away information that could come back to bite us in our asses after they turn on us, and you're gonna tell me everything. I'm starting to dislike you…a lot."
Deku clasped his hands together. "Please, Shoko, I swear…I didn't tell anything sensitive to them! I mean, sure, I had a little run-in with Shigaraki, but he had important information for us! I swear, I'm not lying! Don't hurt me!"
Todoroki glared at Deku, who was forming tears in his eyes. While not as skilled as reading people as he was, she could nevertheless tell that he was being truthful with him, so she let him go.
"Deku, I…I'm so sorry! I just…I've been frustrated with this whole war, and I'm having trouble comprehending the fact that the villains are working with us."
Deku smiled. "It's OK! I forgive you!"
Deku gave Todoroki a big hug, which she gladly returned. Relationships are rarely – if ever – perfect, but the two lovebirds thought about how wonderful it was that even if their relationship did have its hiccups, that they could work through them. Eventually, they let go, but not without smiles on their faces.
"Deku, thank you for your forgiveness!"
"No Shoko, thank you for listening to me!"
Todoroki giggled and ruffled Deku's hair. "You're welcome, lover! Now tell me: what sort of information did Shigaraki have for you?"
"Mind if I tell you once we get back to camp?"
Todoroki nodded. "Fair enough."
*-Yet again, the phrase "OH MY DAMN CHERRY BLOSSOMS" is a registered trademark of KagamiPINKAgreste, used with permission.
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Отдали в негодность, а со скатерти кормят ложью.
