Be The Hero, Like A Wizard!

by MaskedEngineer

Having a Quirk that allows complete control over a mundane, ordinary object is hardly an ideal power. To one Yosuke Nendo however, it is all he needs to achieve his childhood dream. With video game expertise, unchecked delusions and unwilling friends, nothing shall stop Nendo on his quest to become the greatest wizard of all time! Rated M for future events.

2. No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

Chapter 2: No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

By the following day, Nendo, still in his working clothes, can be seen sitting on a bench situated not too far from the school that Izuku will graduate from today. And where he would be too, if he was still studying in it.

Staring numbly at the sky, Nendo unscrews the lid of his cold soda bottle, before bringing it up to his mouth and pours half the content down his throat. Actually, soda wasn't his first choice – if he had his way, he'd much prefer going on a booze trip right now, but since he is still five birthdays away from actually being able to get his hands on such things, so carbonated drinks are the next best options. And failing that, cold water.

Usually, the teen doesn't even bother with soda, them being too fizzy for his taste, but right now he needed something to make him forget about the events of last night. This is not happy Nendo or even chill Nendo – he is completely bummed out of his mind, and he has been this way ever since morning came. It is only early in the afternoon, so he should be running his shop.

But he decides not to. Why? Because it wouldn't make any kind of difference, especially given what that letter from the bank has entailed. But what troubles (and puzzled) him more than the fact that he's about to be declared legally homeless in about two weeks, is that his dad never once told him that they were in debt. If he had, Nendo would have been more than happy to work his ass off just to pay it off, no matter the amount. Washing cars, babysitting, basically any oddjobs he can name off the top of his head.

And as a result...the place that was his first real home, and one of the very few mementos he had left of his father with enough emotional value that he willingly dropped out of middle school just to keep it afloat, now about to be sold off to satisfy some godforsaken loan debt, with or without his permission.

Just the mere thought of having to wander the streets again send frigid chills down to his very core. "Alright, time to think about something else." Thought Nendo, shrugging off the negative line of thought. He's been stewing over it all morning, despite doing so won't postpone the foreclosure in any meaningful way.

"Ah, what the hell. It's not like being all sad and angsty is gonna do anything about it. Might as well face reality with a smile." He contemplated, brief moments of pessimism getting sidelined by another rush of optimism as Nendo loses the frown and replace it with his signature grin. It sucks, but once you have hit rock bottom, there is no way to go but up. And that's what Nendo believes in. "Couldn't have gotten worse-"

"Hello? Kid, wake up."

An unfamiliar voice interrupted his line of thought, and Nendo looked back up to see who approached him. "Huh?" It was a man in his late thirties, dressed in the standard police uniform with a handgun strapped to his right hip. The policeman was looking down on him sternly.

"You can't sleep out here, you know." The officer reiterated his point, crossing his arms while keeping his back stiff.

"Oh, I wasn't sleeping, I was just...well, skygazing. Looking at the sky, see what's up." Nendo curtly explained, thinking that because of how slackened his posture looks when he stares at the sky, the policeman must have thought he dozed off.

The officer's eyes widen slightly, before he sheepishly scratches the back of his head. "Is that so? Well, my mistake then. Still, that was a warning. A violent crime happened last night."

"Really? Geez. What happened?" Nendo asks.

"It was dead of night, and the officers that were active at the time weren't present at the crime scene. But what we DO have, is some poor schmuck who got beaten up hard enough to be hospitalized. We're still trying to search for the culprit." The policeman informed the teen, now looking around with concern. "But in any case, should you find any clues to who the perp might be, make sure to report it at the station."

"Uh...yeah! You got it, sir." Said Nendo, getting up from the bench and throwing his bottle into the trash can nearby.

"Good. Now, have a good day." The officer politely tipped his hat before walking away, leaving Nendo alone to ponder to himself. With the advent of Pro Heroes prowling the streets to keep the citizens safe, he thought the days of misconducts and felonies would be over, and in their place are mad Villains giving speeches about taking over the world or something that is similarily over-the-top.

How ironic it is, for reality to be unrealistic. However, this short mental discussion quickly came to an end when Nendo spots his green-haired friend walking out from under the bridge, looking as miserable as ever, a result of being Quirkless in a predominantly-Quirked environment.

And Nendo finds that it is his duty to cheer the boy up. "Oi! Izu-chan!" He hollered enthusiastically, waving his arms at Izuku. Midoriya's expression instantly lightened, if only by a marginal degree.

"Oh, hey Nen-chan. I didn't expect you to be out here." Izuku flatly replied, not really feeling the mood to be all cheery. Compared to yesterday, the tiger inside him deflated a fair bit...but not so much that he can't joke around with Nendo. "Did your shop finally got buy off so they can built that fancy mall on the vacant lot?"

Nendo mentally winced. That joke hit a little bit too close to home. But considering that Izuku have no knowledge of the events that had happened, he didn't blame him. "Heh...yeah. Anyway, congratulations on the-" Whatever Nendo was about to say vanished the moment he noticed some kind of sickly-green, amorphous mass seeping through the holes of the manhole cover behind Izuku, before manifesting into a roughly-humanoid shape. His face adopting an expression of abject horror, Nendo could only extend a hand towards the distant figure of Izuku, opening his mouth.

"IZU! W-WATCH OUT!" The greenette turned around suddenly, but alas, it was too late. The mobile mass of slime has engulfed itself around Izuku, throughly immobilizing him before any struggle could taken place. Upon closer inspection, however, the gooey invader also possesses eyes and a set of teeth.

"NOOO!" Yelled Nendo, sprinting towards the ensnared Izuku while simultaneously generating several floating bricks around his palms and launching them at the sentient slime. "Get off of him!" The bricks flitted through the air at high speeds, but they hardly did any lasting damage as they simply penetrated the semi-fluid body from one end to another, like a bullet passing through water.

"Jokes on you, I'm amorphous!" The slime taunted Nendo victoriously with a voice that sounds like he is submerged underwater, revealing himself to be a villain. "And as for you, just stop squirming. It'll hurt for about a minute, then you'll feel nothin' at all!" The shapeless villain said to Izuku, who would have retorted if not for the sludge now moving down his throat and nasal cavities, making it harder to breathe by the second.

Nendo mentally breaks into a panic. By all accounts, the slime is right! Physical attacks can't do jack to enemies that don't even have anything for said attacks to actually inflict blunt force trauma to!

As the brick-controlling teen tries to come up with plan B, Izuku's savior would come in the form of the manhole cover becoming airborne as a large, muscular fist emerges from beneath. "HAVE NO FEAR, BOY!" Come a booming, masculine voice, with the figure slowly ascending from the manhole, giving onlookers (which composed primarily of Nendo and Izuku) plenty of time to observe him. How his powerfully crafted and toned legs helped him out of the manhole, how his roaring muscles bulge as one hand held onto a bag of plastic bottles, and finally, how his impossibly chiseled jawline and impeccably shiny smile reflected the sunlight, as if made by the Greek gods themselves.

Of course, it is the man, the myth, the legend...

"ALL MIGHT?!" Thought both Nendo and Izuku, the latter in-between moments of lucidity. Cue the heroic fanfare.

"FOR I AM HERE! TEXAS..." The Number One Hero reeled his fist back, the veins leading to his forearm bulging. The amorphous criminal was far too shocked by the sight of the man he's running from appearing to here to properly react, his lidless eyes staring in realization. "SMASH!"

And with a single punch, the slimy villain was splattered apart and reduced to piles of slop on the ground. From where Izuku was, however, he could see that All Might's fist didn't actually touch the slime; he stopped just a couple of centimeters short. But due to the sheer force behind the punch, it was enough to propel the particles in the air and generate a massive gust of wind, thus blowing the villain away and dissociating him from each and every piece of his body. The wind pressure was also strong enough to push all the goop off of Izuku, even temporarily making his face detach from his skull. Nendo, being on the same direction as the slime Villain, finds himself tumbled over due to the wind force as well.

As Midoriya fell to the ground, unconscious, Nendo regains his footing and rushes over to his side, cradling his head. "Izu? Izu! Come on man, you still have so much to live for!" Nendo screamed to the heavens, pressing his ear against Izuku's chest to see if his heart is still pumping.

"Fret not, boy! For your friend is perfectly safe! Though I apologize for knocking him out in the process. I must have been caught up in the chase for this nefarious individual!" Come the bombastic voice of All Might again, his shadow looming over Nendo and Izuku. Turning around, not even Nendo could stop his jaw from dropping like a bag of hammers. He wasn't as fanatical as Izuku when it comes to Pro Heroes, but getting to witness AND meet the greatest hero of this generation in the flesh and blood wasn't a daily occurence.

"Sweet bricks on mortar, it is you!" Nendo exclaimed the obvious, still holding the passed-out Izuku in his arms. Right now, he feels like a random NPC getting into a fated encounter with the Hero destined to save the realms from the main antagonist. "I-It's an honor to meet you, sir. A-And thank you for saving my friend. I don't know what I would do if he was hurt..."

"No need to thank me over such things! It is simply what a hero should do!" All Might humbly wiped his nose, still keeping his million-dollar smile. "To protect and serve the innocent and the weak!"

Nendo had to cover his eyes to protect them from the light rays bouncing off of All Might's gleaming grin, before he remembers that Izuku would be positively ecstatic at the chance of meeting his idol.

"Oh, right! Sir, my friend here is a huge, huge fan of your work. So, I wonder if you could..." He said, scuttering over to Izuku's backpack and rummaging through the school things until he finds the notebook that the greenette always carry around. For some reason, it is in much worse shape than when he last saw it, being covered in burn marks and is tattered around the edges. "Gave him an autograph? Please? It would mean a lot to him."

"Will do, my boy!" All Might swiftly takes the charred notebook and pulls out a pen from his casual trousers, scribbling into the newest page at the supersonic speeds. Then, he returns the notebook with an accurate throw right into Nendo's open palm. "There you go! And I better not see this for sale on a shopping website!"

Nendo inspects the notebook, surprised that it hasn't spontaneously combust due to how fast the Pro Hero was scrawling his autograph. It was also at this time that Izuku began to open his eyes, awakened by All Might's voice. And also thanks to the fact that said voice has no indoor mode at all. "Mmmh...?"

"Izu! You're okay!" The noirette lightly shakes his friend by the shoulders, utterly delighted that Izuku look none the worse for wear. Izuku blinked several times at Nendo, before giving him a reassuring smile. And then, he looked to his right...

"Thank goodness you're okay!" All Might exclaimed with no small relief on his part, extending a hand over to Izuku to help him up. Like a man possessed, Midoriya punted himself out of Nendo's grasp, his built-in fanboy meter shooting through the roof and to the sky above.

"WHAAAAAT?! Y-You're...!" Izuku stuttered like no tomorrow, a natural reaction upon seeing the hero he worships, minus having an actual shrine dedicated to All Might. "It's All Might...in the flesh! Man, seeing him in person...it's totally different from looking through a screen!" Thought the greenette, mentally screaming in glee.

"Also, I must express my utmost gratitude! Thanks to you, I have managed to shut this Villain into this bottle!" All Might loudly declares, brandishing the bottles that contained the same sludge that made up the villain. In one bottle, there was a pair of free-floating eyes, and a set of teeth in the other. "I wish I could have arrived much earlier to prevent him from detaining you, but I must admit, the sewer system was a verified maze!"

"Y-Y-You're All Might! The real thing!" Izuku's inner fanboy finally breaks through, and he began to ramble on. "I-I just can't believe you're here, right in front of me! This is the best day of my life! Your smile really is that shiny in real life!" Then, as if something clicked in, Izuku made a beeline to his backpack, furiously searching through its contents. "Ah yeah, y-your autograph! Could you-"

"Woah there, young man!" All Might let out a hearty chuckle, amused by Izuku's nigh-obsequious fanboying. "Before you ask me such, ask your friend first!"

"Eh-?" Izuku turned around, looking at a grinning Nendo who passed him the damaged notebook. Flipping it open, he saw something that he'll make sure to be passed down to his children, and their children. All Might's autograph, written in a flowery font that covers two whole pages. "EEEEEEEEH?! It's already here!"

"Now if you excuse me, I will be off handing this evil-doer over to the authorities!" And just like that, the Number One Hero coolly walks a safe distance away from the two teens, making sure that when he jumps the aftershock won't affect them. "The next time we met, it shall be through the screen!"

"Thank you, sir! Keep up the good work!" Nendo bowed politely, thankful for All Might's timely rescue. Izuku, however, seems far more disheartened that All Might is about to leave.

"Wha-? You're leaving already?! Can't you stay for a bit more? I wanted to ask something..." Izuku said with a voice that isn't unlike that of a lost puppy. He wanted All Might, his ideal hero and arguably the man he respected the most, to hear him out. To answer his burning question. "Can someone Quirkless become a hero as well?"

"Sorry, my boy, but justice waits for no one. Heroes must always bring the fight to Villains, and to time itself!" All Might stuffed the bottles into his trousers, before squatting down, preparing to make a great leap. "Until then, keep cheering me on!" And with that, he blasts off into the air, cutting through the clouds like a speeding missile.

Nendo watched as All Might takes off, saluting him in the process. "What a legend. Now I see why you're so obsessed with him, Izu." He made a remark, but after hearing no response, Nendo repeats himself. It's weird to do so, since he knows that Izuku never passes up a chance to start a full-blown speech about All Might's heroics. After even more uncomfortable silence, he turned around. "Izu? You there?"

Much to his confusion, Izuku was nowhere to be seen. Nendo did a quick search around the immediate area, but no signs of the greenette at all. It was as if he has vanished into thin air. "Izu? Izu! Where did ya go-" And then, his question was answered via a familiar cry that comes from the sky. Slowly looking up, Nendo's eyes widen ever so slightly. "Don't tell me..."

To further confirm his suspicions, something fell on his head. Looking down and picking it up, Nendo realized that it was a single shoe. Not just anyone's shoes, but Izuku's. And then...it all comes together for Nendo. In the time it takes for All Might to take off, the green-haired teen has somehow held onto the Pro Hero and gone airborne alongside him.

Clutching the shoe with a shaky hand, a horrified Nendo chased after what he assume is All Might and Izuku blitzing through the clouds, cursing himself for not holding Izuku back. "Oh for fuck sake-Izu! IZU! Let go of him, I'll catch you from down here!" He yells ineffectually, as from where Izuku is right now, he would have needed super hearing to pick that up.

In the midst of All Might busy telling Izuku to let go, Izuku clinging onto All Might's leg for dear life and Nendo chasing after the two on foot, none of them were aware that two bottles containing green sludge have fallen out of the sky.

-0-

Despite having run out of breath a while ago, Nendo kept on running and not even stopping until he has completely lost track of All Might and Izuku. Maybe it was good thing, considering how the moment he halted, the oxygen debt has build up to the point that Nendo nearly pukes his guts out.

Resting his back against a lamp post and hyperventilating, a gassed Nendo tries to get some stamina back before he can continue the chase. Just as he managed to get some breath back into his lungs, Nendo saw a pair of empty water bottles blew by, due to the wind acting up. At first, he didn't really care about, well, just empty bottles carelessly threw out by someone.

But something else caught his eye, and the fear and worry he felt not too long ago returned. Dark, green patches of sludge sticking to the several spots inside the bottles, most likely to be the residue of whatever that used to inhabit them. "Did that slime guy...escaped? But how-"

Then, a massive explosion goes off in the distance behind where he is standing, causing Nendo to jump out of fright. Usually, when a loud noise is created, especially one that belongs to an explosion, instincts would tell one to run away as far as possible to safety. However, there was another force at play here: curiosity. The urge to find out what was going on overpowered any fear or inhibitions he might have, and thus Nendo gravitated towards the source of the noise.

Turning around a corner, Nendo was greeted with the sight of a large crowd, gathering before what seems to be an active warzone, as all he could see and hear was explosions, more explosions, various rubble going explosively airborne and raging fires billowing all around, both on the buildings and the street itself.

Pushing his way through the crowd, Nendo saw the apparent source of all this destruction: the sludge villain from earlier, who is now wreaking havoc with...explosions coming out of his hands? He didn't remember the villain could do something like that. If he could, Nendo assumed that he would put up more of a fight to All Might.

But again, just being able to going toe-to-toe with someone who can literally split the sky in half with a single punch requires a lot more perks than just making boom-booms, so Nendo admits to himself that he was being kind of demanding.

Looking around, he could see several other Pro Heroes at the scene, but none of them seem to be doing anything to stop the villain from causing further damage. A giant lady in a skintight suit, who he recognizes as Mount Lady, an up-and-coming Pro Heroine, was on the other end of the road with her massive gigantism disabling the heroine from actually entering the street to begin with, a guy whose body appears to be composed of wood, a historically flammable material, who can't approach the explosive sludge villain for obvious reasons and another guy dressed in a fireman's garment with fire hoses for hands who is too busy putting out the spreading fire.

There are also some other heroes at the scene as well, but they just stand there and point at the villain in an overly dramatic manner rather than doing anything useful.

Simply put, all of them aren't in a position to do much at all. But what irks Nendo more than anything is that, despite their Quirks being disadvantageous, these supposed Pro Heroes aren't even trying to take the fight to villain himself, instead preferring to do damage control and shifting the responsibility to somebody else.

None of this matters however, the second Nendo saw a little girl, no more than five years of age, slipping through the barrier of policemen and wandering into the scene herself, curiously looking around and at the villain while her mother was calling for her to no avail. The sludge villain, who has become even more homicidal now that he has gotten his slimey hands on a powerful Quirk, decided to attack the little girl just because.

Remember how citizens are often advised to stay away from villain activities and let the Pros deal with it? Well, there's only one thing he could say to that particular guideline right now.

"Ah, fuck it."

Before the villain can achieve such goal, Nendo ran past the policemen, deaf to the protests of the Pro Heroes around him, wraps his arms around the little girl and roll into a ball, barely tumbling away from the sludge villain's hand. Once sure that the girl is perfectly safe, he pushed her back into the crowd, where the police quickly escort her back to her mother.

The act stunned the onlookers, since as far as they were concerned, this completely-normal nobody has just rushed into a place where none of the Pro Heroes dare tread and rescue a child. Unsurprisingly, said act also pissed off the villain, whose anger starts to boil once he realizes who was playing the hero.

"YOU!" The amorphous villain roared at Nendo, who gets back up and shot a determined glare at him. "You're the one who throw those bricks at me!"

Nendo continued glaring, but to be absolutely honest, he was scared out of his mind. But if he wasn't going to save that kid, who will? As such, even though he might have won a prize for lethal stupidity, he felt no regret whatsoever. "Yep, that's me. What are you gonna do about it? Cry that I stole your fun?"

"What am I gonna do?! I'm going to blow you up to bits, THEN ABSORB YOU!" The sludge villain threatened, slamming his hand down the ground which generated yet another explosion. "Your Quirk ain't as delicious as this one I'm having, but I could always use a change of taste!" Without further warning, the villain aims for Nendo, miniature cracks of explosive energy already forming at his gooey hand.

Nendo quickly leaped aside, very narrowly avoided getting blown up. But since the explosion happened so close, its kinetic force is still enough to throw Nendo off balance. The villain cleverly used this to his advantage, summoning another hand to strike the brick controller with. Feeling a potential death fast approaching, Nendo does the reasonable thing of raising his arms up and forming a brick wall to guard.

Having a brick wall to absorb an explosion proves to be a good idea, as bricks are naturally fire-resistant, but since it was done on a whim, Nendo doesn't have enough time to make it thick enough or large enough. As a consequence, some of the explosion leaked through and burned Nendo as he is sent flying several meters backwards.

While Yosuke laid motionless and in pain, the sludge villain has taken a slower approach, placidly moving towards Nendo with the intention of toying with his victim. "Heh...you little shit. You're making this fun." He said, with his jaws moving up and down as he breaks into an arrogant guffaw.

Fortunately, Nendo wasn't down for the count yet. Slowly getting back up on one knee and taking off his burning apron, he realizes that the villain was holding someone hostage as well. And not just anybody, but a teen around Izuku's age, with a distinctive hairstyle and blood-red eyes that seemed like they were about to burst into tears.

"Bakugo? How did he..." It all comes together for Nendo, as to how the villain manages to make explosions to begin with. Then, as if going insane, the noirette began cracking up as well, his own laugh soon overshadow the villain's.

Slightly unnerved but still mostly confident, the sludge criminal yelled at him. "Oi! What the hell are you laughing for?!"

"Oh, nothing much...just the fact that you're a complete phony. That Quirk ain't yours." Nendo replied, his grimace disappearing and in its place a grin. "And here I thought you're more powerful than you look. But oh well, mistakes were made." Judging from how prideful the villain behaves, Nendo purposefully acts cocky in order to get him riled up, which in turn would make villain attack more recklessly and show his openings. He knows he's doing it on borrowed time, as it is only a matter of such before Bakugo suffocates inside the villain.

And so far, it seems to work. "Tch, so what? Doesn't change the fact that I can still blow you all the way to hell and below. Your brick magic shit ain't crap compared to mine!" The sludge villain continues to boast, but it's clear that cracks of insecurity are beginning to reveal themselves. "If I were you, I would just pull my pants down and start sucking my thumb. You'll lose anyway."

"That's what you would do? Man, for someone with a Quirk that powerful, you're just pathetic." Nendo continually took potshots at the villain, much to the dismay of the Pro Heroes and the excitement of the crowd, who were all hyped up that an actual fight has happened between a villain and someone who isn't even registered as a professional hero. "I'll let you on in a little something. Heroes fighting villains...or hell, even heroes fighting heroes and vice versa on your side, it's not like a sport."

"Huh? What the hell are you on about?" The villain rudely interrupts, getting impatient. His fluid-like body moves randomly around, occasionally exposing his blonde hostage's head and letting him have some oxygen back. Of course, the villain was so focused on Nendo that he hardly acknowledge it.

"Who gets blessed and who gets shafted, it doesn't matter. All that matters is who can tough it out in the end. When someone is beaten down, it's not losing. The one who gives up, they're the loser." Nendo taunted, now standing upright and clutching his fists. "You can have a Quirk that's basically an 'I Win' button, but if you can't keep up, then it doesn't mean jack. Don't you think so?"

"AAARGH!" The villain throws a fit, slamming his fists down the ground. It is an obvious sign of what little patience there is inside reaching its end. "Just get to the point! What are you trying to say?!"

"What I'm saying is...when you told me I'll lose anyway, it's not true. Cause I haven't given up yet. Not like you." Nendo points an accusing finger at the sludge villain, while his other hand summon a pair of bricks to orbit around him. "All you ever do is give up and ran away, and when you see a chance of getting stronger, you take it, the means be damned. And when that doesn't work either, you ran away again and wait another day. Without that Quirk your hostage gives you, you're probably not even half as tough."

"Shut up! With all that spunk in your mouth, I hope you fucking choke on it!" The sludge villain angrily argues, making it plain to see that his rage is reaching its breaking point, judging from his increasingly bloodshot eyes and shrinking pupils.

"What's wrong? Scared?" Nendo flashes a devilish smirk, knowing that he has pushed nearly all of the anger-inducing buttons on the villain now. "Hell, All Might would probably just flick you with a single finger-"

"DON'T TALK ABOUT ALL MIGHT! I'LL HAVE MY PAYBACK, JUST YOU SEE! Until then..." The sludge villain formed another explosive hand and slams it downwards, fully intending on killing Nendo now.

"DIE, YOU LITTLE SHIT!" Nendo's face hardens as he enters battle mode, raising his hands to create another wall, which made contact with the villain's hand, thus causing another violent detonation.

BOSS FIGHT!

SLUDGE VILLAIN, IN POSSESSION OF KATSUKI BAKUGO'S QUIRK

THE BATTLE STARTS!

Unlike before, the brick wall held its own and didn't get reduced to rubble; instead, only the outer edges were broken off, leaving the central parts of the wall intact, aside from a few cracks on the surface. Not to be dissuaded, the villain tries to force his mud-like body through the cracks to latch on Nendo, only for the noirette to launch the wall upwards, catapulting both it and a portion of the villain into the atmosphere.

Both combatants distanced from each other, with a beacon of light briefly engulfing them, signifying their entering of combat. A vile, purple aura menacingly surrounds the sludge villain like a literal fog of war.

Nendo took a second to inspect the villain's stats, and he almost buckled when he saw the tag floating above him.

LV.8 Sludge Villain, which means the villain is more than twice the level Nendo is currently at. He knew he wasn't going to be anything more than nuisance to this guy, but goddamn it if he wasn't going to die trying!

Given the villain's semi-liquid nature and size, Nendo can only use attacks that has a wide range or will affect many opponents at once. If he can't hurt the villain, he might as well shave him down to size. Selecting his skills, Nendo chose to launch another wall.

Nendo Offensively Uses A Wall!

Concentrating a large amount of red dust into his balled fist, Nendo threw his hand forward with all his might, launching a speeding brick wall towards the sludge villain, who easily folded his body sideways and dodged the wall, causing it to crash into a damaged car and further turning it into junk. The onomatopoeia of 'MISS!' appeared to clarify that, yes, that attack Nendo did was a complete miss.

Sludge Villain Attacks!

"My turn!" The villain roared, raising an arm up in conjunction with his hostage's and leaped towards Nendo, aiming for his head. Due to how lengthy said jump took, Nendo manages to predict this and fell backwards out of range. Unfortunately, Nendo hit his back on a sharp piece of rubble in the process, chipping off a pip of his health. It's minor, but it also stings.

While recovering from his, ironically enough, self-damaging dodge, Nendo wracked his mind to come up with his next move. Controlling bricks was the only thing he can do, and it's entirely physical in nature. What will he do next? Or, what can he do next?

There's no way physical attacks can affect fluids-

Wait. That's not true. Why? Because he saw All Might punching the sludge villain, and it works wonders! Or maybe...he didn't physically punch the villain, but instead just use the force created from said punch to split him apart?

An imaginary light bulb flickers to life on Nendo's head, before fizzling out again. Perhaps brute force is the answer...he just have to use it in a different way.

Nendo Leveled Up! Awakening A New Skill...

With newfound vigor, Nendo raised a beckoning hand at the villain. Red dust emanates from it...before a simple pair of bricks are formed, orbiting on his hand. As the sludge villain raised a metaphorical eyebrow at what Nendo is doing, he began to make the bricks orbit faster. And faster. And faster.

The speed of the bricks at which they are rotating each other keep on increasing, the laws of brick physics throughly ignored as their master, Nendo tells them to keep spinning faster. Soon enough, the pair of bricks were orbiting around his hand at such neckbreak velocity that meteorological gales have been formed around Nendo's hand, with the bricks created a miniature tornado of sorts out of sheer centrifugal force, which is entirely visible because the small, violent column of air the bricks create has gathered all the dust and debris around.

Looking back at the sludge villain with an empowered stare, Nendo directed the spinning bricks up to his index finger. "Try this on for size!" In a swift motion, Nendo pointed his finger towards his opponent, and the bricks followed suit, cutting through the air like a railgun projectile, far faster than any unmodified eye could see. It was only because of the visual warnings Nendo gave that the sludge villain even thought of getting out of the way, but even then, only by the skin of his teeth.

As the pair of rapidly-rotating bricks skim past the amorphous mass, however, the centrifugal force they generated was powerful enough to create a suction effect. Entire portions of the villain's body was sucked into the narrow spiral of air and went along with the bricks. Once the projectile has left the scene, the villain is now a tiny bit smaller, no thanks to having entire parts of his body vacuumed away, exposing his hostage's arms and abdomen.

The crowd and the observing heroes were silenced, clearly not expecting such a ridiculous attack to actually work and did some real damage to the sludge villain.

"W-What the? You damn brat!" Cursed the villain, though he wasn't being as loud as before upon realizing that this kid is more aware of his weakness than he would be willing to give him credit for. "You'll pay for doing that to me!"

Nendo, who was clutching his head, wasn't in the state to listen as summoning the attack has given him mental fatigue. To come up with the attack, Nendo has to visualize a pair of bricks orbiting each other at a speed that would make bullet trains look like overcompensated forklifts. Therefore, it has cost him quite a bit of MP.

While Nendo recovers from the usage of a costly skill, the sludge villain saw a chance for a cheap shot and took it, charging towards the brickmancer and create an explosion squarely on his center of mass.

Sludge Villain Strikes Opportunistically!

Critical Hit!

The result of having your gut as ground zero for an explosion with roughly the force of a grenade is to get blown backwards across the scenery like a ragdoll, which Nendo is subjected to. Feeling as if his stomach just got socked with a sledgehammer at full swing, he wasn't sure if he could get up again after hitting the ground...

But the agony of making impact with the hot, coarse tarmac of the street never came. Instead, it felt softer and more welcoming, like flesh covered with fabric. As two foreign arms try their best to pull him up from his slump, Nendo looked up.

And he instantly recognize those green, odd-angled locks of hair.

Izuku Midoriya Joined The Battle!

"Izu! Lucky me, I was looking for you the whole time. Where'd you go?" Nendo quipped, somehow still finding humor in a life-or-death situation like this. "Still, thanks for the save."

"I-I heard all the explosions, so I come to check, and...here I was, watching you fight that villain on your own, all because of my own stupid fault." Izuku recounted his experience remorsefully, helping his wounded friend up in the process. "Then I saw Kacchan being imprisoned by him, and it was just too much for me to stand there. I don't know what happened, but I felt like I have to pitch in and help."

"Spoken...like a true hero, Izu." Said Nendo with a ghost of a smile on his face, wiping away a thin stream of blood flowing from his nose. Summoning a brick on each palm, he was ready to fight again, if with a declining health bar. "Now, wanna help me smoke this guy? Maybe you'll even manifest your Quirk!"

Izuku, knewing that there is not a chance in hell he's backing out of this, considering the villain has already began to stare a hole through his soul. With a shaky sigh, the greenette acquiesced into the decision of fighting alongside Nendo, even if it won't make much of difference. "O-Okay...I'll give it my best shot!" Raising his skinny fists up, Izuku's terrified eyes become filled with resolve.

Nendo Recovered MP!

The sludge villain, witnessing the kid that almost become his guise appearing again, seems to have regained his confidence, chuckling maniacally. "It's you again! If that friend of yours can't even do anything to me, what makes you think you can, brat?" Then, in an attempt to intimidate his two opponents, the villain altered his appearance from that of a simple humanoid blob with eyes and teeth to, still a humanoid blob with eyes and teeth, but significantly larger and with multiple sharp 'claws' formed out of muck.

Only one thought runs through the Pro Heroes' heads as they are watching: "These dumbass kids are gonna get themselves killed!"

Sludge Villain Made Himself Look Bigger!

Nendo takes one long gaze, before bursting into a series of giggles from just how ridiculous the villain looks. Being an avid gamer, he has faced bigger and scarier monster designs than the sludge villain could ever come up with. If this is his second phase, then he could take some lessons from Arcane Quest's third story boss.

Izuku didn't have the same optimistic approach, however. Already intimidated from the start, now he has to face down the villain that looks like he comes straight out of his nightmares. The stress caused by his past experience briefly resurfaces...and Izuku quickly stamps down on it. He's scared to death, but not so scared that he's not willing to lay down his life to save his childhood friend and concurrent bully. Since the first thing Izuku does before joining Nendo is to accept his own mortality, his determination remains firm, if a bit shaken.

Nendo Remains Unaffected!

Midoriya Remains Unaffected!

With the villain's attempt at mad-dogging the two failed, it is now Izuku's turn to make a move. Nendo gave his friend a knowing wink, before making way for the greenette to dish out his attacks, which surely will vanquish the villain in a single blow.

Midoriya, after mentally writing out his will and testament, takes a deep breath...before subverting all of Nendo's expectations by charging headlong into the sludge villain without pause or hesitation.

Midoriya Rushes In With Reckless Abandon!

As Izuku runs towards the villain, he starts unpacking his backpack and threw it with all the force he can muster. He is still Quirkless, so this is the best offensive option he could come up with. The backpack spills out all of its contents mid-flight, and while most of them merely gets absorbed into the villain or miss entirely, a metallic pencil case jams itself right into one of his eyeballs, causing the villain to recoil in agony.

Izuku uses the brief moment of respite to grab Bakugo's arm and pull as hard as he can, even batting as much sludge as he can away from Bakugo as possible to free him. As noble as it is, his attempts were unsuccessful. "Kacchan, hold on!"

"Deku?! What the fuck are you and that brick bastard doing here?!" The blonde yelled at the top of his lungs once he manages to use his mouth again, spitting out several chunks of sludge.

"I don't know! My legs just moved on their own!" Said Izuku tearily, his voice cracking up and become filled with emotion. "Besides, you look like you could use a hand! I can't just stand there, watching you get hurt!"

The sludge villain was less than pleased that some uppity kid is trying to take away his sweet source of power. "GODDAMN BRAT! Why do you have to go in and ruin the fun?!" With pure rage in his eyes, the villain whips out a giant hand that forms a shadow over both Izuku and Bakugo. "Just a little more and he's mine, SO DON'T GET IN MY WAY!"

Just as Izuku was a hair's breadth away from getting blown apart and absorbed, a wall made of solid bricks manifests above him, protecting the greenette from the hand which splatters against the floating wall, turning it into brick-red rubble.

Nendo's timely help earned him a grateful smile from Izuku. Forming another brick on his hand, he levitates it towards Izuku for the teen to catch. "Izu, hold onto that!" Recognizing what Nendo was preparing to do, Izuku held Bakugo's arm tightly before grabbing the brick, giving the brick-controlling teen a knowing nod.

Receiving the cue to act, Nendo fires up his mind muscles and began to telekinetically pull the brick back to him, and by extension Izuku and Bakugo as well. Midoriya clings onto the brick with every piece of strength his arm and hand could muster, all the while tugging the explosive blonde by the collar of his uniform. Since the villain was actively resisting the pulling motion as well, the fight soon devolves into a superpowered tug-of-war.

The protracted battle went on for at least another minute, with neither sides showing any sign of giving in. Nendo's head throbbed with his veins visibly pulsing, due to the strain of having to exercise his brick-telekinesis like never before. Izuku still does his best to hold onto Bakugo and the brick, but it's plain to see that his grip on both is weakening. For all of his courage, he is only human after all, and everyone has their limits.

Streams of tears flow freely down the sides of Izuku's cheeks, not because of pain, but because he knows that he's the weakest link here. Eventually, his arms will give up, Bakugo will get fully overtaken by the sludge villain, and he and Nendo will lose. The thought of his own weakness dooming someone else horrified him to the core.

Nendo grits his teeth with maximum effort, pouring every last drop of willpower into pulling Izuku and Bakugo from the slimey jaws of the villain. He didn't care if he looks like, and is about to, pop a blood vessel. Fortunately for Nendo, he doesn't have to go that far as a certain tall, muscular man with a chiseled physique leaps in at blindingly fast speeds, so much so that the only indication of movement was a golden blur.

All Might Joined The Battle!

"What a hypocrite I am! How could I chew you out for something I, myself nearly didn't put into practice just now?!" The Number One Hero admonishes himself, tugging the uniforms of both Izuku and Bakugo. Though the two of them were too caught up in the chaos to pay attention, All Might coughs up a mouthful of blood as he reels his fist back, veins bulging up. "A hero...always lay their life on the line!"

All Might Swings His Fist With Immense Power!

"ALL MIGHT!" Cried the sludge villain, his hunger for the Pro Hero's blood flaring up again and causing him to abandon all reason to do something as absurd as trying to absorb All Might whole with his body. "YOU DON'T GET TO DO THIS TO ME, YOU FU-"

"DETROIT SMASH!" His eyes glowing a motivated blue, All Might delivers an overhead haymaker down onto the villain. The instant his fist connects with the sludge, a massive shockwave occurs as the mud-like villain practically exploded with droplets and bits of him flying all over the scenery, some reaching as high as the clouds and possibly even beyond that. As expected, the punch that reduced someone to oblivion also generated huge gusts of wind that blew out all the fire, knock down several civilians and cause Izuku and Katsuki to flap loosely in the air like two strips of raw bacon in a wind tunnel.

Nendo, who was still diligently pulling the brick back, was knocked flat on his bottom as well. What happens next is quite a glaring example of betrayal, as the brick that he worked so hard to retrieve, that he spawn into this world for the good of his other compatriots, flew straight towards his face.

"You too, brick?" Said Nendo, mere seconds before getting clocked on the forehead by a solid piece of burnt clay. While he didn't get clobbered into unconsciousness, what he did get was a sore, growing bump that further exacerbates his persistent headache. "Ow..."

Laying on the ground, Nendo blinks as a drop of liquid hits him on the cheek. Then another. It took eight, nine drops to made contact before he realizes that it rains. Looking at All Might with a smoking fist, Nendo couldn't help but be in awe of the man who punched so hard, the weather shifted.

The Sludge Villain Was Defeated!

Slowly raising his arms in the air, Nendo victoriously cheers, albeit sounding a tad more tired than usual. "The enemy...is defeated!" And with that, Nendo went limp on the ground again.

CONGRATULATIONS!

RESULTS:

Generic XP Earned! Nendo's Level Increased From LV.3 to LV.6!
"I feel the stats going up!"

Midoriya's Level Increased From LV.1 to LV.3!
"I'm...I'm getting stronger!"

All Might's Level Is Already Maxed Out!

Job XP Earned! Nendo's Magician Increased From LV.2 to LV.4!

Midoriya's Quirkless Guy Increased From LV.1 to LV.3!

All Might's Symbol of Peace Is Already Maxed Out!

UNLOCKED SKILL: Brick Shot

Once the smoke left over from the fires dissipate away, a proud All Might stood tall in the middle of the ruined street, his smile unwavering. As soon as the people processed the chain of events, entire crowds began to cheer for his acts of heroism by throwing their hats, purses and various valuable accessories into the air, completely forgetting about Nendo and Izuku. Even the photographers and reporters that usually concentrate in great numbers under Mount Lady's legs turned their cameras to him.

As soon as the rain clears out, the Pro Heroes immediately went to work, picking out pieces of the sludge villain that re-entered the atmosphere as droplets. After scooping up the last bits, the sludge villain is then imprisoned in several sealed containers to be safely delivered to the police, who were all provided with specialized vacuum cleaners in case the villain gets the slip on them.

Once the detainment process was done, the licensed heroes then move on to dealing with the non-professionals involved in the situation, specifically Nendo, Izuku and Bakugo. While Bakugo was showered with pats on the backs and praises, even receiving a lucrative offer to become the sidekick of a soon-to-be Pro, the blonde's facial expressions showed that he has much more important things on his mind right now to even give half a damn about what everyone is saying.

Izuku wasn't as lucky, getting scolded and severely reprimanded for being reckless, and was lectured on how he should have left the matter to the professionals to deal with. Izuku wanted to talk back, but seeing how he technically did break the established rules, the greenette opt to remain quiet. Eventually, he was let off with a warning, but nothing else aside from that.

Nendo arguably got the biggest dressing down out of the three teens, being the one to initiate a fight with the villain, potentially endangering civilians for doing so and using his Quirk in public, right in front of the Pro Heroes. With not one, not two but three red lines crossed was enough for Nendo to be turned into a biblical scapegoat. After spending several minutes getting his eardrums blasted by five different people, one muscular hero with what looks like huge metallic cuffs on his wrists stops yelling at Nendo, instead crossing his arms in a disappointed manner. "Well? What do you got to say for yourself?"

Nendo contemplated his many responses and choose the one that makes the most sense to him. "I regret nothing." Said Nendo, with the straightest face he can muster.

This apparent display of insolence and bullheadedness earned him varying responses from the Pro Heroes, almost all of them negative. Some were shocked, others were appalled and few looked ready to explode. "Excuse me?" Asked the muscular hero, whose gruff voice makes it clear that he's not to be trifled with.

"I said, 'I regret nothing'." Nendo repeats his words, not letting himself to be pressured by the Pro Heroes. He often held these people in high regards, but after what happened, the pedestals were slightly shaken.

"You regret...nothing? You regret NOTHING?! Kid, if it wasn't for All Might's intervention, you would have died! Do you need to get whisked off to the morgue just to get some logic through that thick skull?" The Pro Hero starts airing out his vocal cords again. "There is absolutely no rhyme or reason at all for you to get yourself into danger like that, especially not by starting a fight with a villain!"

"Actually...I do have a reason." Nendo swiftly rebuked. "While you were busy with damage control, a little girl got out of line. You all either don't notice or just don't care, so I gotta do what I have to do. And as for 'starting a fight'...the villain got beef with me first, not the other way around."

"None of us has an advantageous Quirk to deal with such a villain! Had we approach him, we would have been seriously injured or worse!" One hero with a bird beak mask said to Nendo. "And when we are, there would be no one to handle-"

"And there you go. That's the problem, can't you see?" The noirette cuts in, his grey eyes now narrowing. "Trouble happens, and the first thing you think of is yourself. How will you this, how would you that...you don't even care about what truly matters, like the hostage. For someone whose job description is literally to be a hero, that is so...typical." Despite him ripping into the Pro Heroes for their flaws, Nendo sounded much more disheartened than angry.

"Tch! What do you know? You're not the one having to risk your life everyday. Isn't that right, Death Arms?" Mount Lady quickly protests, before shutting herself up the moment the square-jawed Pro Hero raised a clenched backhand, the universal hand signal for silence.

The hero, now named Death Arms looked down solemnly, his angered expression slowly mellowing out. He thought about what Nendo said. This kid, who wasn't even a registered hero, just reminded them of the very nature of their profession. While he may have long lost the passion for Pro-Heroism, the fire inside Nendo's eyes reignited some of it. "...He's right. We do be like that at times." Said Death Arms, sounding far calmer and more assertive than he was before. "And that's not how heroes should behave."

"What? Death Arms, you can't possibly be sticking up for the kid!" The now-shrinked heroine childishly stomps her feet. "Especially not after he and his friend steals my spotlight!"

Though it wasn't enough for Death Arms to rethink his decision. "Enough. But still, you can't just be running into danger like that. I know you mean well and all...but you die out there, what are we going to tell your family? Your parents?"

Nendo doesn't technically have parents anymore, but he figured that uncle Ushio and uncle Yoshino fills in the family spots just fine by themselves. "Yeah...understood, sir. Don't worry, I won't attempt another stint like that in the future." Nendo regains his cheerful nature, giving Death Arms a soot-covered thumbs up.

"Heh. I guess I should apologize for being a bit too harsh back there." The Punching Hero said with a relaxed tone, before looking around with glinted eyes. After seeing no cameras in sight, he leans closer to Nendo. "That being said, you did one hell of a job out there. Even if you didn't win, your Quirk still holds up better than any of ours. So I say...well done, kid. If you got some time to spare, you should hit up my agency. That way, we can practice on how to use those bricks of yours for support. I usually have problems with getting criminals into my range, so having brick walls to corner them would help."

The wooden hero from earlier eavesdropped on the secret conversation, before deciding to butt in to give his own two cents. "I don't wish to be disrespectful, but I felt like his Quirk would complement mine better than yours. Bricks are one of the best materials for fire protection, and given how my Quirk endangers me when I come into contact with extreme heat, having him with me could really improve my range of action." Said the arborial human conspiratorially, attempts to hand Nendo his card, only for Death Arms to pull his hand back.

The two Pros ended up trading insults and retorts, all while Nendo stands there. Using the petty squabble as a distraction, the brick-controlling teen excused himself from the premise. He would be lying if he said having two Pro Heroes fighting over him didn't felt good, though. He was about to went over to Izuku...only to find the messy-haired teen disappearing once again. Sighing heavily, the brickmancer returns to his sidequest of finding Izuku.

Creating staircases out of bricks that go over houses and other establishments, Nendo skips entire districts in order to get to the street where Izuku would likely be using to walk home. Once arrived, Nendo dispels the staircases before hiding behind a nearby parking truck, silently waiting for Izuku to come. He thought that, since his friend has just gone through two possible PTSD-inducing moments, a little jumpscare can bring him back to good spirits.

After spending an entire minute standing in wait, the greenette is finally spotted walking down the road, looking about as mentally alive as a muppet with broccoli attached to its head. Holding his breath until Izuku moved pass the truck, Nendo leaps out and grabs his shoulders. "BOO!"

A stone-faced Midoriya remains quiet at Nendo's pathetic attempt at scaring others for an uncomfortably long period of time, before the green-haired teen physically forces himself to produce an obviously fake smile. "Hey, Nen-chan."

Nendo drops the act, patting Izuku on the back supportively. "Izu, what's with that face? You're trying to be a hero, not a nine-to-five office worker. Lighten up!" Seeing how Izuku remains glum, Yosuke's voice become a bit more serious. "Come on, Izu. What's bothering you?"

Izuku could tell that Nendo only wanted to help, and he appreciates it. After all, who's better to share all of your insecurities with other than a friend? Aside from your own mother, of course. "Remember when I hold onto All Might as he jumped?"

"Oh...oh yeah!" Nendo's eyes widen in realization while speaking in a sarcastically high-pitched voice, then he proceeds to give Izuku a slap to the back of his head. "I do remember. And thanks for reminding me to give that to you, idiot Izu. I mean, I'm no stranger to doing dumb shit myself, but hitching a ride on someone who can pretty much leap into the moon, fast enough to create sonic booms? I'm surprised your eyelashes are intact."

"Yeah, yeah...well, that same idiot make All Might drop the bottles...and unleashed that villain again. It's just...I felt so bad about it. I'm the one who basically put everything into motion, and wasted everybody's time." Said Izuku with a saddened expression, feeling more down than ever. "I wondered if I could meet All Might again for an apology. Or maybe I should leave it on his website..."

"Oh, cut yourself some slack. Even if you did indirectly cause the whole thing, which I find very hard to believe," Nendo wraps an arm around Izuku, playfully giving his fluffy hair a noogie. "You still owe up to it by jumping in and helping me, even though that sludge guy could easily blow you up or just drown you in his body. If that isn't the epitome of badass redemption, I don't know what is."

Izuku's eyes softened, and he made a few novel attempts to resist Nendo's head rub of doom, but ultimately gives up halfway through. He had to admit, with a Quirk spawns a rough, solid material, he didn't expect Nendo's hands are wonderful at giving rubs. "Thanks...but I don't think it even means anything now. The second I get home, Mom's gonna kill me. Either that, or she'll ground me for the rest of the week."

"What? Nah, I don't think Mrs. Midoriya is that kind of person. I mean, I met her a few times already and from what I can see, she seems like a pretty sweet and kind woman." Remarked Nendo, fondly reminiscing his memories about Izuku's mother and how she would often visit his dad's shop for the same ingredients that her son now buys in her place.

"From an outsider's view, yes. Believe me, getting to know her personally is a whole different can of worms." Spoke Izuku with a dry tone, throwing his hands in the air. "One time when we were kids, I scraped my knee...and for the next two weeks, she made me wear ten layers of cotton around my legs."

Nendo nearly loses it upon remembering those days where Izuku had to waddle around like a penguin due to the sheer volume of cotton sheets around his legs. "I swear, that was the most beautiful thing I ever witnessed back then. Looking at you going to school with those on is one for the history books."

"Nendo, please...just stop with the sarcasm, I get it." Izuku replied wearily, massaging his temples.

"What? No! I wasn't being sarcastic at all! How could you think of me that way?" Nendo place a hand on his chest where his heart is, bemoaning in a faux-dramatic manner. "I really thought that getup was amazing!"

"Wait...really?" Asked the greenette, finding it hard to believe that strapping thick layers of cotton around your legs could be considered fashionable.

"Yeah! Like, wearing those instantly gave you protection against hard physical attacks, in exchange for just a moderate slowdown in movement speed and agility. When it comes to leg armor, the stats don't really get any better than that." The noirette explains his reason through the easiest way he can: gaming terms. "You have almost full resistance against blunt force trauma to the legs!"

Seeing his friend begin to nerd out like that only makes Izuku laugh, both at Nendo and himself. "Well, if you put it like that...I guess it does protect me from scrapes. But believe me, Nendo, the stats aren't worth the loss in dignity." Izuku deadpanned.

"Oh, it's totally worth it. You see Izu, I'm a true believer in 'function over fashion'. No matter how crappy something looks, if it has good stats, you bet your ass I'm putting it on. Same reason why I wear the same red hoodie every evening." Nendo's untreated schizophrenia again slithered its way to his brain, comparing fictional, computerized values to real-life clothing. "I mean, there's an armor set in Arcane Quest that offers fifty-fifty protection against everything...but it literally makes you smell like shit, so you can't even interact with the NPCs-"

"OI!" Came an angry voice that is accentuated with so much verbal violence and potential death threats that it made Nendo paused. Izuku, on the other hand, jumped in fear. "DEKU!"

"Y-Yes, Kacchan?" Izuku stuttered, looking back to see Bakugo, his eternal tormentor whose stare is boring a hole through his head. The explosive blonde stomps his way towards Izuku and gets right up to his face, shouting.

"I never, ever, not even once, asked for your help, nor will I ever need it! So tell me, exactly what the fuck goes through your little peanut brain when you tried to jump in and do something retarded like that?!" Yells an infuriated Katsuki, seeing the very idea of Izuku, someone who is Quirkless and all-around useless in a fight, helping him out as a serious blow to his pride. "You think you can make me owe you? Well guess what, you didn't even do anything worth a damn! So don't you dare fucking look down on me!"

Having done shouting at Izuku, Katsuki then turns to the next target to practice his foul vocabulary on, Nendo. "And you, you brick bastard!"

Yosuke remains poker-faced, before smiling and waving a hand at Katsuki, blissfully ignorant of the intensity of the situation. "Hey! Long time no see, Katsuki. What's up?" He was always slightly more tolerated by the blonde than Izuku, chiefly because he actually has a Quirk. But because the nature of his powers, Katsuki has deemed it 'lame and stupid', thus grouping him with Izuku for being, well, useless in a fight.

"I'll tell you what's up! I didn't ask for your help either! You think you're some hot shit, using that lame-ass Quirk of yours to fight that muddy motherfucker? Reality check, your Quirk is even less than dogshit that got stuck in shoe compared to mine!" Katsuki fiercely boasted, small pops of nitroglycerin reacting already forming on his right palm. "So the next time I gotta fight something, you and your video game magic bullshit better not be around, understand?!"

"Well, we live in a city, so I'm pretty sure I can walk freely to where I want." Nendo wittily responded, before quickly backpedaling once he saw that Katsuki is one bad day away from blowing up his shop. When that happens, it's not going to be pretty for him. "But sure thing, if that reduces the noise pollution you made."

With an indignant grunt, Bakugo spun around and walks away, leaving both Izuku and Nendo to stand there, completely at a loss for words. However, whether it is out of petty vengeance or mind-boggling stupidity, Nendo decides to play a trick on the blonde by spawning a brick just right before Katsuki's left foot. As he is still too busy fuming over getting rescued from an untimely death, Katsuki didn't even notice the brick until he trips over it and fell face-first into the tarmac.

The humorous injury forced a snicker out of Izuku, while Nendo simply descends into a full-blown laughing fit, cackling hysterically at the fallen blonde.

"WHAT?" Bakugo speedily stands back up and raised his voice, furious in every sense of the word and equally embarrassed. Izuku wisely covers his mouth immediately, while Nendo tries to stifle his laugh with little to no effect. "Are you laughing at me?!"

"No, man, it's just-" Nendo didn't finish his sentence before he starts laughing again, much to the blonde's unbridled fury.

"Me getting hurt, that's supposed to be funny, huh? Well FUCK YOU!" Bakugo suddenly shouts, getting right up in Nendo's face and grabbing the collar of his shirt. "I'm gonna put you in the fucking ground if you laugh at me again! Come on, I dare you, I double dare you!"

Now that Katsuki has threatened him, Nendo finally finds it in himself to calm down, giving the blonde a neutral look. "Okay, okay. You can't blame me for laughing, though. It was pretty funny in context."

"And don't think I didn't know you're the one who puts the brick there! It can only be YOU!" Katsuki's fuse reaches its end as he angrily, but accurately accuses Nendo, pointing a finger at him. "I got my own share of assholes, but you...you're not long for this world if this is the way you fucking act around me, you jumped-up fucker!"

Nendo quietly wipes away what little spit that got stuck on his face, before firmly placing his hands on Katsuki's, wordlessly implying him to remove his hands from his shirt. The blonde, who was out of breath due to all the screaming and yelling, keeps tugging the shirt, but eventually releases his grip.

"How about this, Katsuki? First, calm down." Nendo appeases calmly to Bakugo, who was having none of it.

"Calm down?! I'll tell you how to calm down, you motherfu-" Bakugo was about to swore again, but Nendo raising his hands at him made him stop.

"Please, I haven't finished yet. Just...hear me out. First, calm down." Nendo requested again, not backing down to the blonde's intimidation tactics. Once he saw that Katsuki's breathing slowed down, the noirette continues. "It was funny at first, but now it's not. I admit it, I played a trick on you. And unfortunately, man, you fell for it."

Placing his hands on his thighs, Nendo bowed his head in the most apologetic way possible. "It was my fault. I'm sorry, Katsuki."

If there was a facial expression that implies fatal strangulation, Bakugo would be the first to have it. Clenching his fist tightly, the blonde wanted to beat the brickmancer up...but since Nendo has genuinely apologized for his actions, Katsuki's insurmountably massive ego doesn't allow him to beat up someone who already said sorry for wronging him. Because then, it would just be petty of him, and being petty is being insecure, and insecurity equals weakness.

And Bakugo, by his own admission, is anything but weak. Swallowing his anger, the explosive blonde turned around and comically speedwalks away while putting his hands in his pockets. "You two goddamn nerds better stay out of my way if you know what's good for you!" He finishes, disappearing out of sight.

Izuku awkwardly tapped his thumbs together as Nendo breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Oh, jeez. I really thought me and him was going to duke it out there. Bless his ego, the size of Mount Lady." Then, the two resumed their walk.

"Yeah, that was scary. But how did you do it?" Midoriya asked, puzzled as to why Nendo was let off by Bakugo without getting blown in to the sky. "I know him since we were in kindergarten, and never once have I saw someone pacify him like that. Just...how?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it 'pacify'. More like, owing up to my mistakes and display myself as the inferior party." Nendo whistled, feeling a thin layer of sweat forming from the aftermath of such encounter. "I'm the beta, and he's the alpha. If I showed that I'm not willing to give him a fight, he'll think I'm not worth his time, therefore, he'll leave me alone. To be fair, this only works depending on the situation. Not saying that I won't put up a fight, I just don't want to get in trouble."

"I wished I could do that like you...I think Kacchan thinks of me as even less than a beta, since no matter what I do, he just blows my stuff up regardless." Lamented the greenette.

"I mean, you two used to be friends, right? What happened between then and now?"

"Haven't had the foggiest idea. He was already pretty pushy and aggressive back then, so maybe growing up just worsen those traits."

The duo continued debating about when and why exactly did their mutual 'friend', Katsuki Bakugo, turned into the violent bully with massive anger issues against everyone and everything they know and 'love' today. Their discussion was moving into the territory of far-fetched assumptions when a small explosion of steam, followed by the peculiar sound, almost like a balloon deflating.

"What the...?" Wondered Nendo, looking at the clouds of steam ascending into the air. He had no idea where they come from, but Izuku, however, knew exactly what those steams meant, and thus beginning to freak out.

"OH NO!" Said Izuku out loud, before grabbing Nendo's shoulders and trying to steer him to another direction. "U-Uh, Nen-chan, I just found a really good ramen shop over here! Maybe we should visit it by going this way-"

Izuku's attempts were in vain, as the figure that he desperately does not want Nendo to see emerges from the corner in the form of a man with a rail-thin physique, an unhealthily gaunt and angular face, equally scrawny limbs and sunken eyes that are hidden in shadows. The most distinct feature of the man, however, were two magnficent tufts of blonde hair that lean down on each side of his face. "Young Midoriya-"

"Hmm?" Nendo turns to face the skinny man who called out to his friend. The man stared at Izuku, and Izuku stared back at him. A choking period of quietness went by, before Nendo spoke up again. "Uh...hello there. I heard you say my pal's name. Do you need anything?" Asked Nendo politely, before leaning to Izuku's ear and whispers suspiciously.

"Do you know this dude?" The greenette said something inaudible under his breath, awkwardly tapping his fingers together.

"I...um..." Stuttered Izuku, not sure what to say without revealing All Might's secret to the entire world. "He's my...well..."

The de-powered All Might in disguise fidgeted in his baggy clothes, not expecting that Izuku was accompanied by his friend. Without much options to browse over, the scrawny hero tries to pull something out of his ass.

And pull something out of his ass, he did. With confidence, All Might steps forward and beckons a hand at Nendo. "I am...All Might's brother. Older brother, to be exact." And he delivered it with all the subtlety of a falling anvil, sweating bullets in the process.

Fortunately for him and Izuku, Nendo took the bait without question, owing to the sheer weight of such words, even if it's not true. "Excuse me...WHAAAT?!" Shrieked an utterly gobsmacked Nendo, before being silenced by All Might putting his skeletal hand on his mouth.

"Keep your voice down! Do you want this entire neighborhood to swarm me with questions about All Might?" Hissed the rail-thin form of All Might, cautiously looking around to see if any reporters followed him. "Believe me, it's VERY awkward to hear personal details being questioned about your sibling."

Stifling his scream, Nendo shamefully coughs before straightening his posture. "Oh. Sorry about that, I didn't mean to give away your location or anything. But still...are you really All Might's brother? I don't think I ever heard about All Might having any family, let alone someone as closely-related as you." Nendo scratches his chin, eyeing the man up and down. Compared to the muscular powerhouse that is the Number One Hero, this guy looks like a toothpick. "With All Might having such a high profile, you'd expect the media to scrutinize every detail they can get out of him."

"Yes, you would. But again, life is full of surprises, kid." All Might's so-called brother replies. "My younger brother usually keeps info about his own family a secret. Wouldn't blame him, considering the depths the press is willing to go down just to get their headline."

Nendo nodded sympathetically, understanding the reason behind it. "I see...you know, the more I look, the more I realize how similar you and All Might are." He remarked innocuously, while Izuku and All Might held their breath. "You two even share that same hairdo! Though yours is kinda messy, sir."

"I don't usually care all that much about image. I'm an underground Pro, after all." Said the skeletal man, coughing lightly.

"You're a hero too?! If you don't mind me asking, what is your Quirk?" Izuku kept his mouth shut, mentally biting his fingernails from the suspense.

"My Quirk? It's...uh, shapeshifting." Lied All Might, though it wasn't completely false. In a sense, he can shapeshift into another form. "Now, I would show it off, but right now, doing so wouldn't be very smart of an idea-" The rail-thin Symbol of Justice was then interrupted by his coughing fit returning, which persisted. As if Nendo wasn't already concerned enough about his health, All Might instantly proves that it can be worse by coughing up a mouthful of blood.

"Oh shit! Sir, are you alright?" Nendo, understandably horrified, rushes over to help the gaunt man, patting his back slowly. "Do you need to get that checked out?"

"No, no, leave me." All Might pushes the brick-controlling teen away, taking out a hankerchief to mop up the blood around his mouth. "It's a condition I have. Nothing life-threatening, just losing a few mouthfuls of blood everyday. You'd be surprised at how fast the human body can recover lost blood."

Nendo was taken aback at the morbid sense of humor, but he shrugs it off. "...Cool?" Said Nendo in an effort to roll along with it, gracelessly so.

"But anyway, that is not what I'm here for. My intentions of meeting your friend...is because my brother has requested his presence." All Might said, much to the surprise of both Nendo and Izuku.

"Oh my god, that's one hell of a deal! Izu, it's your dream come true!" Nendo enthusiastically hugged the greenette, elated that his friend has finally received such a good outcome from life.

Patting Nendo's arms, Izuku then looked at All Might, with hope in his eyes. "W-What for, sir?"

"I can't talk about that. My brother insisted on telling you himself, in private." The depowered All Might pridefully declares, crossing his arms. "If you don't want to kept him waiting, we best leave now. Come on, let's go."

As Izuku slides out of Nendo's hug and followed the scrawny man like he was hypnotized, the noirette shots his hand up. "Wait! Can I come too? Wouldn't want to miss out my man, Izu's reaction."

"Didn't you heard? I said 'private'. That means only young Midoriya here alone." All Might rebukes his request instantly, not even pausing in his sentence.

"Oh..." Said Nendo with about as much liveliness as getting stale oatmeal for breakfast, his smile falling as flat as pancakes. Seeing how visibly deflated Nendo is, All Might opens his mouth again.

"I'm sorry that you can't accompany your friend...but for what it's worth, my brother has this message for you." Then, the depowered hero does his best to crack a smile, and raising a thumbs up. " 'Great work', is what he said. He also held utmost respect for your bravery shown in holding your own against that villain, and his gratitude to both you and young Midoriya here... for reminding him of what a hero should be."

Nendo looked (unknowingly) at All Might, before his face brightens like a giddy child with a small grin at the edge of his lips. "That's...wow, I don't know what to say. I'm flattered. Well, can you at least give him my thanks, sir?"

"I certainly will." The skeletal form of All Might and Nendo traded respectful nods to each other, before each go on their way, Nendo back to his shop and All Might with Izuku to an undisclosed location.

But, Nendo still has one last thing to say to Midoriya. "Hey! Give me the details tomorrow, okay? Just so I can share the excitement with you!" He said, waving energetically at Izuku, who waves back as well.

"Definitely! See ya tomorrow, Nen-chan!"

"Yeah, see you too, Izu!"

Once Izuku and the unpowered All Might finally leave the area, Nendo was left on his own again. Happily marching back to his shop, Nendo was walking through an alley when he witnessed the sight of the sun setting down. In midst of meeting All Might, fighting for his life and the encounter with Bakugo, he almost forgot how much time has passed. Standing alone with only the birds perching on the electric poles above him for company, getting bathed in the orange light of the descending sun felt rather calming and serene.

However, it was also because of this beautiful sight that he was reminded of the sobering reality: the possibility of losing his shop, his home. Being the owner of a small-scale business was never a job that pays well, and even if he worked all day and night and sold out everything, he still couldn't pay back the debt that the bank has slammed on him. And so, with a heavy heart, Nendo continued his walk back home.

When his dad passed away, he had always wondered what was he going to do after his sole benefactor and life guide is gone. That question has returned, only with greater urgency, now that he is going to lose the shop, the very place that has become synonymous with his adoptive father.

It's not an existential crisis. To Nendo, it is a feeling of lost and not knowing what to do with your life, since he will have nowhere to go and no one to turn to. Uncle Ushio and Yoshino may let him stay for a few days, but those two have their own families to take care of, so that's out of the question.

Looking down on his feet, his dad's final words briefly comes back to Nendo.

-Three years prior...

A younger Nendo sat on a bench, quiet and reserved. Around him was a white, sterile environment with marbled walls, rooms with marked numbers on them and people dressed in lab coats and nurse gowns passing by him without saying anything.

The room he was sitting in front of was particularly large, with a set of double doors. A gold-painted sign was nailed above the doors, reading 'Palliat. Care' in black, bold letters. Eventually, a nurse exited the room, an unreadable emotion on her face. But Nendo could tell that it wasn't a happy one.

"We have done everything we can," Said the nurse softly, clutching tightly on her clipboard. "But he doesn't have long left. Hours maybe. He could left at any time."

That was all the answer the teen needed. Running past the nurse, Nendo swings the door open. There his father was, laying on the bed with his eyes closed. Various tubes and medical equipments were hooked up to his body, each of them making their own respective noises.

But none of them reached Nendo's ears. To him, the only sound in the room was his dad's raspy, irregular breathing. It was a horrible thing to listen to, but there was only one sound that could be worse.

Silence.

Then, to his shock, Dad blinked and opened his eyes. Seeing his adopted son, he smiled weakly. "Yosuke...glad to see that you've come." Even though his dad was awake, standing in the room was still an incredibly tense experience for Nendo. Taking a seat right next to his bedside, Nendo reached out and held his father's hand. It was dry, and so light.

And he didn't want to let go at all. He felt as if, letting go means he will lose Dad forever. "Dad?" He cried, not even caring that his eyes were already tearing up.

"You should bring me some food from home next time. Frankly, the stuff they serve you here...is disgusting." His dad wheezed, somehow still finding humor in the situation. "But let's be honest. I'm running out of time."

"No, no...Dad, please, don't say that." Nendo pleaded, still holding his hand. "You're the only family I had left. What will I do? What will I do without you?"

"I understand, Yosuke...but you will do just fine. You're a strong kid. I know you will." Gasped Dad, his voice getting weaker and weaker by the second.

"Dad! No, please!" The dam bursted, and tears flow freely down his cheeks, some even staining his pants. "Please, please, don't leave me! I'll...I'll have nothing left..." Nendo sobbed, until his father finds the strength to reach up and place his own hand on the teen's shoulder.

"What you will do...is to keep on living, Yosuke." The terminally-ill man gave Nendo a wistful smile, rubbing his son's shoulder with his bony hand. "Sometimes, the best way to move on...is to start over again." And then, his grip slowly weakens. Before long, his hand slides off and fell down on his blanket.

And all that is left in the room...is the subdued cries of a griefing son, and the stinging noise of a flatlining monitor.

-Back to present day...

"Keep on living, huh?" Nendo thought about his father's words. "And start over again..." Thinking back to yesterday when Izuku told him about his plans to go to U.A High, and today when those two Pro Heroes, and even All Might himself praised him. Not to mention, he gets the chance to truly display his magic.

Looking back up to the setting sun, Nendo's face no longer held an expression of quiet sadness, but rather, one of renewed vigor. Cracking a smile yet again, he gazed at the sky. "Don't worry, Dad. I know what to do now."

And then, his phone rang up, with the ringtone being the victory theme of Arcane Quest. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, Nendo looked to see that it was uncle Ushio who called him. Curious, he answers it. "Uncle Ushio?"

"Hey Nendo. Sorry to call you at this time, but..." Spoke Ushio through the phone. "Can you come by to my store?"

"Sure thing! Do you need help with carrying the supplies again?" Nendo cheerfully replied.

"No. Just come to the store." Ushio said in a lower, more morose tone. "And try not to look suspicious. Watch your back."

Nendo was weirded out by how strange his honorary uncle is acting, but he thought none of it. "Uh, okay. You got it!" The noirette ends the call, before heading back to Penny-Filter District where he would easily find his uncles' stores. "What was all of that about?"

Reaching a four-way junction, Nendo slowed his moving pace once he saw an unusually large amount of police officers walking around, questioning passerbys and occasionally talking to their chest-mounted radios. "Sure is a lot of cops at this time. Oh right, guess it was something about the violent crime that officer told me."

"Uncle Ushio told me to watch my back...should try to keep my head down." Thought Nendo, putting his cap on and lowering it to cover his eyes as he makes a beeline for the road ahead of him, trying his best to appear as conspicious as possible. The moment he is sure that all eyes are off of him, Nendo books it and takes the shortest route back to the familiar district.

Once his uncles' stores are within sight, Nendo slows down to a walk, but still keeps a brisk pace. When he reached the stores, however, Nendo soon realizes and was unnerved at how quiet their establishments are. Out of all the businesses still active in Penny-Filter District, his two uncles have always been the most successful and diligent, with virtually no middle ground between the two. Whenever there is a chance for money to be made, it is almost guaranteed that either of them will wake up and start their voracious marketing.

And seeing their stores closed with the lights not even turning on, despite it still being business hours for them, was quite disturbing to Nendo. Twisting the handle of the door to Ushio's store, Nendo pushed the door ajar and peeks his head in. "Uncle Ushio?"

"Hey, Nendo. Get in." The rough, chain-smoking voice of the rotund salesman signalled Nendo to step inside and silently closes the door. "Sit down."

Entering the room, Nendo saw both his uncles with Ushio sitting down before a tea table with a crestfallen visage plastered on his face, while Yoshino was standing and looking out of a window covered with blinds, smoking his cigarette. What caught Nendo's attention was that, on the table, several discarded bottles of sake were laid haphazardly around. A crunched-up packet of cigarettes can be seen right next to its contents, all of which were already smoked and cobbled together into a small mountain inside a tray.

"...What happened?" Nendo reasonably asked, holding the bottles up and assembling them in a more orderly manner. "I don't think you guys have ever drink or smoke this much. Honestly, it's not healthy."

"That ain't me." Yoshino spoke up, turning around with a cigarette sticking out of his mouth. "Everything on that table, that was all Ushio's doing."

The noirette teen turned to his other uncle, whose eyes are still staring at what's ahead of him without much thought or reason. "Is there something wrong, uncle Ushio?"

Ushio's eyes briefly glared at Nendo, before he opens his mouth to talk again. "Just sit down."

Hearing the unusual seriousness in the heavyset man's tone, Nendo nodded and quickly dragged over a stool to sit on. "Uh, sure thing." After settling in his seat, Nendo then moves on to the important question. "So...do you want to tell me what's happening?"

"First off," Started Ushio, pointing at Nendo's damaged attire. "What the hell happened to you? You look like you took a massage in a garbage grinder."

"Oh! This is because..." Nendo almost forgot that his clothes didn't quite emerge from that fight as unharmed as he is. "Nothing, I just got into a scuffle. With a guy whose Quirk makes his hands sweat explosions."

"I suppose it doesn't matter now." Said the round man, resting his head on his hands. "You see that over there?" Ushio points at a framed picture on the wall, next to a clock. Depicted in it was a small boy being held by him and an elderly woman with wire-framed glasses.

"Your...kid? I don't think I have ever seen him, or that old lady." Nendo scratched his nape. He knew uncle Ushio was married, according to the ring on his finger, but the man having his own child was a foreign concept to him.

"That is because I have to send him away to live with his grandma once he's born. Jiro never told you this, but I came here packing a lot of bags under my belt, not all of them legal." Ushio said, rapping his scarred knuckles on the table. "I never wanted my boy to know what kind of guy his daddy is like, so the best thing I could do was to send them money every now and then."

"My mother never received that much of a pension anyway, so having to raise that kid alone was a tough cookie to bite. But with me keeping their finances stable, things go relatively well. My boy even got to go to school. No thanks to my bitch of an ex-wife, though." His uncle goes on with his story, while Nendo silently sits and listen. "And now...that brings us to today. You heard the news, right?"

"The one with the guy who got beat up so bad he has to go to the ICU, right?" Yosuke recalled off the top of his head, which earned him a nod from Ushio. "What about it?"

"Well, the culprit in that case...was me." Confessed Ushio, groaning heavily.

No words could describe the sheer and utter shock Nendo is experiencing. His mouth agape and his eyes widening, the noirette gave his uncle a horrified look. "I-It was you?" He wasn't seeking to accuse him, but only wanted to him to confirm such a revelation.

"It was me. The whole shebang started last night, when I was closing down for the night. Just got out-played by some smartass customer to sell at a lower price, so I was pretty pissed off as it is. Then some fella who was drunk off his balls come to me." Ushio shedded some much-needed light on the situation. "I wasn't in the mood to deal with a drunkard's bullshit, so I ignored him. That got him all riled up, and he started cussing me out. Of course, I was no pansy in that game, so I start shouting too. We were both alone, so it was a one-on-one thing. And then..."

Nendo waited for his uncle to continue. "And then?"

"The shouting escalated, and he took a swing at me." Ushio revealed, with his token nephew letting out a soundless gasp. "I wasn't expecting it, so I got socked right in the face. And I just lose it. I didn't care what's gonna happen to me, all I wanted there was to kick the shit out of the sonovabitch. So I grabbed the nearest thing that could be considered a weapon and start bashing him over the head with a chair. And when I snapped out of it...he didn't move no more."

"Did...did anyone saw you?" Asked Nendo, his voice barely loud enough to be heard.

"Nah. At least, I don't think so, since it was pretty late. Hell, we can't even see each other all that clearly. By the time I haul ass and dispose the chair, the police already picked him up. It's only a matter of time before they connect the dots and put me in the slammer. In that event, they'll shut my place down, and I can't never get a job again." The rotund male enunciates every last word with emphasis, just to give Nendo an idea of how fubar the dilemma has become.

Bringing his hands up, Ushio rubbed the dark spots under his eyes, an indication to how much sleep he has lost. "Assault is already one thing, but aggravated assault could get me anywhere from a month to thirty years. Considering how badly I messed the guy up, I doubt it's the former." Then, with great reluctance, Ushio gave Nendo a heartfelt look and bowed his head. "I can't get myself arrested for that long. Who's going to support my family while I'm gone? Yoshino has his own to worry about, so who will? I'm a father, Nendo. A father only wants what's best for his kid."

"So please, Nendo...can you take my place for me?" Ushio finally drops the bomb, and its blast left Nendo utterly stupefied.

At first, like any boy his age, he replied with confusion. "I...what? I-I don't...I don't know."

"On the bright side, you're only fifteen. Still legally a minor." Yoshino chimes in, throwing his cigarette butt on top of the cigarette butt mountain in the tray. "The court will probably go easier on you."

A storm of emotions raged inside of Nendo. His brain tells him that willingly acting as the scapegoat to get yourself arrested in place of someone who deserves it sounds stupid, but his heart tells him...that said someone also had a family that cares about him and vice versa. In contrast, Nendo had nothing. The image of Izuku briefly flashes through his mind...but Nendo shrugs it off, believing that his green-haired friend would still be doing well in life without him.

And in the end, there was only one winner. For better or for worse. "What are you even saying? Of course I'll do it, uncle Ushio."

Now, both of his uncles were the ones who were surprised, especially Ushio. He had no expectations that Nendo was willing to go through such a thing for some middle-aged miser like himself. "N-Nendo? You can't possibly be serious...?"

"Ever since Dad died...you guys were the first to pull me out of my funk and encourage me to live on. If it wasn't for uncle Yoshino and you, I would have done something hurtful to myself and others." Nendo spoke with his heart on his sleeve, becoming increasingly more emotional. "I've been waiting years for a shot like this. And now, I can repay you for what you have done!"

Standing up, Nendo bowed before Ushio and Yoshino in respect. "Let them do their worst! Ten months or ten years, I can take it! I'll do it with pleasure!"

The shocked face of Ushio begins to melt off, and replaced with a touched, genuine smile. "Nendo..."

Nendo keeps bowing before his uncles, unbeknownst to the fact that his eyes have already been watering up. But if he was given a second chance, he would still do it all over again.

After all, what is one kid's happiness compared to many?

-0-

By the time morning came, Nendo was all but sleeping. Eyeing his reflection in the bathroom mirror, Nendo decided that, if he was going to give up his freedom, he needs to look his best while doing so. Since his work clothes were burnt, he figured that the classic option of jeans, T-shirt and his red hoodie would do for now.

After making himself look presentable, Nendo moves on to cleaning up his shop, tucking his beloved game console underneath the TV with the controllers neatly tied together, and his cartridges and discs arranged in perfect rows. He dusted his father's altar, before giving the picture a hug and set the incense sticks alight again.

Walking downstairs, Nendo turns around and gives his shop, his home, one last look...before smiling wistfully and closes the door. Observing the empty lot around his place, it saddens Nendo somewhat to see that several people in construction suits have already begun to plan out the dimensions for the big, fancy mall. His shop was the last bastion of all the old-time shops that used to populate the empty lot.

All good things have to end eventually, he guesses.

Pulling out his phone, Nendo scrolled down his tiny list of contacts and stopping at the one labeled 'Izu-chan'. Despite having the device since last year, Nendo never really finds a use for it, owing to his preference to meet people face-to-face rather than through the screen. The first call he ever gave...and Nendo never expected that it would be like this.

Tapping the screen, the teen presses the phone to his ear. "Big day, Nen-chan!" Izuku's ecstatic voice comes in from the other side.

"Oh, hey Izu. How's it goin'?"

"You won't believe this! All Might has agreed to take me under his wing..." The sheer childlike elation Midoriya is giving off could be felt by Nendo, and even he was smiling. "And train me! I've never been so happy before!"

"Really? Awesome! Glad to hear you moving up in the world, Izu." Nendo congratulates the greenette, in spite of his smile quickly diminishing.

"Are you still sleeping, Nendo? Sounds like you are." The lack of liveliness in the noirette's voice didn't go unnoticed by Izuku. Still, he assumed that it was just Nendo waking up. "The training's going to start soon, but after I'm done, I'll meet you at the park, okay? We can hang out for some noodles!"

Nendo becomes silent for a moment, before replying. "Nah, I'm not really feeling it today. You go ahead."

"Huh?! Why not?"

"Well...some stuff came up. And I gotta take care of it."

"Oh, did your uncles rope you into something again?"

"Heh...I suppose you could say that."

"Dang. It's the weekend and they're working you like a dog."

"Life of a shopkeeper, I guess." Said Nendo, playing around with his ponytail. "All work and no play."

"Are you gonna be busy all day?"

Nendo thought about it, but figured that it won't be important to answer. Thus, he derails the conversation. "Hey, Izu, how old are you again?"

"Uh...about fourteen? Why ask?"

"Ah. Then I don't think I can attend your birthday. But hey, the next time we meet, you'll be my age. That's pretty cool."

"Wait, wait, hang on Nendo. What is all of this about?"

"Eh, it's nothing. Have a good one, Izu. Become a real man, okay?" Nendo gazed at the blue sky, grinning. "See, I told you. No matter how bad life screws you over, we all get our own happy endings eventually, just like in Arcane Quest. You got bullied all the time, and now you get to train under All Might himself."

"I-I guess so. Are you alright, Nendo?"

"Who, me? I'm fine, don't you worry about it. But anyway, see you later Izu. Bye!" And with that, Nendo ends the call. Having done bidding his goodbyes, Nendo thought about his uncertain fate.

And he faces it with the same grin as before. Marching through the streets, Nendo marked his objective as getting to the police station...

But not before stopping at the local eatery, where he remembered to be the first place his dad took him out for food. "Last proper meal...why not go with gyudon?" Beef bowls have always had a special place in his heart.

Entering the eatery, Nendo sat down on the counter and ordered his desired meal. And then another. Then another. And another one as well. Three full bowls went by, and now Nendo is currently scarfing down his fourth one. The savory sweetness of the sauce and the beef, combined with the taste of poached eggs is just something he can never get enough of.

After finishing his tower of cleaned bowls, Yosuke checks his wallet for leftover funds. After four orders, he only have enough money for one more. "Excuse me, waiter! One more bowl!"

The beleaguered waiter, surprised at the capacity of Nendo's stomach, hastily writes down the order. "Uh, sure! Coming right up!"

Once he is done with the newest bowl, Nendo has fully exhausted his wallet. Placing the chopsticks on the bowl, the noirette claps his hands together and prayed, thankful for his last meal. "Can't go out with regrets, right?" He asked the waiter, intertwining his fingers while sighing.

"No one regrets our beef bowls, I say." The waiter dutifully responds.

"It's time." Placing what little pocket change he could scrounge up on the counter to pay off the bowl, Nendo stands up and walked out of the eatery. 'Come back soon!', he heard the waiter saying.

Pulling out his phone again, Nendo tries to turn it on, only to find out that the battery was empty. "Oh. Must have forgotten to charge it last night." Nendo mockingly laughs at his own forgetfulness, before resuming his fateful march to the police station.

Arriving at his destination, Nendo was about to walk in when the automatic doors slide open, with a policeman strolling out. The brick-controlling teen recognizes him as the same one that he met yesterday.

"Hey, kid! I saw you on TV. Good job out there!" The officer praised, patting Nendo on the shoulder. "A bit stupid if you ask me, but still, good job."

Nendo didn't have much to say, so his only reply was a slight nod. "I got some information that might be of interest."

"Oh? I would love to hear, but my boss is yelling through the radio. If you want, you can file a report inside." The officer said, before quickly walking away. "Gotta go!"

Nendo looked at the shrinking figure of the policeman, then back at the station. Straightening his hoodie out, Nendo goes in. Ignoring the amount of officers looking at him, he stops at the front desk, lightly tapping on the glass to get the receptionist's attention.

The desk cop puts his phone down, before taking out a piece of paper and a pen. "Got anything to report?"

"Yes." Nendo stated, his back stiff and upright. "I wanted to make a confession."

And his words were met...with deafening silence.

What happened next was quite a surreal experience for Nendo. Getting apprehended by police, having his hands cuffed, before being interviewed about his supposed crime. They even asked him why his reasons for doing it and if he had any accomplices, but he chose to remain silent about that matter, not wanting Izuku and his uncles to be questioned.

An entire week went by for Nendo who was held in custody, unable and not allowed to make contact with any of his friends or loved ones, Nendo was finally tried in front of a juvenile court. Since he couldn't afford a lawyer, the judge simply determines to waiver his right to an attorney and try him without counsel. As such, the entire proceeding went through relatively quick.

The drunk guy should have been here to act as the plaintiff, but when news comes in that he has lapsed into a coma, his family pressed charges on Nendo in his place.

After just four hours of deliberation, the judge spoke. "We find the defendant, Yosuke Nendo, guilty of aggravated assault, a third-degree felony." Looking down on the still-cuffed Nendo, the judge raises his gavel. "Yosuke Nendo, you are hereby sentenced to...eight months in juvenile detention."

Thus, Nendo's fate was sealed with the strike of a gavel.

-0-

Not much to say about this one, other than that I don't know a whole lot about the justice system in Japan, so I have no idea how hard a minor gets slammed for aggravated assault, and Google can only do so much. I figured that eight months would feel like a lifetime to a kid, so that's what I go with.

If there was anything to be said about the story, feel free to leave a review. Like always, there is more to come, so stay tuned.