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"His name is, Bram," Nezu told Izuku of the stranger's identity, but Izuku leaned forward to hear the rest of the name, "That's it. He doesn't have a last name because he's an orphan all throughout his school career."
After finding out that the stranger used to be a student here Izuku made his way to the principal's office to find out more. Now the student sat just on the other side of his principal's desk as they look through photos on the monitor.
"But he graduated, didn't he become a pro hero?" Izuku asked.
"Well yes, Midoriya, he has made it through all the way to graduation, but not without adversity," Nezu went onto explain grabbing Izuku's attention, "Although he was determined and willing from what I can recall during his time here at U.A he was, in a lack of a better term. Disliked."
"... What do you mean?"
"I mean, the majority of the school didn't view him so kindly," Nezu elaborated further and unintentionally bringing Izuku back to his first days at U.A, "You probably didn't noticed this, but Mr. Bram isn't exactly an exchange student."
"Wait, so he's Japanese?" Izuku assumed.
"We don't know," Nezu admitted, "He was in the system for as long as anyone can remember, after graduation he went silent," he explained before asking a question himself, "Midoriya, are you sure the stranger that assaulted you really is the same person?"
Izuku shook his head in confirmation, dead sure that the student in the pictures and the stranger were clearly one of the same.
"I'm positive that's him," he asserted himself which made Nezu bow his head in disappointment.
"Well that is a shame that a student of ours managed to fall this far below," Nezu gave his two cents, "A real shame, last of I heard he managed to get into a hero agency right out of school."
Izuku watched closely in silence seeing that his principal was deep in his thoughts, looking as if he was finally thinking about the whereabouts of all the students who have come and go through these halls, but Izuku wanted to know more.
"Um... Principal Nezu?" he gently called to pull the head of the school back, "What agency did he get accepted into?"
"No, I can't tell you that Midoriya, it's confidential," Nezu told him otherwise.
"At least tell me his hero name?" Izuku was almost starting to beg.
"Hmm... well, that I can tell you... " Nezu figured why not turning over to face his monitor as he types away on his keyboard, "... No, sorry, Midoriya, it has seems that Mr. Bram just settled with his own name."
"That's ok, I should probably get back to class," Izuku brought up raising out from the seat.
"Oh, allow me make you a note so you don't get in trouble, Mr. Aizawa can be harass with tardies," Nezu insisted, he grabbed a pen, then proceeded to look for the pad where writes the notes, but he seems to have ran out in his table as he couldn't find a single sheet, "Wait here I'll go fetch some paper."
Soon Nezu jumped off his chair, walked around his desk, and he walked out the door disappearing from Izuku's sight with the computer still on leaving the page as he last used it. The chance to find out more has fallen on Izuku's lap so with slight hesitation the young man took the golden opportunity and ran around Nezu's desk scrolling through page with the Stranger known as Cage's file until finding the name of the agency he was accepted in. Quickly writing the name down Izuku settles everything back as they were then ran back over to the other side of the desk just before his principal had returned with a written not in his paw.
"Here you go," he handed the note off to his student, "Now go on back to class and don't get lost, you hear?"
"Don't have to tell me twice," Izuku complied calmly as he could taking off before his nervous habits exposes him.
\Dormitory/
After the school day was over Izuku returned back to his dorm room tossing his bag to the bed and dropping himself at his desk, he brought out his laptop to begin searching right away typing furiously as ever like his fingers will punch clean through his laptop. Typing in the names of both the Stranger and the agency, then when hitting the search bar the results came instantly with a dead end, although the agency popped up in every inch of his screen, Bram however was nowhere to be found. Confused Izuku clicked on sites going through the list of heroes that employed within the agency clicking profile after profile, but with no signs of Bram.
He tried putting in the years between Bram's graduation and his own attendance at U.A going through the images sections of his search shuffling through pictures captured that were remotely related to the agency. Moments of their heroes at work or on their downtime, pictures of their heroes mingling with the public also loaded from blogs sites, news sites, or from public media sites. After a couple of hours of his search was coming fruitless Izuku was about to prepare to give up there was a knock at his door.
"Come in," Izuku told the whoever was on the other side of the door, not even taking his eyes of the screen.
"Hey, Izuku," Ochaco called out as she entered into "You've been cooped up in here since school ended," she walked in closing the door behind her seeing that nothing in Izuku's room was moved, even Izuku still hasn't changed out of his uniform yet. And looking over his desk, Ochaco saw that Izuku had tried to collect more information on Bram, but so far only a picture, a single name, and the agency he worked at was all that he found. "Are you still trying to find this guy, Izuku? so he beat up, you need to let that go."
"It's not just that, Ochaco," Izuku argued catching Ochaco off guard sounding like he was in defence of Bram, "He used to go to school here. He was like us and wasn't even that long ago. But now he's sleeping in the streets."
Turning her attention to the screen Ochaco joined Izuku looking over the image gallery of the hero agency that employed him.
"Where is he?" she asked scanning the screen.
"I've still haven't seen a single picture of him working at this agency," Izuku told her in frustration, "It's almost as if he didn't worked there at all, but his school file showed he was working here... was there an error?"
While Izuku was about go off in his noisy train of thought Ochaco took control of the mouse pad scrolling through photos until she came to set pictures that laid out the office space of the agency seeing numerous office employees working alongside the heroes to finish their paperwork. However Izuku spotted a familiar face in the background.
"Stop right there!" Izuku nearly shouted swatting Ochaco's hand away from the laptop.
There a couple of cubicles in the back Bram could be clearly seen with his golden hair making him stand out more, showing him speaking to another hero, a woman with dark blue hair that was short, but was still tied back nevertheless.
"I've seen that woman just now," Izuku brought clicking back to previous pages to the agency's site where found the profile of the woman hero.
In no time Izuku found the hero seen talking with Bram a hero named, Lady Guardian, or Hiroko Senshi by her real name.
"Here she is," Izuku pointed out reading more on her position at the agency, "Wow, not only she's still working there, she's actually running it now."
"Really!" Ochaco joined in surprise, "She must've been a real go-getter, what's her quirk?"
"It's... " Izuku trailed on as he read the ability she was gifted with, "Whoa! her quirk is called... Blade Hands"
As he read aloud for Ochaco to hear they learn that Hiroko Senshi's quirk allowed her to use the edges of her hands as if they were swords cutting through the most strongest materials on the planet.
"She was in the same class photo as the man," Izuku soon brought up looking again at the picture to confirm it and yes. She too was a student at U.A, shocking Ochaco with his detective work, "She must know what had happened to him, I have to get a hold of her," Izuku finished up by looking up the agency's main number.
"Izuku!" Ochaco tried to stop him, but he was already dialing up the number, "Do you really think that lady, let lone anyone, who's running a hero agency will have the time of day to talk to a random high school student?"
"I have to try," Izuku was determined and the line went through, "Yes I like to speak to Ms. Hiroko Senshi... no, but... fine I like to make an appointment... My name? it's, Izuku Midoriya... uh... ? yeah from U.A."
There was a sudden commotion on the other end of the line, for a moment Izuku thought he heard the person he was speaking to shout, but sounded like he or she was holding her breath, then a frantic shuffling in the background until finally a different person answered him.
"Mr. Midoriya, I'm Ms. Senshi," the woman in question was now speaking with a smooth affirmative voice, "How may I help the fame successor of All Might?"
From how she spoke the woman seems to have already know who Izuku was and who he works very close with, but this is a advantage he recognizes to take.
"Thank you for answering, Ms. Senshi, but I would like to ask a few question about an old colleague of yours," Izuku stated his request.
"Well if you wanna talk about our agency's roster we're more than welcomed to introduce you," she went on, "Just tell us when do you like to come over."
With that Izuku had another stroke of luck after almost giving up on his search and now's his chance speak with the co-worker of the Stranger.
\The Weekend/
In the next available day Izuku had stepped off the city bus to the agency's front doors of their office building, but he wasn't alone on his journey.
"You're really dead set on finding out about this guy, aren't you, Izuku?" Ochaco asked stepping off the bus alongside him.
"Well it's a little too late to turn back now, plus I didn't force you to come with me," Izuku noted as they both entered through the front.
In the lobby all was utterly silent with the only soul occupying the whole space was the receptionist behind the front desk.
"Hello, I have an appointment to speak with Ms. Senshi," Izuku greeted the receptionist.
"Name?" she asked not eve to bother looking up from her desk.
"Izuku Midoriya... and friend."
After checking the schedule on her computer the receptionist reached down further behind her desk to hand both Izuku and Ochaco visitor badges for them to clamp on their shirts, she then gives them the direction to Ms. Senshi's office. The two students stepped into the elevator which took them to the top floor, there they had to navigate their way through the busy labyrinth of cubicles occupied with desk jockeys who either buried under paper work or have their faces buried into a computer monitor.
Going far enough the two passed by a room finding the office's exclusive hero break room with the door ajar leaving a clear view inside, a glimpse in Izuku and Ochaco spotted at least three of the heroes employed by the agency, the three Izuku defiantly recognize from the site's roster. The three professional heroes stood by the coffee machine pouring each other a nice steaming mug.
The one on the left was tall, at least standing at seven feet, he was covered in brownish orange fur, whatever skin that was exposed like his hands, feet, chest, and face was a solid blue, with bright yellow eyes. He was a mix of mammalian creatures, with a mostly humanoid form, but possessed long slender tail similar to an otter's, claws tipped at each finger and toe complimented with large canines protruding from his lips.
"Coffee?" the beast man offered politely holding the picture.
The other on the right was a woman in a white spandex suit with some lime green accents on the center of her chest, and thighs, she had fair skin, with short flowing green hair. While everything above her knees was normal, the rest of her legs were a different shape from a normal human leg, for the female hero possessed a pair of digitigrade legs.
"You might be a freakish monster on the outside, but you're sweet as a kitty cat on the inside," the woman complimented taking up on his offer.
And the third and final one sat by a table in a dark violet spandex with white gloves, boots, and wore what look liked a custom made police motorcycle helmet with a dark visor concealing his eyes.
"hey, I have heat-ray vision not invisibility. C'mon don't leave me hanging," the most human looking person exclaimed holding up a mug.
"I've read up on them," Izuku whispered over to Ochaco, "The beast man is called, Man-Thing or Big-Foot, his quirk is... well, you know. The woman is Ms. Dash, her legs are digitigraded which makes her very fast kinda like Tenya. And that man is, Heat-Seeker, he can shoot concentrated beams of heated energy."
After Izuku introduced the heroes from the side lines they eventually found themselves standing in front of a pair of grand doors with a plaque mounted beside it the name, Hiroko Senshi, engraved on it.
"Should we knock?" Ochaco asked.
"Uh... probably? just to make sure she's in there," Izuku figured balling his hand up to beat against the door's interior.
"Come in," the voice of Ms. Senshi called from the other side.
Twisting the handle the click of the mechanics within the door allowed the two students to enter into the privet office, a large square space, with a window taking up the right side of the room, while had a regular wall with a straight row of picture frames of the agency's founding. On the other end of the room Izuku and Ochaco spotted a desk and sitting behind that desk was the same woman Izuku researched the other day.
She stood rather tall dressed in a professional business suit black with faint tiny lines so numerous and faint that they're almost invisible, and she was indeed surprisingly young for a woman in her position.
"Mr. Midoriya," the woman known as Hiroko warmly welcomed stepping from her seat to walk up and shake their hands, "And might this pretty young lady be your girlfriend?" She assumed sending the two students in explosion of embarrassment with both their face rapidly turning red in a frantic bid to explain that they're just friends which in turn was a brief funny event for office woman, Hiroko, "So what brings a fellow student of U.A to my agency?"
"I want to talk to you about a hero that used to be in your agency," Izuku went straight in as they all took a seat around the desk.
"Well we only employee the most trained and skilled heroes ripe out of the top hero academies," Hiroko generally explains the process of hire, "Here we provide service just like any other hero agency, I believe what we do here is very important, and I've put in my best every single day."
"That sounds very expiring, but can you tell us more about this man?" Izuku requested pulling out a copy of the Stranger's picture, the sight of it surprising Hiroko.
"Where did you find that picture?" she asked.
"It was a class photo back at U.A," Izuku explained.
"We also found this one of your office, you two were talking in the background," Ochaco added bringing up the screenshot from online.
Hiroko took the device examining the screen, there she found herself in the background just like Ochaco said, her talking to Bram, her former co-worker.
"... Yes, I know this man, Bram," she confirmed her tone now calm and straight handing back both picture and cellphone to the two close friends, "What do you want to know about him?"
"Well, you can start off what he was like back when he was attending U.A," Izuku suggested.
"We used to have the same class together," Hiroko started without hesitation her eyes drifting away as if looking to her past, "And we worked closely together also, but Bram's time at school was never easy, in fact my experience was the opposite to his, I was popular among my peers. Bram however was pretty much deemed an outcast on sight by everyone at the academy, but he always moved forward and focused all his efforts in his studies. I admired that about him, he never let anyone put him down."
She reminisce on her past, driving deep into the back of her memory.
\Back When/
Years earlier back when the young pro hero was fresh out of the academy finding work was of no challenge since one agency offered a future of employment. It was a very uneventful day for Bram as he continuously made laps around city blocks at least twice before moving on to the next exploring alleyways, parking lots, store fronts, you name.
The young hero carried out his petrol, even with the growing tension of a fight quickly de-escalating with moment his presence was made, the sight of him was that of a tactical vest with two rows of small utility pouches. Bram also added knee padding to his attire, big rugged combat boots that could kick a door in.
But looks don't work on everyone.
Walking around the street corner hearing what sounded like a heated argument between a couple and sure enough, it was. Coming around Bram spotted a woman accusing her boyfriend of cheating claiming he was at the red lights district.
"Babe, I'm telling you she's lying," the man pleaded with her.
"Oh my friend is lying is she?" the woman challenged bringing out her phone, "And what's this picture of you going... INTO A LOVE HOTEL!"
There the pictures on screen was clearly showing the man with a completely different woman with a revealing outfit.
"This is what you do all night? you go out paying hookers for cheap thrills!" she went on screaming in rage as she was growing in size.
Her muscles becoming more pronounced as her skin started to burn red like kettle on a stove, the sweat on on her skin turning to steam, the boyfriend slowly backs away now scared for his life.
"I won't do it again! I promise!" the man pathetically pleaded dropping to his knees begging for forgiveness.
With one massive hand the woman grabbed the man by the collar lifting off the ground, his feet dangling above the ground, reeling her second arm back to pulverise her cheating boyfriend to a red paste, but her arm failed to launch forward. Looking back behind her the woman spotted Bram holding her arm by her bicep keeping her from attacking the man.
"Ma'am, please take a breath, we don't need to resort to violence," Bram tried to defuse the argument.
"Why don't you arrest him!" the angry woman demanded him to do.
"What he did is scummy, but it's not against the law, so let's be adults and- "
The woman ignored Bram's request so she threw off his grasps freeing her arm so she can inflict harm on her now ex-boyfriend, but Bram quickly kicked in behind her knees making her crumble, and miss her ex's head by an inch. Bram than jumped on her back wrapping one arm around her neck while he slammed his other fist into her chest knocking the wind out of her, and making her drop the man back down.
"Hey what are you doing?!" he exclaimed in panic, worried about his girlfriend, "Stop! you're hurting her!" he cried as he visibly saw her slamming her back against the wall and dropping herself onto the ground to crush him. But the pro was simply unfazed.
"Sir! please do not get involve!" Bram ordered him as he continued to tighten his hold on the woman's neck.
With no air the rampaging woman was now losing momentum as she struggles to take in oxygen falling from consciousness however the commotion was drawing unwanted attention from pedestrians who just see a pro hero strangling a large woman with man pleading from the sidelines. Soon as the situation was calming a crowd was beginning to form around them. The woman fell asleep on the cold pavement her body returning to its original shape so Bram decided to call it in.
"I'm gonna need police and paramedics sent over to my position," he requested into his ear piece, turning the woman on her back to place handcuff zip ties on her, but even though Bram was handling her with care, the crowd on the other hand only responded negatively to his handling.
"Hey what are you doing to that lady?" one demanded to know.
"She needs a hospital!" another cried and the crowd was becoming slightly irritated and daring to get closer only for Bram to scare them back.
"BACK OFF! I DID NOT GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO APPROACH!" he warmed but the woman's ex attempted to swoop in to carry her away only to be kicked square in the chest by Bram, "Step away from the woman! she has illegally used her quirk without a license! and attempt to inflict harm on another! I repeat: STEP AWAY!"
At that moment people kept their distance watching from the same block or watching from across the street taking photos with Bram standing guard until the police finally arrived and paramedics to take the woman away. As the scene was wrapping up Bram was only meet with disdainful glares from the civilians. It was a regular work day in the life of Bram.
\Present/
"But what happened to him?" Ochaco followed up.
"... He was... " Hiroko trailed lingering in the silence, "... He just wasn't cutting it... even after we graduated and entered the agency together Bram just wasn't happy, he told me he wanted more in life."
"What more could he possibly want, he was a pro hero, he practically has it made," Ochaco jumped in confusion.
"I don't know, I just wished I knew what it was. Maybe I could've help him achieve it," Hiroko stated sounds of disappointment, "By the time I got promoted Bram was let go from the agency. I never heard from him ever since. I just hope he found what he was looking for."
"You fired him!" Izuku exclaimed and Hiroko nodded in confirmation, "What for?"
"I can't disclose that," she denied him, "I just hope you get to meet him like I did."
"Well my friend here just did," Ochaco informed catching Hiroko's attention from her thoughts, "And he wailed on him."
The expression on the woman's face changes to a more focus look.
"It's true," Izuku confirmed, "I didn't know who he was when I ran into him at a convenience store, he... got into an argument with the shop owner about harassing his customers for beer money," he went explaining, "I tried to intervene, but he knocked me out and a couple of policemen too."
"You're former co-worker is on the streets, angry," Ochaco added to the concern.
"You must be mistaken," she surprisingly waves their claim off, "The Bram that I studied at school with and worked with here at the agency is much more patient and understanding man."
"Patient and understanding?" Ochaco repeated, "He broke my friend's nose."
"That's enough," Hiroko stopped her standing over her own desk, "I thought you came here because you had an interest in having a future here, but I see that you're just here to smear the legacy of a pro hero."
"No, I'm not!" Izuku rejected her claim, "I came here because I care, I wouldn't have gone to the length to contact you just to smear him. Contacted you because I wanna help him, a hero shouldn't be wallow in the streets. Now will you help?"
"... Whatever problem, Bram, is going through he could deal with it himself, so just forget that you met and leave him be... " Hiroko hissed back with a warning.
There was long drawn out pause of tension in the air as no traded a word, only glares in attempt to stare the other down into complying, but of course neither side refused to give an inch.
"I think your appointment is up, young man," Hiroko ended the meeting.
Without another word the two just got up and walked out of the woman's office with the doors closing shut behind them.
"She was no help," Ochaco remarked in frustration.
"C'mon let's just go back to the dorms," Izuku told her retracing their steps back to the elevator.
The two hopped in, but just when the door was about to close an employee leapt in the last minute before the doors slide closed, the man who joined the two paid them no mind carrying a couple of boxes filled with files, and big bold letter printed on the side with red ink labeled, "CLASSIFIED".
Izuku glanced down on the panel with only his eyes watching closely to the floor he picked, the platform lowered down the occupants not speaking a word until the floor of the worker's choosing came up. A soft digital ding was heard and the doors opened up to a vacant hall with no life in sight, then the employee stepped off leaving the two alone, before the doors slid close Izuku stuck his foot between the doors to prevent the elevator from leaving.
"Izuku! what are you doing?" Ochaco spoke up startled by the sudden action of Izuku stepping out in a floor where they shouldn't be.
"I need to find him and not going back empty handed," Izuku told her firmly, "Just stay here and keep the elevator ready."
After giving her the instruction Izuku sneaks off further into the clostrphobic level of the building with tight corridors and the eerie buzzing of the fluorescent lighting shining down on him. Izuku moved as lightly as he could making as less sounds so he wouldn't give himself away and to hear anyone one coming down the hall. He read each plaque that was mounted by each door hoping to find the room that held the agency's employment history finding it when turning the corner although locked Izuku attempted to pick it by using one of his ID card.
The lock itself was a standard handed with a state-of-the-art security keypad installed into said door so Izuku used the tiny percentage of his power on the card to slice through the space between the doorway and the door handle's mechanics. The door swung open freely giving Izuku access inside to a room with racks of boxed files shelved away to never see the day of light, until now.
The files were organized alphabetically so it didn't take long to find the box labeled 'B' pulling it out to walk his fingers on the tops of each file with a name printed on them until finally coming up the name he was looking.
"Here it is," he whispered to himself picking the folder out, but to his shock the file was completely flat, "What! there's practically nothing here."
He widen the wings of the file to hope to find at least a single sheet of paper stating the general information on Bram, but was only met with the bland color surface of the folder. It was a dead end. Or it would've been if Izuku almost looked over a small scribble of ink printed on one of the folds of the file. Izuku focused on the scratchy writing recognizing English letters and numbers. It was an email address, but not to a person, maybe an establishment, or a club.
"They must've shredded all of his files," Izuku figured taking a quick snap of it on his phone, "This is all I have now."
The paper wasn't alone in the folder as a strange, small, flat, triangle, it looked like piece of light metal about the size of an American quarter with a rustic red color, stored away in a tiny plastic zip-lock bag.
Stuffing both the paper and the triangle into his pocket, sliding the file in place, replacing the lid back on, and shelving the box back where it belongs, Izuku retraced his steps back to the elevator finding Ochaco still there holding the door open for him. When the doors opened to the ground floor the two sped walked right on out with the foreboding thought of them being watched as they exited building and head home as fast as they could.
Hoping that no one noticed.