Ac3: Sooooo… Sorry? We got busy with life and side projects and collabs need both of us available to work and discuss as we go, so… yeah, didn't mean for this to take so long to come out.
Skillet: This sentence feels oddly familiar to me. Must be from my Fanfic account. Need to get back to those stories…
Ac3: We're in our mid 20s now, we're busy.
Skillet: Had to bring that up didn't you. God, we're old.
Ac3: BUT! Still better than my updating track record with my personal stuff, so I guess it's not that bad. Man, do I wish I had more time to write… or a device that would just transport the scenes in my head into words on a page OTHER than physically typing… Or AI. Fuck. A. I.
It had been a week or so since Izuku and Momo had first met during their lesson, and had gotten to know each other a bit more as they attended more sessions. Despite only knowing the girl for a short period of time and still trying to keep his guard up, Izuku had begun feeling more relaxed around Momo and greatly enjoyed spending time with her.
They were currently exploring the city of Hamamatsu, Shizuoka: a place not far from Musutafu known for its variety of eel dishes and the creation of Vocaloids. Despite having plenty of interesting sights and exhibits around the area, the biggest thing that caught Yaomomo's eye on her visit so far was a Daiso that she had begged her new friend to show her.
"You said you could get good pens here for only 108 yen? Are you pulling my leg?" Momo asked, gaping at Izuku.
He just gave her a look out of the corner of his eye before shrugging.
"I mean it's called a 108 yen store, even though the prices went up recently. You can get a pack of 3 pens for 108, and erasers and stationary and stuff for the same price. I think they also have make-up and stuff, but I never went into that section…" Muttered the green haired teen, still not totally used to interacting with his tentative new friend.
"NOTHING is that cheap, though! I mean, the cheapest thing I've ever seen was 1000 yen and that was a 2 pack of cookies!"
"Uh… No? What stores have you been shopping at that the cheapest thing you've gotten was a snack?"
"Ralph Lauren, Louis Vuitton, Gucci, the grocery service, the crystal fountain pen store Papa likes, nothing too fancy."
"... Yaoyorozu-san, that's actually extremely difficult for the average person to get regularly. Have you not even been to a normal mall before or something?"
"Papa doesn't usually let me go to places that are this public, he's really over protective to be honest…"
"Of course he is… The Daiso is just past that intersection over there, so we should be there in like 5 minutes tops." Izuku sighed, pointing ahead to a light.
Right when Momo started to speed up in excitement, a loud bang followed by a cloud of rainbow smoke erupted from an alley a few hundred feet ahead. A cackling man dressed in a worn and stained red and white tracksuit with the sleeves ripped off ran out of it, white hair wild and suspicious white powder on his hands and around his nose.
"HAHAHA! I, THE GLORIOUS SNOWFLAME, WILL FINALLY MAKE MYSELF KNOWN BY DESTROYING THIS APARTMENT COMPLEX! NO ONE WILL BOTHER ME AND MY OPERATION ONCE THEY SEE WHAT COCAINE CAN REALLY DO!"
Momo balked and started to back away, clearly nervous about what was probably her first actual villain encounter. Izuku on the other hand…
He groaned and took out a dart gun from his backpack and loaded it in a fluid motion, leveling it with the ass of the cackling man who was clearly trying to power up before firing it. A large needle embedded itself in the villain, making him jolt and the aura of power surrounding him start to fade. Right when he began to sway and fall over, muscles shrinking to an emaciated state, a door slammed open on the second floor of the apartments and a familiar man fired another needle into him.
"Hi Aizawa-Sensei!" Izuku called, voice as irritated as the off-duty hero looked.
"Hey brat. Sorry for not warning you earlier about this guy being in the area, I just got the call that his ankle monitor detected him in his usual stash zone."
"It's fine, I get it. Villains are unpredictable, after all."
"Um… Midoriya-Kun?" Momo nervously asked, peeking around him to stare at the now unconscious villain.
"Yes?"
"You… you didn't just kill that man, did you?"
"No, the brat didn't kill him. The darts that are given to quirkless people who live in areas with certain villains contain both Narcan and a sedative. Normally it just knocks them out for a bit so they can get away, but that idiot over there happens to have a quirk that only fully activates when he snorts enough cocaine to kill a normal man. Considering he's been arrested like 11 times now for drug-related offenses and robberies, this was to be expected. He seems to get massive crashes once his quirk turns off, which happens when he loses his high." Aizawa drawled, walking down the stairs and over to the unconscious villain on the ground.
He pulled out a pair of restraints from the sleeping bag he was dragging and started to put them on Snowflame. Izuku sighed and nodded with his head towards Daiso, the silent question answered by the underground hero with a raised brow, a snort, and a thumbs up. Momo looked confused as her friend began to walk down the street, looking between him and the man dealing with the villain before running to catch up.
"Um… Midoriya-kun, who was that?"
"My martial arts teacher, Aizawa-Sensei. He's also an underground hero who's a friend of the family. That building is where he lives, he's usually asleep right about now because he works nights."
"Is that why you had that dart gun?"
"Partially. I'm quirkless, right? Well, when you walk around some places like this with high villain rates you tend to need something to even the odds. I'm allowed one 3 inch blade and one ranged weapon other than an actual gun during the day and as many blades I can carry under 5 inches at night."
"Oh yeah, Papa always carries a butterfly knife… I don't know why I forgot about that."
"It slips people's minds when they aren't the one it affects." Izuku shrugged "Anyways, we're here. I'm going to go grab some snacks and pens, let me know when you're ready to go and we can check out."
"Ooooh! This is so exciting! Are all stores this cute on the outside?"
"Wait until you see a Sanrio store, or a candy one." The vigilante chuckled, having a sinking feeling his new favorite hobby was going to be taking his rich friend to normal people shops and restaurants if this was how she reacted to them.
It was highly amusing, and… cute.
He fought down a blush at his own thoughts, wondering where the cute idea came from before following Momo in and grabbing a basket. She looked at it curiously before grabbing her own, following Izuku to the stationary section. The moment her eyes landed on a certain line, however, she squealed.
"THEY HAVE SANRIO PENS? AND ONLY FOR 150 YEN? THIS IS AMAZING!"
"Uh, yeah? Watch your voice, Yaoyorozu-san, the staff have the right to kick us out if we cause a stir…"
"Oops! Sorry, I got a little too excited there… Normally when I get pens like these they cost 4500 yen for 5…"
"850 yen a piece… What kind of overpriced junk were you even buying?" Izuku muttered, making his companion giggle nervously.
"Um… Premium gel pens made by local artisans. The ink is made in small batches and the rest of it is 3d printed and then painted by hand."
"... Well these are made in a factory and the design is a sticker, so that's probably why it's so cheap. I'm going to go get some snacks, come find me when you're done and I'll pay for everything."
"Oh, you don't have to do that!"
"I have more money than I'll ever be able to spend, and I make more every day. Dropping what's probably going to be at most 1500 yen on pens, snacks and a couple random extras isn't going to bankrupt me, Yaoyorozu-san." Izuku deadpanned, turning and wandering off before Momo could object any more.
"WELL, I'M BUYING LUNCH THEN!" Momo excitedly declared, still on a high from all the budget shopping she'd been doing.
(Scene Break)
Momo was watching the train in the sushi bar he brought her to with shining eyes, entranced by the "novel" situation.
He just chose it because it was close and only 2000 yen for all you can eat for an hour and a half. It was good, his mom would bring him to another location every now and then, but it was way more reasonable than the high end places she kept recommending.
8000 yen for a single entree was NOT cheap, contrary to what she thought. By contrast Izuku was keeping his meals in a lower price range, still not used to his new vast funds after having been filthy rich the past few months.
"Ooooh! What's this one? It looks so fancy!" Momo asked, pointing to something that Izuku knew was an American fusion thing.
"It's called a volcano roll, it's this thing from America this place brought over a few years back. Crab, cucumber, avocado, and spicy mayo with crispy onions."
"That sounds AMAZING! Is it American? I haven't had much American food other than burgers before… and KFC for Christmas."
"Yeah, it's pretty good. Here." Izuku replied, grabbing the plate as it passed in front of him and passing it to Momo. "Give it a shot, you did say you wanted to try something new."
"Thanks! I had no idea that Shizuoka prefecture had such wonderful places! We have to come here more often when we both attend school together!" Momo gave Izuku a cheerful smile, which immediately caused him to turn a bright shade of red.
"Yeah! That sounds really nice." Izuku stammered, before their attention was brought to a loud noise at the counter.
Specifically a man in a ridiculous looking condiment themed outfit with a pickle head making a ruckus and spraying an unfortunate waiter with a soy sauce gun "BEWARE! I AM THE CONDIMENT KING! THE GREATEST VILLAIN IN ALL OF JAPAN!"
"GET THE HELL OUT OF HERE, YOU FREAK!"
Izuku just groaned in frustration. Another of the infamous idiots of Shizuoka had shown up when he was in civilian mode: Wasabi Ogami, better known to the people and heroes as the professional public nuisance, the Condiment King. In contrast to Midoriya's frustration, Yaomomo had never seen the strange so-called villain before and was more confused than anything.
"Is that person supposed to be a villain or…?"
Izuku shot her an exasperated look as the weirdo began to grab as many bottles of soy sauce and hot sauce as he could.
"GET OUT!"
"I AM THE CONDIMENT KING, YOU CANNOT DEFEAT ME WEAKLING! I AM GOING TO MAKE YOU MY SLAVE! WITH THE POWER OF CONDIMENTS! I WILL BE THE WORLD'S MOST INFAMOUS VILLAIN, STARTING WITH EVERYONE IN THIS SUSHI BAR!"
The weirdo continued to rant about his goals and plans, most diners just sighing and going back to their food.
"Hey, weirdo! Give me one of those soy sauces back, I ran out!" A rougher looking guy called, clearly bored.
"NEVER!"
"Fucking- stop being a dickhead man, we all know your a pushover!"
"That's the Condiment King. He's a crazy guy with a quirk that lets him control condiments who decided he wanted to become the greatest villain in the world. He usually just prances around the prefecture bothering people though. Aizawa-sensei says he's used as a hazing for interns in most agencies around here." Izuku spoke, clearly exasperated. "He caused me some issues too, mostly by being a pain at night."
"… isn't your manor gated though?"
"Er, yeah. It is. Sometimes I go wandering at night because it's still weird being there mostly alone. He raids convenience stores and 24/7 restaurants once it gets dark. And no, I don't know when he sleeps either."
A trio walked in lazily at that point, clearly heros. 2 were snickering while a confused teen, clearly an intern, walked up to Condiment King and hesitantly aimed a spray bottle at him.
Written on it, visible from where Momo was sitting, was "cat piss water - condiment king b-gone".
"Uh… shoo?" The teen mumbled, spritzing the bottle and making Condiment King drop the bottles in his hands.
"ACK-FOOLISH CHILD! YOU HAVE NO-STOP I-BEWARE!"
The dark haired teen in a white hooded hero costume just kept spraying the mix, the smell of diluted urine filling the air the more it was used while Condiment King hissed like an irate cat.
"WHAT ON EARTH DID YOU DO THIS TIME WITH THIS? IT REEKS! ISN'T IT USUALLY VINEGAR?"
"Um… I suggested trying cat pee water because it would be more effective? Usually you just manipulate that, so…"
Condiment King went dead silent and gaped, turning a bit green as he realized what was all over his hair and face. This pause gave the intern time to knock him down and restrain him, the other heroes still laughing their butts off. He was dragged out by the flustered teen, starting to rant about heroes being scum and suing them if he got sick.
Meanwhile Deku and Momo sat at their table with the former looking exasperated, and the latter struggling to hold in her own laughter "Oh my gosh Izuku-kun, that was hilarious! Does Shizuoka always have villain attacks this ridiculous?"
"It depends, but days are more likely to be weird. Nights can get dangerous… and are also really weird to be honest." Izuku said, now trying to keep a straight face as he found her laughter infectious.
"I thought all villains were supposed to be at least somewhat threatening, but that was…that was…" Momo strained herself before bursting out into loud fits of laughter with tears streaming down her face "What was he thinking? Was he going to destroy us all by putting extra wasabi on our sushi?!"
"Last time he caused any real harm outside of making a mess he used peanut butter as his weapon and made someone have an allergic reaction. The video went viral, let me show you." Izuku spluttered, trying to contain his laughter so much he was shaking.
"Haha foolish citizens! You cannot defy the awesome power of my-" The Condiment King yelled in the video only to be tackled and wrestled to the ground by a very annoyed looking Manual "What are you doing? That's chafing my, uh, I mean BEWARE!"
Momo started to wheeze at the baffled "oh shit that actually worked" that matched the comical expression on the villain's face in the video, Izuku cracking and joining in before pulling up another clip.
"Oh man, if you thought that was good I have a whole playlist of these things! Hey, you like cats, right?"
"Y-yes, why?"
"Watch this one, it's gold!"
Momo almost squealed in delight at the sight of a cat running across the screen, only to start wheezing again as a rat-villain holding up a bank spotted it and ran away screaming. The news feed scroll comically read "HERO CAT SAVES THE DAY! VILLAIN RATTICUS: WEAKNESS FOUND?". It cut to a news reporter in a studio clearly struggling to not break their professionalism, which only added to the hilarity.
They kept making rat and cat puns, really REALLY bad ones.
Right as Izuku was about to pull up another, someone slammed their hand down on the table between the pair of friends. A hand in a familiar sweat-guard glove the owner was forced to wear when it was too hot out and he had begun to sweat like a stuck pig.
"I gotta say Deku, most billionaires only start dating swimsuit models when they're fat and old and going through some mid-life crisis. But you're too much of an awkward geek to try something like that, so I'm guessing your girlfriend is a massive nerd too." Bakugo set a small bag of groceries down at the table next to them.
Now blushing a crimson red, Izuku stood up from his chair and squeaked "S-SHE'S NOT MY GIRLFRIEND! W-we're just friends is all!"
Bakugou just looked between the both of them and dropped into the free chair next to Izuku's, not looking very impressed. Momo was just as red as Izuku, but was matching Bakugou's stony expression with her own suspicious one.
"Midoriya-Kun…"
"Oh, right. Yaoyorozu-san, this is my old classmate Bakugou Katsuki. Kacchan, this is my study partner Yaoyorozu Momo. Pennyworth-san introduced us!"
"That old fart? He didn't find her in some shady place, did he?"
"NO! He was already tutoring her, Kacchan! He just fused our lessons!"
"Suuure. Anyways, I didn't know you were here so this is a surprise I guess. The hag sent me out on errands and gave me a coupon here for lunch. Some kind of special new spicy roll they have a promotion for. Eat like 40 without needing a drink or anything for 20 minutes and you get it all free."
Izuku and Momo looked over at the sign for said promotion before staring at Bakugou, a waiter coming by with the plate of said rolls.
"Kacchan… Those have Carolina Reapers, ghost peppers AND Habaneros."
"Yeah, so?"
"So WHEN you need to dip out, Bakugou-san, You're going to be paying for imported peppers I've only ever heard of being used in trace amounts." Momo looked down at the plate, confused and a bit concerned by the stranger's eating habits.
"I'm less worried about the spice with him and more what it'll do to his colon… You're gonna regret that, Kacchan."
Bakugou just rolled his eyes and dumped a massive amount of wasabi on top of his rolls, never one to bother with manners unless he had to. Momo sweated as he shoved the first roll in his mouth, only to shudder at what he said next.
"Ugh, needs more spice. OI, WAITER! BRING ME SOME OF THAT DEATH SAUCE I KNOW YOU STILL HAVE FROM THE LAST CHALLENGE! THIS IS PUSSY SHIT!" Bakugo slammed his fist on the table and called a waiter over in his usual abrasive manner.
"Um… Midoriya-san… Is he always-"
"Yes, Yaoyorozu-san. He's… A LOT."
"Tch, anyways… You hear about that new vigilante guy, Deku?"
"No, who are you talking about Kacchan? There's new ones every couple weeks."
"Batman, dumbass. The guy who's lasting longer and ACTUALLY DOING SHIT!"
In response to Bakugo's words, Izuku stiffened up and turned as pale as a sheet while Momo seemed rather intrigued. "Batman? I think I heard a news report on something like that not too long ago…"
"He's a badass, ponytail! No one knows what his quirk is so theories are going around like mad! He always seems to rely on weapons and combat training to take out villians and that's AFTER the psychological warfare tactics don't work now that he's gotten a name out there! Rumor has it he's got a flare that he shoots off to make the villain thugs piss themselves before he comes in and beats them to hell!"
While Bakugo raved about the elusive vigilante, Izuku seemed to be frozen and trying to sputter out some sort of response.
"- And then he took out those culty wanna-be KKK quirkist fuckheads, the ones that kept killing mutation quirk folks! He beat the ever loving shit out of the grunts and then scared the boss so bad he turned himself in! What kind of hero is able to do that?"
"I think some underground ones might…"
"Yeah, Ponytail, but think about it. Underground heroes don't get a big name, it's why they're UNDERGROUND! This guy? Oh, they know he's there and it scares the SHIT out of those bastards! Come on Deku, back me up here! You're the hero nerd after all!"
"I saw some news report on him after the Doctor Death thing… I'm just glad he didn't end up permanently hurting anyone and they all got into the proper mental health facilities for cult deprogramming." Izuku muttered nervously, unable to completely steel his expression of guilt.
He REALLY didn't mean to give that one guy a completely broken rib cage and a punctured lung after using him to beat another villain. However, this statement seemed to visibly stick with Momo as she began to think through what her friend said.
'Strange, the news report didn't mention any one of the Creature Rejection Clan being sent to mental institutions. How could Midoriya have known that…' Yaoyorozu rubbed her chin in deep thought. 'And he seems guilty about the whole ordeal, but why? It's not as if he could have done anything about it…'
"Didn't they find that like half of them were addicted to some weird shit?"
'Ah, maybe he extrapolated from that report… I saw it, so it would make sense… But it's still too specific, why didn't he just say rehab and mention cult deprogramming?'
"Yeah, Kacchan. I think it was some kind of opioid… Fentanyl, that's what it was. It's been an issue according to Aizawa-san, people are lacing stuff like Marijuana with it to get people even more hooked."
"Fucking- all that shit is illegal, you'd think people wouldn't be that stupid and get into it! They don't want their shit kicked in, they shouldn't become villains!"
"Kacchan, you know it's more complicated than that… Some people have problems that society can't or WON'T help with and they feel forced to do crimes to try and fix them. Most of the people I ha- I hear Aizawa-san having to help at night are people overdosing or stealing, and those are almost always tied to poverty and untreated mental health problems."
'Did he just-?'
"Anyways, what do you think Batman's quirk is? I'm thinking it's something to do with bats, no one gets into that kind of aesthetic without some kind of influence."
"I mean, maybe? I don't think it's anything that interesting, though… If he even has a quirk."
"Oh come on, this theory again? He's so strong he can't POSSIBLY be some kind of pussy ass weak quirkless fuckwad!"
"... BAKUGO…" Izuku warned, face suddenly becoming very…
Not friendly, that was for sure.
Momo wasn't much better.
"Tch, geez! I'm sorry, I didn't mean to slip up! Old habits die hard! But really, you think someone who doesn't even have a physical boost could handle huge groups of villains with guns and shit? Really?"
"My father is quirkless as well, Bakugo-san. He's one of the strongest men I know, with all life has thrown at him. Not to say he would become a vigilante, but it's not outside the realm of possibility." Yaoyorozu said coldly as she took another bite of sushi, trying to mask the irritation in her voice. "Besides, not all quirks are capable of affecting a quirkless person. Psychics have a lot of trouble with them, and emitters can sometimes run into resistance with them."
"Oh right, that stupid conspiracy theory Deku goes on about… The 'hidden quirk' of the quirkless. It's bullshit, they have that toe joint and their DNA is different so they literally can't have any quirk."
"Kacchan, it's not-"
"Don't get going Deku, I'm not gonna tolerate your stupid bullshit and I don't want to accidentally ruin what we've started to get again. You guys seem done, so why don't you get going? I kinda just entered myself into you're date -Sorry, "HANG OUT" - and you clearly had plans. Besides, it's… almost 3 and if I recall correctly you started having those tutoring sessions around 3:30 these days."
Izuku looked at his watch and yelped, grabbing their bags and pulling Momo along with him.
They had 45 minutes to make a 40 minute trip back to his manor before Alfred would call Aizawa and have him give them a particularly intense workout for being late.
Katsuki snorted and called it an ass whooping when he heard what it was like.
"BYE KACCHAN, I'LL TALK LATER!"
(Scene Break)
After arriving back at Wayne Manor in a nick of time, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu waited for Alfred to finish preparations back out on their usual spot on the balcony with some microwave popcorn. Momo hadn't talked much since they'd left Hamamatsu, and seemed to be rather deep in thought about something or other. Wanting to break the tension, Izuku spoke up. "Sorry about before…Kacchan can be…a lot."
Momo took a sip of tea and gave her friend a steely glare at the thought of Bakugo "True…I didn't exactly appreciate some of his comments towards you, or my father."
"He's trying, but he's dug himself into a deep hole. It'll be a while before he digs himself out." Izuku sighed and took another bite of food. 'Great, first crush I have in years and Katsuki manages to make it awkward all over again. And now he's got her thinking about Batman's identity…Well, if you're going to UA together, you might as well test the waters on how she sees the Bat.'
"So what do you think of the Batman, Midoriya-kun?" Momo asked suddenly, catching Izuku off guard.
'Or she'll do it for me!'
"Midoriya-san?"
"Oh, uh… I think he's someone to watch, at least. He doesn't seem to be ill intentioned, and certainly is making waves. It looks to me like he may have some sort of strengthening or intelligence quirk, but a mutation isn't out of the ordinary either…" Midoriya fell into his usual muttering habit while Yaoyorozu waited for him to reach a stopping point. "Not that it matters honestly, he's doing a good job getting troubled people into places that can help and bringing the really bad folks to justice. His methods might be… a bit extreme, I suppose, but the kind of people he takes down are too unpredictable and dangerous to use kiddie gloves with, like most heroes tend to do."
"Hmm…" Momo set her tea down, and after another moment of thought, decided to press things further "It would be interesting if he were quirkless wouldn't it?"
Resisting the urge to faint at this, Izuku remained composed if not very flustered "Quirkless? W-what would give you that impression?"
"The way he fights seems rather out of the ordinary even for a vigilante. He's clearly trained but it's a bit rougher around the edges, in a way that doesn't seem likely for an intelligence quirk. That, and his tactics in bringing down larger threats could rule out strength increase."
"Yeah, I guess that's true.…"
"Not to mention if he WAS quirkless he'd have more legal and more importantly CHEAP access to weapons like knives, pepper spray, and other things I heard Bakugou-san say were found left behind in places he'd fought."
"THEY WERE?! I mean, yeah they were…" Izuku exclaimed, barely able to compose himself and hide his panic. 'OOOOOOOOH SHIT I'M SCREWED! AIZAWA-SENSEI AND PENNYWORTH-SAN SAID TO BE CAREFUL ABOUT THAT!'
"And if he was quirkless, it would explain his confidence and his more aggressive fighting style. " Momo said with a smile on her pretty face. "Do you know about the vigilante loophole Midoriya?"
"Uh… Remind me again?"
"If you don't have a quirk or they can't prove you used one it doesn't legally count as vigilantism."
"O-oh yeah, right…"
"Not to condone any dangerous behavior, but you could use similar methods to get into UA, or get experience at the very least." Momo suggested to Izuku, while at the same time trying to watch his reactions for anything suspicious 'Midoriya-kun has seemed awfully tense every time I've mentioned that vigilante, especially when I mentioned the possibility they could be quirkless. But he couldn't…could he?'
"Good evening, Master Midoriya, Lady Yaoyorozu! I hate to interrupt your engaging conversation, but I've prepared our lesson materials for today." Alfred gestured for his charges to follow him to his study, with both trailing behind him shortly after "I'm terribly sorry for the wait, this will be a slightly different lesson than what you're both used to."
"Please don't tell me it's about the stock market again Pennyworth-san." Midoriya groaned while they traversed through one of the many door filled hallways in Wayne Manor.
While Izuku and Alfred quietly talked as they walked, Momo noticed a sole door left cracked open in that particular hallway, and it piqued her curiosity to a certain extent. However, her point of attention quickly changed when they arrived in Alfred's usual study to find that their desks and chairs had been placed to the side, and had been replaced on the ground by what appeared to be dance step stickers.
"Um, Pennyworth-san, what is this?" Midoriya asked.
"Those would be steps for you two's waltzing lesson Master Midoriya. I've been waiting for quite some time to teach Lady Yaoyorozu, and I believe you would be a suitable partner." Alfred gave him a knowing look as he walked up to the record player, which began to fill the room with classical music. "You are both the proper height to learn as a pair, after all."
"DANCE? US?! TOGETHER?!"
"Of course Master, knowing how to waltz is an essential part of high society! You don't want to seem uncultured, now do you? I'm sure you've heard what happens to those who can't meet standards in this part of society, no?" Alfred gave his charge a knowing (and sly) look, while both Izuku and Momo turned a bright crimson color.
'He's totally doing this on purpose…'
"W-well then, I s-suppose it can't be helped. At least learning with someone we know will make it a titch more comfortable." Yaomomo tried to regain her composure before turning to face Midoriya with a bashful look "Aren't you going to ask me to dance, Midoriya-kun?"
"Uh, yeah right." Izuku took her by the hand, causing him to turn even brighter when he realized how soft and smooth her skin was. This wasn't helped when Alfred moved around them and placed Izuku's hand at Momo's back and her hand on his shoulder.
"Excellent! Now that you're in proper form, you should be fine if you follow the steps! I'll let you both decide which one of you should lead." Alfred used his quirk to turn up the volume a bit on the record, letting his students begin the steps slowly and carefully.
Both seemed very bashful and reserved in their moves, especially Izuku who was trying his hardest not to look his partner in the face. While nervous as well, Momo's thoughts went elsewhere as they waltzed.
'There's something off about him, isn't there? And it's not just the lack of quirk, either. His arm and shoulders are hard as a rock, and his grip is so strong… Has he been training for longer than I thought?'
They spun to hit the next set of spots, Alfred counting them along in a steady "One two three, one two three" repetitive cycle. Izuku stumbled a bit as she stepped back, his foot landing on hers. He muttered an apology as they continued, knowing from experience that Alfred didn't want them to stop until this was second nature thanks to his etiquette lessons.
'Ow! Is… is he wearing steel reinforced shoes? I thought he was just in normal oxfords! Why would he- Wait, does this have something to do with his strength? It would make some sense if he doesn't have a quirk, Father has odd shoes too… but he doesn't have a very obvious steel bar in them, now does he?'
She slipped on one of the stickers and almost fell, only for Izuku to react so fast she didn't even notice him moving. From the angle she was looking up at his face from, his concerned look appeared to have slightly hooded eyes and a bit of a pout.
'Oh…wow… He's- NO! BAD MOMO! You've only known him for 2 weeks, and he's clearly not being completely honest about his training! For all you know he's also hiding a subtle quirk! How else would he be this athletic? Don't think about him looking- NO! Don't even think about not thinking about THAT!' She thought, face flushing a bit as she was righted by her dance partner.
The trance they fell into broke when Alfred shut off the music with a sharp "vvvVVT!" noise, clapping his hands once as he began to speak in a very amused tone.
"Oh my, look at the time! Let's call this lesson done, hm? Miss Yaoyorozu, your driver will be here in approximately 15 minutes. Young master, I believe that you are scheduled to have a lesson with Mister Aizawa in an hour, so I would suggest you prepare for that now."
"Ah, right. Thanks Pennyworth-san. I guess I'll see you around, Yaoyorozu-san…?"
"R-right! Um… Pennyworth-san, Midoriya-san, would you mind if I have a snack before I go? Or use the restroom?"
"Oh! Uh, no, go ahead Yaoyorozu-san. I don't mind… Um, but I need to go get ready for my lesson, so I'll be busy while you're doing that, so…"
"It's fine, I understand. If I need anything I'll let Pennyworth-san know, okay?"
(Scene Break)
Momo practically sprinted down the hall after leaving the study, partially due to her embarrassment, partially due to her suspicions, and partially because she actually did need to use the ladies' room. All the while thoughts of her new friend clouded her mind.
'Okay, this manor is way too big and confusing. At least MINE has enough staff you can ask for directions when you get lost! Things are confusing enough right now when-Oh, is that a Jackson Pollock original? Nice, he's got actual art and not just a bunch of bare walls or replicas! Now where is that bathroom? Come to think of it, wouldn't Midoriya-san only need to change into workout clothes and maybe shower before training? That's weird, he rushed off really fast like he had a time crunch… Bathroom… bathroom… OOOOH! That's Qianlong Porcelain! Mom and Dad have been eyeing those for YEARS! How old is- NO! DON'T PEE YOUR PANTS! Come on bathroom, where are you?'
Momo spotted what looked like a door with a worn out sign on it and darted over, pushing on it to see if it would open and reveal the toilet she so urgently needed.
Instead of a door to a bathroom, she got a utility closet full of breakers and water heaters with a wifi router on a shelf in the back corner.
"NOOOOOO! Why is the world trying to torture me right now!" She whimpered, shutting the door again and kicking the grandfather clock next to it.
She overextended herself and fell to the side in a spin, falling through the front of it into a dark new location.
'What the- Where am I? Does Midoriya-Kun know about this? He did just move in after all…'
The cavern she found herself in was massive, a natural cave-like sinkhole with a set of stairs leading down. Figuring that at the very least no one would probably notice if she emergency-peed in a giant cave, she started down the stairs in a hurry.
If she didn't go NOW, she'd have filthy clothes for the entire ride home and her father might not let her return with his overreactions to the tiniest things in order to protect her from harm.
Once she got to the bottom, she noticed that there was a bathroom already down here thanks to the very obvious "WC" sign on a small shed-like structure right next to the stairs.
'Jackpot!'
Once she'd done her business and came out, she finally had a clear enough mind to take in the rest of the large naturally made room.
And oh boy, was it something else.
For starters, she could see down here because there were bright LED lights all over the place, and one of the platforms was almost blinding with how strong the glow from it was.
A tunnel led out of the cavern, a full on road leading from it to a platform with 2 motorcycles and what looked like an in-progress custom muscle car-tank hybrid resting on it. Across from that was the glowing platform, which was the highest and had a couple smaller ones stacked below it. It looked like that one had a massive surveillance system or supercomputer on it, but the screens and floodlights there were so bright she couldn't tell. The next platform down had a decently sized divot into the rock, several racks holding dark objects all over it along with dozens of tables. The smaller platform on the lowest of the platforms had another small structure on it, along with a long dry cleaners style rack holding what looked like about 4 hero costumes of varying levels of armoring.
And on a platform off to the opposite side of the computer one was a figure hard at work at some kind of welding project, pausing for a moment to presumably hit a button as loud music began to blast right as Momo paled in realization.
She'd possibly become friends with a very, VERY dangerous person…
Or he didn't know all this was down here and had someone's hideout on his property.
She felt it far, FAR more likely that it was the former, but she'd let Midoriya-san come to her about it first.
She didn't know if he was a vigilante or a mob boss at the moment, even if vigilante seemed more likely. The possibility was still there that he was in organized crime thanks to how some of the high society people she knew got their wealth.
Besides, both groups were notorious for being lethal when it came to staying under the radar and their identities hidden.
She slowly made her way back up the stairs and fixed the clock door as best as she could before sighing and going to look for the exit.
'Best not to think too much on it, he'd tell me when he's ready either way. Besides, it's been long enough that my ride should be here anyways.'
Momo tried making her way back up the staircase, only to notice a glimmer of light reflected on a case further into the sinkhole. A case that held a distinctive bat shaped cowl, bulletproof suit, wing like cape, and large black boots.
'... No, he wasn't… his reaction to my theory on Batman being quirkless COULDN'T mean-!'
She heard footsteps coming down the hall up above, so she scrambled to hide under the staircase to avoid being caught. The person coming down them paused for a second before continuing on, something having fallen to the floor.
"OI, PROBLEM CHILD! TURN THAT SHIT OFF, I GOT YOU THAT GEAR YOU NEEDED! YOU GET 15 MINUTES TO SUIT UP AND MEET ME IN THE SPARRING AREA, GOT IT?"
'That was that Aizawa man… isn't he a pro-hero? Why is he here to train- WAIT, he's quirkless, right? That means…'
Momo barely contained her gasp as the realization hit, quickly going up the stairs as quietly as she could.
Batman COULND'T be charged with vigilantism as long as he kept his gear within the regulations for quirkless weaponry. He could do whatever he wanted and because he had no quirk he would not be charged if he got caught since it would count as self defense by default.
"Oi Bats, you or the old man left the Batcave entrance open. Pretty sure your little girlfriend is under the stairs." Aizawa pointed to the cracked open door to Izuku's most secret space. While Alfred seemed oddly serene at this news, Izuku was focused on another part of Aizawa's statement.
"She's not my-WAIT, SHIT!"
"I suppose it was inevitable she would find out eventually. It was almost as if someone left the entrance open on purpose to relieve the tension." Alfred said with a small yawn and a noticeable smirk, getting him a glare from both Midoriya and Aizawa.
"Um, there's a perfectly normal explanation for this-"
"If I understand right, you wanted to be a hero all your life in spite of everyone telling you that you couldn't, and when your mother passed you became disillusioned with pros. So when the resources became available you started vigilantism?"
"…I guess that sums it up…"
"Just tell her that if she asks, brat. It's not that hard to understand, sheesh. Anyways! Training and then I have a message to pass along from a coworker of mine who wants to invite you to lunch for some weird reason."
While Aizawa tried handing Midoriya a small letter, both he and Yaoyorozu seemed more than a little stiffened and focused only on each other at the moment. Being able to see where this was going, Alfred pulled the underground hero to the side. "Let them work through this Aizawa-san. It will be better in the long run."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, it's just-"
"There's no need to apologize, it would be silly for me to get upset! It's only natural we have secrets, we've known each other for less than a month. I'm not going to throw a tantrum or act like you've been lying or something like that!"
"…So what do you think?"
"I think that you're doing what you think is right, and using your resources to make a difference. I also know that this was a big secret you probably didn't want to share unless you had to, so I won't tell anyone." Momo carefully spoke, clasping her hands in front of her. "I do want to know if you're still going to try for Yuuei, though."
"Oh like hell he ISN'T! I warned him about the risk he's still under for vigilantism. He can't get charged with that, sure, but assault, manslaughter, and other violence-related laws are still applicable to this idiot. If he gets a license, he gets out of being able to be sued by victims or arrested for those other crimes and stripped of every single thing he owns because he's got protection for his ass." Aizawa interjected before Izuku could say anything. "Besides, the only reason he's not either recommended or my apprentice yet is because he's unable to qualify thanks to his lack of quirk. I'm already hard at work hashing out the details of the exceptions they'll give him for the entrance exams even though the ones he's going to take are months away."
"So, that means that-"
"If you think that this kid is going to be going for the big leagues and has a couple of the old guards standing behind him, then you're right. I can only get any leverage with Yuuei, and if THEY let him give it a shot then the word will spread and others might let him have a go at the entrance exams there. Yuuei is the one that goes first, after all."
"That's true… and very clever of you, Aizawa-san."
"Thanks, brat. Anyways, as I was trying to say earlier, a certain number one hero wanted me to give this letter to you, problem child. He found out I knew you and said you ran into him a while back or something? I have no idea what it's about, I didn't bother opening it or anything. Not my mail, not my problem."
Izuku and Momo choked and turned to eye the envelope that Aizawa was lazily wagging back and forth, flat out gaping.
"A-ALL MIGHT?"
"Yeah problem child, All Might. He said it was time sensitive, so go read that and figure out what the hell he wants with you."
"All Might has run into Batman…?"
"No, I met him before my… Yeah so he was a jerk and I'm not a big fan of his anymore to keep it simple. Not sure what this is about…" Izuku muttered, taking the letter and sliding his finger under the sealed part of the flap.
"Maybe it's an apology?" Momo suggested, a bit surprised by Izuku's sudden dark change in demeanor.
Izuku skimmed it and growled, throwing it to the ground and skulking away with a ghost-like candor. The adults sighed as Alfred picked up the piece of paper, Aizawa stalking off like a cat towards the young vigilante.
"Ah, it seems that All Might wishes to invite him to dinner to discuss his prior actions and introduce him to someone he thinks might be able to mentor him. He says here he placed a good word in with a detective agency about him as an apology gift and that their best wishes to see if he would make a good apprentice…"
"Why would that-"
"It says right below that line that this "Naomasa" person finds him interesting, and I quote, despite his lack of any significant skill outside of the standard for a human."
"... so he just said quirkless in an even more demeaning way?"
"I believe he meant well, I have met that man myself and he is quite kind no matter if he's in costume or not, but… well…"
"Is he quirkist or something?" Momo deadpanned.
Aizawa dragged a still clearly pissed off Izuku over by the back of his shirt, the teen looking like he was ready to murder someone and bound by the underground hero's very long scarf to the point he couldn't say anything thanks to it gagging him.
"We're back, but he's in a bitey mood right now. I'm going to start letting him loose, but be warned." the exhausted looking man drawled, grabbing one end and pulling hard.
"Welcome back, Sir. As for All Might, he is… how do I put this without insulting him very much…"
"Pennyworth-san, all your doing is making me think I should break the decorum you taught me and kick that man in the-"
"BLAST IT! He's a complete dullard when it comes to tact! He often says things that he thinks mean one thing but are actually offensive, to the point he has an entire team running ALL of his online accounts. He tells them what he wants to say, they clarify his meaning, and then they approve what gets sent out. Even his WORK EMAILS are done in that manner! Why, I have no earthly notion as to HOW this managed to slip through the cracks! I have gotten letters handed to me directly from him before, and they ALWAYS had a stamp of clearance on them! This one is simply a piece of old notebook paper he scribbled on!"
Aizawa flat out cackled at the description, clearly finding it amusing how incompetent the number one apparently was. One last tug freed Izuku's mouth, making him smack his lips a couple times before turning back to his butler and new friend.
"…I see… I'm sorry, I overreacted…" Midoriya let out a deep sigh "I guess I might as well see whatever it is he wants. No sense in alienating more pros at this rate. He's the last one I should be doing that with anyways, even if I don't exactly like him very much to put it mildly."
"Excellent! It is always great to see you being the better man, Master Midoriya!"
"I mean it's not like I really have that much of a choice in the matter, I DO need back up options and he's managed to get a guy willing to take me on despite my schooling level, so…" Izuku mumbled "Anyways, Where does he want to meet, and when? I didn't read the entire thing before I threw it on the ground."
"It seems he wishes to meet around 8 pm two Thursday nights from now at - Oh my, that man is… Young Master, this is quite odd for such a meeting, but-"
"Spit it out, Pennyworth." Aizawa drawled "We don't care what you think is low class."
"Well… He wants to meet at-"
When Izuku heard where he was supposed to go for a supposedly serious dinner, he could only do one thing.
"WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH THIS GUY!"
(Scene Break)
"Doesn't bother enough people in America, he has come here." Toshinori Yagi deflated both figuratively and literally as he crashed on his small couch, having had a long day of fighting various villains, most recently an American criminal named Joe Coyne who had an odd obsession with pennies and one yen coins. Over the past few months he'd made more frequent attempts to reserve his limited energy to fight evil and save lives into the night, but there were days such as this he was out of gas by dusk.
Making things even more frustrating was the two rising figures he'd constantly kept on his mind as of late: the Batman and the Joker. In spite of his best efforts, he couldn't get away from UA or his agency long enough to make a trip down south to deal with the clown-like villain, who'd been causing even more trouble as of late. One particularly disturbing crime in which a bank robbery resulted in nearly all the villains involved being shot dead by one another, and the Joker escaping with an armored car filled with money.
And then there was the vigilante that had grown in infamy since his beating of Doctor Death went viral and became breaking news. Since the Batman had been discovered, several pros had spoken out against his methods and vigilantism as a whole with general agreement from the public. However, he had grown to be very popular amongst those with heteromorphic quirks since he'd made a fool of one of their most ardent antagonists. Despite hearing plenty of negative and positive opinions on this vigilante, All Might had a more mixed opinion on the Bat, considering him a likely misguided youth lashing against the dark underbelly of society that had gone mostly ignored. While agreeing with his cause, Toshinori didn't approve of his methods, and felt that Batman would be better served letting pros grow to fit the night on their own, following the rules set by the Public Safety Commission, and getting a license eventually through the proper channels.
He sighed and picked up his remote, turning on the news to see if anything was on that could distract him from his angsting. Usually his favorite channel had a more lighthearted segment around this time of day, one about upcoming heroes and young professionals that always made him excited about the future of the nation. Last time he caught it, he'd gotten to see the youngest hero in the upper 30 ranks, Hawks, giving an interview about his favorite pastimes. The program usually kept to light hearted topics, but occasionally it would be such an important or notable new figure that the segment would be about 15 minutes long and fairly serious in comparison.
'Some might think that in this world dependent on power and special ability, and that isn't the case. In reality, even I am beholden to the whims of the elite… How ironic, that the number one hero still needs to play dancing monkey for sponsors and politicians in order to maintain his ability to help those in need.' He thought as the intro to the segment played, scratching his stomach where his shirt had ridden up.
He nearly choked when he saw the person being interviewed. A very nervous looking 15 year old with a plain face, bushy green hair, and a rather impressive looking business suit.
"Hello viewers! Welcome to the Tori News Future of Fame! Today we have a very special newcomer to the business scene! He's the new owner of IM industries, and the heir of the late Midoriya Tamaki! Please welcome Midoriya Izuku, the 13 year old business mogul!"
"Um…thank you very much for having me." Midoriya nervously bowed before the camera, before suddenly shooting back up, clearing his throat, and speaking again "I mean, thank you very much for having me!"
"IT'S THAT KID FROM THE NAPIER KILLINGS!" Toshinori shouted, standing up and gaping at the TV in shock, before spitting up blood. "WHAT ON- HOW? HOW DID HE-?"
"So tell me, Midoriya-san, how exactly did you come into inheriting the massive corporation that is IM at such a young age?"
"It's… personal, and very fresh. In short, my family is plagued by tragedy it seems and I ended up being the sole viable option for inheritance." The boy on the screen grimaced, clearly very uncomfortable about the situation.
"Oh, I didn't mean to poke at any sore spots. I have to say though, you've done a fairly impressive job as company president during your tenure! I mean, you've only been President since last March, and the growth that took place under your uncle has continued its course!"
Toshinori started to get a little light headed and sat down on the floor, blood running cold as he began to process what was happening.
His main sponsor for gear and merchandise was IM, and his harsh advice was incredibly poorly timed in hindsight. If that kid hated him enough…
It wasn't like he WANTED to have to worry about the money, but he had to have a legal fund just in case AND pay other people who helped him out AND for uniforms AND-
Being a hero was really, REALLY expensive, okay? He only ever saw maybe an eighth of what his income was reported to be on a GOOD pay period. On a bad one, he got less than minimum wage.
It was part of the reason he was glad he outright owned his home. No need to worry about rent and he could stand to live with no gas or electricity for a month if things got really bad.
"So, where do you see yourself and the company in 10 or so years?"
"I am aiming to maximize profits even more and expand into more industries. Niches that need more support, if that makes sense. Private security, mental health research and support, assistance programs, things that will benefit the world beyond what is already out there."
"That is quite the goal, and very kind of you! Is there any reason why you're so interested in things like that? They aren't very profitable, is that why you're going to maximize profits?"
"Partially, but I also aim to increase the money coming in so I can pay my employees better and start using more humane factories. As for why… I'm afraid that's also a sore subject and extremely personal…"
Toshinori had a very, very strong feeling as to what his reasoning was, and it made him sick to his stomach "Napier…"
"Well, it seems like you have some strong inspirations for doing right through IM! Next question, what is your quirk?"
Toshinori held his breath as he watched the child he'd crushed the dreams of on the same day his mother was murdered and accidentally was involved in the death of her murderer freeze and seemingly have a rapid fire internal debate.
The young man let out a nervous noise and rubbed the back of his neck after a moment, clearly showing his hesitancy to tell the truth. After half a minute of deep breaths, Izuku shifted his stance subtly and muttered in a voice that sent chills down Toshinori's spine.
"i have no quirk, and i don't care anymore who learns that or how they view me because of it. all that matters is my skills in my role, and i have clearly proven that i handle that on my own."
"I-I see. People born without quirks face a lot of adversity, and judging from what you've said before, you've already-"
All Might tuned out the host's words as Midoriya's tone of voice during his last answer rang in his head as the words repeated themselves. Though he couldn't quite pin down where, he's definitely heard that voice before. Adding onto that, his expression seemed to darken in a way he'd only seen from the most hardened of underground heroes at that moment.
And the way he was standing…
It was clearly a very subtle combat stance, he'd seen ones like it when he trained with underground heroes in the past. One leg was slightly cocked and placed just behind the other, primed to lash out in a powerful kick but still looking like he was simply shifting to rest his leg a bit. His arms were loose and limber, hands on his hips and shoulders squared back in just the right angle that if he needed to drop into a roll or grab a hidden blade he could do so in mere seconds at most.
It looked exactly like a stance Eraserhead took during training sessions back when he still trained with mainstream pros, one that was ruthlessly efficient and adaptable.
Seeing Midoriya's change in attitude and stance, plus his own knowledge of the boy's past made All Might think back to a conversation he had with Tsukauchi Naomasa when he'd asked about their investigation of the Batman. From his observations and the observations of Commissioner Gamagori, they'd been able to create a cursory psychological profile of the vigilante.
He was someone young with a very strong sense of justice and a protective streak longer than the entire country of Japan, especially towards the underprivileged and weak. He pulled no punches, had the money to leave expensive custom equipment lying around after fights and owned a motorcycle and one heavily armored black ops-style costume at the bare minimum, and he knew how to intimidate like a classical villain. He also suggested that for someone so young to be so aggressive and know how to cause such brutal injuries in a fight, they likely had a traumatic past. Perhaps intense bullying or the death of a relative was involved, which would initially caused them to consider the heteromorph theory likely due to his assault on the Creature Rejection Clan
However, upon seeing Midoriya once again, learning of his resources, seeing the clear effect his mother's death had on him, and considering the profile created by the police, All Might had come to a completely new conclusion. With his discovery in mind, All Might walked over to his desk and began writing a letter, hoping he could set things right.
'I can't believe I drove a child to…I just hope I'm not too late…'
(A/N): And we're back! Again! I gotta say this was a tough chapter to crack all things considered, especially since we kept getting stuck on at least on at least one scene. We actually had to stop in the middle of the last scene when we had to have All Might learn about Izuku being Batman because there just wasn't a way it would conceivably work without making it obvious for everyone else. In the end, we ended up skipping ahead to Chapter 5 before we went back and did the ending to this one in a conceivable way
This and the next chapter have been crossposted to my Ao3 account, and I'll post Chapter 5 here when I get a few more edits done for the FF version. Only thing I can say regarding the next one is that it's where a lot more of the Batman elements become more apparent, especially from the Conroy version. Speaking of Batman though, I actually just got finished watch The Dark Knight for the first time in years the other day, and I can say it lives up to the hype! It won't show as much influence in the story early on, but as things ramp up you'll definitely see a lot more details.
In the meantime aside from working on Chapter 6, I'll need to focus on some of my older works that have been stuck for years. Part of a Family and Ninja of Santoryu will be simple if I can just get past some block, but Malevolence will be a lot trickier due to my style, personality, and plans for the story having changed drastically since I last posted back in 2020. Now that I've reminded myself 2020 was 3 years ago, I should probably end things off here before I go into an existential anxiety attack.
Please feel free to follow and favorite if you want more, and feel free to review if you want to tell how much this story is great, or it sucks, or if you just wanna tell me I'm an asshole who should update more. See you next time!
. . .