Alright, I'm way more burnt out on MHA than I thought I was, that One Piece story chapter was super refreshing. I think I'll try to branch out with some new stories from different franchises soon so that this doesn't happen again.
For now, I'll just update this old story to give 'Of all the worlds' some time to breathe and let the reviewers make their choices before continuing with that. I hope you all enjoy it.
Days later: Writer's block sucks
One week had passed since Izuku joined I-Island's prestigious academy and quite a few things had happened in that time. First and foremost, his professors were all…Quirky, would be the best word.
First, there was Professor Ishigami and his scientific talent and fervor that surpassed most. He was actually the designated professor for physics, biology, chemistry, and mathematics. Equally skilled and knowledgeable in the theoretical and practical aspects of each.
Next, there was Professor Pryde, a former hero who now taught computer science. And apparently, Astrophysics with a Ph.D. in it, though Izuku did not take that class, he just learned about it from Andreas. She was…An interesting teacher, who for whatever reason chose to wear her old hero costume while teaching.
Izuku wouldn't lie, he fanboyed a bit, but thankfully his teacher had taken it with pride. Pun intended.
Finally, there was his forensic science teacher…A quirked chimpanzee…Huh. Well, the class was interesting, that was for sure. Especially knowing that Professor Bobo(yes that was his legal name, go figure) used to work with an absolute legend in the hero scene. The original Batman.
Izuku was still processing that if he was being honest.
All in all, it had been an interesting week. Especially since he had ended up deciding to take the quirk studies exam right away instead of taking the class after reading through the book. He already knew everything there was in that book and then some, so why waste already limited time if you didn't need to, right?
Well, imagine his surprise when he not only passed the exam, with flying colors apparently but was also called up to the headmaster's office in the middle of class. But there he was, more than a little nervous as the elevator he was in climbed I-Island's tower to its top floor.
Upon arriving, Izuku was met by David Shield who was surrounded by a number of large screens, each displaying the image of a well-dressed, clearly wealthy individual. It was one of these people, a balding, elderly man with a long beard who spoke up first. "So this is the brilliant young man that we've come here to meet. It's a pleasure, Mr. Midoriya."
"Welcome Izuku, let me introduce you to I-Island's many sponsors. These are the people that help make all of this possible, be it with funding, legal protections, and a number of other services. They've been notified of your achievements and wanted to meet you." David said, sweating a little. Izuku put that perspiration to shame and gulped heavily.
"Now now. No need to be nervous, young man. We brought you here because you have far exceeded expectations in your recent Quirk Studies exam. Particularly in your written answers and essay. I dare say that it rivals the work of many professionals in the field." A blonde woman wearing a lab coat tried to soothe Izuku's worries. The green boy blushed at the compliment.
"Quite right. It's to the point that we've become interested in your future, though perhaps not your career as David here has told us that you plan on becoming a hero. That said, maybe a simple job would be fine, how interested would you be in doing contract work for the international quirk research institute?" The words of a third sponsor, a tall Indian woman smoking a pipe, made Izuku choke on his own saliva.
"A-A job, with the IQRI! Just like that! But I'm just a student, what could I do for such a prestigious institution, especially since I'll be going to a hero school in less than a year?" He'd barely had enough time to finish his current educational goals as it was. Let alone the future work he'd have piled on top of U.A. And his own physical training.
"It would not be immediate, we are aware of and understand your current predicament. Your education comes first, which we have all agreed on, besides, completing it would benefit your future job offer anyway. Speaking of, allow us to lay out our terms, there's no pressure. Whether you accept or not is completely up to you young man." Izuku could only nod, trying his best to calm himself and focus.
"Starting the day of your acceptance into U.A. you are to collect data on the quirks of the hero course students. And you are to analyze and compile them in whatever way you deem fit before sending them to us for review. If your work is deemed valuable enough, we will make this a lasting relationship and compensate you handsomely." That…They were going to pay him…For taking good notes on other people's quirks.
He was all about that!
"I accept and I'll try my very best!" Izuku exclaimed, bowing at a 90-degree angle.
"Bahaha! Now that's the enthusiasm I like in a young lad. And polite too, excellent. I'll tell you what my boy, I've heard from Mr. Shield and All Might that you already had some amateur notes on quirks as a hobby. And quite impressive notes at that. If you send those over first, we can look them over and give you an initial payment to show you just how profitable this gig could be. How does that sound?" A large man with a black suit and a British accent offered.
"My old notes? Of course, I'll have them collected and sent to you as soon as I can! Would you prefer physical copies, digital, or the originals?" Izuku agreed eagerly, though he hoped that he wouldn't have to give up the originals. Those held sentimental value to him.
The same man laughed again in his boisterous way. "Digital copies will be more than fine, just make sure that they are well-lit and visible. We'll send you an email where you can send everything after this meeting. Thank you, lad." He finished with a nod of approval. Allowing another of his colleagues to continue.
"Thank you indeed. We are grateful that you've taken our request under consideration and we will watch your career with great anticipation, Midoriya Izuku. But be careful, the path of a hero can be quite the dangerous one." A round-headed bald man, with a large mustache and circular glasses, warned Izuku before cutting off his feed, which was followed by the rest of I-Island's sponsors.
'Well, that wasn't ominous at all.' Izuku lied internally, feeling a bit uneasy at the last sponsor's closing statement.
"I'm sorry about this Izuku, I know I threw this in front of you without much warning, but the bosses requested a blind interview. The good news is that I think you passed with flying colors. What do you think about all of this?" David could make a decent guess seeing as Izuku was still trembling slightly and sweating bullets.
"IcantbelieveittheIQRIwantMEtoworkforthembeforeven-" He went on for several minutes, seemingly without taking a breath.
'...Is he truly quirkless?' David sweatdropped at the seemingly impossible feat. Or was it some kind of separate mutation altogether? 'Research later, maybe. For now, Izuku needed to go to his next class.' And so he did. And what a story he had to tell to his friends.
Later that day, lunch period
"They offered you what?!" Andreas exclaimed, nearly choking on his smoothie from what his brilliant new friend just told him. "You already got a job with such a big-shot organization, and they considered your old amateur notes worth buying outright? Damn man, that's impressive." He slapped Izuku on the back in celebration.
"Honestly, I'm not that surprised. Given the quality of your work and the connections you've gained through uncle Might and my family, this was to be expected. I just wonder how this will affect your application to U.A. It's bound to look great on your extracurriculars!" Melissa teased, having joined the two freshmen at a table. Catching a few eyes as Melissa was a little famous herself.
"Probably, I still have to organize my old notes and send them over tonight, and I think I can finish off the last one I half-finished with all of the cool quirks I've seen around here. I hope it's enough, it would be pretty nice to have a little extra income to send to my mom, and upgrade the materials I have for new inventions." Nobody missed how the first thought he had for how to use his money was to help his family.
'Too sweet!' Those close enough to hear what he said thought in unison.
"Oh trust me, it will be more than enough. I already floated the idea of uncle Might using some of your suggestions while doing hero work. He loved your idea for a new suit in particular." Izuku flinched, realizing that his costume might just be used by All Might himself in the future! Another item on his bucket list just got crossed off without him even knowing.
At this rate, he grew a little worried about his life expectancy. All this good fortune had to come with a downside right?
"By the way, papa and I wanted to invite you over for dinner tomorrow evening to talk things over for the suit he's planning on creating based on your designs. I'll be the one cooking again, I know how much you liked it the last time." Ah, there it was. A potential life-or-death situation disguised as a simple dinner. Maybe if I go through enough of them my inner emotionally and socially repressed self will eventually die off, leaving a genuinely well-adjusted person.
He could only hope.
"Ooh, here comes Dr. Strawberry again. Can't say I blame you though, getting invited to dinner that was cooked by a pretty girl would make anyone blush." Izuku's only male friend teased good-naturedly. Getting an even deeper shade of red out of the greenette, and a small one from their blonde friend.
"Oh, I'm so using that nickname. And thanks for the compliment, by the way, I rarely get genuine ones like that." At their baffled looks, Melissa elaborated. "Being the daughter of this island's arguably best scientist tends to intimidate many, and the few that have the confidence to speak up often have ulterior motives." Confusion turned to melancholy as the two young men looked at each other.
"Well, you don't have to worry about that anymore. Now you have us, and I know I couldn't care less about a little fame. To me, you're just Melissa Shield, a friend. Though I'm sure Dr. Strawberry thinks a little more of you than just that." Izuku's friends laughed at his expense and even he got a chuckle out of it after nearly spontaneously combusting.
Was he that obvious?
"Yes." His two friends and several students who were walking by them said in unison…It had only been a week and his schoolmates had already figured him out.
"I see."
That night, Izuku's room
"Phew, that should be everything. All 13 notebooks, years of analysis and theory, all just for a hobby. Now they're all digitized and sent through email, I'm getting paid for doing something I've always enjoyed. I guess this is what heroes must feel like, at least a little bit." It's been said that if your work was something you loved, you'd never work a day in your life. And now Izuku was living it.
"I should do more of these, now that I have a potential gig out of it. There are plenty of unique and interesting quirks the students, staff, and heroes have here, ripe for cataloging." Again, he couldn't stress how cool it was to get paid for what he already did as a hobby. "I shouldn't get ahead of myself, the deal hasn't even been written let alone finalized yet."
The thought of that funding was an alluring one though. Oh, the possibilities. He could finally upgrade from garbage!... Which was good for multiple reasons, he was having a hard time finding much trash in the scientific wonderland of I-Island. And he had yet to start any classes that would give him access to higher-level materials, so he was on his own when it came to acquiring them.
Also money. Just having money in general was nice. Saying otherwise would just be lying.
He needed his All Might merch damn it!
A bit of a shorter chapter this time since I honestly just wanted to upload something and this one seems to have reached a natural end state. The next chapter should be a lot easier to write now that this one is done.
Though as I said at the beginning, I'll probably alternate with my One Piece story and one other(probably my Konosuba fic) to stave off writer's block and burnout as best as I can. Ah, and I am currently in a new job/doing college work once again, so that shaves off even of my free time for writing.
So that's a thing. Well anyway, I hope that you all enjoyed the chapter. Hopefully my next shouldn't take nearly as long as this one did to come out. Until next time.
