Case file #9: Flying Goblin Torino Sorahiko

"Dear Diary, it seems my past has come to bother me again. He might be shorter than before, like wayyyyyyy shorter, but he's still as annoying!

I don't care if he's still taller than me! He's a goblin who can fly!"

"I don't want your smartphone!"

"S- Sensei!" Toshinori stuttered as he hit his legs to stop them from shaking. "It's me! Toshinori!"

"Toshinori? Who's that?" The old voice asked. "What happened to Watanabe, the usual sales guy?"

"It's All Might! Nana-sensei's student? Your... punching bag?"

"Ah, Toshinori!" He could hear the old man grinned. "Finally found the balls to contact me?"

"I'm still shaking a lot, does that count?"

"That'll wear off. So, why do you call?"

"I've found him, Sorahiko-sensei." Toshinori spoke up seriously. "My successor."

"Took you long enough, eh? Is it the kid Sasaki suggested?"

"No." Toshinori shook his head. "He's... different. He's not an official Hero Student, but I- I see so much of Nana-sensei in him, sensei! He's the right choice. I'm sure of it."

"... You must have thought about it a lot. So why even call me?"

"Despite your... teaching method," Toshinori shivered at the memory. "I value your opinion a lot, sensei. Would it be possible for you to come to U.A and talk to him?"

"What about Shuzenji? What's her take on your choice?"

"She recognized his talent, too. She actually mentors him." Toshinori explained as he scratched his head. "But she was... not supportive. She wasn't outright against it, but I don't believe she supports it as well."

"If what you said about him is true, then I don't blame her. She took Nana's death hard. Maybe even harder than us. You know that."

Toshinori turned quiet at that. Without a response from his student, Sorahiko coughed loudly to break the tension before saying.

"I'll come to U.A and talk to the kid. Might as well watch the Sport Festival live and give you a good kick. For old time's sake."

Before Toshinori could response to the sudden threat, the call ended. Great, now his hands were shaking.

"Mom. Welcome home." Izuku gave his mother a smile. "Dinner... or breakfast is on the table."

Instead of answering, Inko used her Quirk and pulled the pen away from Izuku's hand.

"Midoriya Izuku, it's 3 a.m. Why are you still awake?"

"... I was waiting for you?" At his mother's tone, Izuku looked away from her eyes.

"I'm not falling for that again, Izuku." Inko sighed. "It's not good that this reminds me of my childhood."

"I didn't know you were such a night-owl back then." Izuku raised an eyebrow. "I mean, you still are now, but that's because of your job."

"No. Back then, I had to stay up to make sure your grandma has enough sleep." Inko explained with a nostalgic smile as she threw herself onto the couch. "I suppose the workaholic thing is genetic. There are sooooo many cases to solve these days."

"You don't sound like someone who's tired of their job."

"Because I'm helping people with my job." Inko grinned. "Guess that's genetics, too."

Izuku chuckled as he watched Inko slowly fall asleep. He took a piece of blanket and put it over her. Quietly, he turned off the light, grabbed his report and sneaked out of the living room. Before the door was closed, he heard his mother call out to him.

"We're going out for lunch tomorrow. Himiko's choosing where we're going to eat if you wake up later than her."

"... You wouldn't." Izuku squinted his eyes.

"Not if you go to sleep now." Inko replied. "I'll unlock your door. She'll sneak in again."

"They're coming to you for frost-burn, Midoriya Izuku!" Chiyo poked her cane at Izuku's cheek. "Why am I seeing them leaving with red faces?!"

At the start of the first event, a Hero Course's student threw a glacier at the rest. While the rest of the Heroic Course wasn't affected, many from the General Education, Support and Business Department had to come to Izuku and Chiyo for their injuries. Because of how their Quirks work, Chiyo and Izuku have separate booths to work in. Chiyo's Quirk healed fast, but they took a lot out of the patients. Anyone who didn't want to rest on the beds at Chiyo's booth can come to Izuku so he could revitalize enough for them to continue enjoying the festival.

But for some reason, anyone who visited Izuku's booth left with a red face.

"I didn't do anything." Izuku moved the cane away from his cheek. "While holding their hands to heal, I complimented them for the good work, and told them that as long as they tried their best, they are already heroes to me."

"Sometimes I think you're doing it intentionally!"

"I mean, yeah. I complimented them by myself. Maybe it's the heat?"

It was not the heat. Confirming that her assistant had zero clue about what he just did, Chiyo gave up and returned to her booth. Izuku only shrugged at his mentor before returning to his booth.

And immediately, he found an old man in yellow laying in a pool of red.

Izuku blinked at the sight before staring for a few minutes. After a few moments of awkward silence, the supposedly dead old man lifted his face up and looked at him. Izuku smiled and asked the old man.

"I can walk you to the canteen for a new ketchup bottle."

"... Smart and calm. I like that." Sorahiko grinned. "Everyone else squealed like a little girl."

"It was quite a surprise." Izuku chuckled. "But I've seen enough blood to differentiate real and fake."

Seemingly satisfied with Izuku's answer, the old man slowly moved towards the chair in front of the television and sat on it. After Izuku had done a quick job of cleaning up the tomato sauce splatter on the floor, he pulled another chair next to Torino and watched the second round of the festival with the old man. As the Calvary Battle went on, Izuku found himself growing more and more excited at the sight of new Quirks.

"Any teams you are cheering for?" Sorahiko asked as he bit on a taiyaki. Izuku quickly ran over and get him a cup of tea, at which the old man accepted with a nod. Izuku then looked at the TV showing footage of teams trying to break through walls of glacier, enlarged hand swatting away others, explosions blasting off-screen along with cheers and screams.

"It's hard to choose. Everyone's so cool." Izuku smiled. "Fighting with everything they have, trying their best... It would be unfair to pick out a favorite."

"Why aren't you out there, then?" Sorahiko asked. "Don't you want to try your best like them? Be a hero?"

"I am." Izuku smiled wider, his eyes never left the TV. "After they've tried their best out there, I'll try my best in here to heal and patch them up. I mean, I know I'm not out there doing the fight like normal heroes..."

Izuku continued, not noticing Torino looking at him with nostalgia. "... But saving people isn't just winning a fight. It's about if I'm able to put a smile on their faces, making them feel safe. It's my way of being a Hero. That's what my mom said when I was six, anyway. I turned that into my whole belief system."

"A smart mother you have." Sorahiko chuckled. "She sounds like a good friend of mine. Toshinori could learn a thing or two from her."

"Really?" Izuku asked curiously. "What is your friend like?"

"A strong, confident, beautiful and smart woman. Snarky and mischievous and yet, denser than a rock." Sorahiko huffed amusingly. "Her husband must have performed a ritual or something. That woman wouldn't get it if you took your shirt off in front of her."

"Can someone be that oblivious?" Izuku chuckled.

"You have no idea, kid!" Sorahiko laughed out loud. "You should ask-"

Suddenly, the door to Izuku's booth slid open. Both occupants stopped their conversation, turned towards the door and found a tall, thin figure, and a senior lady with a pissed off look on her face.

"Ey, Goblin!" Chiyo raised her voice. "Stop bothering my student! He's got work to do!"

"Can it, Siren!" Sorahiko grunted as he hopped off the chair. "I'm just having a chat with the young lad! Besides, isn't he too nice to be your student, malicious bat?"

As the argument devolved further, Izuku waved goodbye to the tall blonde who bowed slightly to apologize before pushing the adults out of the room.

"Midoriya-san!"

Inko turned around and found a familiar set of seafoam green hair that reached just past her shoulders. Inko set down the cup of coffee she was holding and stood up.

"Fukukado-chan." Inko smiled as she hugged the younger heroine. "What brings you here? Homicide? Grand larceny? Kidnapped?"

"Still as workaholic as ever, I see!" Emi laughed out loud. "I was just in the area. Mind joining me for lunch?"

"Was just in the area?" Inko raised her eyebrow. "Your school and agency are like 2, 3 prefectures away from here. What were you doing here?"

"I- uh... I was-" Emi stuttered, her eyes darting around, not daring to meet with Inko's green, round eyes. "... Gift! That's right! I was here to buy some gifts!"

"Ah, I see." Inko had a look of realization like she finally understood something. "Well, if you want, I'll help after we've had lunch."

"Really?!" Emi smiled, a little too wide and bright before she regained her cool. "I mean... Thank you, Midoriya-san. I appreciate it."

"Anything for you, cutie." Inko giggled before she grabbed Emi's hand and left.

As the scene was happening, from the corner, Sansa and Naomasa watched the interaction. After Inko pulled a red face Emi out of the room, Sansa leaned over and whispered.

"You sure she doesn't know what's going on?"

"Positive." Without looking up from his paperwork, Naomasa sipped his coffee. "That's our brightest and densest detective at work right there."

"This is the third heroines who asked her out for 'lunch' this week!" Sansa emphasized. "You're telling me she still has no clue?!"

"You'll get used to it."

A/N: Oh God, it's genetics. Totally not me using this chapter to skip the first two events of the Sport Festival.