0300 that night...
When Deku arrived at the school and decided to stay at the dorms, he was given a spare instructor's room located on the same floor as Snipe's. The school mainly used the room if the instructor living there had to be away for any particular reason (night patrol, an assignment, etc.) Therefore, the young Symbol of Peace didn't decorate his room; instead, he elected to take some spare furniture from the storage room. The extra furniture included a full-sized bed, some sheets, a nightstand, a loveseat (don't tell anyone else), a desk, and the Wi-Fi password.
With some time-accurate money (provided by Principal Nezu), Deku filled his closet with an assortment of clothes so he wouldn't be walking around in his hero outfit all day. He also bought a journal to record his time there as well as his thoughts on other issues. But, of course, he always hid the journal before leaving for the day.
The young Symbol of Peace was sound asleep. His entire body sprawled out, and his sheets were everywhere. His desk lamp was still on with his journal wide open. He wore a black pair of sweatpants, and his sleepshirt was on the chair by his desk.
His sleep was interrupted when a knock came at the door. The sudden knock jolted the young hero from his sleep, prompting him to look around with lidded eyes. He groaned as he eyed his desklamp and threw his hand out, using Black Whip to hit the switch. Hopefully, whoever was at the door noticed the light go out and that he went to sleep.
Deku dug into his pillow to get back to sleep, but the knocking continued. This time, it got forceful.
"Deku? I know you're awake. Can we talk?" A female voice called out.
Deku groaned. "The papers are on my desk. I'll sign them and get them to you in the morning!" He called out.
The voice at the door paused. "What papers?"
The young Symbol of Peace raised his eyes and narrowed at the headrest of his bed. "That's not mine..." He mused.
The knocking continued, jogging the young hero's memory. Finally, he sighed and kicked himself off the bed. He shuffled over to the door and set his hand on the doorknob. "Who is it?" He groaned.
"It's Yaoyorozu. Can we talk?"
The name woke him up. The young hero realized he was shirtless, and he immediately reached over for his tank top. "Give me a second," he called.
The knocking stopped. The young hero grabbed his shirt and paused. This tank top was damaged from his workout earlier in the day, and the right side of it was hanging by threads. "Sweater it is," he muttered as he junked his top for another.
With his U.A. Faculty sweatshirt on (light blue with U.A. in gold and the word 'FACULTY' on the bottom), he opened the door. The Everything Hero stood here, thankfully just as decent as he was, with her phone flashlight on. Her hair was loose, and her eyes looked red.
Deku sighed. "Couldn't sleep?" He asked.
Yaoyorozu shrugged. "I had a lot on my mind today. I was wondering if we could talk about things," she said.
The young Symbol of Peace smirked. "You're persistent. I shouldn't be surprised if I'm honest," he quipped.
"Future knowledge?"
Deku smiled. "Well, since you're awake and I won't get to go back to sleep until you do, how about some tea? Then, we can talk downstairs," he offered.
"I was going to suggest the same thing," she said.
Deku grabbed something from the nightstand by the door, slipped out of his room, and walked with the young Everything Hero to the common space. Unfortunately, the elevator on their floor was shut, prompting them to take the stairs. The two slipped down the stairs until they reached the common space.
The large room was as empty as they left it. Unlike the common space in 1-A, the 2-A space resembled an actual living room and dining room. With it being a whole year since Principal Nezu implemented the dorm system, he decided that the students should get to live in a better setting than the previous year. The dining area had two large tables instead of 5 smaller ones; the kitchen was fully stocked with everything needed to cook for 20 teenagers. The kitchen also had a small island in the middle with several stools around it.
Deku used Black Whip to hit a light switch in the kitchen. Then, Yaoyorozu got to work pulling out her preferred tea while the young Symbol got the cups and other utensils ready. The Everything Hero watched as Deku placed the right amount of tea leaves into each cup. He knows exactly how much I like...
With the water on the fire and their cups ready, the two sat down opposite each other on the island. When they sat down, there was silence in the room. Neither party knew what to start with.
After a few minutes of silence, Deku spoke. "So...what has been on your mind?" He asked.
Yaoyorozu rubbed her knees and sighed. "It's...It's the story."
"It wasn't good? I know I had better stories, but damn..."
"NO!" She cringed at how loud she was and repeated in a whisper. "No...the story was great. I-I mean, hearing how I go pro was just...I liked it. It gave me a lot to think about-"
"And kept you up tonight," Deku deduced.
"Right. Because...well..."
Deku folded his hands on the table and leaned in. "I-I'm on your team?" Yaoyorozu wondered.
Deku nodded. "We started as teammates?"
The young hero nodded again. "Are we still teammates?"
Deku smiled. "Yes, we are," he answered.
Yaoyorozu could only stare at him and nod. "I'm on the same team as the Symbol of Peace. But, heh, that was not what I expected when I came to U.A.," she admitted.
"I know. Honestly, I was expecting to open my agency, maybe have a sidekick or two, and that would be it. I know everybody else was thinking the same thing-"
"So why didn't you?" Yaoyorozu asked. "Why make the team instead of going solo?"
Deku sighed and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the holo-disc and turned it on. He swiped for a little bit before settling on a picture: a headline in large bold letters that said TOMURA SHIGARAKI, DEAD!
"In two years, I will be in a battle against Tomura Shigaraki. He will die in the battle, and the Paranormal Liberation Front will dissolve into relative nothingness," he said. "Turned to dust, basically."
"Y-You killed him?" Yaoyorozu asked.
Deku pursed his lips. "You understand vibrations. The relative size and power of an object will determine the strength of vibration. Of course, the surface that the object strikes is also a factor, but you get it, right?"
Yaoyorozu nodded. "Well, the Paranormal Liberation Front nearly shattered Japanese society when we fought them in Jaku City. The world hung by a thread but was still relatively intact. I can't say that people are fond of heroes after Endeavor's secret got out, though. But-"
What he was about to say was lost as the sound of the tea kettle going off behind them. Deku removed the kettle and set it on its stand between the two. He poured Yaoyorozu's tea with extreme caution, filling it to a reasonable level. Once he was done, he served himself and continued.
"Anyway, hero society is crumbling beneath our feet. Right now, I can feel the anxiety you all exhibit, even when you're all relaxing and joking around," he said.
"It must've been a long time since you felt that, huh?"
Deku nodded. "I don't miss the feeling one bit. I only wish that I could've gone further back in time instead of ending up here," he admitted.
"So you could stop Shigaraki from escaping?"
"So I could kill him."
Yaoyorozu felt needles crawl up her head as he said this. His eyes were fixed and cold when he said that. "I understand that not all villains are un-saveable, but Tomura? To end him before he woke up from receiving All for One would've saved a lot of time and a lot of lives," he admitted. "The rest of the P.L.F would've been demoralized, and clean-up would not have been that costly."
"B-But you're talking about killing a villain while he was defenseless? I know he's a terrible person, but that-"
Deku nodded. "I'm getting off-track, though. Back to what I was saying..."
They both took a sip of their tea. "When we defeated the Front, the vibrations were felt around the world. Villain organizations started to rise and mimic what Shigaraki did. Japan's hero society was still in chaos when the dust settled, Deku explained. "All Might once told me that he regretted being the only pillar of strength. The other heroes got their jobs done, but everyone depended on him. When he retired, we all paid the price."
"More villains rose. Overhaul...Shigaraki...All for One..."
Deku nodded. "The gates of Hell burst open, and the demons rose to scorch the planet. When we realized what he meant, we all took action. No more hero single-acts. No more competitions between us. Society needed heroes and not glorified celebrities," he said.
"True..."
"So when we were old enough, we teamed up. Other hero agencies teamed up with each other, too, moving to a new era of heroism. Hell, there are youth outreach programs aimed at helping children with unstable or "villainous" Quirks find a home. Children need hope in this cruel world, and programs giving them that help has led to great things," Deku explained.
"Right...that makes sense, but I'm still confused. So out of everyone else in our class, you chose me to be your fourth teammate? Bakugo and Uraraka, I understand, but me? Not Todoroki or Tsu?"
Deku shook his head. He reached over and swiped through his holo-disc. "You want to know why? Here you go."
He stopped on one report. "When the battle in Tokyo happened, the villains sought to kill as many people as possible to demoralize us, and others pin the blame of all this chaos on us. But, almost as soon as the battle began, a certain hero stepped up and rallied a lot of us together."
Yaoyorozu leaned in to read the report. "The evacuation of civilians from the battlefront was our main priority. You formed roughly 20 evacuation teams out of the many heroes that were there and personally oversaw each of them with that nifty drone of yours," Deku said.
"M-Me?"
"Yep! You coordinated Search and Rescue teams to comb through the hardest-hit areas for survivors, sent out strong combat-type heroes to escort the civilians and the heroes finding them to evac zones. From there, you worked with many vigilantes and local transportation agencies to get them to safety. You had overwatch teams keeping an eye on blind zones, communications specialists kept the lines open, and information flowing through us. You even gave the heroes actively fighting the villains a hand by calling out strategies and patterns. You are responsible for our two victories that day," Deku said.
As he said this, Yaoyorozu read the report. "Roughly 250,000 civilians were on the battlefield when the fighting started, and all were evacuated. Roughly 1,300 civilians had mild injuries, while five were rushed to local hospitals for serious injuries. Yet, all five still lived?!"
Deku nodded. "Of course, you are still a fighter. I watched Bakugo take to the skies and shot down several Winged Nomu, Uraraka life a building with her Quirk and drop it on a group of beasts, and Kirishima go toe-to-toe with Rappa with him winning in a TKO," he said. "Every single one of us went Plus Ultra during this battle...including you. I watched you decapitate the U.S.J. and the Chainsaw Nomu using a heated sword."
"No way..."
"Kaminari immobilized the Seven Sticks crime family, with a close-quarters Indiscriminate Shock without shorting out his brain. Next, Shinso got the Yakuza to fight each other while Rappa got his 8 hours from Kirishima. Finally, Hagakure launched guerilla attacks against the Reservoir Dogs and the Bare-Knuckle Brawlers, a gang of half-giants with incredible strength," he said.
"Goodness...how?"
Deku smiled. "She tricked them into beating each other senseless. Then, when they realized that she tricked them, she blinded them, opening them up for Death Arms to knock them all down," he said.
Yaoyorozu smiled. "Every single one of our classmates...hell, every single young hero we've met are all incredible fighters. You are fierce and knowledgeable. When I offered you the spot to join the agency, I'll admit you hesitated, but you took the position. We have several victories credited to you because of that big brain of yours."
A blush formed on Yaoyorozu's cheeks. "You won't stop fighting with Bakugo, though, which is sometimes concerning."
"Of course, I'd quarrel with him..." She said with a smile.
Deku smiled and finished his tea. He shut off the holo-disc and pocketed it. "That's all you get out of Tokyo. I won't give you another large spoiler like this again, so don't try it," he warned.
"And it took me not being able to sleep to get you to spill," Yaoyorozu said.
Deku smirked. "Don't make it a habit."
Yaoyorozu finished her tea soon after. She handed Deku the cup, and he started to clean up. He poured the excess water down the sink and washed the pot and the cups. "Um, Deku?"
"Hmm?"
"The tea...you made it perfectly. I haven't been able to get your younger self to make it even close to that. What gives?" She wondered.
Deku chuckled. "Ochaco doesn't like when I talk about it, but you and I teamed up for a mission in Uruguay one time. It was a week of hunting a villain group across the country, so that meant that we bunked together for that time," he said.
Yaoyorozu's face turned red. "W-We did?"
Deku shut off the water and turned to her. "Nothing happened, and I learned how to make tea the right way during that time. Ochaco trusts you, but she still doesn't like that mission," he said.
"O-Oh my..."
The young Symbol of Peace chuckled and led her out of the kitchen. "Go get some sleep, alright? I'll go over the Bootcamp teams and schedules tomorrow afternoon, so be down here when I do."
"Got it. Thank you for the talk, Deku." Yaoyorozu bowed and went up the stairs.
When she was gone, Deku sighed and eyed the light switch. "Too much of the future over a cup of tea...I should be more careful," he mused.
He hit the switch, blanketing the room in darkness. "Tokyo...damn. They aren't ready for Tokyo. Hopefully, this Bootcamp gets them started."
He went back upstairs to his room.
Meanwhile...
The Chaos King looked over his truck pool. There were ten parking spaces with nine box trucks in each spot. The half-giant kept his focus on the empty slot while he had a cigar in hand.
The villain smiled as he took a large puff and exhaled, blowing a large amount of smoke into the air. "He enjoyed the preview. I hope he loves the feature presentation I prepared for him."
As the sun started to rise over their base, the Chaos King's smile widened. "Part two is almost ready. Soon...Soon I'll have the most powerful Quirk known to humanity. One for All...I will become your tenth and final wielder!"
This chapter was a little shorter than normal, but it was more dialogue than action for a reason. I feel that, even after a whole year since she started rebuilding her confidence, Yaoyorozu would still somewhat struggle, especially since I have her in the same team as Deku, DynaMight, and Uravity.
What do you guys think about the Chaos King's ultimate goal? One for All with a Quirk that makes his skin stronger than steel would be a terrifying combo. But...does he know what Deku knows about the Quirk and passing it again? We'll see.
I'd love to hear your feedback on this story so far. This is looking like the longest story I've ever published on this site, chapter-wise. I hope to break 100K words like Pro Heroes? Or Miraculous?
It's summer vacation, and as of Friday, I finally graduated college and heading to a university. If any other graduates are reading this story, then CONGRATULATIONS! If you're planning to graduate or are still struggling, then don't give up! Push through those obstacles! Conquer them! Show the world your power!
GO BEYOND!