Blackmore was a strange young man.
It was hard to say what made him so strange exactly. On the exterior, he seemed a perfectly polite young man, if perhaps a little overly given to apologizing for even the slightest mistake on his part with increasingly impressive and worrying zeal. Izuku was fairly certain Blackmore would have never forgiven himself for even the slightest misstep, had Izuku not specified multiple times that he didn't expect perfection.
The fact that the two had spent approximately an hour together, however, made that behaviour go from curious to concerning. Furthermore, Izuku's mother still wasn't wholly convinced all was well with the boy herself. He seemed overly demure, sitting quietly and eating his food, never once asking for anything. Somewhat like her Izuku, she noted, before her son had begun to train for UA and picked up some self confidence along the way.
Neither Midoriya minded the boy, not at all! He was polite, gentle, and had offered to do the dishes after dinner, having to be outright told to relax and sit down before he stopped trying to at least help Inko with them. She had listened to the two talk, overhearing such words as 'holy corpse' and 'zeppelin', though the latter she possibly misheard. Perhaps the two were discussing a manga? Izuku had always had a passing interest in them, and a few series he collected with some frequency.
She didn't worry about it. Izuku had brought a friend home, a very strange friend with a very strange past, but she was sure the two were exaggerating a touch. It should be noted at this point that Inko Midoriya, for her many great virtues, was not the most wholly observant person, and was perhaps a touch too trusting when it came to her son. He had been able to explain away the many burns and bruises from Bakugo and other children's bullying as the results of roughhousing with other boys, and she had accepted it and moved on.
This Blackmore seemed to be a good boy. And that was enough for her. Even if that mask of his was a little suspect, though she supposed it could have just been part of his prospective hero costume. Or maybe just an item with which he had some emotional attachment. Izuku still slept with an All Might plushie in his bed, after all.
"So I am to remain at home with your mother and assist her with the housework, sir?" Blackmore repeated Izuku's words back at him, and Izuku nodded.
He had just heard one of the most incredible tales in his life, one involving superhuman abilities (not that these were all that unique to him), daring rogues, terrible villains and a heroic man doing all he could to make his country the greatest in the world. It involved the mummified body of Jesus Christ, a horse race across all of the mainland United States, time travelling gunslingers and a man who could turn into a dinosaur. And that was just the parts Blackmore had witnessed and been told about; there was apparently much more he had only heard rumours of, not to mention all the things that had surely happened after his death.
Izuku had then absorbed the information, and then gotten to doing what he did best; planning and worrying about details. Blackmore couldn't just attend school with him; both heroics classes were full, and the chances of him making it into even a general studies course was extremely unlikely. So he needed to figure out what the boy could do. Blackmore had offered to speak to the headmaster personally, having been an adult before being thrown through time and space and reverted to a teenager, but Izuku had disregarded that offer. As if the headmaster of UA would believe a story about time travel, the resurrection the dead, and inter-dimensional mirrors!
So the very next day, as Izuku attended school, Blackmore took a little walk. Inko Midoriya had been most accommodating, setting up a futon for him to sleep on in the living room, but he had business to attend to involving UA. It was still raining quite heavily; Blackmore had marvelled at the television in the Midoriya's home, before being shown that it could also predict the weather ahead of time and afterwards regarding it as some sort of Stand power. Perhaps it had something to do with Mrs. Midoriya? He had seen her floating things towards herself, and her home had been filled with all manner of wonders.
Hers must be a truly powerful Stand indeed, he considered. His master's mother truly was an impressive woman. All the more reason to consider himself lucky. Izuku Midoriya was just as kind and polite as President Valentine had been, even more so in some ways, and his mother simply had to be some form of saint. There was no other explanation for her kindness and generosity, except that she bore some manner of divine blood! Blackmore resolved then to not just keep his master safe, but also to safeguard his master's mother. It was only appropriate to protect his master's family as well.
Blackmore wasn't walking on the rain any more. He had done that the night before to ensure he would stay in pace with his master, though he had embarrassed himself by not introducing himself until after he had thoroughly spooked him. A shameful display, one he would regret for the rest of his days. Now, however, he had somewhere to be, so he donned his mask and promptly disintegrated into liquid.
He was a sight to see, a stream of black flowing through the sky like the churning rapids of the mighty Mississippi River, coursing above the streets of... he wasn't sure what the city was called, actually, but he was certainly making a mockery of its roads. He knew UA's general location, and it was hard to miss a campus the size of a small city in and of itself, especially from above. He moved through the rain, making his way up above the central building before descending to about thirty feet off the ground. He noted the large picture window in the side of the main structure, through which he could see a large office.
He made his way to the window and reformed into a young man, his mask still on as he stood on frozen raindrops, gently tapping his knuckles against the glass to draw the attention of the man in the chair.
It was not, he quickly learned, a man in the chair. It was a small creature, a bear or rodent or perhaps a weasel? Regardless of its species, it took note of him and seemed to sigh, before turning back around and doing something on the desk. One of the window panels slid up, an opening large enough for Blackmore to slip through, and he did so with a single step before descending to the ground, touching down with a gentle tap.
"A thousand apologies for the unprecedented arrival, sir, I wasn't certain if I would be welcome inside your building." Blackmore said, bowing his head. "I can see you are a clever sort of creature; I would be honoured to meet the Headmaster of the facility if you would happen to know where he is."
Blackmore could accept intelligent animals. He had heard tales of animals with Stands before, ones that gained intelligence nearly identical to that of a human, and simply assumed this curious bear-rat-weasel creature was one of them. Besides, in his brief stint of wandering before locating his master the previous night, he had seen all manner of curious individuals with animalistic aspects walking the streets. Perhaps this fellow was just one of those?
"Blackmore?" the creature squeaked, giving the young man in question quite a fright. "Ah, yes, young mister Midoriya said you might be coming along!"
Blackmore reached up and pulled off his mask, deactivating his Catch the Rainbow and allowing the rain outside to resume falling, a sudden downpour before settling back into its much more steady fall. He took a long breath, happy to be free of the mask. Ever since he had arrived he had found it to be solid, no longer a manifestation of his Stand but instead a simple mask, made of painted and lacquered wood. It was smooth to the touch on both sides, and still attached itself to his face by some unknown, almost mystical means, but it still looked exactly his Stand as it had been.
The rat-bear-weasel creature took a long look at Blackmore and smiled, nodding once as if some question he had asked had been answered, though he had never voiced a single one. Blackmore offered a hand for the creature to shake, which it took on its hand-paw (Blackmore, it should be noted, had little classical education in any matters not related to the act of service and assassination) and accepted with a firm shake.
"So, young Mister Blackmore, how can I help you?" the creature asked. "I am Nezu, the lovable headmaster of UA! Am I a bear? A mouse? Something else? Nobody knows!"
Blackmore, quite unsure how to reply to that particular greeting, simply smiled and allowed the Headmaster his eccentricities. The fellow was a bear-mouse-weasel hybrid, after all, he could be permitted a few behavioural tics. Blackmore was well aware he had those in spades. It was a crucial part of the reason he had come to serve President Valentine.
"I would like to enrol in this academy, sir." Blackmore replied, bowing his head again. "I must be near Master Midoriya so I might serve and protect him, as is my duty as his aide, sir. I cannot do this if I am barred from the grounds of your school, however, and I am aware that in this form I am unable to serve as a staff member, sir. Therefore, sir, I must throw myself upon your mercy and hope to be accepted in spite of my lack of history in this place."
Nezu (Blackmore thought it impolite to continue referring to the man-bear-mouse as a creature, after all) placed a paw under his chin and pondered this for a moment, before gesturing to the chair across his desk.
"Please, young Blackmore, take a seat." Nezu said. "I would like to call upon a coworker to weigh in on this discussion, if that is alright with you. You may be familiar with his name; he is known to most of the world as All Might?"
Blackmore did know this name, as one plastered all over his master's bedroom walls on posters and pictures of all sorts. He was a hero, apparently, akin to President Valentine but without any political power. He was also openly known to the world to possess a Stand, or 'Quirk' as they were called in this world, though nobody knew what it was called.
"That is very much alright with me, sir." Blackmore nodded, sitting down and relaxing a little in his chair, though he remained in a ready stance to burst into action if something happened. Without rain, his Stand was useless. However, this did not render him in any way defenceless; he was trained in hand to hand combat, and his umbrella was not simply a means by which he could shield himself from rain.
Nezu pressed a few buttons on a pad on his desk before speaking into a curious circular black device, apparently summoning All Might from a distance. Blackmore found this most intriguing; was this Nezu's Stand power, to project his voice across great distances? Quite useful in his role as a Headmaster, no doubt. If only Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap had been able to lend President Valentine the same ability... Blackmore swallowed down his grief at his greatest failure, however, and awaited All Might with some trepidation.
Author's Note:
I really love writing Blackmore. He's a good way to play around with my favourite writing style, one where I get to point out bizarre details and occasionally break the fourth wall indirectly since he himself is just bizarre enough a character to make you wonder just what goes on his head. His eccentricities are fun to play with, and though I don't want to spoil anything, I look forward to his future interactions with many other characters. Additionally, Catch the Rainbow is an awesome Stand and I love the idea behind it, and the song that inspired it.
Nezu is another fun character; in my opinion, he's always a step or two ahead, meaning when he's able to be playful even in situations where he probably shouldn't be. The guy's Quirk is literally just having a big brain and being a genius, he's definitely got a plan for everything.
Inko Midoriya is the best and worst mom at the same time; bless her heart, she's kind as can be, but she's also not very observant, extremely emotional and generally just sort of lacking as a mother in a lot of ways. But when it comes to soft hugs and making everybody's favourite broccoli-boy feel better, I doubt there's anybody better.
Next chapter: Blackmore tries to go to school! Izuku actually goes to school! Villains plot and do villainous things! And more!
Hope you enjoyed it, and have a great day!