11: One Small Step

Gigantomachia was a well-known entity of destructive power. Not only was he, supposedly, naturally large in stature, but his Quirk allowed him to grow in size to over fifty meters, mutating his body into a nigh unstoppable tank. During his battle with his nemesis, All Might suspected that the monster was a product of his experiments to house multiple compatible Quirks in a single body. Because this person could no longer be called as such. Gigantomachia was a monster, without question.

Seeing Izuku rushing toward the behemoth had nearly given Toshinori a heart attack, especially when he saw him change into the four-armed giant that was his equal in strength as All Might. Thank heaven the boy only intervened to misdirect the monster's attention from the frightened girl that he was obviously about to harm had he not answered his question for him.

Things only escalated from there, however, as the boy's mother, aunt, and current foster sister arrived to find him standing over a very distraught girl. As much as the man thought that the boy deserved just a little misery for scaring him so badly, he stepped in and explained the situation. Shortly afterward the real circus began as the police arrived, as well as a mob of reporters.

Again, Toshinori was thankful that he had some contacts within the police stations to keep the crowd back. Knowing that Gigantomachia was in the area was a huge scoop, and the two children were the prime targets for the media.

"After I answered him, he just seemed to lose interest in us, and went on his way," Izuku explained to one of the officers as he took the boy's statement. Another was standing by the girl taking her own statement over the situation. She had calmed down considerably after the two older women had arrived on the scene.

"You're extremely lucky that he did," Toshinori put in, "Gigantomachia is dangerously unpredictable, and if he'd been in a foul mood, you could have been added to his extensive list of victims!"

Izuku blushed but gave the man a challenging look, "Well I couldn't just stand by and do nothing!" He pointed out as the girl looked over at him, "There's no telling what would've happened, yeah, but if I didn't at least try to answer him, the girl definitely would've gotten hurt!"

"I'm not angry that you saved the girl, kid," Toshinori shook his head, "I'm angry because you just took off without even telling me." Izuku blinked just as the man reached out and hugged the boy, "Your drive to be a Hero is incredible, Izuku, but you have to think about situations like this. You didn't even think to let me in on what you were doing," He pulled back and gave the boy a look, "And if you'd been hurt because I could've acted but didn't, I'd never forgive myself."

Mina saw this and moved away from the officer questioning her, "Um, Sir?" The skeletal man turned to her.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Miss, we didn't mean to ignore - "

"Please, don't be too mad at him," the girl suddenly pleaded, "If I hadn't froze up the way I did, then that guy wouldn't have started getting angry, and your son wouldn't have gotten involved!"

[Son?] Both of them blinked, looking at each other. Toshinori smiled at them both, "It's not something you should feel sorry for, young lady," the man said, "This boy's got the heart of a true Hero, always rushing in before he can think things through." He smiled at the girl as she worried her lip, "And you shouldn't feel bad about freezing up in front of Gigantomachia of all people: even All Might thinks that guy is a monster."

"A-and I'm...well, he's not my dad, but - " Izuku stammered out, his face slightly flustered due to the fact that the girl's attention was mostly on him, and the fact that Toshirnori was chuckling softly at his predicament.

"O-oh," she blushed, to Izuku's surprise, a very pretty shade of lavender. The sight of such a unique color on her cheeks made the boy himself blush even harder. "I'm sorry, I just...you guys seemed pretty close, so I thought - "

Toshinori laughed as the boy's mother came over, "Believe me, I wish he was my son," saying this made Inko gain a very pretty shade pink on her cheeks as well, "At least then I'd have the right to smack him upside the head for scaring the hell outta me like that!"

Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, "Hehe, lucky me, huh?" He said nervously...right before his mother did exactly as Toshinori wanted and slapped the back of his head with a decent amount of force for such a petite woman, "Ow! Mo-o-om!" The boy's whine brought a giggle from the pink-skinned girl while Toshinori outright laughed.

"Let that be a lesson to you for doing something so reckless, even if you did save this lovely young lady!" Inko huffed as she nursed her hand: her son's head was a bit harder than she'd thought before smacking him.

Hearing this, Mitsuki rolled her eyes and conspiracionally whispered to Himiko, "She's in matchmaking mode." She grinned as the girl snickered.

Mina giggled behind her hand, "Well, I can honestly say that this isn't how I pictured meeting your son when you told me he was aiming for U.A. High." She said with a small look in his direction, "But...I'm glad I did...he's a real Hero." Another shade of lavender dusted her cheeks.

"Oh, that he is," Inko said proudly as she wrapped him up in a hug, "But he really needs to work on all of this running in before he thinks."

"Well, I sure didn't mind!" Mina laughed before she turned back to the police officers, "A-Anyway, I should probably get this done so I can get home. My mom's probably gonna have kittens when she hears about this." She stepped away before glancing back at Izuku, "Uh...before that," she skipped back toward him, "Could I see your phone for a minute?"

Izuku blinked in confusion. "My phone? Aigoo!" His mother discreetly pinched him from behind, "Er, yeah, sure!" He yelped as he dug his phone out of his pocket.

Toshinori sidled up to Inko while the boy gave over his phone, "Wasn't that a little too crude?" He whispered.

Inko gave the man a small look out of the corner of her eye, "Are you joking? Not only is he shy, but he's clueless when it comes to girls." She whispered back.

"They just met," he chuckled, to which Inko shrugged.

Meanwhile, Mina finished tapping away at his phone and handed it back to him. "There," she handed it back to him with a huge smile on her face, "Now we have each other's numbers, so..."she trailed off a little before Izuku saw that pretty and unique blush rising to her cheeks more prominently. "If...you're ever free, we can get together and hang out, maybe?"

Toshinori nearly coughed up blood at how hard his laughter became when the boy went neon red all the way up to his hair. Inko just let out an exasperated sigh while Mitsuki and Himiko let loose with their laughter. Honestly it was the funniest thing the younger blonde girl had seen in a long time, plus she loved the feeling of openly laughing again.

"Midoriya!" Izuku's blush immediately vanished as a familiar indigo-haired young man rushed through the crowd, dodging a police officer in the process, and grabbed Izuku by the shoulders, "I leave you alone for one day, one day, and I get a news update on my phone," he pulled the boy nose to nose with him, "Wanna know what it said?"

"Uh, chance of rain on Tuesday?" Izuku stammered out nervously.

"It said a certain green-haired Hero-wanna-be nearly tangled with one of Japan's most wanted criminals!" Hitoshi started shaking him violently, "Is this a thing with you, or are you just completely out of your mind!?"

"Really, Shinso, I didn't plan for this to happen!" Izuku shouted out while trying not to bite his tongue. "It just kind'a did!"

"You call that an excuse!?" Shinso yelled, "I'm glad we're friends, but come on! You're a magnet for trouble!"

"Will you stop shaking me!?" Izuku pleaded, "I'm getting dizzy!"

"Big deal!" Shinso shouted. "I swear to god, if I get into trouble because of you, I'm brainwashing you into wearing a green tutu!"

The remaining tension was completely broke by the brainwashing teen's arrival, and the situation quickly dissolved, leaving the small group to part ways with Mina, who was driven home by one of Toshinori's friends on the force, while the blond man helped load up all of Himiko's new clothes into his truck since Izuku's car didn't have the space to hold all of the bags.

While the ladies drove the DX Mark 10 back home, Shinso rode with Toshinori and Izuku in the truck, "I can't believe you," Hitoshi groaned, "Can't you stay out of trouble for even five seconds?"

"Well I try, don't I?" Izuku chuckled nervously, still dizzy from being shaken. "Besides, it's not like I expected to meet the most dangerous Villain in the world!"

Hitoshi scoffed, "Uh-huh, and you totally didn't do it because there was a smokin' hot girl involved?" He said, much to Izuku's embarrassment, "At least tell me you got her number?"

Izuku blinked and showed him his phone, "Well, yeah, she...she..." he started blushing again.

Toshinori gave him a side-glance, "What's wrong, kid?"

"I...I totally have a girl's number in my phone!" Izuku yelled happily, prompting Toshinori to swerve while Hitoshi yelled ("Are you kidding me?!").

Toshinori sighed as he patted his chest, calming his heart a little, "Young Midoriya, you are going to give me either a heart attack or an apoplexy," the man said with the brainwasher nodding along in agreement. "Besides, don't you have Young Hatsume's number in there?"

Izuku's face lit up again, "I..I have two girls' numbers in my phone?!" He looked ready to cry from pure joy before Hitoshi groaned.

"How did your exams go?" Hitoshi asked, hoping to get off the subject of girls in general, "Did you pass?"

Izuku's testing had gone as well as it could have gone after they left the school as Toshinori had driven him home and he had taken the test online. It was even simpler than he had imagined it. The boy would have no trouble at all graduating. Hitoshi was confident in his own academics, knowing that his school's assignments were rather lax. While on the way home, Izuku got a call from Hatsume stating that she was on her way over to celebrate the end of their Middle School lives, not even bothering to say that she had passed her exams.

That night, the Midoriya household was once again full of noise as Izuku and Mei helped Himiko with her exam and, after making sure that she had passed, (Izuku practically gave her the answers by transforming into a little grey frog-like creature with huge eyes. "How many forms do you have?" Himiko had asked). Afterward, Toshinori had ordered pizza for the evening, and was treated to the sight of some very happy teens devouring two or three of them.

"Enjoy it while you can," Toshinori said to Izuku as he munched on a slice, "Because tomorrow is when we put in more combat training."

Hitoshi looked at the man, "Hey, do you think I could tag along?" He asked, "I know I can use the Support Item Midoriya gave me, but it wouldn't hurt to learn how to handle myself in a fight."

Toshinori nodded, "I don't mind a bit, Young Shinso," he chuckled, "It'd give Young Midoriya a good opportunity to fight someone he doesn't have to worry about hurting."

Mei giggled, "Pretty sure a punch from Mr. Muscles here would hurt Shinso just as much as it would you."

Toshinori shook his head, "What I mean is that Young Midoriya takes care not to hit me full-force when we spar because of my injury." He said with a hint of gratitude in his voice, "Which I am grateful for, but he needs to go for an opponent's weak point, or else he may never gain the upper hand in a fight." He gestured to the taller boy, "With Shinso in the mix, he won't have to worry about any serious damage aside from some bruising and maybe a split lip or two."

Hitoshi just grinned, "I think I can handle that."

Inko worried, however, "Just...just don't push them too hard, alright?" She asked, "Oh, and Izuku? I was thinking about moving close to the school. Would that be alright?"

"You know I don't mind, but," he frowned, "If I get in, I'll be staying at the dorms. You really don't have to."

Toshinori nodded in understanding, "He's right, Inko, but I can understand wanting to be closer to your son, and your therapist."

"That would be nice," Inko said.

"I think you should enjoy yourself," Mitsuki said from the kitchen, "Lord only knows how much you deserve it after dealing with all of the crap in your life," She came into the living room with another box of pizza, "Go out, have fun, hell have a few drinks just because you can!" She gave a small glance towards Toshinori while setting the box on the table, "And maybe find a new man?"

"Pfft!" Sputtered the blond while Inko blushed crimson.

Izuku chuckled at his mentor, "You know, Mom, she's right," he said, much to his mother's embarrassment, "You do need to go out more, and maybe have a little fun."

"And get back in shape," Mitsuki added in, leaning over to poke at Inko's stomach, "You used to be able to fit into a size four dress!"

Inko swatted her hand away with a frown, "Mitsuki, there's no way I can drop a full three sizes."

"Never say never, my dear," Toshinori said, "Look at Izuku, for example. He used to be pretty scrawny until I got a hold of him."

Inko worried her lip, "Well..."

"Hey, Ms. Midoriya?" Himiko suddenly called out, "I think we made a little mistake with my clothes."

Both Inko and Mitsuki turned to see the girl poking her head out of her room, "What do you mean, dear?" Mitsuki asked, "I'm pretty sure we got everything you wanted?"

Himiko was blushing heavily as she shyly stepped out from behind the door. Inko nearly teared up while Mitsuki just cooed happily. "Oooh, sweetheart, you look amazing!" The ashen blonde smiled at her.

"Red is definitely your color, dear," Inko agreed with her friend. Himiko had come out wearing the same red satin dress she had tried on at the clothing store. She had thought that it had been a mistake to find it in her bags, but when she tried it on, it seemed to fit better than before. She looked over toward her friends and saw that both boys had faint blushes on their faces while Mei was...why was she staring at her legs?

"Huh, maybe I am attracted to girls?" Mei muttered aloud. Hitoshi whipped his head around to the girl, while Izuku just chuckled.

"That would explain a few things, but not why you don't seem to care who sees you naked, Hatsume," Izuku said nervously while Himiko had a sudden desire to hide her legs from the mechanic's view.

Inko just sighed in defeat while Mitsuki comforted her, "Well, that's one off the hopeful list."

"I know, Inko, I know," said Mitsuki while she patted her shoulder, "But just think about it. Izuku's going to pass the U.A. exams, and be surrounded by incredibly beautiful young women. And one of them could make him a very nice wife."

Izuku looked mortified, "Auntie!"

"You really think so, Mistuki?" Inko asked, completely ignoring her son's outraged cry and the laughter that was erupting from the other guests.

Mitsuki nodded dramatically, "I know so, Inko, because he's such a darling young man, not like my delinquent of a son that thinks women are a waste of time." She wiped a fake tear from her eye, "At this rate, I'll be dead before that little idiot knocks a girl up."

"Oh, there there, Mitsuki, it'll be alright," Inko said, "At least your son notices when girls show interest in him. Not like my son. He practically has to be hit in the face with it."

"Will you please stop!?" Izuku pleaded.

Mitsuki just nodded in understanding, barely containing her laughter, "You do have a point there, Inko." She said to the now tittering woman, "That lovely girl, Ashido, was practically drooling over him, but he didn't even notice until she asked for his phone. Even then he didn't think she was interested."

Izuku wanted to crawl into a hole at this pointed as Shinso and Mei were bawling with laughter, Himiko was holding onto the wall with one arm, while the other was holding her stomach as she laughed. Toshinori had already spit up of a mouthful of blood from laughing too hard. "Seriously, just stop! Please!"

That did it: both Inko and Mitsuki burst out laughing at the boy. "I hate you guys so much right now!" He moaned as the laughter continued. "And what do you mean Miss Ashido was drooling? She didn't look that interested to me!"

Toshinori chuckled while wiping his lips with a napkin, "Maybe not romantically, kid, but she definitely wanted to get to know you more." He chuckled, "Not to stereotype, but it's been my experience in the Hero business that women tend to fawn over their saviors."

"Some of us do," Mitsuki admitted, "But not all. Ashido seems like a strong young woman, and not one to fangirl over someone that saves her." She laughed, "But then again, she sure was making goo-goo eyes at Izuku."

"She was not," the boy grumbled.

[What girl would be interested in me anyway?] He wondered to himself, [I mean, Ashido was gorgeous! Her eyes alone could captivate anyone - !]

"So you liked her eyes, too?" Inko giggled, snapping Izuku out of his thoughts.

Izuku looked at the adults, and his snickering friends, "I...said that out loud, didn't I?"

Himiko came and sat down in the remaining armchair, "Hey, I'll readily admit that I thought she was hot," the girl said as she snagged a slice of pizza for herself, careful of her new dress. "But I thought she had great legs."

"Nice boobs, too," Shinso said, grinning when Izuku elbowed him, "What? You know you looked, too."

"Oh, come on, you've touched mine more than once," Mei giggled at the boy's reddening face, "And you've seen them, so how come you're still shy about it?"

"You have absolutely no shame!" Izuku shouted.

"Aw, you love that about me and you know it!" Mei countered with a huge grin on her face as she leaned on him.

Izuku wanted to argue, but stopped, dropping his head, "Yeah...yeah I do...dammit!"

The room was full of laughter again at the boy's expense.

僕ぼくのヒーローアカデミア

Ashido Household...

"I can't believe you had to go through something so frightening, Mina," the girl's mother said as she and her daughter stood at the sink washing dishes, "Honestly, you would think that with All Might prowling around this area of Japan, Villains would be laying low!" She sighed while scrubbing furiously, "But oh no, there's nothing but hooligans, ruffians and monsters running amok on the streets!"

Mina giggled at her mother's dramatics, "Mom, chill out, I came out of it okay," she said with a small smile, "Honestly, if I hadn't froze up when I did, I'd have been better off. The guy was just asking a question, and I couldn't even answer him!"

Her mother rolled her eyes, "That's hardly the point, Darling," she muttered, "If that young man you told me about hadn't stepped in, you could have been seriously hurt! And where were the so-called Heroes? Nowhere to be seen!"

"She's right, Mina," her father called from the living room, "Unless we're talking about the top ten tiers, then most of your Heroes nowadays aren't worth the paper their licenses are printed on." He said, "And I saw the news earlier. That Springer Hero Agency? It was totaled. Apparently that Giganto-what's-his-name tore the place apart, and he's still on the loose!"

Mina shivered, "Good thing I got away then." She said brightly.

"Mina," her mother looked at her in concern, "Are you sure you want to try out for the Hero Course?" She asked, seeing her daughter giving her a worried look, "You know we wouldn't mind if you just went in for General Studies?"

Mina shook her head, "Relax, Mom, you know I've wanted this since I was a kid," she looked down at her soap covered hands, "Besides...with looks like mine I can't say I'd do well in the business world."

Her mother looked at her with a small amount in her eyes, "Mina Ashido, that is the last thing I want to hear from you!" She turned to her with her hands on her hips, "You are, no matter what anyone says, a beautiful, sweet, and all around wonderful girl. And I couldn't be prouder of how you look."

Mina smiled at her. Her parents were the only people she could admit her insecurities to about her looks. Sure, racism had gone flying out the window when Quirks started appearing along with Heroes, but having a truly unique skin color like hers made her stand out more than if she walked down the street naked. There were plenty of full on mutants that looked pretty wild like Gang Orca and Centipeder, but there were few that had skin like hers. That was why Bubble Girl was one of her favorite Heroes. She had blue skin, just like Mina had pink skin.

Her mother looked similar to her. Her eyes were the same black and gold color, and her skin was a much lighter shade of pink than hers, so much so that it was barely noticeable. Her horns came from her father. The man was large, beefy, and as gentle as a lamb. But he had two small horns on his forehead that looked like little devil horns. Nothing special about either of them save for the fact that her mother could create weak acids from her fingertips.

"That goes without saying," her father said, "Though, you could have gotten my horns in a better way, my little Martian." He joked, making her laugh with him as her mother huffed. It was a little inside joke with them since Mina's crooked little horns looked like antena, something one would see on some cheesy pre-twenty-first century alien movie. Her dad joked about his daughter being part alien all the time, and she rolled with it like a bowling ball.

"What about this young man that saved you?" Her mother asked, "Didn't you say he had a Mutation-type Quirk that turned his skin bright red, and gave him four arms and eyes?"

Mina shrugged, "Yeah, it was nuts to see someone like that," she said, her head drooping a little, "But he turned back to his original self pretty easy, so I'm guessing his Quirk only mutates him when he activates it." She sighed a little, "But...I kind'a liked his normal form better," she admitted while her mother looked at her knowingly, "He was...well, he was..."

"Cute?" Her mother supplied.

"Adorable!" Mina immediately blurted out, "He had this cute little mop of greenish black hair that looked fluffier than mine is after a good shower!" She giggled as she pointed to her cheeks, "And he had these freckles on his cheeks that made cute little diamonds on his face and, ugh, he had the greenest eyes I'd ever seen on anyone! I even met his mother, and they were nowhere near as green as his were! And he - why are you guys laughing?"

Her mother held a hand to her lips with a little titter going on while her father was snickering away from the couch.

"Come on, guys, what's so funny?" Mina asked with a smile on her face while her mother calmed down.

She coughed into her fist to keep her giggles at bay, "Ahem, Mina, are you sure you're not...crushing on this boy?" She asked while her daughter's eyes went as wide as saucers, "Oops, looks like I hit the nail on the head!"

Mina shook her head, "Mom, no way!" She crossed her arms in an X-shape, "I'm not the kind'a girl to go falling for the first cute face that pulls the old prince-on-a-white-horse spiel!"

"That's not how it sounds to me," her father chuckled, "I wanna meet this kid! I at least need to thank him for saving my daughter."

Mina just crossed her arms with a look in his direction, "Why? So you can pull your whole intimidation act on him?" She asked as the man shrugged. She moved into the living room and leaned over his shoulder, "Daddy, come on, the poor guy looked really timid after his Quirk deactivated. Like, he went nuclear red when I said that I put my number in his phone!"

"Oh, the innocent type?" Her mother giggled, "That's just the kind of boy you like the most, isn't it?"

Mina just rolled her eyes, "Come on, I mean it!" She sighed, "Besides..." she frowned.

Her father looked over his shoulder at her, "Besides what, Honey?"

"Guys...let's be real...look at me." She looked down at her arms, "What'cha wanna bet that I'd the only girl in U.A. that has skin like this?"

Her father stood up, turned around and placed his massive hands on her shoulders, "Now you listen to me, Mina, if that boy, or any other boy or girl has issues with your skin color then they are not worth even mentioning, or remembering for that matter. Like your mother said, you're a perfectly beautiful young lady, and anyone should be happy if you gave them the time of day!"

Mina got kind of teary-eyed for a moment but she wiped it away quickly, "The owner of the clothing store I like said I could be a model," the girl muttered, "And she used to be one, so..."

"See?" Her father tried not to sound smug, but he failed miserably, "We're not the only ones that think you're a beauty."

Mina giggled before she hopped across the back of the couch and hugged him, "Thanks, Dad."

僕ぼくのヒーローアカデミア

Ultimatrix Playlist #1:

#1 - Fasttrack

#2 - Water Hazard

#3 - Ultimate Echo Echo

#4 - Four Arms

#5 - Grey Matter (Cameo)

#6 - ?

#7 - Upgrade

#8 - Big Chill

#9 - Diamondhead

#10 - ?

Ultimatrix Playlist #2:

#11 - Blitzwolfer

#12 - ?

#13 - ?

#14 - ?

#15 - ?

#16 - ?

#17 - ?

#18 - ?

#19 - ?

#20 - ?

LOCKED - ?

LOCKED - ?

Author's Note: Doing Mina's character the way I did at the end here I feel was the best thing I could do. Lets face it, there's only a small handful of characters with Quirks that make them appear so different that they don't look human. Less that make their skin color unique. I counted three, so correct me if I got that wrong. But the end of this chapter is something that needs to be taken to heart. No matter your nationality, race, religion or skin color, be proud.

Y'all wanna see what happens next, because that is the U.A. exams! Adios Amigos!