Bakugo was not having fun. In fact, he would go so far as to say that he hated every second of what was currently happening.
"To survive the attention of the masses, you must be presentable…"
Seriously, this was painful.
"Do you understand?" the girl asked condescendingly.
"I'm not stupid, princess," he growled. "I'll look the part once I get a costume."
The way the girl visibly looked him up and down and then frowned seemed to imply she thought otherwise.
Well fuck you! I know how to dress!
So what if he was just wearing cargo pants, a t-shirt with the word 'G.O.A.T' emblazoned upon it, and a hoodie. It was basic streetwear! He wasn't going to wear a costume everywhere he went! Not everyone was rich enough to wear designer clothing all the time!
"Right," the girl went on dismissively. "That wasn't what I meant, anyway, so I suppose we can leave that for later."
Must… Not… Throttle… Fake-girlfriend…
"What I was talking about was that you need to look respectable. Like someone without weaknesses for those vultures in the media to latch onto," the girl went on with a surprising acerbic lilt to her tone.
Bakugo perked up at that. For a second there, the snobby-princess he'd reluctantly been tolerating had given way to someone far more his speed.
Interesting…
"They can't be that bad…" he interjected.
Time to pull on this thread to see where it goes!
"Whatever you think they are… They're worse…" the girl growled. Growled! Oh, this was absolutely the best decision he'd made today!
Eyes gleaming with deeply repressed anger, she went on.
"The moment you catch their attention they'll raise you up as high as they can… just so that they can tear it all away once people start to lose interest!" she began, her volume growing slightly with every word, rapidly becoming a rant. "'Child prodigy' this, 'shining star of a new generation' that…! They'll suck up to you at first, but it's all lies! They don't care! As soon as you slip up even once they're on you like rats! Make one minor mistake on a public project, or god forbid, get second place at a science fair and the next thing you know you're a 'fraud' or were 'relying on your parents connections' for your past achievements! And then they have the gall to pretend they never said a thing once you return to the spotlight!"
Suddenly, the girl slammed a fist down on the coffee table, rattling the tea set with the force of impact.
"They're horrible!" she declared, breathing heavily from emotion. "And that's not even getting into the tabloids…!"
Bakugo's eyebrows had long since ascended into his hairline by now, his customary smirk replacing the default scowl as he watched the other teen slowly descend into a ranting fury. Sadly for his entertainment value, her anger seemed to be petering out.
"I… Sorry… That was rude of me. I shouldn't have been so crass—"
Well… Ain't that interesting. Turns out rich-girl's got more to her than her money bags…
"Oh, so you're done whining…?" he cut her off unsympathetically.
He just could not resist taking another dig at her, especially since she was going back to being boring.
"You…!" she growled—
Before she could lunge across the table and strangle him like she clearly wanted to, she forced her hands onto her knees and took a deep breath.
"…Yes, I am done," the girl stated, a familiar gleam entering her eyes. "However, you are just getting started on being presentable."
Shit. I do not like that look.
It was the way she'd looked at him before forcing her number into his phone.
"Carlston," the girl said into the intercom nearby. "Could you get some hair gel…? Yes, father's will do just fine…"
Oh hell no!
Izuku watched in horror as the young man's eyes bulged, a horribly familiar blackish-green color flooding the veins beneath his skin.
That's Trigger!
"Grraaaaaggghhh…" the villain growled, his eyes dulled as the water beneath him rapidly swirled around his body, creating a constantly moving coating of makeshift armor.
"Bro…? What's wro—"
The teenage vigilante launched herself off her surfboard, smashing into the villain that had spoken just in time to knock him out of the way of a watery tentacle that had extended off the mobile covering of the other young man. He went cross-eyed from the sudden displacement, his focus shattered as he fell towards the wave below—
FU-WASHHHHH…!
The watery battlefield collapsed beneath them, the joint efforts required to keep it going now suddenly lacking, and flooded the surrounding streets. In the resulting chaos, Izuku barely kept ahold of the brother she'd saved, the torrential amount of freezing water completely depriving her of any other control or awareness. Wallets and valuables smacked into her from every direction as she melded with the waves, battering her body for a painful few moments until finally…
…It was over.
"Guh…!" Izuku gasped, sitting upright on the concrete and hacking out a few watery breaths.
Grimacing at how thoroughly soaked she was, and how cold it was, the vigilante instantly checked if the villain had a pulse—which he thankfully had—before bringing a hand to her mask…
Still in place and seemingly undamaged… Phew…!
…and then examined the condition of the villain with a bit more depth.
He was fine, it seemed, maybe with a few bruises here and there from all the objects floating around in the water, but otherwise okay. Well, he was unconscious, but that was probably for the best.
With that checked, the bluish-purple-haired teen glanced around, searching past the slightly displaced cars and piles of debris. Puddles abounded in the immediate area, with veritable rivers flowing into nearby storm drains, but where was the—
"GRAAAAHHH!"
Ah. There he was.
"Well… It seems that words won't work anymore," Izuku joked… but…
…It fell flatter than her water-logged hair.
"Grrraaah…!" the drugged-villain roared.
His tanned skin was no longer visible, swirling water covering the whole of his body and making him resemble a faceless monster more than a man. Why this had happened, Izuku didn't know, but she would have to put him into the ground a few times if he was at all comparable to the villain at the festival.
…He doesn't deserve this.
A frown wore at the freckled teen's face, seeming all the deeper for its uncharacteristic nature.
…I didn't even realize they needed it, but after Medaka helped me… They were on the right path. I was saving them…!
Her fists tightened as her eyes narrowed, a nasty feeling echoing from her gut while her teeth began to grind.
"This isn't right…!" she shouted angrily.
The mindless villain cocked his head to the side, letting out a disgruntled sound of confusion.
Hope burst into existence within Izuku's mind, holding the nasty feeling at bay.
"Can you still hear me…?" the vigilante asked brightly. "No, of course you can! I never should have doubted…! Come on! Stop using your quirk and you can still—"
Whizz…!
Whatever Izuku was about to say was cut off by a watery tentacle slicing through the air, barely grazing the teen's cheek.
Crunch…!
Rubble and concrete bits rained down around her as the limb dug deeply into the ground behind her…
…And were it not for the drugged-villain's lacking control, it would have taken her head off.
"...I see."
The nasty feeling within her gut grew… and with it came her sync rate.
Twenty eight…
Twenty nine…
Unbeknownst to the teen, her hair was lightening at the tips, shedding its purplish hue for a bright pink while her skin did the inverse—taking on a bronzed tan as energy filled her form. As it grew, so too did the feeling in her gut…
Thir—
A horrible cough cut her off, her steadily rising sync rate plummeted back to twenty-five as she felt Medaka violently pull away from their connection—indiscernible emotion clouding their bond completely. At the same time, the rest of her changes faded away, taking with it all of Izuku's anger.
Medaka…? What happened…? What was that…?
'It's-not-something-you-need-to-worry-about,' the girl denied hurriedly, shutting down the topic in an instant.
That was startling to hear. The various spirits in the watch may vary in how well she got along with them, but suddenly stonewalling Izuku like this…? None of them had ever pulled back on their bond so suddenly…!
What was going—
'Izuku!' Medaka shouted suddenly, tone laced with such concern that it felt like whiplash after her last abrupt statement.
Izuku's eyes widened as another tentacle shot through the air at her. She barely managed to dodge, her purplish-blue hair now the slightest bit shorter than it was a moment ago. The attack felt familiar though, and she wasn't sure why that—
Gravitational Spring!
The first villain she'd ever fought, or rather survived, had fought similarly. He'd abused his ability to extend his arms to create punches like canon-shots, and her current opponent was practically doing the same thing…
…But he had a lot more limbs to use.
The teen felt her usual grin returning as she focused all her attention on her opponent. Seeking out whatever weaknesses she could find. She was confident, now. This time would be different than the last. She wouldn't be in over her head and desperately trying to survive…
Izuku was going to win this.
Crunch…!
She ducked around another tentacle, launching herself forward off one foot to charge into a full sprint. Medaka's long legs and impressive speed rapidly closed the distance—
Crunch…!
Another water-tentacle speared into the ground dead ahead of her, no doubt as an animalistic attempt to scare her off, but…
Why would she bother retreating?
Continuing forward, she ran up the tentacle, the surface tension that it required to actually impact the ground making it solid enough for her to have a platform to run along.
"GRAH!" the drugged villain roared, cutting the flow to its limb and rearing back to launch another tentacle.
As the water splattered to the ground below her, Izuku followed Medaka's instincts and used the last of her friction to spin in place—
The next tentacle speared through the air, clipping her spinning torso and cutting into her costume, but not giving her anything more than a small gash beneath that. Spinning was the only thing she could have done to avoid significant damage here—taking advantage of the faux-villain's poor control—and made Izuku inwardly marvel at Medaka's ridiculous athletic awareness yet again.
Landing on the ground, the teenaged vigilante found herself back at square one.
"I don't suppose you'd be willing to make this any easier…?" she found herself quipping.
The villain responded with another water spear—
Crunch…!
—and Izuku side-stepped it easily. They seemed to be significantly less accurate at this distance, so seeing it once was enough to be able to predict them. There was a more important realization she'd had, though…
He's got less water to work with, now…
After releasing the tentacle she'd stood upon, the villain hadn't reclaimed the liquid used to form its extra limb like it did after a normal attack, leaving it with only seven watery tendrils to assault her.
'You've found your plan now, I take it?' Medaka asked knowingly.
Izuku didn't respond, simply grinning as she stood up straight.
"Come on, Mr. Tentacle, I know you can do better than that! You've got the potential to hit me if you keep trying!" she said, delivering Medaka's unique combination of praise and taunt without even thinking.
Crunch…!
Stepping out of the way at the last moment, Izuku turned to face the tentacle before it could be retracted and—
Ker-SPLASH!
—Lashed out with a straight karate punch. The water forming the tentacle resisted the impact for a split-second, but ultimately gave way under the force of the blow.
"GAAAAH!"
Shockingly, the attack had also blown away most of the rest of the limb instead of just the part she'd attacked.
'It's nothing special, Izuku,' Medaka chimed in, no doubt sensing the freckled teen's confusion. 'I've just been doing some strength training since I was little.'
Could being good at things get exhausting…? Because being around Medaka had started to make Izuku wonder…
"GRAH!" the villain roared, launching several tentacles at once.
Leaping above them, Izuku took advantage of the pull of gravity and came down upon the three extra tentacles with a spinning axe kick, eradicating even more of the villain's excess limbs.
"GGRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" the villain screamed in response, lashing out with its last remaining limbs.
Feeling surprisingly daring—maybe Medaka was affecting her—Izuku stayed standing in the same place, contorting her body perfectly such that one tentacle shot through the gap between her arm and torso, the next between her other forearm and bicep, and the last between her knees.
"Excellent progress, Mr. Tentacle…!" She exclaimed.
Ker-SPLASH!
Flexing in place in a vague mimicry of a bodybuilder, Izuku crushed the last remaining water limbs of the drugged-villain by contracting her limbs around the tentacles as tightly as possible at that angle.
"Unfortunately, you still need some work if you want to beat me," she went on as she turned to face the panicked, ferally conscious, young man.
Charging forward at top speed, she was upon him in moments, palm cracking through the last remnants of his watery armor with only a bit of effort and continuing forward, slamming him down into the concrete before he could get over his panic—cracking the ground with the force of impact.
"Better luck next time!"
"Get that shit away from me…!"
Bakugo dodged around the other side of the coffee table, glaring at the small dab of paste on the girl's fingers. Held in her other hand was a container of the stuff, and if looks could cause spontaneous combustion, the thing would have surpassed the heat-death of the universe with how big of a boom it would be making right now.
He would know, being an expert on explosions, and all.
"I thought you wanted to learn what I had to offer," the girl began in a faux-sweet tone that sent shivers down his spine. "I'm just trying to help you with that. There's no need to be so stubborn; you'll look so much more respectable this way! Maybe it'll be enough to rub off on the rest of you!"
With that said, the girl lunged forward, swiping at his spiky blonde locks with her fingers. Side-stepping the strike, he re-positioned himself such that it put him opposite her side of the table again—beginning an impromptu game of ring-around-the-rosie.
…Okay. I admit, I may have pushed her a little too mu—
"Stand still and stop running!" the girl shouted.
Definitely too much…!
"How about we make a bet, princess!" he shouted back at her. "Call it the start of my half'a the practice deal! If you can force it on me, I'll leave your stupid hair gel in for a week!"
He had promised to train her, after all.
"You're on…!" the girl agreed instantly, much to his amusement.
"I didn't even say what I wanted if I won the bet," he laughed. "You sure you should be agreeing to deals you didn't read the fine print of, rich girl? I'd've thought mommy and daddy would've taught you better than that with all the money you've got to lose!"
Instead of replying, the girl took another swipe at him, stepping onto the table to do it, even!
Fuck, pissing her off is way too much fun.
"What if I said I wanted a car, or an all-expenses-paid vacation for my family, huh? With how fancy this place is, I'm sure you could afford that!" he taunted.
"My family is not that frivolous you barbaric—"
"Hell, I could even ask you for a kiss!" he said, cutting her off. "You're pretty enough for it, even if you are a bitch."
He fucking wouldn't, though.
The girl was more likely to cut his dick off than kiss him with the mood she was in right now, but the absolutely apoplectic look on her face at the thought of the simple idea was so worth suggesting it.
"You…! You…! You…!" she growled…
…and then her enraged expression tightened into one of smug, but still angry, certainty.
"...You fell for my trap, Bakugo."
The sudden use of his actual name startled him enough that it took him several moments to even process the rest of her statement.
"What the fuck are you—"
Whoosh…!
From below, a rope suddenly tightened around his feet, yanking them together and then upwards faster than he could respond. Carried upward until he was at her eye-level, the now upside-down boy grinded his teeth together and glared at his adversary. Reflexively, he went to tear the rope to pieces with either of his quirks, but seeing the scarring on his hands reminded him that it was… best not to do that.
Crossing his arms at chest height in frustration, only one word could sum up his feelings about the current situation.
Goddamnit…!
"I do believe that's my victory," the girl said calmly, though the smug grin on her face was anything but emotionless. "Now, what was that you said about the hair gel?"
"Do all rich people have booby traps in their mansions…?" he growled, glancing around the room in suspicion like something would leap out at him from the shadows.
"No," the girl denied, failing to hide her amusement. "Though we do have high-tech security systems entirely unrelated to such simple measures. This was entirely something of my own making."
He raised, er… lowered… an eyebrow, given his upside-down position.
"The hell does that mean…?"
Reaching up to ruffle his hair with one hand as she re-applied hair gel to her other's fingers, the girl replied.
"I never did tell you what my quirk was, did I…?"
Bakugo winced as he saw the gel approaching, but bit his tongue and allowed it. He was many things, but a sore loser would not be one of them. He was definitely going to get her back for this, though…
"My quirk is called Creation, and with it I can create anything I understand on the molecular level. From simple elements to complex objects, if I know how it works, I can make it," she explained. "There is a limitation in that I must supply the process with matter from my own body, but as it's not a one-to-one conversion rate I am not overly constrained."
That… That was pretty busted, actually. Sure, his quirk was obviously better, but… Damn, that sounded useful.
"Huh. Maybe you aren't as useless as I thought," he said aloud. "'Course, that won't help you much in a fight if the rest of you isn't up to snuff."
He winced from the way the girl roughly smoothed back his spiky hair, her nails digging painfully into his scalp.
"Why do you think I invited you here…?" she asked. "I am… very aware of my problems. Especially after that villain assaulted the festival. For all of the things my quirk can do, it didn't matter when it needed to… I can't let that happen again."
In spite of himself, Bakugo felt the tiniest smidgen of respect crop up for the girl.
"Hmph… We'll fix that," he declared, scowling at the oily feeling now permeating his scalp. Oh, there would be a reckoning for this humiliation… "By the time I'm done with you you'll be the toughest bitch this side of Tokyo."
That caught her off guard… and the fact that he actually meant it caught him off guard.
"Really…?" she trailed off, staring at him oddly for a moment before catching herself and continuing. "Well, thank you for the sentiment, though phrasing it like that isn't good practice for being 'respectable.'"
"Feh…" the blonde grunted. "Not my style, anyway."
"Oh?" the girl began, pulling her hands away from his thoroughly smoothed hair. It was a crime to mess with perfection like he'd had… "Are you saying you can't do it?"
Bakugo growled.
"I can do whatever the hell I want to, princess," he replied.
"Are you sure? Most people find it rather easy to be decently respectable, but you've yet to even approach it," she taunted.
He swung his body towards her, aiming to get in her face so he could make his point strike home all the harder…
"Just because I choose to not give a shit doesn't mean—"
…but then the rope holding him up snapped. Whether it was because she'd had to make it surreptitiously while chasing him around the table, and that had weakened its integrity, or some other stupid reason it didn't matter. It led to the same thing either way…
Oh shi—
Crash…!
…With him smashing his forehead into the girl and toppling to the ground.
Bakugo let out a groan, his sensitive hands on pins and needles from the way he'd tried to catch himself on the floor. Idly, the blonde made the connection that whatever he'd landed on was… oddly soft. Way too much so to be the stupidly fancy hardwood floors or the coffee table. Had he landed on the couch…?
Forcing himself up, he stared down in complete bewilderment at the twin mounds his face had been shoved into.
Fuck, how can this get any worse…?
The sound of approaching footsteps caught his attention, pulling it away ever so slightly from the furious gaze of the girl beneath him.
"Momo?! We just got home and heard a crash…!" Voices echoed from elsewhere in the mansion. "You better not be working on any of that hero business, young lady!"
The door slammed open, and two well-dressed middle-aged people stepped in… meeting the gaze of the young man with his face right above their daughter's cleavage. The first was a distinguished looking asshole, with coiffed black hair and a sharp face, while the second was an attractive woman several years younger than him, with long reddish-brown hair that she kept in a more mature-looking ponytail than her daughter's spiky fan. They both wore tight-lipped expressions of disapproval, and were clearly unhappy with the situation.
…Right. Like that.
"Momo… Would you like to explain what's going on here…?"
Elsewhere…
Izuku couldn't help but bask in the afterglow of a job well done. She felt like she could get used to it, honestly. All of these people, smiling because of something she had done! It was incredible!
Besides, avoiding attention wasn't really possible anymore after Chariot's debut. That ship had sailed and Hawks hadn't said anything about avoiding it, so it was fine to let people see her, right?
"That was so cool! She literally ran on water!"
It was kinda cool, wasn't it?
"Is she another vigilante from that new group…?"
Group…? Did people think the girls were a—No, that made sense. Melissa had even brought up something like that…
"Did anyone catch her name…?"
'Time to make an impression!' Medaka interjected, her smug grin almost audible from her eager tone.
Izuku felt her sync rate bump up to twenty seven as she began to grin herself. After whatever had happened earlier, it was comforting to know that they were on the exact same page right now.
"My name is Elite Plus!"* the teenage vigilante declared. "And I'm here to ask you a question!"
She had their attention. Now she needed their intrigue.
"Do you find life too frightening…?! Is the future looking dim…?!" she exclaimed.
The words just kept flowing. From where, Izuku had no idea, but it felt right.
"Are you just coasting along, jumping at shadows because a villain could be lurking out of sight?!"
She had them, now. The looks on their faces and the flash of their cameras all but confirmed that.
"Well, fear not! I'll prove to you that the world can be a wonderful place!"
Raising her hand to the sky like she was reaching for the sun, Izuku went on—channeling every ounce of Medaka's charisma that she could muster.
"24 hours a day, 365 days a year, I… Elite Plus… will shine a light on that darkness! No more will you need to fear the back alleys! No more will you need to hold your wallet close at night! I will help everyone with everything I can!"
It wasn't quite as perfect as Chariot's own debut, but this was amazing. All their attention was on her, and far more importantly everyone was smiling. Cheesy or not, they were all hanging on her words instead of the property damage or—
"HALT!" a voice called in the distance.
Turning to face the rapidly approaching hero, Izuku flashed a grin once she realized it wasn't one of the big names. In fact, they were obscure enough that even she didn't recognize him!
"However, for now I have to go!"
Or maybe he was just a foreign hero…?
Well, either way… He was a top-heavy blonde with the sides of his hair shaved off. A cape dangled from his plated shoulders while a stylized 'C' sat upon his broad chest with a star positioned in the center of its curve. Interestingly, he was flying at her without any kind of special equipment, so that was probably his quirk.
"Thank you all for listening, and I hope you have a wonderful day!"
Returning her attention to the pile of detritus left behind in the wave's absence, Izuku quickly found the yellow surfboard she'd relied upon to make her entrance, returning it quickly to its proper position and shape as her sash.
"WAIT!" the hero shouted, rapidly approaching but still too far away to catch her.
With a cheeky grin in his direction, the teenaged vigilante was gone—dashing down nearby alleyways out of sight such that there was no chance of him being able to catch her without leaving the villains unattended.
It was a perfect getaway, and Izuku couldn't be happier.
Momo was… experiencing a very complicated combination of emotions.
On one hand, she was furious with the barbaric boy that had the sheer gall to fling himself at her like this and more embarrassed than she could remember ever being in her entire life over the fact her parents had walked in on such a compromising position…
But most of her was terrified of what it could mean for her future. She'd heard her father's shout, and heard the warning about 'hero business.' Before today, she was close to convincing them, but if she explained that she had invited a strange boy to their home to train her to fight—nevermind the other details that they'd brush aside—when she was on thin ice already…?
Well, that would be it.
Her life as a hero would be over before it even began… Before she'd even had a chance to see if there was something else she was meant to do besides mindlessly following the path laid out by her parents.
She wouldn't, couldn't, let that chance slip out from under her… But what could she do about it…? What could she say to divert their attention…? She only had a split second to act before things spiraled out of control and she lost her chance to spin things however she wanted—
"He's my boyfriend."
Oh dear god, what had she done?
"Excuse me, did I hear that properly…?" her father asked, eyes as hard as stone. "It sounded like you'd just declared this… ruffian… to be your paramour."
She hadn't been thinking! No, she had, but she'd never been good at doing so on the fly like this, and her traitorous mouth had leaped at the first thing that came to mind—no doubt influenced by the infuriating blonde's joke about her kissing him!
Why did I do this to myself?!
This was bad… This was very, very, bad… She was invested now. There was no way to get off the road she'd set herself down. If her father found out that she'd lied to his face to avoid trouble, there was nothing she could do to save her dreams. The man had always been somewhat strict, with her mother balancing him out somewhat, but neither of her parents tolerated lies. It was the easiest way to upset them—a sore spot, apparently—and… That's exactly what she'd just done to them both. Her only option had become to double-down and make it believable… but…
How could she possibly make it convincing?!
"Princess…" The ruffian hissed at her under his breath. "What the fuck are you doing…?!"
…And then she had an idea. An absolutely terrible idea…
"I'm fifteen, father," she went on, wrapping her arms around the idiot atop her and hugging him to her body as tightly as possible so that even someone as thick-headed as him would get the hint to shut up and let her handle this. "Did you really think I wouldn't meet a boy by now…?"
"I… See…" the man floundered, clearly caught off guard by her assertive response.
Perfect!
Her parents had been very clear about the importance of surprising your opponent at the negotiating table, and this wasn't really that different.
"Oh this is wonderful news, darling!" her mother cheered, clasping her hands in front of herself as a pleasant smile replaced her disapproving frown. "I do wish you'd picked someone a bit more… respectable-looking… But I think I can forgive you for overlooking some manners, though. He's such a handsome boy!"
Internally, Momo gagged at the idea. Sure, from the objective standpoint the blonde was attractive, but the personality behind the face was not.
"Oh, I knew you'd love Kachan, mother!" she exclaimed outwardly, an excited smile plastered on her face.
The boy gagged at the pet-name she'd come up with on the fly.
"I should hope you've taken… precautions…" the woman asked seriously.
W-what…?! There's no way she… N-no…!
That particular implication caught her rather flat-footed.
"Honey, please…" her father groaned, covering his eyes with a hand dejectedly. "I do not want to hear such things implied about my little girl."
"Oh, I'm sure you can handle it, you big baby," Momo's mother responded. "She's already getting to be that age, and you know what we were getting up to when we were as old as she is… Need I remind you of that day with the—"
"No, I think we're fine, thank you!" The man cut her off quickly, tugging at the collar of his dress shirt nervously before he visibly chose to change the subject—affixing his gaze on the blonde that was… Still on top of Momo.
The fact she'd managed to forget that really proved just how frazzled she was right now.
"Young man, would you kindly get off of my daughter if we're about to have this… conversation?"
The teen rolled his eyes, but also ceded to the man's request, sliding off and undoing the rope around his feet—
"Ooh, how adventurous…!" her mother interjected at the sight of it.
Was… Was her mother always like this…? She'd never seen the woman be so direct about such… topics…
It was terrifying.
"So, what's your name, boy?"
…And that was when Momo remembered that her entire plan was riding on the flimsy hope that the blonde would actually play along when he had no reason to bother.
It's over… I'm dead. There's no way he's going to—
The subject of her worries cut her off with a deep breath, like he was preparing himself for something, and then he slicked his hair back smoothly and spoke.
"You can call me Katsuki, sir," the blonde said politely.
Politely.
Huh. How had she not noticed that the world was ending?
"But the full name is Bakugo Katsuki," he went on, his normally gruff tones replaced with a voice that could have melted butter; his crude scowl replaced with a pleasant smile. "It's nice to meet you."
He's… He's playing along…!
And from the way her father was looking at him, he was doing it well.
"Sorry for the awkward introduction," he went on, either oblivious or uncaring of the shocked gaze stabbing into his back. "Believe it or not, landing on Momo like that was a complete accident…"
WHY IS HE PLAYING ALONG…?!
Somehow, this was worse than the boy ignoring her plans and leaving her to deal with her fate. He was acting like a completely different person, and she had no idea why. It freaked her out on several levels, defying everything she'd understood of the boy and throwing her for such a loop that, suddenly, anything was possible in her mind.
Is… Is it… Does he actually like me…? Is… Is that why…?
"Hmm…" her father interjected, his tone reminding her of the one he used when he was unsure if he should commit to a business deal. "I see…"
It… made a certain kind of horrible sense.
Having tossed out any kind of sanity after the boy had switched personalities at the drop of a hat, she was clinging to the first piece of logic she could think into existence… and it was too plausible to ignore. After all, didn't boys like to rile up girls they liked…? Tugging their pigtails on the playground, for instance…?
O-Oh god, he even texted me first…
"So, what's your name, boy?"
Bakugo had a few options here.
The first one was to say 'fuck it,' expose the girl's lie and leave instead of putting up with whatever the fuck was going on, and the second was to be just nice enough that he didn't need to deal with the fuss of getting kicked out of a rich guy's mansion. The third option, on the other hand…
Well, he could play along so well that he one-upped the princess at her own game, got proof of his fake-relationship to rub his bitch of a mother's nose in, and have the moral high ground for helping the girl out…!
Was it at all a surprise that the blonde picked option three?
"You can call me Katsuki, sir," he said aloud, hating how stupid he sounded.
Just… channel De—Midoriya…
He tried. He really did. But it only lasted a second before he realized how fucking bad of an idea that was.
'No, that's a terrible idea… Be a confidant Midoriya…' He corrected mentally.
"But the full name is Bakugo Katsuki," he continued. "It's nice to meet you."
Fuck, it hurt to act like… like this.
"Sorry for the awkward introduction," The blonde declared, addressing the issue he was sure was still pissing off his fake-girlfriend's father. "Believe it or not, landing on Momo like that was a complete accident…"
Going into more detail there would probably just make the situation worse, so it was best not to bother and hope it was enough. If he was lucky, it would be.
"Hmm…" her father interjected, his tone clearly noncommittal. "I see…"
"Oh, you can stop with the angry father act now, honey," the girl's mother added, before turning to face Bakugo. "How did you two meet…?"
"Well—" Momo tried to interject.
Of course, he cut her off instantly.
"We met at the festival disaster," he went on.
Come on… Come on… Think of a compliment…!
He knew it was something that Midoriya would toss in, and he would probably mean it, too… And right now he needed it to make his act convincing.
…Aha!
"Momo was really helpful in dealing with the villain and getting the civilians out of danger."
There…! A perfect compliment! What could be better than saying their daughter was ahead of the curve on her intended career path…?
"Really…? How… Interesting…" the girl's father drawled.
Shit. He did not sound happy about that.
"I seem to recall you mentioning that you'd only done what was required to keep those around you safe, Momo…" the man said, staring down his daughter. "You put quite a lot of effort into explaining how you took as few risks as possible…"
"Ahaha… Well… you see…" the girl stumbled, eyes darting toward Bakugo nervously.
Damn, she's a shit liar, isn't she…?
"That was the safest thing for her to do, sir," the blonde declared, picking up the conversational slack quickly. "With how bad the situation was getting, helping like she did was the best way to keep it from escalating and making it even more dangerous for everyone around, including her."
Fuck, he was good at this.
I knew it was easy as shit, princess…!
"Oh? What exactly was she doing, then, that was safer than remaining uninvolved…? As a girl not even in hero school, I can't imagine it was anything less than risky…"
…Okay, maybe it was a little harder than he thought.
"Alright, that's enough with your interrogation, honey," Momo's mother interjected.
Bakugo let out a tiny sigh of relief, eager to shift towards a safer topic.
"Instead, we should really be focusing on the specific part where they actually met. There must be a story there…!"
God, fucking, damnit…
Of course she wouldn't switch to something easier…! No, of course not! That would make this too simple!
"Well… Uh…"
"I-it was honestly rather romantic," the girl cut in bashfully.
The blonde blinked in surprise at her phrasing. There was… no hesitation there. What the hell…?
"While we technically had met prior, bumping into each other while I was getting my club ready for the show, he mainly left his impression when he made a dramatic entrance and saved me from the villain's attack."
Okay, seriously, what the fuck. There's no way she was suddenly this good of an actor.
"He was almost like a… knight in shining armor…" the girl trailed off, clearly lost in her memories.
Oh god, it all makes sense now…! Why else would someone like him have leaped in like that…?!
It took everything Bakugo had to resist the simultaneous urges to facepalm, scowl, and bang his head against the wall.
"That's amazing…!" the girl's mother exclaimed, clasping her hands together like some 19th century maiden.
"Wait, you never mentioned being in that dangerous of a—" her father began, only to be forcefully hushed by his wife.
"Isn't it just…?" the princess agreed, though she refused to meet his eyes and confront the 'what the fuck are you saying' look he was giving her. "He's a hero course applicant himself, and he's a shoe-in for U.A. Barring some… media management skills… he's definitely going to go far in the industry."
Just… focus on selling it right now… You can worry about the ruffian having a crush on you later… Preferably when there's a pillow around to scream into…!
This was… starting to get uncomfortable. Why the hell was she sucking up this much…? He would almost think she was fucking with him if it wasn't for how she refused to look at him and sounded so… embarrassed. It was almost like—
Oh dear god…
"Really…? Interesting…" her father said, giving him a frighteningly intrigued look.
"The type of woman you describe is easily flustered when confronted with the truth of her own feelings, often—but not always—lashing out violently when you approach her, correct?" All Might's words echoed in Bakugo's mind quite worryingly.
I-I… I swear… If he tries anything after this… We are not a couple now! He'd better understand that!
I'll beat it into his head if I have to!
The description fit the girl almost to a 'T.' She was always being a bitch, but it was only now that she had her parents around that she wasn't able to lash out like All Might mentioned.
So… instead…
"Tell me, do you have a Support Technician as a partner yet, Katsuki…?" her father asked.
The girl scowled at him while her parents were distracted, quite clearly conveying what the 'right answer' was to her father's question… But the blush coating her cheeks and the way she refused to meet his eyes was… concerning.
W-why does he keep looking at me like that…?!
"Uh… No…?"
The girl gave a reluctantly approving nod to his statement, only for her expression to return to a creepily pristine mask of pleasantry the second her parents focused on her again.
"Wonderful…! It's decided, then!" her father declared. "You simply must work with Momo!"
Bakugo cocked his head to the side.
"I thought she was applying to be a Hero…?"
The man grimaced, the woman at his side patting him on the shoulder in commiseration.
"Yes, well… She has tried to convince us to allow her to pursue the path of being a Support Technician and Hero, but surely you can see why we don't want our daughter getting involved in such a dangerous line of work…?"
Bakugo scowled, the expression cracking the mask of politeness he'd worked so hard to maintain.
"No, actually. I don't," he said gruffly. "She's got too much of a spine to stick behind a desk and tinker her whole life. If you want her to do both, fine, but she should be a hero, first, and a techie second…"
Both of her parents' eyebrows crested their hairlines at how forceful his statement was… while the girl at his side openly gaped at him.
W-what…? Did… Did he just…? H-He said something… Nice…?
Huh. I guess I do think she's not a complete waste of space…
Upon turning towards the girl, however, she squeaked and looked away, fiddling with her hands behind her back. Quietly, he heard her let out a mutter.
"Idiot…"
In the back of his mind, All Might's words came back, again.
"What you are dealing with, my boy…"
"Is a Tsundere…"
Taking a deep breath, Bakugo narrowly managed to keep himself from finding the nearest bulky object to brain himself with.
Fuck…! She actually likes me…!
Outwardly, however, he grit his teeth and forced himself to finish his statement.
"...She's too good for that."
It was official. Her world had fallen apart, any semblance of sanity or consistency abandoning her in her time of need…
Oh… Oh god… He actually likes me…!
…And it was all because of Bakugo Katsuki.
Elsewhere, a few minutes later…
Melissa smiled brightly as her partner clambered onto the roof, blueish-purple hair sticking over the ledge before the rest of her mounted the lip of the concrete gracefully. It never got old referring to the transforming teen that way, filling her with a sense of catharsis she'd never experienced before. She was quite literally living her dream of helping heroes help others, of being a Hero's hero… and she couldn't be happier about it.
"Oh, that was fantastic!" the blonde exclaimed. "The sash worked perfectly and now you've made a debut again! Only one left to go!"
The other teenager gave a happy nod, her expression just as bright.
"It's all thanks to your help," she replied easily. "I never could have made something so complicated without help."
Hearing that just reinforced the feeling, really.
"I-It was nothing…!" she stuttered, unused to the praise.
It wasn't like she didn't receive it back home, but it was different to be praised by a peer. Hearing things like this from teachers and her father just didn't hold the same weight. They were expected to be nice, not to be honest… Unless you royally screwed up, anyway.
Gah, she was getting sidetracked!
"That reminds me!" she started, whipping out a small device with a screen attached to it. "I know you didn't ask, but I had the idea, so I came up with something to help with your job idea—"
Suddenly, she was being shoved behind a vent and into a little corner by her partner, stumbling against the area where the metal met concrete. The blue-haired girl joined Melissa a moment later, huddling up next to her and trying to make them both as unnoticeable as possible.
"Izuku…?" Melissa whispered urgently, completely baffled by the transformed-boy's behavior.
"Shh…!" the masked teen hushed urgently, going so far as to cover her mouth to prevent any further utterances.
A moment passed…
…Then two…
…And then, once the silence had dragged into minutes, Izuku finally began to relax. Standing up, the transformed teen peered around the corner, though she was mainly scanning the sky for some reason.
"Izuku…? What was all that about…?" Melissa asked seriously.
The teen startled, whirling around to face her—
Flash!
—and in a flash of red was back to his normal state. Stumbling a bit, he crashed into her. Unlike the gajillion anime with equivalent scenes, it wasn't enough to knock the girl over. He was several centimeters shorter than her before the heels of her leather boots came into the equation, after all.
That didn't mean it wasn't awkward, though.
"G-gah…! Sorry…!" he said with a wince, backing up and rubbing his head sheepishly. "I just… I thought I saw Haw—A hero…!"
Oh. That made a lot of sense, actually.
"Right! No worries, then!" Melissa exclaimed. "Let's get off this roof, just in case, then I'll explain about that idea I had for your job…!"
The boy blinked at her statement… Which was weird. She hadn't said something odd again, somehow, right?
"Ah… About that… I, um… How are we going to get down…?" he asked.
"You can just carry me like you… did… before…" she trailed off as it occurred to her what he was suggesting.
"...Yeah," he said miserably.
Well, that was a bit of a problem, wasn't it…?
Somewhere in an alley in Musutafu…
"Well… Crap," a dark-haired girl murmured to herself as she watched a dark red blur streak into the horizon.
Pulling off to the side of the road, she slipped her phone out of her bag and dialed the first number on quick-dial. Holding the phone to her ear, she spoke as soon as the call was answered.
"Six… We have a problem… The bird is sticking around."
"Hmm… That's unfortunate," the man on the other end of the call replied. "Any chance it's for the new kids on the block?"
"I doubt the big-shots care enough," the girl replied. "Sure, the newbies may be everywhere in the news right now, but they'll get caught sooner or later. They're not special enough for the Commision to waste a resource like him."
"Hmm… I wouldn't be so dismissive, but I agree with your logic. The HPSC has always been slow to respond to new developments," the man replied.
"Exactly," the girl nodded. "What should we do about the bird, though…?"
Silence reigned for a moment… and then the man spoke.
"...Retreat for now," 'Six' stated. "We can leave Musutafu behind at the moment and lay low for a while. It's probably for the best, anyway. I've heard rumblings that the Old Man has something in store for our new Vigilantes."
"Seriously…? Since when does he get off his ass to deal with chumps like these…?"
"Don't talk about him like that, Bee," the man interjected, his tone firm but still entirely calm.
"Psh… Fine…!" The girl ceded, rolling her visible eye at the command. "Suck up to the guy that abandoned you if you want."
Silence, dangerous silence, reigned for several tense moments. It was enough to make Bee wonder if she'd gone too far, but then Six suddenly continued like it had never happened.
…That was almost more worrying than an angry rant.
"We can stick to Naruhata for now and see how his plans go… Though I think he'll be surprised."
"Oh? Is that doubt I hear about the 'Demon King…?'" the girl teased lightly, stepping back carefully from her prior comment.
"Not doubt, per se… Just an awareness of his limitations. He's never understood the strength of heroes… Not ones like All Might, at least."
"And you do?" the girl guffawed. "Wait, back up, did you just compare these new scrubs to the Symbol of Peace?! I didn't know you had a thing for schoolgirls, Six."
"...I wouldn't expect someone like you to understand, Bee. It doesn't matter, though. Either things go as you think they will… or they line up with my vision. We'll adapt to what happens either way. It's what we do… What I do," the man stated seriously.
Letting out a sigh, the girl didn't even bother to argue the point. It was no use when he got into one of these moods.
"Psh… Fine. Be boring about it," she complained instead. "I'm hanging up now. See ya."
I just don't get you, Six. What's so great about heroes…?
AN:
Well, Merry Christmas everyone!
It's been a while since I last updated. I really was intending to maintain a roughly weekly schedule before, but life, as usual, got in the way of that. The reasons don't particularly matter all that much, but suffice it to say that my schedule got significantly more jam-packed than before. It's still rather busy, but I heard about a fanfic community event to surprise your audience with an upload as a Christmas gift and the idea appealed to me.
Anyway, going forward, I want to be clear about what you can expect of me, since I don't foresee my schedule or my attention span improving any time soon. And so…
In an effort to be honest, I'm going to simply upload when I can and stop promising certain update schedules.
I don't like being so wishy-washy and breaking what I consider to be promises to my audience, so I can't in good conscience repeat the same mistake over and over again. This is essentially what I've already been doing, but this time I won't be saying one thing and doing another.
Anyway, in less serious news…
I'm still looking for a Beta! Having someone to discuss this story with on the regular and get opinions from on the future direction of chapters and story arcs is something that would greatly assist my ability to get work done on this project right now, but I've still yet to find anyone that's able to do so consistently. It's been rather frustrating, in all honesty, and is one of the things that delayed this chapter for so long.
As such, if you're at all interested, please contact me and I'll discuss the possibility with you.
For now, though, I hope you enjoyed today's chapter and are enjoying the end of the year! I'll see you all in the next upload, whenever that happens!