Ochako and Nejire passed over rooftops as they made their way to Nejire's agency. Ochako savored the feeling of air passing though her hair as she grappled from building to building. It felt so free. She was glad she'd gotten that Hero license…
They landed in front of the rooftop door. Nejire began fumbling through her belt to get her keys.
"Don't worry, I got this," said Ochako, pulling her own key out and unlocking it.
"Thanks Uravity! Hey do you think we should put a mat up here? We could even put a fake key under it while hiding the real key somewhere else! No one will predict that!"
"Maybe!" Ochako said. As they got inside that grin faded. They may have vanquished the villains, but now they faced a greater threat…
Paperwork.
Ochako shook her head as she filled out yet another redundant and unnecessarily bloated form. Doing paperwork be a fact of life, and knowing how to do it well had taken her far, but did she hate the stuff with an intensity that matched Godzilla's nuclear breath! The stuff had been annoying enough with the AMF and it had only gotten worse since she became a hero.
On the other hand, it could be worse. Poor Nejire was saddled with twice as much since, as the head of the agency, she needed to fill out forms regarding her sidekicks too after the incident in Boonta.
(When Ochako went solo she was so limiting the number of sidekicks in her agency. Or getting a secretary she'd pay a handsomely to papers for her.)
After over an hour of intense tedium, Ochako was finally free for the day. She changed out of her hero costume, used the agency showers (using her own water cost money), then made her way out.
She nodded goodbye to her coworkers, grinned at overhearing some sidekicks betting on Ochako's career before being a Hero (again), and went to say goodbye to Nejire.
"Nejire?" said Ochako.
Nejire looked up, looking dead inside. "Whaaat?"
"I'm leaving for the day. Good night."
"Good- hey wait a minute! There's something I have to ask you!" Nejire said, her eyes becoming alert again.
Ochako blinked. "What is it?"
"You know Tsu? The one with the frog quirk who went by the name Froppy, left a while ago to form her own agency? Remember her?"
Ochako nodded. "Yeah I remember Tsu. How's she doing?"
"She's doing great! Anyway, she called me earlier about a team-up to deal with some smugglers in the Sea of Japan! Apparently, these guys have some heavy hitters so she and Selkie were asking for extra help. Gang Orca's on board, but they were wondering if I wanted to come and bring a sidekick with me?"
"And you want me to join you?" Ochako said.
"Yep! Here are the dates we have planned!" She pointed to some boxes on her calandar she'd marked off. Ochako snapped a photo of them with her phone.
"Looks good, but I might have something important planned," said Ochako. "Mind if I check first?"
"Of course!" said Nejire. "You can tell me tomorrow. Now go home and get your beauty rest!"
"Thanks Nejire," Ochako said.
"Any time!"
Ochako left the agency and boarded a train home.
After arriving at the house and walking inside, Ochako said, "Hey guys, I'm back!"
Mina gave an exhausted thumbs up from the couch. "Good to see you Ochako."
Kendo and Setsuna were at the table eating dinner. "Hey Ochako, long day for you too?" said Kendo.
"Yeah," said Ochako. "I was helping with that disaster in Boonta for several hours. You guys?"
"Busy patrol," said Mina as she got to her feet. "The villains just wouldn't stop showing up…"
"TV appearance for some dumb commercial," said Setsuna.
"Paperwork," said Kendo.
"Ouch. Looks like we've all had a long day," Ochako said. She walked to the fridge thinking about what to eat. Actually, she should probably go grocery shopping soon. Her stash was running low…
"By the way, Ochako," said Mina. "I got some great news!"
Ochako perked up. "Hmmm? What is it?"
"That charity you were interested in? They said they'd love to have you for one of their upcoming events! Here's the dates! Check' em out!"
Ochako hurried over and looked. Soonest one was after the mission with Nejire. Good. "Thanks Mina," Ochako said. "It means a lot to me."
"Your welcome," said Mina. "Anything for a friend!" She gave Ochako a sunny thumbs up. "By the way, I'm meeting some of my old classmates tonight for some fun," said Mina. "Any of you wanna come?"
"No thanks, I'm bushed," said Setsuna.
"I'll pass," said Kendo.
"I'm good. Have fun," said Ochako as she got out ingredients for dinner.
"You do know you can order food right?" said Setsuna.
"Cooking my own is cheaper," said Ochako. Probably healthier too.
"Why are you such a cheapskate sometimes?" said Setsuna. "You do realize you have almost as much, if not more money than the rest of us?"
"Which I did not get by being wasteful." Insanely reckless maybe, but not wasteful. "Besides, if I spent more every time I started making extra money, I'd be left with the same amount I'd started with." Lifestyle creep wasn't screwing her over, thank you very much!
Setsuna waved her off. "Whatever."
"Speaking of money, rent's due in a week," said Kendo. "You got your shares?"
Ochako nodded. "I'll send it right over."
Mina groaned. "I'll send mine too."
"Me three," said Setsuna.
As Ochako was cooking, her phone dinged.
Midori: Heading back to Pacific. Saw your work in Boont! Good work with the rescue and villain!
Ochako began typing back.
Me: Thanks Midori! Heard about YOUR fight with the Gargantua. Nice work! Bummer we didn't get to meet each other while you were at the mainland. Next time maybe?
Midori: Maybe we can coordinate when we have time off? It would be great to see you again! (You heard about that fight?)
Ochako rolled her eyes.
Me: There are still forums following Kaiju. They may be rare but they still exist. You should know. You introduced me to them. And yeah we should try that! It would be great!
Midori: You still go to those forums?!
Me: Duh. Have to follow you guys somehow and you're not exactly in the news these days.
Midori: Don't remind me. The guys here do it plenty enough. (Don't worry, they love you!)
Me: They do?
A lot of AMF members hated Heroes, seeing them as glory hogs taking attention and funding from fighting the monsters. Even the ones who didn't hate Heroes weren't exactly fans, with Midori as a rare exception.
Midori: Yeah! Helps that you're considered one of us.
Me: Thanks for telling me. I gotta eat dinner. Have a good flight back and enjoy Murakami's book!
Midori: How would you know if I'm reading it? What if I'm not?
Me: Are you?
Midori: Never mind, enjoy your food.
Ochako giggled. Poor fanboy, so predictable. She typed back.
Me: Will do!
As she finished her dinner there was a knock at the door.
Mina thrust it open and said. "Guys!"
"Hey Ashido! Ready to have a night on the town?!" said an out of costume Chargebolt.
"You don't need to yell Denki. She's literally three feet ahead of you," said Earphone Jack.
"Hey Ashido, good to see you again," said Red Riot.
"Hey Kirishima!" said Mina. "Let's go and paaaarty! Oh and you brought Bakugo too! How'd you do it? Blackmail?"
"Shut up!"
Ochako watched the friend group chat in the doorway, her eyes lingering on the last one. Dynamight, one of the top heroes in Japan. Notorious for having a hot temper and a bit of an ego. According to Mina, he was mostly bark with his friends (and hilarious to prank too).
And yet.
Ochako had never pressed Midori for details of his personal life, especially his time in school, but some things had slipped through. Could Dynamight be…?
She shook her head. That wasn't important. Midori made it quite clear that he wanted to put his past behind him. Dragging up his old enemies wouldn't help with that. (Though how successful Midori had been at moving on was quite debatable given his definite pride in fighting Godzilla while quirkless).
Ochako finished her food, watched TV, trained a little, then headed to bed. She'd had a long day, and it was nice to get some rest. No paperwork, no roommate problems, no villains…
Deika City
Detnerat, possibly the greatest front organization ever built. A powerful and successful life-style (and now Hero) support company with high paying executives, innovative technology, and plenty of donations to various non-profits. All of which were used to further the glorious cause of the Meta Liberation Army.
Rikiya Yotsubashi, Re-Destro, the one true heir to the great visionary that was his ancestor, looked out at the city he'd built. A city situated in the mountains, limited entry and exit points, with all land owned by Detnerat or shell companies connected to them. A company town firmly controlled by the Meta Liberation Army, built on the ruins of their prior defeat. The perfect place to prepare for his revenge on ALL WHO DARED DEFY THE GRAND VISION OF THE MIGHTY DESTRO AND-!
Yotsubashi took a deep breath. Calm down. You have a meeting soon! It won't do to be tense and unfriendly in a meeting now would it? As if on cue his intercom beeped.
"Mr. Yotsubashi? Your eight o'clock is here."
"That's great Akihiro!" he said. "Send them right in!"
Two men entered. One was an older gentleman. He had an inexpensive suit worn with the utmost dignity. It was ironed, pressed and neatly worn to look as presentable as possible. A man eager to please, or who holds himself in high esteem. Judging by the way the man carried himself, with a confident gait and an expression of formality mixed with arrogance, it was the latter.
The other was a younger man with a very different demeanor. Black hair left uncombed, off-center tie, a ruffled jacket, and multiple wrinkles on the pants. He wore the suit as a formality but obviously didn't care for appearances. An impudent upstart.
They'd sought out the MLA, asking for material resources to build something. Something they said would cause great destruction. (But then, they all said that didn't they?)
The two sent a list of equipment they wanted and fragments of their blueprints. While the tech wasn't hard to get per say, not for the MLA, it wasn't the sort of thing a garden variety villain would be looking for. Yotsubashi was curious.
"Welcome gentlemen," he said with a genial smile. "How was the drive in?"
The younger man looked to the older one, who said, "Quite well Mr. Yotsubashi. It is an honor to meet you."
So the old one was the spokesperson for the two. Logical.
"Please, no need to be so formal!" said Yotsubashi. "Have a seat! Would you care for a drink?"
"No thank you," said the old man as he sat down. The younger one stayed standing behind him. The older man through him an annoyed look before making eye contact with Yotsubashi.
"I must say you're list of items you wanted was quite interesting," said Yotsubashi. "So, what's your proposition?"
"It's a device that we believe can call something. Something that would further your cause," said the younger man.
"How so?" said Yotsubashi.
"Have you perchance heard of the "AMF", or Anti Megalosaurus force?" said the younger man.
Yotsubashi's fists clenched.
Oh yes he'd heard of them. A government agency tasked with handling animals with meta abilities. Instead of using those with strong meta abilities of their own, they used outdated weapons handled by the weak and pre-evolved who dared think they could stand up to gods.
"We have a way for you to get rid of them, by giving their jurisdiction to the heroes," said the younger man. He gave Yotsubashi an oily smirk. "All you'd need do is give us the equipment we need, maybe some disposable thugs, and perform two little acts, insignificant for a man like you…"
Yotsubashi's lips curled upwards.
As faulty as the Hero system was, at least it used meta abilities and recognized their importance.
"I'm listening."
Hope you enjoyed Reviews make me smile!
My original plans had Shigaraki as the ultimate villain, but later decided MLA worked better.
Shigaraki was ultimately part of the long battle between AFO and OFA and since that wasn't really a focus of this story I figured him and the League would bog it down.
Also the MLA works better with this story since their ideals make a contrast to Izuku, who's more or less dedicated his life to proving people who judge him for his lack of a quirk wrong as well as tying into the idea of the modern world being obsessed with quirks, even when it made them ignore the monsters.
