"How is Mirio?" Izuku asked Nejire as they walked together.
Nejire looped an arm around Izuku's and leaned against him while they walked. "He's more quiet than usual, but I think he'll be ok. Sounds like he's going to be interning with Fat Gum for now since UA ended their partnership with Nighteye's agency 'until further notice'."
"I feel kind of bad even though I shouldn't," Izuku admitted.
"You might have been the catalyst for all this, but you weren't the reason. Nighteye made his bed, he can sleep in it," Nejire reasoned.
Izuku adjusted the duffel bag over his shoulder with a shrug and looked down at Nejire as they walked. She really was beautiful, and not just physically. As the silence stretched into a comfortable moment, Izuku couldn't take his eyes off her. The way the morning light played through periwinkle hair. The way her intelligent eyes never stopped searching the world in front of her like she wanted to understand it all. And gods, the way those eyes would occasionally dart up to his and immediately fill with emotion. He was going to marry this woman. Without a doubt.
"I love you, Nejire," Izuku said, not wanting the emotion to go unsaid, not ever.
Her vibrant periwinkle eyes darted up and the smile she gave him was warm enough to feel. "I love you too," She said, keeping eye contact until curiosity crossed her emotions. "Is it just me, or were Himiko, Tsu, and Rumi acting more clingy than normal? Himiko I expect, she's touch starved like you and has years to make up for, but you literally had to pry her off. Tsu's going with Selkie on a boat and might not be back every night, but still, I've never seen her so outwardly emotional. But Rumi? I never thought I'd see her acting clingy at all. It's not like we're going to be gone for a whole week, we should be back each night. We might have to stay the night once or twice at the agency, but overnighters are rare."
Izuku hummed while he tried to switch mental gears from admiring Nejire.
"You're right, but they weren't upset. Not really anyway, they just didn't want to be separated. Rumi being clingy was a bit surprising, but even she has her moments. Cherish those vulnerable moments she lets you see. There aren't many."
Nejire smiled. "Ya, she's so adorable when she lets you see that. And when her little nose wiggles when she's flirting!? Ugh! I wanna kiss it!"
Izuku tilted his head back and laughed. "I did that once, she blushed so hard I could actually see it."
Nejire tugged on his arm. "No fair! When we get back I'm going to-Oh! We're here!" She declared suddenly.
The train ride and short walk led them to a building that looked like it had once been an upscale Chinese restaurant. The sign outside read: Ryukyu Hero Agency. Walking inside, the decor was still Chinese, but it looked more office than restaurant. Behind the receptionist counter, Ryukyu was dressed up in her full Hero costume as she leaned over the shoulder of someone in a UA uniform and pointed at a screen.
"And here are the patrols we have in queue," She said before she noticed them enter.
"There you two are, I was just getting our Business course intern settled in," Ryukyu said, stepping around the desk.
The intern in question, a pudgy boy with blond hair styled into an odd spiral shape, stood and bowed only his head to them. "You must be Hadou and Midoriya, I am Nakayama Osamu. I'm aware of Hadou's Hero name, but what is yours?"
Izuku bowed his head in greeting as well. "The Singularity, but my friends call me Singularity," Izuku said with a half smile at his own joke.
To his disappointment, the boy grimaced.
"I pity your pr."
"Alright," Ryukyu interrupted. "You two get changed, we're going on patrol."
Later, the three flew over what looked like the Tokyo Bay area in their Hero costumes. Ryukyu had offered no explanation as to where they were going. All she had told him was 'Keep up'. It hadn't been difficult, both Ryukyu and Nejire-chan could fly incredibly fast but nowhere near supersonic; a speed he could achieve within less than a hundred feet. Air gently blew through his hair as he flew through the sky, following Ryukyu's lead. Ahead of him, the dragoness's massive white wings beat the air into submission as she flew over the tops of buildings. On his left, Nejire corkscrewed through the air majestically, periwinkle contrails chasing her.
"Singularity," Ryukyu said over their encrypted private channel, the small microphone and speaker fitting snugly into Izuku's ear. "You must have had thousands of offers, so why did you decide to join my agency for internships? I hope it wasn't just because of the company."
Why was she asking this now and not back at the agency? Was this her way of testing him? A casual conversation while they flew over the tops of buildings, on the lookout for anything suspicious?
"Because your agency specializes in two things; flying and power," Izuku said, weaving around a skyscraper and waving at the office employees inside. "Without a Hero license, I'm limited to how much flying I can get away with so it's my least trained skill. You and Nejire-chan don't lack firepower, yet you both manage to minimize collateral damage. I know that's a skill I'll need."
"I saw your fight with Mirio, you needing to learn how to minimize collateral is an understatement," Ryukyu said, her draconic head twisting back to him and chuffing. "Do you know how Heroes get paid?"
Izuku blinked at the question as he flew past a radio tower. "I'm not entirely sure, I couldn't come up with a solid answer anytime I've looked it up."
"Ever wonder why it's so hard to get a straight answer?" Nejire chimed in, spiraling through the air so fast that it made him dizzy.
"It's kept vague for a reason," Ryukyu said. "There are three primary sources of income for professional Heroes; Villain arrests, cases closed, and patrols performed. Bringing in a villain will get you paid according to their ranking. The payout of a case closed is determined on a case-by-case basis. Patrols are commissioned by the HPSC and Heroes get to choose what patrols to take on. Wealthier districts/cities/wards have higher paying patrols and vice versa."
Izuku scanned the streets and alleys below with infrared as he mulled over the information.
"That's so….mercenary," He finally said after a few minutes, disillusioned.
"It is," Ryukyu agreed. "At the end of the day, we're mercenaries in costumes. BUT, that doesn't mean we can't do real good out here, that doesn't mean we can't be real heroes that change and save lives. Too many Heroes that are just starting out get too sucked into the grind. Next thing they know, it's a day job. To avoid that pitfall, you have to be aware it's there."
Izuku twirled through the sky as he thought, sparing a moment to fly upside down and watch the clouds go by.
"You said that poor district patrols are worth less, what if no Heroes accept a patrol there? And what if multiple Heroes want the same patrol?" He asked as he flew alongside some crows that surprised him by flying closer, seemingly curious.
"Then there are no Heroes in the district, and it does happen. It's why Naruhata happened. A poor, but low crime district led to no Heroes being on patrol or nearby when the city was plunged into chaos. Districts can have multiple patrols available a day, depending on how large the area is. If too many Heroes want the same patrol, the ranking system comes into play. A higher ranking means you get the first pick of patrols."
"Three o'clock! Red truck!" Nejire suddenly shouted.
Izuku snapped his gaze in that direction and saw a pickup truck racing through traffic and even on the sidewalk. An ATM that looked like it had been ripped right out of the ground was in the truck's bed. The truck was racing straight for a busy intersection where a group of civilians were using the crosswalk.
"Watch and learn!" Ryukyu snapped.
Her draconic wings tucked in close to her body and she plummeted like a bus-sized raptor after prey. She fell, picking up speed as she neared terminal velocity.
The truck didn't slow or change direction as it approached the busy crosswalk, instead, it picked up speed. In the mind of the driver, the civilians crossing the street had just been relegated to collateral.
Ryukyu was still falling, but not fast enough to both make it in time and safely slow enough. Ryukyu made herself as small as possible, her wings tucked even tighter, her arms and legs curling beneath her even closer.
At the last second, Ryukyu's wings flared wide just before hitting the street between the truck and the crosswalk, buffeting the entire street with a gale of wind that made those behind her stumble back. Her front claw slammed into the hood of the truck, crumpling it like a tin can. The truck came to a dead stop, its back end lifting and catapulting the ATM right into Ryukyu's other waiting claw. The truck's horn blared continually, the sound becoming higher pitched than usual thanks to the damage, as the driver wrestled their way out from behind the airbag. The woman who had been driving stumbled into the street, shaking her head. She was mostly unremarkable, average in every way. Except for the fact that she had the arms of a gorilla.
She pulled back a meaty fist, the move looking more instinctive than planned.
Ryukyu snaked her draconic head closer, her maw opening wide and showing off rows of massive teeth as she bellowed an impossibly long roar that blasted the woman's hair backward.
The woman's fighting stance became a hand-raised surrender before the last of Ryukyu's spittle had landed.
The Villain nervously looked over her shoulder, only daring to take her eyes off the multi-ton predator long enough to see Izuku and Nejire hovering in the air behind her.
Fifteen minutes later, the police arrived. The Villain was currently in an iron maiden and being carted into the back of an armored Villain apprehension van.
Fifteen minutes…
Sighing, Izuku smiled as Ryukyu signed autographs for the gathering crowd. Nejire was signing a few as well. A testament to how popular a member of the big three was, despite still being a student.
It was somewhat surreal, being on this side of the proverbial yellow tape. It hadn't been all that long since he was a part of a similar crowd, hoping to get an autograph or two.
"E-Excuse me," came a voice so quiet he almost missed it.
He looked down and to the side to see a little boy with a spider mutation Quirk. His skin looked more segmented chitin than flesh and was a dark brown, covered in bristly hair that blended with his chitin. Twitching with nervous energy, four segmented spider limbs came out of his back. His face was smooth like a mannequin, his lower jaw looking like it could split at the chin to form mandibles. His eyes were solid yellow, all eight of them. Two were where most people had them while the other six adorned his forehead. If Izuku had to guess, the seemingly six-year-old boy had a jumping spider Quirk.
He. Was. Adorable.
Just behind the boy, a similar-looking woman with a black widow mutation gently pressed the boy's shoulders forward.
"Go on, Sweety. Ask the nice Hero," She gently encouraged.
"T-T-TV!" The boy shouted nervously before regaining the ability to speak at a normal volume. "I saw you on TV, you won the UA festival! Can I have your a-autograph? Please?" He added after his mother gently squeezed a shoulder. He then held out a pocket-sized notebook and pen.
Izuku had to hold it together, he was NOT going to cry while signing his very first autograph for his very first fan. Ok, Eri was probably his first fan, but this was different. Izuku's eyes burned. The traitors. No crying!
Definitely not.
Probably not.
Hopefully not.
"Of course!" Izuku choked out awkwardly enough that the boy's mother raised an eyebrow.
Trying to show off a bit, Izuku gave Blackwhip the impression of what he wanted. Tendrils of energy slowly snaked out from his wrist and gently grabbed the pen and notebook from the boy's hands. Claws?
"Oooh~" the boy cooed, all eight eyes sparkling.
After asking the boy's name, Izuku signed his autograph.
' My first autograph for my first fan. -The Singularity'
Izuku couldn't have known just how much that autograph would be worth in the years and decades to come.
"So that was a HPSC patrol, well most of it. Tomorrow I have something else planned," Ryuko said from the other side of Nejire.
Izuku nodded and took a bite of his sandwich while he people-watched. Ryuko, Nejire, and himself were currently taking a mid-patrol break atop the roof of a cute little sub shop.
"Why does your agency look like a Chinese restaurant? I wouldn't have thought twice about the building, except that even the inside is decorated in the same Chinese theme," Izuku asked after chewing and swallowing a bite.
On the other side of Nejire, Ryuko sipped on a drink to wash down her food. "It was my parent's restaurant before they retired. My mother is Chinese, my dad is Japanese. Hence the Qipao."
Nejire elbowed him to get his attention. "Ooh! Ask her about her Hero name!"
Ryuko chuckled and answered the unasked question. "I was born and raised on the Ryukyu islands and ryu means dragon so yeah. Not that interesting," She said dismissively.
"My turn to ask a question!" Ryuko said. "How does your flight work? It's not propulsion like Nejire's as far as I can tell and it's not conventional flying like mine."
Izuku sipped on his drink and passed it to Nejire. "As far as I can tell, it's a telekinetic field that permeates my whole body and juuust above my skin. That's why I don't experience air resistance. As the air hits me, the telekinetic field kind of rotates and disperses the friction before it can affect me. It even works on rain to an extent."
"And what's your top speed?" Ryuko asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know, I can hit Mach 1 but I can't exactly fly faster than that on campus before I'm off the grounds and I don't have a Quirk mobility license."
Quirk usage laws had grown significantly more lax since he was a kid thanks to the Hearts and Minds party, but flying through the city was still a no-go unless you had the right license.
"Tell you what. When we're done for the day, I'll 'escort' you back to campus and you can stretch your wings," Ryuko offered.
"Thanks!" Izuku said, genuinely excited at the idea.
Nejire sighed wistfully after a minute of comfortable silence. "What do you think the girls are up to? I want to see how cute they are in Hero mode."
"Ugh, you're like my little sister. Don't get all mushy in front of me," Ryuko grumbled and promptly pushed Nejire off the roof.
"RUUUDE!" Nejire complained as she fell. Izuku nearly leaped after her but stopped as she used her Quirk to right herself and fly back up.
"Pew! Pew!" She finger gunned, small spirals of periwinkle energy shooting out of the tips of her fingers and hitting Ryuko square in the forehead, snapping her head back.
"OUCH!" Ryuko roared, getting to her feet and running for the edge.
Izuku held his stomach laughing as Ryuko jumped off the building and assumed her dragon form to chase after Nejire.
Rumi laughed, her blood racing as she bounded from wall to wall down the alleyway.
Below her, Gevaudan bounded on all fours in his enlarged form, barely able to fit in the alley.
Ahead of her, the lion Hero Shishido roared like he was the king of the concrete jungle. He dug his claws into the bricks at the corner, using the anchor point to turn the corner sharper. When Rumi rounded the corner, he already had a foot planted on the purse snatcher's back.
"IT DOESN'T MATTER IF IT'S A MOUSE OR A RHINO, A LION HUNTS WITH ALL ITS STRENGTH!"
The Oki Mariner rocked slightly in the choppy surf. Spring had brought its usual cold water and chop. The crew had been worried about Tsu's sea legs, but they needn't have. She was at home both on and in the water.
"Sir, why are you wearing that ridiculous hat?" Sirius asked.
The man with a leopard seal Quirk, Selkie, posed cutely, his hands framing his whiskered face. On his head was a hat that belonged to a different era with a badge on the front that said 'East India Trading Company'.
"Because we're hunting PIRATES!" He bellowed.
Tsu raised a hand. "Aren't we searching for Trigger drug runners, ribbit?"
"SAME THING!" Selkie bellowed again, even more boisterous this time.
"Stop shouting!" Sirius snapped.
Ochako's face turned red as a forearm wrapped around her neck, cutting off her oxygen supply. All thoughts of technique flew out the window as she gripped the forearm and lurched forward, curling her upper body with such force that the man flipped over her and landed breathlessly on his back.
Red-faced for a new reason, she helped him up. "Sorry, I panicked," She apologized to her most recent training partner, a sidekick whose name she couldn't remember.
A large man with revolver drums around his wrists and a mask with four holes in it stepped onto the mat. Gunhead gave a solo round of applause.
"What you lack in technique you more than make up for in intuition and experience! Been in your share of schoolyard scraps?"
"And then some," Ochako replied, her permanent blush darkening. "I don't like bullies."
Gunhead guffawed. "What Hero does!? Hit the showers and change into your Hero costume, Uravity! We're going on an evening patrol!"
Mei flew through the air with Airjet over Hosu. The bright sunlight reflected off her new armor, the golden paint job of her Empress armor mk1 glowing like the sun overhead.
The paint wasn't all that was new. She now had two Exitus pistols mag-locked to her thighs. The drills she had attached to her boots to anchor her had been replaced by talons. On each foot, two forward-facing talons were attached to the sides of her feet while one in the back protruded from her heel. On her forearms, two large blades with barbed tips were ready to spring forward as both a melee weapon and an extra means of anchoring herself for Exterminatus. Even the material had been upgraded! After her fight with Kendo, it had been obvious that her armor could quickly become a coffin if it bent enough. Momo and her brilliant brain had come up with something truly groundbreaking just for her! A brand new Element! For her! Combining the molecular structure of Tungsten Carbide and Titanium, she was able to make a new alloy that was stronger than titanium but shattered before it would bend. If an armor plate was broken, she would still have the titanium underlayer and the kinetic gel between them. She had named this new element 'Ceramite'. The overall redesign had been her super pretty and super smart best friend's idea. Momo had been inspired by a book she'd recommended about Kayvaan Shrike.
"So your Quirk makes air explode outwards from your body!?" So then your suit is more of a containment system designed to redirect and focus all that air into your jetpack and wrist cannons!? Who designed it!?" Mei asked and did not demand of Airjet. Demanding an answer was rude.
"I did, actually," He said succinctly as he flew, air blasting out the black of his jetpack.
The street was heavy with the scent of multiple food stalls as Fat Gum led the way on a relaxed patrol.
Momo handed her case of takoyaki off to one of her mechadendrites while she put her solid platinum card away. The mechanical tentacle gripped the tray of steaming food gingerly.
The mechadendrites had been a challenge to make, even for Mei's gorgeous mind. Their purpose was twofold, they provided an excellent melee option as well as two extra hands to grab and wield creations. The mechadendrites were powered by a smaller version of Mei's Sororitas power backpack. It was small enough that it fit snugly over her armored sports bra in a way that didn't look too bulky. The tentacles were controlled via a complicated bit of tech at the base of her neck that wirelessly read the electrical signals traveling through her spine. The dendrites themselves were powerful servos encased in thick Ceramite. They were six feet long and could extend up to ten feet, thanks to the segmented design. At the tips, were four articulating claws that could form together to create a spear-like appendage. Between the claws was a plasma emitter like the ones that Mei had on her suit's wings.
"Those sure are handy, Genesis," Lemillion quipped beside her. He threw an arm around Sun Eater and beamed at her. Sun Eater tugged his hood over his face, but Momo didn't miss the smile.
"They certainly are," Momo agreed, not catching the pun.
Ahead of them, Red Riot marched alongside Fat Gum who kept trying to feed the redhead more vendor food.
Kyoka plugged a jack into the outer wall of the convenience store and listened.
"Three people. Two are right on top of each other. The third is in the middle of the store," She whispered to Present Mic.
The normally cavalier and boisterous English teacher she was so used to was nowhere to be found. In his place was a Hero who was all business.
He nodded and held up three fingers.
One fell.
"Follow after one second, HeartThrob," he whispered as he dropped the second finger.
The third and final finger fell. Present Mic darted through the doors and before the bell even chimed, he shouted.
"LET'S ROCK!"
Kyoka sprinted into the store even as the last echoes of Present Mic's Quirk sounded.
She took in the scene all at once. Behind the counter was a razzled employee with hands still up.
In front of the counter was a masked man writhing on the ground and clutching his bleeding ears, a machete lying beside him.
Present Mic was kicking the machete away when the second robber turned the corner from where a chip display had obscured him. The masked man was beginning to level a pistol at Present Mic.
Kyoka didn't think twice, a jack reached across the store and struck like a rattlesnake. The metal tip stabbed into the man's hand holding the gun, knocking the pistol from his grip. Vibrations pulsed into the man in rapid succession, making his muscles lose all semblance of control and causing him to collapse.
"NICE SAVE!" Present Mic yelled with his Quirk, sending snacks flying. Kyouka had never been more thankful for her decibel-limiting headphones.
"I thought guns were hard to get in Japan!?" She yelled, a bit freaked out at seeing a gun-wielding Villain.
Present Mic laughed, thankfully without his Quirk this time.
"Maybe two hundred years ago! Gangs will pay a pretty Yen for an equalizer against Heroes!"
Mina was feeling hot, and not in a fun way.
Mina's hands joined together, focusing the adhesive goop into a jet that reached the burning electric car thirty feet away.
"Keep aiming for the base of the flames!" Backdraft guided. "You're doing great! Keep it up!"
He was behind her, maintaining a barrier to keep onlookers away and putting out any fires that tried spreading from the burning Lithium batteries that he was ill-suited to put out.
Toru stepped silently through the dojo's hall. Her pinky toe landed first, then she allowed her foot to roll onto the ball of her foot while keeping her heel off the ground. Only when she was sure of her silence would she allow weight into the foot, only letting her heel touch the ground when she needed to reassure her balance. Satisfied, she moved her other foot, pinky toe first in a fox walk.
The wooden board creaked loudly, louder than what was natural. It almost sounded like a bird chirping.
A dark shape landed in front of her and pointed directly at her despite her invisibility.
"Don't underestimate the preparations of a foe expecting stealth," Edgeshot instructed. "It's called a Nightingale floor, flooring nails are set to rub against something to make that noise at the slightest pressure."
Toru groaned. "I wanna go on patrol!"
Edgeshot chuckled at her frustration. "We will once you can make it from one side of the dojo to the other without me catching you. It's the same test my master put me through."
In the alleys of Hosu, a bobcat pranced around a coyote.
The coyote sighed in exasperation.
"Please! Please! Please! Tell me the story one more time!" The bobcat begged.
"One more time, Copycat!" The coyote bargained. "My mother is 100% Japanese and a descendant of the Japanese who were placed in internment camps in America after Pearl Harbor. She volunteered as a Substance Abuse Counselor on a Native American reservation. That's where she met my Dad. They settled down there and had me. When my Quirk, Skinwalker, manifested, my family and I were ostracised. You see, Skinwalkers have been feared and rarely even dared spoken of in Native American culture for hundreds of years. So, when I became able to take on the shape of any animal I've seen they cast us out."
"So romantic! But why go with the motif if your people want nothing to do with you?" Himiko asked her fellow shapeshifter.
"My people may have turned their backs on me and my family, but we will never abandon who we are or where we came from," Native explained.
In a seedy bar, in an unknown location, a portal through space opened. A man, covered in wrappings, blades, and dried blood, stepped through the rip in space. The Hero Killer; Stain narrowed his eyes at the man flipping through a manilla folder at the bar's counter. Behind said counter was a finely dressed man-shaped cloud of black mist with yellow eyes that were more lightning trapped in a black cloud than flesh. The barkeep polished an already clean glass, his body seeming to become corporeal as he wished.
"Thank you for joining us, Stain," Kurogiri greeted.
"The Broker said you want to add me to your numbers, but no matter what you wish to accomplish, you must have the conviction to see it through. So, do you?" Stain asked, the gravel in his voice indicating to all that there was only one answer that would avoid bloodshed.
Shigaraki set the file labeled 'HPSC' down, his metal prosthetic clicking and whirring with every movement.
"You kill Heroes because-"
"I kill Fakes!" Stain interjected, his hand reaching for a blade.
"Fine, Fakes," Shigaraki corrected. "You kill them because they're more worried about fame and collecting checks than actually helping people. They would pass right by a lost child unless they could get paid. Your approach is admirable but flawed."
" Oh? " Stain snarled, a hand gripping the hilt of a blade.
"You're pulling weeds in a field that needs to be plowed," Shigaraki stated, raising his arms wide. As if on signal, a dozen Nomu filled into the now packed room.
"I can provide the workhorse, I just need you to lead the cart."
Stain's eyes remained narrowed, his grip on his knives still white-knuckled.
Straightening, he removed his hands from the hilts.
"What exactly do you propose?" Stain interrogated.
"You still have work to do in Hosu, everyone knows you kill three before moving on and Ingenium surviving his wounds complicates that. I propose an exhibition match, to show you what I can offer."
"Very well."