I've got about two weeks before college starts. About. I haven't memorized the date… probably an oversight on my part.

All numbers and statistics about Japanese heroism are speculations, and will be explained. Don't skip the AN. It gives very valuable context.

-SpiritOfErebus

"Come on now, Hans." the Ice Queen said, her cold fingers dancing across his shoulders. "You have to be presentable. It's your first day on the job."

"Why are your clothes so wrinkled?" the Elder Tree Mother muttered, using some branches to tug on Hans's slacks, trying to straighten out the edges. "Even trees have to grow good leaves in our mythical tree culture. Do you even care about your appearance?"

"What does it look like?" Hans said, his brow wrinkling. "I'm the guy that spent most of his days drunk and reviewing beers when I wasn't out traveling the world. Though that was most Danes when I really think about it."

"That's then." the Ice Queen said, shaking her head. "Who knows what popular opinion has done to your personality and spirit origin. You weren't this cynical when you were alive, either."

"Well, writing bad endings certainly gave people one type of view." Hans said, slapping the little match girl's hands away before straightening his bowtie himself. The child would probably either only mess it up with her jumping… or set it on fire.

As the small girl pouted and looked up at him with big, watery eyes, Hans spotted… him.

With his tall, yet relatively slim figure, along with the very distinctive, rigid posture, he was easily recognizable. He turned a sharp ninety degree angle, the eye slits in his armor almost lighting up as his already straight posture perked up even more.

Then, the armored teenager began to clank towards Hans, each exuberant footsteps reverberating in the alleyway that Hans was straightening up in.

"Andersen-san!" Iida exclaimed, stopping to reach up with both hands and removing his helmet, revealing his brightly smiling face. Hans sighed as he ruffled the little match girl's hair before walking forwards, his height only really meeting the bottom of Iida's chestplate, before his eyes looked straight at the turbines that wound around Iida's abdomen purely for aesthetics. "I see that you have arrived early! Just as I expected of the vice president."

"...God damn it." Hans thought, shaking his head.

"I cannot wait for this five-day period of our work together to take place!" Iida said seriously, his glasses shining in the bright, 8 A.M. sun. "Have you read over the material that I have sent over detailing patrol routes and the quirk profiles of the other various members on team Idaten?"

"...I skimmed through it." Hans said. "Your brother… he also has an engine quirk, right?"

"Correct!" Iida said. "Clearly, you have a definite understanding of my brother, along with his team. As future heroes, we must understand the heroes surrounding us and our patrol routes intimately. I, for one, have memorized the types of stores and fire hydrant locations along our patrol route in the Hosu area! Of course, having been familiar with this province before, I have a considerable advantage on your familiarity given the time you had to acclimate to this environment, so if you have any questions, feel free to ask me!"

"Come to think of it," Hans asked, "Why do heroes have patrol routes in the first place? Isn't it better to be less predictable, so the villains won't be able to predict you at all? And also, why were the patrol times only during the day?"

"During the night…" Iida pondered. "While we do not wander outside of the agency, there are a plethora of underground heroes that tend to operate near the twilight hours in addition to their ordinary routes, but that is some part of specifics that I shall have to look into!"

"And don't most criminals operate at night?" Hans asked. "For maximum efficiency, shouldn't patrols occur near the twilight hours, or just through the entire night?"

"I-" Iida began.

"And that's a very good question." another voice said. "You're Andersen Hans, right?"

"Hans Christian Andersen." Hans said, turning to face the taller Iida. "I'm a foreigner, if the name alone was too subtle for you."

Hans looked up. And up. And craned his neck at an uncomfortable angle to finally see the top of the newcommer's head. Theoretically, he wasn't that much taller than Iida, but since Hans didn't exactly feel the need to look Iida in the face anymore due to constant exposure, it did not concern him normally.

The person who spoke looked almost identical to Iida, though his features were a lot less angular, and the absence of a pair of square-framed glasses gave him a much more casual look. What was undoubtedly Iida's brother also wasn't wearing any armor, instead carrying a box filled with supplies to what looked like to be a moving truck.

"Of course, I could give some more hints if you really need them. I'm not yet familiar with your particular brand of stupidity, so forgive me if I'm a bit too subtle for you."

"I see. Well I might just take you up on that." Tensei Iida said, a small amused grin on his lips. "Anyways, as to your question… Most crimes that occur during the night are not heavily involved with villainy, meaning that the police should be able to confidently respond to the threats."

"And how effective are they at their jobs?" Hans asked, raising an eyebrow and crossing his arms. Iida looked shocked at Hans talking back against his older brother and, temporary though it may be, superior. Hans, however, continued on unphased, as if he did this every day.

And to be fair, he basically did.

"Villains that perform at day, and yes, I mean the word perform, have very different goals compared to villains that operate at night. Any smart villain with a sustainable career in mind would keep their thefts and other operations out of the public eye. And if smarter villains operate at night, how does a reduced hero presence make any sense?"

"...Police records on their success rate are not visible to us Pro Heroes." Tensei countered, furrowing his brow. "And, on occasion, they do team up with underground heroes or local agencies to attempt to arrest the villains. But I do not know the success rate."

"So… why the nonsense with the patrol routes?" Hans asked, waving around a map with many, many squiggly lines in his phone. "What's the point of all this if you're not being the most efficient at what you're supposed to do, which is to fight crime?"

"...Your friend asks very difficult questions, Tenya." Tensei chuckled, the box of metallic objects rattling in his arms. "And as for an answer, I'll have to say… it is all about appearance. If we show that we've been able to turn heroing into just a business, a lot of villains will be discouraged from engaging in dangerous activities during the day, which prevents many hostage situations and loss of lives during the process of crime fighting. Really, it's a strategic realignment of crime such that risk to the public is minimized."

"But as you heroes stick to the day, truly smart supervillains perform human experimentations and develop creatures like the captured USJ Nomu." Hans crossed his arms. "And wouldn't police patrols have the same effect? Why do most heroes exclusively operate during the day, then?"

"You've already breached into one of the darker areas in the hero business." Tensei sighed. "Well, we can talk about this later. I legitimately promise. But for now? We're moving the agency."

Iida dropped his helmet. The metal, instead of deforming upon impact like any soda-can like object would, chipped the asphalt as the advanced metals refused to yield.

"Why, nii-san?" Iida rasped. "What's happened?"

"I didn't tell you two because I didn't want you all to be too stressed out and over-prepare." Tensei laughed easily. "We're temporarily going over to the Yamanashi prefecture for this month to sort out a gang war before another agency moves in. It'll just be me and Enigma going over with you two while the others hold the turf here."

"...I have… truly shamed myself…" Iida wept. "How could I have not asked about your plans this week? I'm sorry, Andersen-san! I have failed us both!"

"What did you do?" Tensei sighed, exasperated. "Did Tenya send you the two gigabyte file I usually give to sidekicks about our Hosu patrol routes?"

Hans nodded, a deadpan look on his face.

"Wait, Yamanashi?" Hans thought. "Isn't that where my house is?"

…

After Hans spent 260 yen in the morning for his subway fare, he was now crammed into a van with various other boxes, a suit of armor, and what looked like a life-sized stuffed doll.

Being sat next to said doll in the middle seat, besides Iida's still-armored form… Hans felt something disconcerting. Like something… was staring at his soul.

He looked at the rearview mirror, but Ingenium's eyes were firmly locked on the road like a good citizen. He looked at Iida, seated on his right, but he was still.

Hans even looked at the box that Ingenium had delicately placed on the front seat, wondering whether or not it was actually a person, but it was unlikely, given the fact that whoever this "Enigma" was… probably didn't name themselves 'enigma' because the enemy wouldn't know what the box moving in front of them was.

Then… he turned his gaze over to the stuffed doll next to him.

"Give it the test, Ice Queen." Hans thought.

"Really? Are you going to do that to somebody that may be a human?" the Ice Queen said in his mindscape. "I'm not going to blow cold air at her and take all the blame for it… again."

"You didn't say this when we were testing that completely cuboid kid sitting next to me in second grade."

"But… she's definitely a person, right?" the Ice Queen said, "Actually, I'm not quite sure… She doesn't seem to be moving… or blinking… Fine, I'll give her the test."

Slowly, the Ice Queen floated out of Hans's mindscape, the upper half of her body protruding from the back of Hans's head in an incorporeal manner. Hans shivered as a cold feeling swept across the back of his neck, but endured it in order to discern the truth. Shifting one blue eye over and leaning his head slightly to pretend to be drowsy, Hans was able to angle his vision slightly as the black-haired pigtailed girl shivered in discomfort, before blinking.

Her eyes were pure black, and oddly circular, almost making her look like a yokai. The pale, clammy, almost mask-like face was unnaturally taught, as if something rigid that wasn't a skull was under the surface of her skin. Otherwise, the perfectly cylindrical and smooth limbs seemed… like a container.

At least she was a hero, right?

With this thought in mind, Hans slowly shuffled towards Iida, a figure that gave him more comfort, despite the threats of memorizing patrol schedules and taking up more hero responsibilities.

However, given the fact that the girl was looking at the Ice Queen with a disgruntled expression on her face… while the Ice Queen was looking back at her like an average person would look at Abigail William's third ascension… there was some explaining to do.

"Oh, I'm sorry about her." Hans said, smiling slightly uneasily. "She always does that to people that she hasn't met."

"Come on, now." the Ice Queen said in a voice resembling what some would probably imagine to be the voice of a sultry female actress. "I'm hardly that immature. I was just curious about you, darling. What products do you use for your skin? I'm having a little trouble keeping myself so pale, you know? Some blue always just seeps through."

"It's the same for me." the woman said, a smile creeping on her features, and even though she was sort of blushing excitedly at finally finding a 'alternate color blushing companion', it was a more muted gray. "The blue color is just so much harder to match with the pale white aesthetic, you know? Anything that you wear that is white just makes it pop out even more!"

"I know, right?" the Ice Queen said, flourishing her white dress. "It's so hard getting something to wear for me."

"You're incorporeal." Hans deadpanned.

"Exactly!" the Ice Queen said. "And until you get a holographic watch that can project clothes for me, I'll have to keep wearing this dress."

"That's way too expensive." Hans said. "Well, it's nice to meet you, and I'm sorry that she bothered you. Are you…"

"Yeah." the woman sighed. "I am Enigma. Pro-hero and sidekick to Ingenium."

"She is one of the oldest remaining members of the agency." Iida said excitedly. "Her quirk, Gel-like shadow, allows her to expand her body to extremely large dimensions and contain situations clearly."

"I'm not as popular as Mt. Lady, though." Enigma said sourly. "A couple years back, I was attacked while on my way to the agency for my interview."

"...What do you mean by remaining members?" Hans asked. "If you're a sidekick, shouldn't you basically be permanently employed by an agency?"

"...Well, we've been having quite the manpower issue…" Iida muttered.

"Yeah." Ingenium said, smiling sadly. "I'm happy for them that the HPSC granted them their own hero licenses in light of their good performance… but with this, Team Idaten is on the decline. We can barely manage our normal patrol routes now."

"We used to have about one hundred sidekicks." Iida said. "We've always had about a hundred in team Idaten, given the fact that as the Iida family, we have been heroes for generations! Of course, this is no fault of my brother. There are simply more and more positions available within Japan."

"Huh. So all of your family have been heroes?" Hans asked.

"All of us that get engine quirks." Iida said proudly. "Usually, it's one to two per generation. We're quite the familiar name in Hosu now, and my brother has taken 68th in the national hero ranking!"

"I'm not actually that big of a deal." Ingenium said, taking one hand off the wheel to scratch his neck awkwardly.

"But nii-san…" Iida said, "Japan has more than ten thousand pro-heroes! It's a huge accomplishment to be in the top one hundred!"

"There are ten thousand heroes in Japan?" Hans said, raising an eyebrow. "There are that many heroes?"

"Indeed." Iida said, nodding his head and making a chopping motion with his arms in the confined space. "And there might even be more, now! Just think about how many internship offers Kirishima-san got! He even got an internship offer from the number six hero, Crust, due to the similar nature of their quirks and his high standings in the sports festival!"

"Okay, let's see…" Hans said, pulling out his phone. "Japan has about 52,000 square kilometers of urban areas… And if there are ten thousand heroes… then each hero has to maintain, on average, 5.2 square kilometers of area per day."

"That's surprisingly little…" Iida said. "I've never thought about it that way."

"Isn't this an oversaturation?" Hans said. "If it's eight kilometers squared, then assuming that each hero is situated in the center of their territory, then the average distance between each hero, if you spread them out perfectly in the urban areas… are…"

"About two and a quarter kilometers away from other pro heroes." Iida provided helpfully.

"And… let's see…" Hans said, looking up some more statistics. "There are approximately two thousand police stations in Japan. So, there are five times more heroes than police stations… which means that heroes will have more coverage of the cities than the police. And that's not even counting sidekicks."

For a moment, the conversation stalled.

"So, with more than six times the coverage, along with the fact that other heroes in neighboring areas can come help if there's a serious situation… Why don't heroes cover the night shift?" Hans asked Ingenium. "You did say you were going to be answering this, Ingenium-san."

"Okay, just call me Iida, hmm, no… My brother's right there. Just call me Tensei." Ingenium sighed. "And as for your question, well, strictly speaking, there are heroes that cover the night shift."

"Strictly speaking?" Hans asked.

"Yeah." Tensei said. "Many heroes have secondary careers, along with the fact that they get more visibility if they operate in the day. Thus, only underground heroes really patrol during the late night. And for the times from twelve A.M to six A.M, well… the police alert the local heroes and they try to rush to the scene."

"But according to the internet, twice as much crime occurs during the night compared to during the day." Hans said.

"And the counts of villainy have those statistics reversed." Tensei said. "That was a question on one of my paper exams. Heroes patrol in order to reduce panic… increase visibility… and stop villains. We don't actually fight crime. We defeat villains and set good examples to… increase social stability."

"A lot of social instability is caused by the oversaturation of hero culture, though." Hans said back, remembering his speech a few months ago. "Just look at the amount of vigilantes getting themselves hurt. Look at the amount of villains that run towards heroes, trying to attack them. Isn't this just worsening the supposed class divisions between the people with more fortunate quirks and those less fortunate?"

"...I don't know." Tensei said, sighing. "I'll be perfectly honest, I've never thought about it that way. But what I do know is that what we're doing is helping society. We stop villainy from destroying the city, we donate a lot of our product advertisements to charity… and, no matter how you slice it, society has only got more stable after heroes appeared. So I don't really know if there's another profession that can help

"So, if you could help people more by being a police officer… would you do it?" Hans asked.

"Without hesitation." Tensei said. "But being a hero really is the way to make the most impact with the least people."

"Well, if you say s-"

Then, in front of them, a car exploded. The dense traffic they were in instantly ground to a halt as oily smoke billowed out in front of them.

"Iida, Andersen-san, Enigma-san, out of the car!" Tensei yelled out. Enigma tossed him his helmet, which was stowed under her seat like a life jacket on a plane.

"Let's go assess the situation." Ingenium ordered. "Iida, secure the passengers. Andersen, provide medical aid if necessary. Your quirk can heal, right?"

As Hans stepped out of the car after Enigma, he looked up at the blue, blue sky while the short, pale woman slowly expanded into a several-meter tall black and purple-ish blob, with what looked like a yokai mask hovering around her facial region. Iida put his helmet back on and began to direct traffic, one of his arms pointing away from the explosion while his other was spinning like a windmill.

"If the rest of my life is going to be like this if I follow this career… Just let me stop being a hero…"

Ingenium blasted off with the boosters on his elbows, and with a groan, Hans adjusted his bowtie, pulled up his oversized sleeves, materialized his summons and surged forwards on a tide of roots.

"Gad vide hvad Charles ville sige hvis han så mig nu…" ("Wonder what Charles would say if he saw me now…")

…

Ok. Numbers explanation time

of heroes:

Todoroki got 4,123 offers from distinct hero agencies. Why the agency number matters is because you can have agencies like Endeavor's or All Might's, which have sidekicks that are heroes themselves. Even Ingenium, in the Vigilantes spinoff, has heroes as sidekicks. Then, there are probably actual sidekicks, which don't have proper certification (because there's an exam for that that's also shown in the anime, and thus, there has to be a group of heroes that just never got a license, and are thus "lesser heroes".). Sidekicks are also mentioned in the Vigilantes spinoff, I think, according to the manga.

So, with this, I put the actual amount of heroes as an estimated 10,000. This is because, if even agencies like Ingenium's (which is not small, by the way) which have other pro heroes on their teams, then most hero teams will at least have 2-3 people. Ingenium's has like 6 known characters that appear in the Vigilantes manga, so he's obviously larger than average in terms of population. Thus, I think an average of 2-3 certified heroes in an agency is reasonable.

And then that's only the known number of agencies. Obviously, not everyone sent Todoroki an offer, meaning that there could even be more heroes than 10,000.

2. Amount of police stations

The actual number is 1.1k in Japan as of 2022, but given the fact that they had a crime spree, I'm doubling it.

3. Japan's landmass

Where would heroes operate? If all heroes want to be famous and want to solve crimes, they'll stick to the metropolitan areas. Metropolitan/urban areas are 14.7% of Japan's landmass, which means that approximately 52,000 square kilometers of city area. I'm going to assume that Japan's population probably didn't increase… and may have decreased, given their current situation and, if quirks emerge, a horrible crime spree, so cities probably haven't expanded.

4. Crime rates

Specifically, when I say that crime is 2 times more likely to occur at night than at day. We don't see heroes patrolling past 12am, when there aren't any people on the street… ever. Nor is it ever mentioned in the wiki. Obviously, some underground heroes and vigilantes do, but with the tremendous amounts of manpower that heroes have, they probably could do it. Why they don't is probably, as I said in the fic sort of, is because you only gain clout during the day.

And why does Ingenium say that villainy is 2x more popular in the day than in the night?

We have to think about what villainy is. Villainy is showing off. Crime is stealing stuff under the radar. Again, if you want your career in crime to last long, you have to be sneaky. You don't rob banks in broad daylight because the heroes exist. Thus, I deduce that villains only fight heroes to get justification. To get confirmation that they are strong, and then vent their feelings about being bullied or something… or there's something genuinely wrong with them. Or they just want to flex We can see examples here being Gentle (wants to flex and be famous), Toga (something's wrong with her), and Dabi (something's genuinely wrong with his upbringing and he's probably mentally disturbed because of the trauma). Along with the fact that committing crimes with 10,000 heroes wandering the streets doesn't make sense, my only conclusion is this.

That was quite the ramble.

Hope you had fun reading. Join the discord if you want.

Discord link: discord . gg / 9t9MK3jHmV

-SpiritOfErebus