"Lunch could not come soon enough," Genki said breaking away from his classmates the moment the lunch bell rang.
After the thing with his family's Idol Agency came up during homeroom, the boys pestered him almost relentlessly about it. Which girls were dating? Which girls weren't? Who wanted to?
Back in middle school, after his family's career change and when the fact got out that his family was managing mini-skirt-clad talent, the boys –and occasionally girls- who once completely rebuffed him pestered him in the same way, hoping to learn who was dating, who wasn't, and who wanted to.
Those weaker-willed and with less self-esteem would've catered to their every whim for even a shred of social interaction, but since he'd known most of their true colors since elementary school, he knew they'd just toss him aside when they got what they wanted out of him.
So, he decided to make a game out of getting them to do favors for him only to give them fake numbers later on.
That or send them on a wild goose chase towards the girls with really over-protective fathers and/or brothers who were in on the whole thing.
"Good times. Gooood times," Genki sighed wistfully. Spotting a familiar head of indigo hair, Genki was quick to zip over to him. "Yo, Hitoshi! Wanna sit together?"
"Genki. I'm surprised you aren't living it up with your friends from the Hero Course," the downer teen replied with his usual dry wit.
"Please, there's only so much of them I can take all at once," Genki groaned after the morning he'd had. "Besides, we're friends, aren't we? And real friends don't ditch one another because of something fickle like fifteen minutes of fame."
"Heh, that's actually pretty flattering."
"Glad to hear it," Genki said clapping the teen on the back. "So, the usual place?"
"Well hold on, since you're famous, can't you get us some prime real-estate?" Shinso asked with a quirked brow, jerking a thumb towards the tables by the windows.
"Couldn't you use your Quirk to do the same thing?" Genki quipped.
"Please, like a whole table of people would be that gullible."
"I dunno. People can be pretty stupid sometimes. Even if they know how your Quirk works."
"Don't remind me," Shinso groaned, still lamenting his loss to someone who knew exactly that.
"That aside… I've been bullied out of a good seat plenty of times, and let me tell you, it really sucks," Genki grumbled with drooped antennae. "I don't want to do that to anyone else."
"If it's Eatery real-estate you're worried about, I've got you covered!"
"H-Hatsume-san!" Genki yelped as the girl snuck up on him. 'Wait a minute, how did she sneak up on me?!'
"Please, call me Mei-chan!" the pinkette insisted.
"R-Right, M-Mei-chan!" Genki replied as the girl bore into him with big piercing eyes.
"So, what was this about you having real-estate covered?" Shinso asked with a quirked brow.
"I'm glad you asked!" Mei said grabbing the two by the wrists before dragging them off. "Behold, my babies number 16 through 20," she said gesturing to five motorized skeleton mannequins standing guard around one of the tables by the window. "They're quintuplets!"
"We noticed," Genki and Shinso hummed. The motorized mannequins moved in jerky, robotic motions, and whenever someone came nearby, they'd snap chattering jaws at them, sending the weaker-willed towards greener (read: less bony) pastures.
They didn't look intimidating, but they were still creepy-as-hell to look at.
"I see your taste in friends is as stellar as always," Shinso hummed with a chuckle.
"Shove it, you're my friend too you know," Genki bit back. "So… Why science lab mannequins?"
"Cuz it's cheaper than fabricating Terminator endoskeletons from scratch," Mei answered unashamedly as another pair of hapless students were chased away.
"Well… I mean, if no-one voices their complaints…" Genki trailed off.
"Um, excuse me-"
"Move it, deadbeat!" Mei said without any actual malice, chasing the Management Course student away as she waved some kind of tuning fork on steroids at them. "So, you wanna eat together?"
"Well… I don't see why not…" Genki admitted, finding no real reason to turn the invitation down.
"So, how're them gams doing?" Mei asked suddenly.
"My legs, are perfectly fine," Genki replied with a flat, and awkward, expression.
"That's good. Gotta protect those money makers!" she said glancing down at his legs.
"That would be a lot less creepy if you didn't have super-sight," Genki grumbled. He swore he saw her pupils dilate like a camera lens.
Thankfully, the feeling of having his "gams" ogled went away as soon as he sat down.
Though that just left everything above the waist to get ogled as the girl's telescopic eyes roved over every square centimeter.
"God, I feel like she's stripping me with her eyes," Genki shuddered as Mei stared at him unabashedly.
"Good thing her Quirk isn't [X-Ray Vision], otherwise no-one's chastity would be safe," Shinso hummed.
"What you talkin' about?"
"Nothing."/"Nothing!" Hitoshi and Genki both replied, albeit with different inflections.
"So, how ya doin'?" Mei asked, scarfing down her food in a very unladylike manner.
"I'm doing well. My costume should be ready by the afternoon class, so I'm pretty happy about that."
"Oh! Remember to come by the studio afterward in case we need to make any post-exercise adjustments," Mei reminded. "Oh! Again! Remember to tell your friends they're Hatsume Mei Originals!"
"Hai. I'll keep that in mind," Genki replied, having heard this stipulation for the dozenth time.
"Oh? Genki-san!" Ochako spoke up, accompanied by Izuku and Tenya. "There you are, we were looking all over for you! You disappeared as soon as the bell rung."
"Maybe because I was trying to get away from you eccentric weirdos."
-Genki found himself wanting to say aloud, but couldn't because his new neighbor was such an adorable cinnamon roll and he couldn't bring himself to hurt her feelings. Instead what he said was-
"Guess I was just really hungry."
"Oh, I know how you feel. Sometimes I get the munchies too," Ochako replied with a grin. "EYAAAAAAAGH!" she yelped when three of the quintuplets suddenly got in her face, baleful red optics peering into her soul. "IT'S LIKE THEY'RE WINKING INTO MY SOUL!" she cried as she shielded her eyes.
"How is she surprised by their presence?" Shinso found himself asking aloud. The quintuplets weren't even hiding themselves, you could literally see them from across the room.
"Mei-chan, it's alright, they're cool," Genki said as the bootleg/knockoff Terminators barred the three's paths.
"Okay, let 'em through," Mei said with a wave of her hand, the mannequin's baleful red optics changing to green, giving the three access.
"You!" Iida gawked the moment he caught sight of Mei's pink hair. "I should have you know I am quite cross with being used as a mere billboard for you during the Sports Festival!"
" . . . Who're you again?" Mei asked with a tilt of her head.
"NANIIIIIIII?!" Iida yelped.
"Wow. Lunch and a show," Shinso hummed as he watched Iida wail in despair. "You take me to the best places."
"Iida, would you kindly take a chill pill and cool it?" Genki asked. "This behavior is not befitting of a class representative."
"Ah. I see…" Iida said as he regained his composure. "My apologies. I allowed my emotions to get the best of me."
"It's really telling about his personality if I know something like that will work so-soon after meeting him," Genki hummed to himself. "Don't worry about it. You don't have to put on airs for me."
"Even so, as your class representative I simply must apologize for such a lapse of composure."
"Did anyone ever tell you you take yourself way too seriously?"
"Not with that particular vernacular, I have not been," Iida replied.
"Ooh! Genki! Your bento's so pretty!" Ochako said drawing everyone's attention to Genki's boxed lunch, which was presently clad in a frilly pink heart-print handkerchief.
"It isn't mine," Genki returned. "I mean, it isn't mine-mine, but… What I mean to say is it's for me, but not for-me for-me. You know?"
"Um… Nooo?" Izuku replied confusedly.
"Ugh…" Genki groaned tiredly as he undid the knot and removed the lid, revealing a scrumptious-looking lineup of tamogoyaki, fruits, and vegetables. "Look, long-story-short, when my Onee-samas at the idol agency started finding boys they fancied, they wanted to make bento for them to get their attention, but they couldn't trust one another to give completely unbiased opinions on their cooking. Somewhere along the way, my Okaa-san convinced them to have me screen their cooking, so, ever since I was ten, I've been taste-testing their food and giving my feedback on what I thought of it," he explained. "The bento caused a lot of misunderstandings in middle school, so I was hoping that would change once I got to Yuuei, but one of them caught me on the way to school and asked for an emergency taste-testing after she found out the boy she liked had a thing for tamogoyaki."
"Just make sure you don't eat your chopsticks again," Shinso hummed. "You're clearly quite agitated today."
"Wait, what was this about chopsticks?" Ochako asked with a quirked brow.
"Ugh, Hitoshi, I'd like to eat my lunch sometime today. Could you please tell them in my place?" Genki asked breaking a pair of disposables and digging into his lunch.
"Only if you save me some of the tamogoyaki."
"Deal."
"Well, it goes like this," Shinso said enthusiastically after the promise of good food. "Back in middle school, Genki was having a really bad day. As he was eating his lunch, he noticed his chopsticks had disappeared. After that, he learned his saliva had actually been melting the wooden chopsticks he'd been using, and that he'd wound up eating through them like pretzel sticks," Shinso narrated. "And that's the story of how Genki learned his saliva had cellulose-destroying enzymes."
"Ah of course," Izuku nodded. "While surface aspects of a Mutant-Type Quirk can be easy to ascertain, the secondary and even tertiary abilities of a Quirk won't become apparent unless you apply a number of stimuli or contextual cues-"
*Whack*
"Stop that," Genki chided, sliding his bento over. "Here you go. As-promised."
"Don't mind if I do," Shinso replied, his eyes lighting up as he plucked an especially-pleasing tamogoyaki from the lineup. " . . . Ugh, these eggs are terrible," he retched after a few moments.
"Exactly why I'm taste-testing first," Genki returned with a completely straight face. "A bad bento can be as bad as…"
"As bad as what?" Ochako asked with a cute tilt of her head.
"As bad as a really-loud fart."
-is what Genki wanted to say, but couldn't bring himself to since the girl in front of him was also his neighbor, and he didn't want to make things weird by saying something super-inappropriate.
"As bad as a live hand grenade going off."
"Ugh, yeah, that is just the worst," Mei groaned.
" . . . "
Genki had no words.
"How can you even eat this stuff?" Shinso asked as he desperately washed the taste from his mouth while Genki ate the "terrible" eggs with a completely unperturbed expression on his face.
"Don't let one bad bento get you bento out of shape." At this, Uraraka let out a cute giggle. "Sometimes my Onee-samas make really good stuff. You just have to be patient."
"I'll be sure to keep that in mind when leveraging you for food in the future," Shinso replied as he went back to his own lunch.
"So, you have siblings as well then?" Iida asked, hoping to move the conversation along.
"Technically, no, but it's a little more-complicated than that," Genki answered. "Basically, after my parents started running the Ares Idol Agency, whenever they couldn't find a sitter, they'd bring me along and the other idols would look after me when they had the time. Since ANM48 didn't have the usual negative opinions about my Quirk and instead thought I was 'kawaii', they started doting on me like real Onee-samas," Genki explained. "Not all of them, that'd just be ridiculous, but after a while it became a bit of a tradition to dote on the boss' kid… even now…" he muttered to himself. "Eventually my parents just stopped trying for a sitter and let the girls at the agency look after me."
"ANM48… If I remember correctly, that is the idol girl group consisting exclusively of Mutant-Type girls with 'animal ears'. Am I correct?"
"You are, actually. But… Why do you know that?" Genki asked with a raised brow.
"Ah, well, some of my compatriots from Soumei Private Academy sang their praises quite often, so I only know of them by reputation," he said waving his hands around oddly mechanical motions.
" . . . Okay, see, now that makes more sense than you being a closet idol girl fan," Genki replied after a moment. "No offense, but you seemed too straight-laced to enjoy that kind of thing," he elaborated after imagining "straight-laced Iida" decked out out in a pink happi, headband, and glow-sticks whooping unashamedly at mini-skirt-clad teenagers.
"I'll have you know I can be quite spontaneous when I wish to be," Iida protested as he adjusted his glasses.
"So, Onee-samas, huh?" Mei asked with a manic look in her eyes. "You have a thing for any of them?"
"N-No, of course not! They're like family!"
"Oh, so you're single then," Mei hummed. "Excellent. Uhuhuhuhuhuhu…"
"Although, seeing as how you may one day become heir to the family business, I have to ask…" Iida paused as he adjusted his glasses. "The reputation surrounding the Ares Idol Agency… Is there any veracity to those rumors?"
"Why do you care?" Shinso asked.
"Call it an academic curiosity," Iida asked between bites. "That and I prefer to get information from primary sources."
"Wait, what reputation are you talking about?" Izuku asked.
"Apparently, the Ares Idol Agency is extremely protective of their talent, and as the common vernacular states, they do so 'with the vengeance of an angry Yawata no Kami'," Iida explained, the image of a raging war deity briefly dominating his thoughts.
"Oh, well, that's pretty easy to answer," Genki replied between bites. "Back before Paranormality occurred, all one had to do to separate idol girls from their ravenous fans was to have big, muscular men act as bouncers to keep the riff-raff away. However, as Quirks propagated through the population, brute strength alone lost its effectiveness as a deterrent for perverts and the like. So, since my father is a retired Hero, he was able to attain an Instructor's License which he then used to instruct the company's bouncers on how to use their Quirks in a competent capacity that fell within concurrent, lawful uses beyond the Hero occupation. They don't have the same authority as a fully-licensed Hero, but they are able to retaliate against Improper Quirk Usage without themselves being arrested for it."
"Ah, I see, that makes a fair amount of sense," Iida hummed with a nod as he stroked his chin. "Celebrities are just as capable of being endangered as any ordinary citizen, so it'd make sense that the only way to respond to an over-zealous fan would be to have sanctioned Quirk use as a tool of protection."
"So what, did one of your peers from Soumei try to get a little handsy with one of the girls?" Shinso asked.
"As embarrassing as it is to admit, yes, they did," Iida admitted. "A former compatriot at mine attempted to molest one of the girls with his [Stretch-Strongarm] Quirk, which was thusly tied into the shape of a pretzel."
"Hey, just be happy your friend didn't try anything extreme like stealing panties from the changing room. Or sniffing their hair," Genki returned, thinking back to a story where a guys nose was quite literally torn from his face. Or the pervert with a warrant who literally had all of his blood punched out. "Some of the bouncers my dad employs are the boyfriends, brothers, or even fathers of the idols, and when you mix in the fact that some of them are Hero Course wash-outs, you can imagine how… enthusiastic they can be when the opportunity to use their Quirks presents themselves."
"Hey, that reminds me," Ochako hummed aloud. "Why do you want to be a Hero?"
"Yes, that is a valid question. If it were merely seeking out gainful employment, you could simply work at the Ares Idol Agency and inherit it when your father retires, so the reason for becoming a Hero must be far more compelling than simple monetary gain," Iida postulated.
"There's… something I need to do," Genki answered. "Something I can only do with the authority of the No.2 Hero under my belt."
"No.2? Why not No.1?" Izuku asked, even though he himself aimed for the top-most slot.
Most-everyone he knew wanted to be "number one", so to hear someone state deliberately that they wanted #2 warranted an inquiry.
"Hey, I'll be lucky to make it into the top ten, let alone the top Hero slot. Aiming for No.2 is simply so I'll have equal footing with my father when he was at his peak."
"How did your father usurp Endeavor's place as the No.2 Hero, however briefly it may have been?" Iida asked.
"Long story short, my dad's career was a bit of a slow burn. Short story long, he wasn't very popular or charismatic, but his work on the Terraformars remake and the media coverage he received when he foiled a rival studio's plot to sabotage the movie netted him quite a lot of fame. When it was revealed that my father did all of his own stunts, the police became more-willing to dispatch him. More dispatches led to more team-ups, which led to more exposure, and because he's a speedy power-type similar to All Might, he was able to take down a number of high-profile Villains in his day while others were stuck in traffic or waiting for those with objectively-better Quirks to show up," Genki summarized. "Somewhere along the way, my father's fanbase eclipsed that of Endeavor, and the similar arrest record enabled him to become the No.2 Hero."
"For a month-long period at least," Izuku hummed contemplatively.
"Was your father hurt? Was that why he retired?" Ochako asked curiously.
"Something like that… But it isn't that cut-and-dry either…" Genki said morosely, antennae drooped. "Can we please change the subject."
"Yes, Uraraka, it isn't good manners to pry into other people's affairs, you know."
"H… Hai…" Ochako wilted under Iida's scolding.
'I can understand the cinnamon roll clamming up like that, but what's the deal with Midoriya?' Genki asked as the greenette too shifted uncomfortably in his seat. 'Ah, well, I'm sure it's nothing serious. No need for me to get involved.'
"Hey! Genki-sama!"
"Sama...?" passerby hummed confusedly at the eccentric girl's outburst, looking between her and Genki with varying expressions.
"Before you go off to Internships, lemme get a selfie with you! Wanna get a before-and-after shot!"
Without even waiting for a response, Mei dipped her head under the table, an act that could easily be misconstrued as... something else, without proper context.
Popping up on the other side of the table and callously shoving Shinso aside, the girl snaked an arm around Genki's body and drew him in, a heavily-modified smartphone held up.
'O... OPPAIIIIIIIII!' Genki mentally squealed as the girl pressed her quite ample bosom against his arm, the oily-haired teen standing up straight -in more ways than one- as the wielder of [Zoom] snapped their picture, an ear-to-ear grin on her own face while Genki's own was a rictus of shock.
Everyone else apart from Shinso had similar looks on their faces as they beheld the girl's... ahem, assets.
"Uh... Are we interrupting something?" a new voice asked.
"NO! No. Of course not!" Genki yelped between fluctuations of hormones as Mei held onto him. "So... Sero-san, Sato-san, what can I do for you two?"
"If we're interrupting something, we can come back later," Sero said with a chuckle as he beheld Genki's arm being swallowed by the pinkette's bosom.
"No! Please. By all means sit down!" Genki offered/pleaded.
"Fine. But only 'cause your totes adorable," Mei huffed as she waved the two through, letting them take available seats.
"So... What did you want to see me about?" Genki asked as he slowly became acclimated to Mei's... dynamite body.
"Well... I was wondering if you could hook me up with any of your dad's old friends for my internships," Sato answered.
"Yeah, same here. Kaminari and Mina looked really excited earlier in class, and the pickings on my list are a little... thin," Sero added.
"Hmmm... What's it worth to you?" Genki asked with a raised brow.
He'd made the previous offer to Kaminari because of their shared acquaintance with the Azure Striker: Gunvolt, and for Mina it was out of respect for her abilities as a and he felt like he owed her after the whole "oil wrestling episode".
It had nothing at all to do with her sex appeal or her poking at his weak points.
Nope. Nothing like that.
For Sato and Sero, while he was acquainted with them, he wasn't acquainted with them enough that he'd stick his neck out for them without good reason. Pestering his friends and family for two acquaintances itself was a bit of a string-tugger already.
"Um... I've got this slice of cake," Sato offered as he gestured to the piece of cake on his tray; double chocolate.
"I've got pudding," Sero offered quickly, though feeling marginally outshone as he beheld Sato's own offering.
" . . . Okay, you have my attention," Genki said tapping the spot in front of his bento, Sero and Sato setting down their respective offerings. "So... What exactly are you looking for out of the internships that your school-provided lists don't offer."
"Well... I want to get really strong, but I feel like no-one on the default list will take me seriously," Sato sighed. "And I don't want to be stuck doing grunt work all week, I want to actually learn something."
"Strong, huh?" Genki hummed. "I might know someone like that..." he trailed off. 'Though you might curse my name after meeting her,' he thought to himself thinking back to his own upbringing. "What about you? What do you want out of the internships?" he asked turning his attention to Sero.
"To be honest... The way I crapped out during the Sports Festival really got to me," Sero sighed. "I mean, I know that Todoroki's Quirk is seriously OP, but I still feel like I could've done better if I had someone to teach me new and exciting ways to use my Quirk."
"Hmmm... I think my godmother might actually be up your alley then," the Mutant teen hummed.
"Wait, seriously?" Sero asked excitedly.
"Maybe. But there's no guarantee my family will take any of you under their wing," Genki reminded. "Like I told Mina and Kaminari, you should still choose someone from your own listings in case things on my end fall through," he said as he went back to eating his lunch.
Thankfully, at least for Genki, no-one else from 1-A sought out favors from him.
*MHA*
AN:
Just a short little snippet I thought I'd touch up on as I expand upon Genki's relationship with his extended family and the family business. Which actually turned out longer-than-expected.
That and him discovering his saliva had cellulose-destroying enzymes.
Also, more of Mei being, well... Mei.
Hope you'll tell me what you think in the Review column.
GO BEYOND!
EXCELSIOR!