OmniIBIBUltraInstinctGodzilla: I definitely enjoy the Superman references here with Megumi, though that's not the only reference in this chapter.
Megumi and Rei were friends? In the context of this story, and considering Genki and Shoto's father's being the former and current Number 2 Heroes respectively? Why not?
At least Genki and Shoto have all the time in the world to catch up on lost time with Megumi and Rei's originally planned playdates were buried to the ground thanks to Endeavor.
Lebensborn? Eugh! Endeavor and that term in the same sentence just makes me shudder in revulsion.
Re: Passively, yeah I was poking fun at the "Clark Kent Glasses" troupe~
Having his and Shoto's mothers be old friends from Yuuei, just makes Genki feel like less of a shoed-in character. Make him feel like more of a part of the world, you know? Of course, his father being the Former-No.2 also does a pretty good job of it.
The sentiment of them getting to "grow up together" at Yuuei was also a joy to write in, because Rei lost "too much time" to Enji's ambition. And yeah, the whole "Lebensborn" angle always made me ill about his character, and I can see how Dabi/Touya was able to so-utterly shake the people's faith in Endeavor. The LoV really picked the right moment to drop that truth bomb~
LoamyCoffee: Love it. I feel wonderful that their moms are friends. I do hope that Genki's mom can get Rei free early.
Honestly, they sound like they have a great friendship.
And now, their boys are friends.
Did really good with this one!
Re: "No man is an island." Don't know if that proverb translates flawlessly to this situation, but Genki having ties to past characters, as well as the pasts of others, simply gives him more "depth of character" than only having connections in the present. That might be what makes my OCs seem so vibrant.
*MHA*
Koichi Haimawari had initially been worried about his reception to Yuuei, what with being a former Vigilante who'd fled (read: kicked out of) the country, after all.
However, thanks to his time in America as a notable Pro Hero with many impressive superhuman feats to his name, and how re-popularized -if not shaky- videos of him fighting who he knew to be "O'Clock II" in Naruhata, had elevated the vigilante "The Cruller" into near-mythic status, whom most-everyone was quite happy to have him around. The Hero Course students of 1-B in particular were anxious to pick his brain after finding out what his Quirk was like when it "started", and what it eventually Awakened into; assuming it even was an Awakening, and not just something he always could've done sooner had he been properly trained from the get-go.
Having spent his formative years getting swatted upside the head by his mother's [Fly Swatter] Quirk because he wouldn't stop using his Quirk to crawl out of his crib and a window proper, it took a great deal of time and effort to "un-train" what most pros would consider a bad habit of only being able to use his [Slide & Glide] to hover a few inches, er, centimeters, above the ground. And it might not've been under ideal circumstances, but getting to train in America, where Quirks from all over the world congregated and mixed together, had given him a wealth of experience he never would've gotten had he stayed in Japan. And even if he'd been able to enter into a formally-recognized Hero Academy originally, part of him doubted he'd have become as strong as he were now if he'd never met Knuckleduster, Pop, and everyone else from Naruhata.
Being invited back to Japan came as a bit of a surprise, let alone from Aizawa after all people. However, after he was briefed on the living weapon seen at the USJ, an "Anti-Symbol of Peace" capable of enduring All Might's mighty blows, even if only for a brief period, and it made sense why his unique perspective on the issue was required, given the recent "Saccing of Hosu". With the sheer amount of drugs found in the recovered bodies, most of which were performance-enhancers, and people immediately akinned what was happening now to the "Villain Factory" in Naruhata years ago. The big difference of course was, the things showing up now, were in all likelihood the "completed product", whereas the "Remodelled Villains" were a catch-and-release, as no secondary attempts were made to reclaim them after their initial kidnappings.
Or at least as-close as a non-sentient BOW could be considered to a "completed product". Rokuro Nomura had been able to pass himself off as a civilian up until his cover had been blown, and even possessed a legally valid Hero License that allowed him to operate and gather intel with complete anonymity. So as to why whoever made the "Noumu" hadn't made them "sleeper agents"… it was hard to say.
There hadn't been anything left of Rokuro, Number 6, to retrieve after their huge dust-up, so the connection wasn't immediate to make, but it was hardly coincidence that the thing he'd fought in Naruhata, and the thing at the USJ, just-so-happened to be swimming in performance-enhancers and possessed multiple complimentary Quirks not originally native to the same host body, AND also had the top of their skullcaps blown out to expose their brains.
Of course, Koichi wasn't the same naïve Hero Wannabe he was years ago, so even he knew that he wasn't being told absolutely everything.
Still, until they could trust him with whatever they were hiding, he'd do his best to teach the next generation of Heroes everything he knew. Something that made his chest swell with pride.
*MHA*
"Ohayo, Haimawari-sensei!"
"Ohayo."
"Ohayo, Haimawari-sensei."
"Ohayo."
"Haimawari-sensei, ohayo!"
"Ohayo," Koichi replied in sequence as he made his way to Yuuei in a manner somewhat-similar to the Deika City Hero, Slidin' Go; standing completely upright while using his Quirk for locomotion.
Of course, ironically-enough, Slidin' Go became a Hero after he went to the states and his [Slide and Glide] Quirk fell under greater scrutiny after the whole thing with Skyfall Flight 400 happened.
"Koichi! Looking forward to classes today!"
"Arigatou, Genki-kun," Koichi replied as the child of Knuckleduster's friend greeted him, the Heteromorphic teen accompanied to school by Tsuyu Asui, Ochako Uraraka, and Izuku Midoriya.
All things considered, getting to teach at Yuuei was like a dream come true, though knowing that his homeland was being savaged by monsters like the 'Giant Exploding Villain' from Naruhata's 'Nightmare Night' gave the whole thing a sour note… And he hadn't had as much free time as he would've liked to re-establish contact with all his old friends. Makoto had offered to do the legwork for him, but he'd insisted on doing at least that much on his own. With the additional Heroes being brought in to the C.C. Corporation following his departure, his college friend had her work cut out for her trying to find a replacement.
Sure, many of them had flashier, more-marketable Quirks than [Slide & Glide], but really, just how many Heroes were there that could stop a plane from falling out of the god damn sky?
*MHA*
"Skycrawler-sensei! Eat lunch with us!" one of his Hero Course students cried bombastically in English.
"Oh, ah, sure…" Koichi replied as the horn-headed heteromorph girl greeted him, a megawatt smile on her face as she waved him down.
While barely anyone in 1-A had heard of him, word of his exploits in 1-B had practically exploded after the transfer student, Pony Tsunutori, talked him up about how he'd saved not one but both her parents from Skyfall Flight 400; something not even All Might could've done for all his vaunted power. On top of the fact that he legitimately treated 1-B as equals to their contemporary next-door due to having been out-of-the-country as they rose to prominence, him being an "underdog" had done a great deal to ingratiate him to that batch of First Years.
"Pony, please, it's just 'The Crawler' now."
True, when he moved to America and joined the Captain Celebrity Agency, he'd re-branded himself as "The Skycrawler" after his recently-earned ability to fly under his own power was made known following the Naruhata Lockdown. However, after moving back to Japan, as his actions were no longer representative of Christopher Skyline following his informal "pardon", he'd gotten back to his roots, in an updated version of his old costume, and reclaimed his old name.
"Yes, Crawler-Man!" the Heteromorph girl replied happily.
"Ah, Monoma, have you experimenting with your Quirk like I suggested?" Koichi asked of the boy sitting across from him.
"I have," the blond nodded with a smile.
Monoma too had been saddled with a Quirk that wasn't conventionally "heroic". However, because of all the Copy-Type Heroes he'd met during his time in the states, Koichi was able to tell Monoma objectively that he could become a great Hero with his Quirk, even with its current limitations; and ultimately, that objectivity was what Monoma had needed to "validate" him in his own mind. That Koichi could "elevate" his run-of-the-mill [Slide and Glide] into a "Super-Quirk" with so-many applications that put all of 1-A on the back foot, gave 1-B a great deal of confidence that their quest to improve the technical use of their Quirks wasn't unfounded, and that it would give them the competitive edge they needed so as to not lose out to their sister class.
"Haimawari-sensei, how are you finding Japan now that you have found forgiveness?" Shiozaki questioned.
"Er… Fine…" the Hero replied.
Religion was a whole lot more important in some parts of America than it currently was in Japan, so finding someone so "devout" was a bit of a shock to him. And after all the early screwups in America, he knew not to tell her he didn't "subscribe" to any particular religion; he just focused on being "a good person", without getting religion overtly into the whole thing.
"So, how were those 'Skill Tree' assignments I gave you coming along?"
"Very well, sensei," Itsuka Kendo, 1-B's representative, replied with a smile. "It was a little tricky at first, but after seeing how your Quirk started out, what new abilities you unlocked and in what order after which events, it really put things into perspective to us. In fact, some of us are starting to experiment more with our Quirks after school hours."
"That's great to hear," Koichi beamed.
After the years spent in America, his really had become a "Zero to Hero" story. Thanks to social media in Naruhata, a great deal of his exploits were visually or textually recorded, meaning that while a great deal of his powers were known to the public, the sheer diversity and utility of his Quirk always meant he had another trick up his sleeve. That he continued to only further refine his [Slide and Glide] to include "Repulsor Shields" as well as simple ease-of-use, was a proven point of inspiration for people who would've initially thought their Quirks were "one-trick". The fan letters he received from kids who learned how to use their "Junk Quirks" in new and exciting ways, were always his favorite to receive.
"If anyone wants private tutoring for Quirk practice, just drop by my office."
"Hai, sensei!" the 1-B students beamed happily.
"But still, how cool is it that you get to live on campus?" Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu grinned.
"I mean… It's convenient, sure…"
Though more than that, it was also for his own good.
After the way he'd pulled the wool over the eyes of so many top-tier Heroes, on top of the controversy surrounding his former Vigilante status in Japan during the Naruhata Lockdown… Part of why he was being "asked" to stay on campus was because they didn't want him to rock the boat until he'd finished his "curriculum" regarding "The Combatting of Bio-Engineered Quirk-Augmented Living Weapons". Society was still reeling from what the Hero Killer's convictions had inspired, and while the HPSC had managed to bounce back, the proverbail boat hadn't stopped rocking quite yet...
And after seeing some of the footage from the USJ and Hosu both, even he could say with some measure of certainty that what he fought in Naruhata, and what was being dealt with now, were easily one in the same, with too many similarities between them to be purely coincidence.
*MHA*
Having another licensed Hero in Hero Informatics certainly did a lot to take the load of Eraserhead and Vlad King. Not only did this free them up to do the paperwork they might've fallen behind on, but a fresh face from a younger generation also got the kids to open up a bit more.
That Koichi had curb-stomped both First-Year Hero Classes, with only a "Junk Quirk" to his name, helped hammer home the fact that he knew what he was doing, despite being a "Grassroots Hero" with gray-scale origins in the realm of Vigilantism. Once word got out that Heroes actively avoided Naruhata back in the day, a lot of the revulsion the hard-line traditionalists felt at being taught by an ex-Vigilante evaporated.
Not to mention, it also freed up All Might to do more Hero work off of school grounds, which was just good for everyone.
1-B was easily Koichi's favorite class to teach because their Egos didn't get in the way. Sure, some of them had a slightly-unhealthy fixation on the goings-on of their sister class, but he'd done tours at American Hero Academies as well, and it seemed like "class rivalries" were global, not just local to Japan.
As for Class 1-A however…
*SPLACK!*
"YOU BASTARD! I'LL KILL YOUUUU!" Katsuki Bakugou roared through a bloody nose.
1-A had its fair share of "problem children"… Katsuki Bakugou most-prominent…
The explosive teen in question just screamed "hooligan" (well, actually he screamed "DIE!" in the declarative sense… with an alarming amount of frequency), and the only reason people tolerated his behavior was because he had a flashy Quirk.
Compared to America where bullies were heavily monitored and flagged as potential Villains-in-the-making with negative behavior actively corrected-upon, in Japan, you could basically get away with any level of "assholery" as long as you had a flashy Quirk, because everyone would rather brown-nose you into becoming a Hero instead of the alternative on a small island nation like Japan.
This meant that when Bakugou entered Yuuei, finding himself surrounded by so many Quirks as amazing- if not more-amazing than- than his own… Going from being "a big fish in a small pond" to a "normal-sized fish in a bigger ocean" was a transition his lifetime of pampering had not prepared him for.
Doubly-so when someone with a stigmatized "Junk Quirk" like Gokiburi Genki's was able to repeatedly trump him at every turn; triply so during the national/quasi-global venue that was the world-renowned Yuuei Sports Festival. Because it spat in the face of what he knew to be "fact"; that "might made right". If someone with a "Junk Quirk" could surpass him with a little hard work, what was the point of being born with "a better Quirk" than everyone else? If a "Junk Quirk" could surpass a "Hero Quirk", did that mean "Hero Quirks" were "the same" as "Junk Quirks"?
So yes, because he'd spent time abroad in America, he could objectively say that Japan was just lazy when it came to managing their bullies, hooligans, and delinquents. True, America might've had a higher coefficient of Quirk-related crime, but that was only because that measure of crime was scattered across an entire continent, whereas Japan's Symbol of Peace only had an archipelago to contend with, and his mere presence was a "nuclear deterrent".
As for why Bakugou was trying to murder his peer, today in Hero Informatics he had been assigned to monitor hand-to-hand combat by Aizawa to give him some practice with teaching while minimizing risk of injury before the Final Exams. No Quirks, no Super Moves, no Support Items, just ordinary fighting ability. Because if whoever was making the Noumu had perfected their Quirk Cloning process, the only way so-many Noumu from the Tokyo Sky Egg Incident could all have the exacting-same Quirks, it was entirely possible that someday there might be a Noumu out there with the same Quirk as Aizawa, if not a similar one of the "Negator Sub-Class".
Speaking of which, maybe he should call Oguro-san, get him to teach at Yuuei as a Guest Instructor?
Thoughts for another day.
"OOF!" Bakugou grunted as Genki got into his guard and hit him with a double frog bunch, launching the hooligan through the air.
"Ugh.. Recovery Girl's going to kick my ass for this…" Koichi groaned, idly scratching at the faded scar on his left cheek as he watched Sato punch a student repeatedly in the face while they were in a headlock, Ashido dealt devastating blows with powerful sweeping kicks, and Sero used a strip of his uniform as an improvised garotte.
*MHA*
"Haaah… I wish I had one of my All Might Limited Edition hoodies with me… I could've asked for an autograph…"
If getting to teach at Yuuei was a dream come true, getting to meet All Might in-person "went beyond" that. Plus Ultra-style.
Honestly, Koichi thought he was too much of a "small fry" to ever get a one-on-one with the world's Top Hero, but here he was now, being called into All Might's Yuuei office now that classes had ended.
"Well, I'm sure if we hit things off, I can always ask later…" the young Hero hummed to himself as he stood before the threshold. "Um… All Might-san?"
"Haimawari-kun! Come in! Come in!"
"H-Hai, sir!" The Crawler nodded as he stepped eagerly into the office.
All things considered, the space looked pretty plain, a pair of ordinary-looking sofas set across from one another with a coffee table before them, a large wooden desk at the back, a window showing the far side of campus, and shelves of reference materials against the walls. It seemed a little weird for the office of so-influential a person to look so... ordinary... But then again, no-one knew what the All Might department behind the Might Gate inside Might Tower looked like, so maybe All Might was a humble man win inauspicious tastes?
All that prevented it from being "any other office" was the presence of the No.1 Hero on the left sofa, gesturing him toward its counterpart.
"S-Sir, you wanted to speak with me?"
"Please, no need for formalities! Just call me All Might!"
"R-Right. Then you can call me Koichi."
"Very well then, Koichi!" the No.1 Hero beamed. "I didn't get the chance to say this, but what you did at the Tokyo Sky Egg years ago, that really saved a lot of lives. And even though you couldn't be thanked officially, with your involvement only being recognized when it came time to issue your warrant… you have my thanks."
"Ah! P-P-P… P-P-P-Please, you don't need to bow your head or anything!" Koichi stammered. "Honestly, I'm over the whole 'Arrest The Crawler' thing… My fanbase in America however…" he said scratching his cheek.
"Ah, yes, those fangirls can get pretty wild~!"
"The men too…"
"Ah, yes, ran into a few of those myself…" All Might said idly scratching his cheek. "Anyway, can I offer you anything? Tea? Cookies?"
"N-No. No thanks, we should probably get straight to business…" Koichi said gulping nervously.
"Right, right. That's a good ethic to have…" All Might nodded, a bit of steam rising off his body, causing Koichi to raise an eyebrow, though for politeness' sake he didn't comment. "Koichi... Apart from the Noumu, there was another reason you were called back to Japan in her time of need," he said before he deflated himself.
"THE YUUEI TRAITOR!" Koichi suddenly cried with wide eyes.
"Ah, so you've already been told then-"
Realizing the new teacher was pointing his Quirk at him, the currently-deflated, "sun-dried tomato" Symbol of Peace realized, he'd fucked up.
*MHA*
"What a glorious day~!" the principal beamed, sunning himself as he faced the rear side of campus from his office. His phone ringing on his desk, Nezu let out a sigh as he spun his chair around before hitting the speaker. "Moshi moshi?"
"Principal!"
"Ah, Haimawari-kun! To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?" the principal inquired, his sensitive ears picking up the sound of Koichi's Shooty-Go-Blam-Blam-Blam through the receiver.
"The Yuuei Traitor! I found him! He was impersonating All Might, but he slipped up! I've got him pinned behind the sofa!"
"Oh really now~?" Nezu said eagerly before his line chimed. "Could you hold on for a moment? I'm getting another call."
*Boop*
"Principal Nezu speaking~"
"Nezu! Help me! Koichi-kun thinks I'm the Yuuei Traitor! He think's I'm an impostor!"
"Did you 'deflate' in front of him before properly explaining yourself~?"
"N… Noooooo…"
"You're a terrible liar, Toshinori~" Nezu chirped, the altercation going exactly as predicted. "Oh, could you excuse me a moment? I'm wanted on the other line~"
"Nezu wait-"
"I'm back~"
"Principal! What should I do? I could try to capture him, but I'm afraid I'll mess up All Might's office!"
"Hm. Yes. That is a point of contention, isn't it? Hold on while I check the other line~"
*Boop*
"Nezu! I know you warned me this was going to happen, and I'll listen to your 'I told you so lecture' later! Right now, I need some backup! I'm all out of time today!"
"Ah, yes, I suppose that would complicate matters~"
" . . . You're enjoying this, aren't you?"
"Why, whatever gave it away?~"
"Nezu you DIRTY RAAAAAT!"
" . . . Haimawari-kun?" Nezu called through the intercom so both parties could be heard. "Secure the impostor with extreme prejudice. Make it extra 'ouchie'~"
"Hai!"
"EYAAAAAAAAAH!" the Symbol of Peace screamed.
*MHA*
'I'm both amazed and a little bit terrified…' Toshinori hummed as he was led into the elevator towards the principal's office.
After Koichi had blasted his sofa with an extra-large Shooty-Go-Blam and pinning his skinny self under it, Koichi pounced on him and, after dragging his wrists behind his back, made a "chakram" of repulsive force from his Quirk before synching it around his wrists like a zip-tie. Sure, he'd seen the young man project shields and full-body barriers, on top of all his other abilities during his final 'interview' to teach at Yuuei, but to make tangible constructs with his energy-based Emitter Quirk was really quite amazing.
It also kind of sucked that he was being outright accused of being 'The Yuuei Traitor' Koichi had been told to be on the lookout for… but a part of him had wanted to be able to convey certain factors to Koichi under his own power instead of having the Principal talk over him the whole time like a parent acting as intermediary. In retrospect however, he could understand why suddenly deflating without any sort of preamble would have Koichi think he were some sort of impostor.
Hell, that was literally Midoriya's first utterance as soon as he'd run out of time, one year ago…
"I guess it wouldn't do much to ask if this was really necessary…?" Toshinori asked, wrists behind his back as The Crawler pushed him forward, the hallways thankfully empty.
"Quiet. We'll be asking the questions here," Koichi said in a stern tone that momentarily shocked the 'sun-dried' Symbol of Peace.
Seeing the scar on the young man's cheek, faded as it was, only served to remind Toshinori that there were plenty of people harmed by All for One's machinations that he'd been completely and utterly powerless to prevent, both in the past and in the ongoing present.
And if the theories about 'Knuckleduster's identity were correct… more than one person knew of All for One's existence as a tangible fact, and threat, and had lived to tell the tale without raising any sort of fuss over it…
Not that any such fuss would be well-received in the current era of peace where a 'Boogeyman' like All for One was a myth at best, an urban legend at worst. And a part of him could understand why Iwao Oguro couldn't bring himself to trust anyone with his testimony; for all he knew, whatever authorities he went to with that information, were exactly the ones in All for One's pocket.
Thankfully, the [Overclock] Quirk died with "Rokuro Nomura" at the conclusion of the Naruhata Lockdown; at least according to Koichi's in-depth debriefing in collaboration with the reports of the Villain Factory incident's conclusion. If All for One came at him with something like that still in his arsenal…
"I guess the Principal wanted to interrogate you himself," Koichi said before the double doors. "Principal! I'm coming in!"
*MHA*
One meeting later…
"Whooo… Now that was an eye-opening meeting."
What he'd learned from the Principal, and about All Might himself, had come as an incredible shock to Yuuei's newest -and most-controversial- instructor.
And while it did go a long way into explaining all the conspiracy theories he'd heard of in America regarding the decrease in All Might's "confirmed sightings" over the past five years, it seemed like the whole 'altercation' from earlier could've been circumvented if they'd just had this talk with someone who could vouch for Toshinori in the beginning…
As for what he was sworn to secrecy about… As it turned out, the rabbit hole went pretty fucking deep, and would be a complete mind-fuck if he hadn't seen equally-weird shit while in America. Or that whoe mess with O'Clock II gunning for him with his former master's stolen Quirk.
When asked how his presence would be explained if he were caught on grounds in his "sun-dried form", and wasn't there an inside joke if there ever was one… The answer was that Toshinori Yagi was the "token cripple" that Yuuei had brought on to assist Hound Dog, the school's Lifestyle Guidance Counselor, when it really needed to be driven home just how-much a Hero could waste away if they neglected their health in the long-run if they focused only on short-term gain.
That massive heap of scarring would definitely haunt Koichi's sleeping and waking moments…
Make no mistake, there were definitely things he still wasn't being told even now; America was way bigger and more-successful at hiding secrets than Japan… But for the time being he'd lend his expertise on fighting 'Quirk-Augmented Living Weapons' to the Heroes of Japan, who so-desperately needed any amount of expertise in their corner.
"Koichi-kun!"
"Ah, Kayama-sensei. Good evening."
"Please, call me Nemuri! We've known each other for years after all~" she said throwing an arm over his shoulder.
And she wasn't wrong. If it weren't for her, Kazuho would've been branded a Villain right off the bat following her capture with no-one to hear her side of things. It was the only reason the former Indie Idol had gotten acquitted after her brief stint as Bee*Pop; though the "Quirked Animal" Queen Bee extracted from her left eye socket, was also pretty conclusive evidence to the contrary…
"Ah… Nemuri… Did you need something?" he replied, happy there was a familiar face at Yuuei other than Aizawa around.
"Yes. You have a visitor waiting for you in your office. It's very important!"
"Oh! Alright, I'll be there right away!" the former-Vigilante said running off, the R-Rater Hero giggling mirthfully into her palm.
*MHA*
"I'm coming in," Koichi called out as he entered his office, which was still as he had left it; unadorned, it had the default furniture of Yuuei Hero staff, his "office supplies" from America still in their boxes from shipping.
Even now it still amazed him that people had wanted to make posters and action figures and other paraphernalia of him of all people. He'd also gotten All Might Limited Edition Hoodie variants from all 50 states during his time overseas, though those he kept at home, and since he had his own costume now, those were mostly for display back in his closet.
It felt a little weird, collecting All Might Limited Edition hoodies again after his last one got torched in Naruhata and promising himself previously that he'd hang up the hood for good as soon as his last one was worn out... But it felt calming and familiar to have those symbols around, and it was really heart-warming that vendors would just give them to him after he botched an interview and needed to blend into a crowd.
Taking note of the room's initial occupant, Koichi saw they were clad in casual clothing with her pink hair down. Turning to face him, he looked into one eye colored blue, the left covered by an eyepatch, and a pair of round glasses over both.
"Ka… Kazuho-chan…?" Koichi blinked as his longtime friend, now college-aged like he had been when they had first met, stood before him.
"Koichi…" the ex-Vigilante replied with a small smile on her face. "It's good to see you again."
"Y-Yeah, it's good to see you too…" Koichi returned as complicated feelings began to well up inside of him.
Part of it was as he took greater notice of her appearance. She'd gotten a little taller, her hips a little wider, her face a tiny bit leaner. Though her chest hadn't grown any, her trendy clothes were worn with more confidence. Certainly a far cry from when he thought she was a boy the first time they'd met at the river; and boy had she had to beat him over the head with that right before he'd gone overseas.
The other part of it… was the guilt he felt for his part in what had happened to her.
If he'd been a little less dense, and a little more attentive, as well as being capable of picking up on social cues in any capacity… she might never have wandered off with Rokuro Nomura, aka "O'Clock II", and as a consequence, never gotten body-jacked by Queen Bee the way she had. During her time as Bee*Pop, not only had she been almost-fatally shot and lost an eye from housing a parasitic lifeform, but human bodies simply weren't meant to use multiple non-in-born Quirks without side-effects; and the Trigger only made things worse. Even though the Queen Bee had been removed without any complications, her body had still taken a major beating, and she almost died in that hospital bed from the strain of the whole ordeall.
What made things worse however, was that her plans to become a legitimate idol had more or less been put on permanent hold.
Even though she'd been formally acquitted of the Villain charges levied against her in Naruhata, thanks to Bee*Pop being clinically recognized as a separate entity with legitimate mind-altering properties… the sheer scandal surrounding the entire thing had been a blow to her reputation she'd been unable to recover from. With physical rehab causing her to start college late…
Seeing her with that eyepatch caused all the guilt and self-loathing to come surging back to the forefront of his mind…
"Koichi, you're making that face again," Kazuho said with a soft glare, leaning her weight against the nearby desk for a moment before she strode towards him.
"Ah, sorry… I know you told me it wasn't my fault what happened to you… but I'll always feel guilty over… over everything."
"Well don't. And I'll tell you that as many times as I need to," she said poking him in the chest before looking him over. "So… You finally made the big-time, huh? Teaching at Yuuei, I mean."
"Y-Yeah… I was shocked when I got the call too…" Koichi said awkwardly. "Can I… offer you a seat?" he asked gesturing to one of the couches flanking the coffee table in the center of his office.
"Not yet…" Kazuho hummed. "Sooo… You and Makoto…?" she asked staring at his striped 'Battle Tie' with a pout and a bit of a glare.
"Oh, uh, she asked me that too, but I just… I don't feel that way about her, you know?" he admitted bashfully, scratching the back of his head.
"Ah, I see…" Kazuho hummed with a blush on her face. Taking a breath to center herself, a moment later she walked past him, Koichi assuming she was about to leave before the *Click* of the door locking met his ears.
"Kazuho-chan…?" Koichi blinked as the young woman pressed her hands to the door before she suddenly rounded on him. 'When did she…?' the ex-vigilante blinked as she looked back at him with her now-contact-clad pink-colored eye, the prosthesis under her eyepatch colored to match.
"Koichi…!" Kazuho said as she took her glasses off her face, Koichi blushing furiously as she disrobed herself revealing her old "devilish" one-piece black leotard from her time as Pop*Step, her super-miniskirt more of a belt than ever before. "Do you know how long you made me wait for you?!"
"Huh…? I… um…"
"You made me wait for you for five years! Five! Years!" Kazuho growled, a furious and embarrassed blush on her face as she strode purposefully toward him, tying her hair in her iconic pig-tails along the way. "I'm not waiting any longer!"
"What're you-?"
"You aren't leaving this office 'til you've put a baby in me, and that's final!" she said forcing his tie off his neck and throwing it to the side.
"WHA-WHA-WHA-WHAAAAAA?!" Koichi screamed with a massive blush on his face as Kazuho began to tear at his suit, an equal blush to match on her own face as she pushed him back until his knees hit the sofa.
*MHA*
At the same time outside, Nemuri Kayama, like a complete degenerate, was listening from the other side of the door with a glass to her ear, giggling lewdly while bleeding from the nose as Kazuho nabbed her man after all these years.
"Young love is nice~ But old flames coming together is good too, uh hu hu~"
"Should we... Should we stop her...?" Present Mic asked from off to the side.
"It's too early for this shit..." Aizawa groaned.
"It's five in the afternoon."
"Too early. I agree."
"Heh... *PANT* Heheh... *PANT* Heheheheheh...~"
"We are gonna get so fucking sued one of these days..." Present Mic hummed as Midnight squirmed against the door in an extremely suggestive manner.
*MHA*
AN:
A pinch of soft-retconning here and there, since I hadn't read the last of the Vigilantes spin-off chapters until before I'd started working on this chapter in my Rotation.
I'm happy I haven't written myself into any corners, as it just makes sense that after leaving Captain Celebrity's employ, he would no longer wear his "Skycrawler" costume. The "pardon" he received really helped bring Koichi back to Japan justifiably, and though I didn't know that Koichi would become a Hero in America Canonically after the events of Vigilantes at the time I'd written Chapter 36, that Koichi really did go to America after the events of the Naruhata Lockdown made me feel really good as a reader, that I was able to predict something like that.
Sure, initially, Captain Celebrity might've left him out to dry, but because Koichi helped him become a better person, I just knew deep-down that Christopher would smuggle him out of Japan to America after what happened in Naruhata, pull some strings so he wasn't extradited back to Japan. The only reason Koichi found so much success as a Vigilante was because Heroes willfully chose to ignore that area, which was why so many people were actively cheering for him openly and on the streets, in comparison to Spider-Man who some see as an active "menace" and are more-divisive on that issue.
It was also a joy to write down his relationship with 1-B, and I feel like they could make a pretty good spin-off. I haven't gotten around to reading the My Hero Academia lightnovels yet, but I have them, and I'm sure they'll offer great material for future chapters.
Most-satisfying of all was writing in Kazuho and Koichi getting their moment. Koichi, similar in vein to many Isekai protagonists who were born with a "Junk Ability" but trained it into something super-powerful, was incredibly dense when it came to girls and how Kazuho was the girl he saved from the river, even when she waved his own Silver Age All Might Limited Edition Hoodie right in his face…
Canonically, Koichi is 19 in his initial appearance, and 23 by the end of the series, but Headcanon-wise he's spent the last 2+ years in America as "Skycrawler". Kazuho's age isn't explicitly specified beyond the fact that she's a Highschool Senior by the final arc of the series, so assuming she's around 18 during the Epilogue, that'd mean she's in her 20s at present. Applying the "Half-Plus-Seven" Rule, Kazuho is just old-enough to not be considered "too young" for him; at least by American standards, as Japanese are more-flexible on age restrictions from what I've read.
I'm sure there's fanfiction out there of Koichi and Kazuho doing it, either during or after the events of Vigilantes, so I didn't really feel the need to try and "elaborate" on things further here. How-far things go… I'll leave that up to fan speculation, and also a bit of teasing in future chapters~
So, until I see you next time in my Teen Titans story…
GO BEYOND!
EXCELSIOR!