I'm back from vacation and ready to get back to working on my stories. Last time (Weird not saying last week) Inko was in communications with the director of Project Velocity and asked for his help. This week, Izuku gets to meet Mareo and learns more about Project Velocity. Will Izuku be accepted into Project Velocity, or will Mareo's boss not allowed events of the past to be remade.
As always I do not own any right to MY HERO ACADEMIA or any of their character.
With that, let's begin.
The next day and over the coming week, Mareo worked with his team to get ready for Inko and Izuku's visit to their training faculty. Mareo was vague on the details of the purpose of the visit, only telling a select few of those who needed to know. He wanted to give himself as much time as possible to get everything squared away before the council caught wind of everything. Mareo searched through the files, digital and physical until he found the files pertaining to the Tsutsunami's sister. He looked over the file cabinet worth of information, which contained training regiments for weights, karate, judo, and Bukijtsu, along with test results and a food plan to build up stamina and strength.
Every day Mareo went home exhausted but more proud than ever, as each day he could see his vision of Project Velocity becoming more and more of a reality.
At the end of the week, everything was ready, so Mareo called Inko on a secure line and informed her. They quickly set up a day for Inko to bring Izuku in and run some tests on his quirks. In the end, they decided on next Saturday after lunch and Inko ended the phone call by thanking her old friend and Mareo remarked he was happy to be of service again. Even with everything squared away, Mareo didn't slow down, he doubled and triple-checked everything. He planned on only having a small team, himself and four others when Izuku arrived.
This meeting was just as secret as Project Velocity was at the beginning. A small team help a kid with a powerful quirk become a hero. In the beginning and in the end that's what the program was built to do.
On the day of the meeting, Inko worked from a long and resting sleep. Her worry had stayed constant throughout the week. Everything she saw Izuku, she couldn't help but think of the situation of her sister. Inko was reminded of how she had seen or heard from her sister for some time. But that was the price of keeping herself and Izuku safe, and while Inko didn't know how Kaina's situation was in Tartarus, Inko was sure her sister was thinking the same.
As Inko got out of bed and walked over to the window to open, the morning sunlight touched her face and she felt relaxed. Kaina always said she enjoyed looking up at the night sky and seeing the stars, but to Inko nothing could ever beat the sight of a beautiful sunrise. Inko looked at the rising sun and hoped that after a day her worry would become tempting.
Turning away from the window, Inko headed downstairs and started making breakfast. As she worked in the kitchen, she heard the sounds of Izuku waking up and a few minutes later he walked into the kitchen. He yawned as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat down at the table.
"Izuku honey, we're going to meet up with some of Mom's old friends this afternoon. Is that alright with you?" Inko asked as she cracked a few eggs over a frying pan. She had decided to go with American-style scrambled eggs and toast. Let the egg cook, Inko pulled up a cabinet and grabbed the loaf of bread. At the safe timing using her quirk to plug the toast, which she slipped the beard into and pulled it down.
"But Kacchan and I made plans to play with each other this afternoon. You said I couldn't show him my quirk until I had some control over it. You said last night that I had control," Izuku said in a sad tone. He had worked so hard to learn how to control his quirk, he wanted so badly to show it to his best friends. They always talked about becoming the best pro heroes, and with their quirk, they could easily do so.
Inko made the mistake of looking over at Izuku and saw his big pleading puppy eyes. Despite all her training to be a hero, her ability to either take down a villain or talk them out of something. With her ability to end hostage situations, disarm a bomb and go toe to toe with the best pro heroes, Inko barely lasted a few seconds looking at Izuku before she broke. Kaina and Hisashi always said she had a too-soft spot for kids.
"Okay, Katsuki can come along. I'm sure they'll love meeting him too," Inko said in a defeated tone as she turned back to making breakfast. She could hear Izuku doing a small celebration at winning the conversation. Inko couldn't believe how much she was wrapped around Izuku's little fingers, but she had promised her sister to be a loving mother. Once breakfast was made and eaten, Inko disappeared into her room to make sure everything was ready for the afternoon. While she did this Izuku played in the front room by himself, waiting for his friend to come over.
Around lunchtime, a knock came on the front door and Izuku giddily ran to and opened it. On the other side of the door was Izuku's best friend, Katsuki Bakugo. He was wearing a black shirt with a skull on it and tan pants. As Izuku opened up the door Bakugo had his hands in his pocket as he looked at Izuku with an unimpressed face.
"Mom said you sounded pretty enthusiastic last night. So what's this thing you wanted to show me?" Bakugo said as he walked into the house. Izuku closed the door and fell into step with his friends
"My quirk," Izuku said, his voice starting to get fast. As he led his best friend to the dining room, a bounce appeared in his step. He had worked so hard to gain control over his quirk and it was so cool to him.
"That weird thing your arm did at school a week ago. I think I was the only one that saw that, I was going to say something but the Principal's action made it obvious that no one was supposed to see it," Bakugo said as he and Izuku sat at the table. Two sandwiches were waiting for them, making Izuku look into the kitchen to see his mother making herself one. Izuku tilted his head in confusion, since when had she been in the kitchen, "So what's your quirk so mysterious? I bet it is not even cool, not like mine."
Bakugo held a hand up and lit off a small explosion.
"Katsuki, no quirks in the house," Inko said from the kitchen. The second explosion quickly died in Bakugo's hand as a whiff of smoke appeared then he had to wave out of his face. He then turned to Izuku and gave a confused look.
"My quirks can be a bit destructive, yours too, so mom made the rule of no quirks in the house. To stop accidents from happening too often," Izuku explained as he thought back to when he first used his quirk in the house.
Bakugo shrugged as he lowered his hand and went back to his sandwich, "If you can't your quirk then how are you going to show me."
Izuku laughed as a mischievous grin that looked as if he had gotten away stealing a cookie from the jar appeared on his face, "There's a difference between showing and using. Let's have lunch first." This caused Bakugo to laugh and they both quickly finished their lunch. Once their meal was eaten and they had put their plate in the sink, Izuku led Bakugo into the living room.
Walking back into the living room, Izuku directed Bakugo to sit on the couch while he positioned himself on the floor between the couch and the ottoman. Izuku laid his arm across the ottoman and took a deep breath. Flexing his hand and forearm Izuku felt a small tingly feeling appear as steam formed around his arm. He felt his forearm and hand change, expanding as he activated his quirk.
A few seconds later Izuku's shot forearm while hand and fingers narrowed and curled into a barrel. Resting on the ottoman was now a purple and green long-range rifle and as Bakugo's mind recognized the change he jumped a bit in his seat. As Bakugo settled down and lowered himself back down to the couch, he leaned forward to get a better look. Izuku's arm looked like a mixture between flesh and metal and at the point of transformation, Izuku's veins were purple until they disappeared into his upper arm.
"What is it?" Bakugo asked as neither of them had seen a gun before. They were still only five years old and since quirk had been inherited by 80% of the world's population, people had stopped carrying small firearms for personal protection. And while Police carried around pistols, neither of the young boys had seen a gun that looked like Izuku's arm.
"My mom said it was a rifle. And get this I can twirl my hair and weave them into bullets." Izuku said as he began to use his left hand to twirl a bit of his hair. After a few seconds, the hair solidified into a bullet that Izuku used to make a show out of loading the bullet, "I haven't had a chance to get much practice. It is not as easy to hide as your quirk."
Izuku looked at Bakugo and noticed his best friend had a weird look on his face. Izuku looked back at his arm, then back at his friends. Arm, friend, arm, friend.
"What?" Izuku asked as Bakugo stared intently back at Izuku's arm.
"Midoriya look at your arm." Bakugo finally said.
That just confused Izuku further, wasn't the whole point of this to show off his quirk? Maybe Bakugo found it weird to look at or he found it cool, but then again that described most of the quirks that were heteromorphic. Either really cool or really weird, but Izuku couldn't tell which way Bakugo was leaning.
"I am." Izuku said in a sarcastic tone.
"No, I don't mean your right arm, cool by the way. I mean your left arm, you have a mark that wasn't there a few seconds ago and Aunt Inko isn't going to let you get a tattoo." Bakugo said, lowering his voice to a whisper as he slid off the couch. He grabbed Izuku's left arm and rotated it so the inner side of his biceps was revealed. Izuku looked at his left bicep, confused about what his friend was trying to point out, and then he noticed it. It was small, easily mistakable as a sharpie mess, or old carnival tattoo. But on Izuku's left bicep was a purple marking in the shape of a bullet. And Izuku was sure it wasn't there a few moments ago.
"What do you think it's for?" Izuku said as he poked it. It didn't feel sore like a new tattoo should be, nor did it rub off like a temporary tattoo would have. Izuku then inspected the rest of his left arm to see if there were any other markings, but he didn't find any.
"I don't know but it wasn't there earlier," Bakugo said. At that moment Inko came into the living room and looked between the boys.
"Alright boys, it's time to head out," Inko said. She had just gotten off a call with Mitsuki where they talked about Izuku joining Project Velocity. Mitsuki had joked about how Katsuki should join the program if nothing else to learn some manners. Inko ended the call by calling Mitsuki buff saying that Katsuki was welcome to join Izuku in training.
Bakugo looked between Izuku and Inko, "What where are we going?"
"To meet some of mom's old friends." Izuku said, hopping off the ground and Bakugo followed him out of curiosity.
Inko helped the boys load up in the car and then got in herself. After backing out of the driveway, Inko directed the car to the building where Project Velocity was stationed. On the drive there Inko thought back to the training she and Kaina went through. In the beginning, it was tiresome, they trained more than just their quirks, their minds and bodies were put through the ringers too. Each day they were exhausted and they often fell asleep on their way home.
Through that training, Inko became a strong woman, yet the life of a hero was something she never wanted. When she met Hisashi she felt marrying him was the only way out of becoming a pro hero like her sister. But now she needed to protect her family from whoever hunted her sister. Izuku needed the same training, to learn how to use his quirk and how to protect himself.
Within the hour they arrived at Project Velocity. Inko pulled the car into a parking spot and got out, as Izuku and Bakugo were right behind her. Izuku looked up at the building and thought it looked like it belonged to a corporate business.
He looked at Inko and said, "Mom, I thought we were going to meet some of your old friends." The Midoriya family had never really been that wealthy, nor had they been associated with upper-class workers. Hisashi was working in America and sent money home, but his pay barely covered the house and his apartment. The closest was the Bakugo family and Masaru's work in the fashion business, but they didn't live a wealthy lifestyle nor did Mitsuki Bakugo act like a rich woman. However, in Inko's mind, she definitely pushed the envelope.
"We are," Inko said as she walked up the stairs and opened one of the doors. She then turned around and gestured for the boys to follow her. Izuku and Bakugo looked at each other, grins appearing on their faces as they took off after Inko. She led the duo to an elevator and once inside pressed the button for the fifth floor.
As the trio rode the elevator Izuku looked at Inko and asked, "Mom, who are we exactly going to meet?" His mother never mentioned having friends who worked in a building like this.
Inko sighed then looked down at the ground, "Zuzu do you remember that conversation we had when you first got your quirk?" - Izuku gave a small nod - "Your mother knows some people that specialize in training young kids with powerful quirks, such as yours and Katsuki's. They help kids like you learn how to use their quirks and become heroes."
From that, Izuku got a big smile while Bakugo got a feral one. Now that they knew what was happening neither of them could wait to show off their quirks and what they could do with it. Yet it seemed to take forever before the elevator arrived on the fifth floor and opened. Once the door opened they were met with an amazing site.
A kid, only a few years older than Izuku and Bakugo, with bright red wings, was flying around the floor. As he flew around, feathers from his wings shot out and hit targets of varying sizes. These targets were placed all round the floor and the kid hadn't missed a single one. Izuku and Bakugo watched as the kid hit the last target with three feathers and then landed right next to a table. As the kid looked at the adults, all the feathers that had been shot into the targets, dislodged themselves and returned to the red wings on the kid's back.
Standing at the table were Fumiko Mareo and four members of his team. Mareo looked up from a monitor screen and said to the kid, "Well done Takami you beat your previous record by 3 and half seconds. Keep up that pace and you'll be on the level of a pro hero by the time you're a teenager."
The kid nodded as pulled a blindfold down from his eyes. Izuku hadn't noticed the blindfold as the kid was flying around, making the kid's skill even more impressive. The red-winged kids looked at the different targets. He then turned back to Mareo and said, "I thought the targets were supposed to be in different places. A lot of them felt like they hadn't moved."
"They were…." Mareo paused and then looked over the targets, a lot of them seemed to be in the same location as last time. He then turned to his workers and sighed.
This caused the woman to flicker and defend herself with, "I haven't gotten much sleep because of your little side project. So sue me."
Mareo sighed again, as he folded his arm and brought a hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose. She was a good worker, one of the best for the program, but all the work Mareo had to put in to cover her forgetful behavior. Somedays were harder than others. "Henkito. What am I going to do with you?"
The employee, now identified as Henkito, looked ready to defend herself but then noticed Inko and the two boys. The gears of her mind were visible as she took a few moments to recognize Inko. Once she did she got a big smile and yelled, "Inko, is that you!" Before running over and hugging Inko. Inko had to brace as Henkito was a forgetful person and with her strength enhancement quirk, a hug from Henkito could break a few ribs.
Luckily Henkito didn't squeeze too hard and Inko was able to still breathe. Inko hugged Henkito back and asked, "How's life been since I last saw you last?" Henkito didn't answer but just continued to smile until Mareo and the other present members of Project Velocity came over. After Henkito released her, Inko bowed to Mareo and thanked him again for his assistance.
"Mrs Midoriya it is good to see you again." Mareo then noticed there was more than one kid. One that Inko hadn't mentioned, "Excuse but I was informed you only had one child, yet I see two. One who does not have much of your or your husband's genetics."
Inko chuckled a bit then clarified, "This is Katsuki Bakugo, he's the son of one of my friends. I thought you might like to examine his quirk as well as my son's. I promise you won't be disappointed."
"Bakugo? You mean that hotheaded loud mouth friend of yours." Henkito said, then quickly covered her mouth. She looked at Inko as if she had just killed Inko's dog right in front of her.
Yet Inko didn't seem too worried, simply waving Henkito's worry away with a hand. "I'm sure she's been called worse and what she doesn't know won't hurt her." Inko could recall that Bakugo's first name for Mitsuki wasn't Mama, it was just straight to 'Old Hag'.
Mareo looked over the two boys, knowing it was just better to go along with it rather than figure out what part Bakugou played in all this. "Hello Izuku Midoriya and Katsuki Bakugo, I'm looking forward to what you will show us today. But first I would like you three to meet Keigo Takami. He's the second wave of Project Velocity-trained heroes. If you're accepted into the program then you'll be spending some time training with him," Mareo said, as Takami walked up to the group.
Takami looked between Izuku and Bakugo then bowed and said, "It's nice to meet you both, please call me Keigo. I'm looking forward to training with both of you. Mr. Mareo held you in high regard, enough to make his team go without sleep for a week."
"Takami I didn't..." Mareo said, then looked around at the members of his team. Many had small rings under their eyes and their shoulders were hunched over. Only Henkito seemed to be the only one with energy, but that might be just because she forgot how tired she was, "Alright head home all of you. I told you to work fast, not work yourself into your graves. I can handle the evaluation by myself."
"Sir, are you sure?" One of the employees asked as it was unusual to be sent home this early in the day. Project Velocity didn't have a set-in-stone schedule for most things, as most of the timing was determined by how fast the trainee learned and improved. Yet to be set home only a few hours after the business day started.
"Yes, now go," Mareo said and not wanting to wait around for him to change his mind, the members of Project Velocity quickly gathered their things and left. Takami looked at Mareo with a look asking to be excused, "Sorry Takami but you'll be staying. If you are going to train with these boys, then you need to see their level of control."
Takami didn't say a word, just gave a small nod. Mareo then turned to Izuku and Bakugo and said, "How about a small demonstration of your quirks then I'll set up some small tests for you to go through. Midoriya, how about we start with you."
Mareo prepared as he needed to act as if he had never seen a quirk like Izuku before. To make it seem that Izuku's quirk itself was unique to Izuku. Izuku nodded and lifted his right arm. Mareo was ready to see Izuku contort into a weird angle, but his eyes grew as smoke appeared around Izuku's arm.
The next second Izuku's quirks took hold and his right arm was transformed, extending and building to a rifle. Mareo held his breath as he looked over Izuku's quirk, it was so similar yet so different from Kaina's. The same sleek barrel design but Izuku's rifle had a forestock and a body. It had no area for a magazine yet instead of loading a bullet through his hand as Kaina had to do. Where the charging bolt would be on a normal rifle there was a small slot.
"Well young man, that is quite impressive. How about you give us a demonstration of your quirk? Pick a target and show us what you've got," Mareo said as he felt the joy of being able to correct past mistakes once again. This time Mareo would have to play his card close to his chest, to compartmentalize information so no one knew more than they needed to. But if this worked out Mareo knew he could become head of a new hero program, one that could produce more heroes at a higher quality than any hero school could.
Izuku looked around and quickly spotted a target. It was up in a corner, perhaps 100 feet away and there were no other targets that were blocking it. Izuku took a knee as he gripped the barrel of his quirk with his left hand. Resting his left arm on his left knee to help keep his right arm steady, Izuku found this position to be very comfortable. He had complete control of where he was aiming, there was no sway in his arm as it stayed perfectly still.
Mareo noticed this too, as Kaina had often assumed a similar pose early in her training whenever she didn't have anything to rest her barrel against. It wasn't a bad form but in combat, it was a pose that left Izuku and Kaina vulnerable to almost all angles.
Izuku lined up his aim the best he could then flexed his right arm. A loud gunshot went off causing everyone that could to cover their ears. They all watched as the green and purple bullet whizzed through the air and soon struck the target. It wasn't a bullseye, not even within the inner circles. Izuku had barely even hit the target in the first place.
Yet Mareo was still impressed, Izuku had only had his quirk for two weeks. And though it was clear he hadn't had much practice, Izuku definitely had a talent for using his quirk. Through practice, Izuku could quickly get to the same level as long-range pro heroes such as Snipe. One day he might even be able to give Kaina a run for her money.
"A well-placed shot Young Midoriya and with how short of a time you've had your quirk, you most certainly do have a talent for it. Now anything else you would like to show about your quirk?" Mareo asked.
Izuku nodded his head, then weaved some of his hair into a bullet, " I can weave my hair into my ammo"
Mareo nodded as if he had heard nothing about that piece of information. He then turned to Bakugo and said, "Now I believe it's young Bakugo's turn." Inko seemed to be under the impression that Bakugo would be fit for Project Velocity, yet that particular decision wouldn't be up to Mareo. The HPSC council would be the ones to decide whether Mareo would be allowed to train either of the boys.
Mareo hadn't many interactions with Mitsuki and Mararu, only having met them for the first time at Inko's wedding, as Mitsuki had been one of Inko's maids. If he remembered correctly Mitsuki's quirk allowed her to sweat glycerin while Marasu's quirk allowed him to secrete acidic sweat that could cause small explosions. Mareo got a small smile at what a perfect combination could result from those quirks and if Bakugo had it.
Mareo was pulled from his thoughts as Bakugo stepped forward and said, "I'll show you old man. With my quirk, I'm going to make me the next #1 hero."
Bakugo raised his hand in a cupped formation and let off a good-sized explosion. Later after reviewing the security footage, Mareo measured the explosion to be about the size of a large SUV. But for now, Mareo got a big grin on his face as Fate had just handed him two extremely powerful quirks on a silver platter. Project Velocity's future was brighter than Mareo could even predict.
He had to train Izuku and Bakugo, even if he had to fight against the HPSC council or the board. Mareo was going to do everything he could to show the masterpiece that is Project Velocity.
Mareo cleared his throat as he turned to Inko and said, "Two impressive quirk. Perfect fit for Project Velocity. Something I'm sure the council will see that for themselves without much explanation. Let's have you return in three day's time and we'll begin their training."
Inko bowed slightly to show her appreciation then turned to Izuku and Bakugo, "Alright it's time to leave, boys."
"But we just got here. We want to use our quirks." Izuku said. They had barely been here for ten minutes and barely had a chance to use their quirks.
Mareo smiled and said, "Boys, you'll have plenty of chances to use your quirks in the future but for now the best you can do is listen to your mothers. Just remember when you train without a direction in mind then you'll never move forwards."
With that word of advice, Izuku and Bakugo accepted Inko's hand and she walked them to the elevator. Neither of them could wait until they could train with their quirks. Though their reason for wanting to be heroes were different they both wanted to give their best to become #1 hero. They both admired All Might, the symbol of peace and now they had the opportunity to train to become heroes like him.
And that's the latest chapter of Project Velocity. Somehow Katsuki Bakugo gets roped into going to Project Velocity. Will he be allowed to train alongside Iuzku Midoriya, or will the Hero Public Safety Commission not allow either of them to be trained. Will Mareo be about to convince the council that mistake of the past will not be made again, or will his control or the program be restricted even further.
Next Time: Meeting of Fate
Review and next me what you think.