A/N: Don't own MHA.
Hey all, sorry it's been a while.
taiwoeretan1: Yes. Not original, but still interesting.
The Alone Sage: Well, the truth is I don't really know. I know I'm probably going to mess up and have a few inconsistencies here and there, but I'll try to make it good.
Foresterking: Thanks, glad to know there are people reading the old one.
Anyway, here we go.
"What have I told you about using my knives?"
"Not to without supervision until I know what I'm doing."
"And what did you do?"
"The opposite."
Stain finished wrapping a bandage around a small gash on Izuku's foot. It wasn't deep enough to need professional care, but was still bleeding enough to warrant a few gauze pads with some antiseptics.
"Sorry," Izuku quietly muttered once Stain was sure the bandage was secure. He had been trying to replicate some of the routines he saw Stain use, but the blade slipped from his grip on a downward swing and nicked his foot, thus the bandaging.
Stain released a quick sigh. "It's fine. At least you weren't hurt worse. I don't think it'd be easy to explain to a hospital receptionist how a ten-year-old boy nearly cut off his foot with his murderer mentor's knife."
Izuku smiled at the image that Stain put in his mind. "Wouldn't that be a sight?" he rhetorically asked as he stood up, winching at the pain in his left foot. He was definitely going to have to take it easy for the next few days, maybe even weeks.
"So what are your plans for tonight? Have any targets?"
Stain handed Izuku a piece of paper from a stack he had printed at a nearby library. The green-haired boy skimmed the file. The target's name was "Hydros", an up-and-coming rescue hero that excelled in sea and ocean missions. It made sense given his quirk allowed him to control large amounts of any collection of water that he made direct physical contact with.
Unfortunately for the hero, he already had a list of "crimes" against him, such as excessive gambling, drinking, and many accusations of dealing "Trigger", which was a substance that Izuku had heard about a few times before. From what he could recall, it was an injectable substance that significantly boosted quirks, but at the cost of mental clarity.
Hydros didn't sound like a good hero. Not that Izuku would try to kill him for it; he would much rather collect the evidence and send it to the Hero Public Safety Commission or leak it all online. But Stain wasn't Izuku, and despite how close the two had grown over a year and a half, neither would budge on their views of killing.
"Well, good luck. Just make sure he doesn't get near water. But you probably already know that."
Stain nodded in understanding. Izuku took that as a sign and flopped down onto his mattress the two had found in a dumpster and carried back.
He still had no idea why anyone would just throw it out; it was clean and showed little wear and tear. Whoever owned it could have sold it online or returned it.
But he wasn't going to complain. The mattress was better than the floor, even if it was a bit firm.
"So this is our new home?"
"For the time being. Don't get too comfortable." Stain dropped his bag of essentials and scoured the warehouse.
Stain had run his course in the city that he had found Izuku, and thus the two had left for the next city over. In Stain's eyes, it was just another city with fakes that needed to be purged.
To Izuku, it was so much more.
"Look! You can still see UA!"
Stain peered over his shoulder in the direction Izuku was pointing. Indeed, despite the darkness of the night, the world renown hero school was visible as little more than a silhouette. A handful of lights illuminated from the rooms that undoubtedly were in use by teachers staying late or janitors that had to clean the halls at night.
"What, you want to go there when you're older?" Stain asked, more rhetorically than seriously, as he already knew the answer.
"Yeah, some of the best heroes went there! All Might went there!" Izuku cheerfully replied.
"Yes, but so did so many fakes. Endeavor, Native, and more are graduates of the so-called prestigious UA."
"But if I go, you know I won't be a fake. I already know what you think a fake is and isn't. Besides, how hard can it be to be a good hero? All you have to do is think about others?"
"Your naivety is showing. Don't you remember all the heroes that ignored you? They probably though the same thing, but completely forgot about it when the fame got to their heads," Stain spat.
Izuku opened his mouth to argue, but closed it without a sound. Arguing about heroes was a waste of time and breath when it came to Stain. So for the rest of the night, Izuku silently pondered what it would be like to go to the illustrious UA. Even if he was quirkless, it wasn't impossible, was it?
Izuku was now thirteen. Or so he thought, he had long since stopped keeping track of his birthday. He knew it towards the middle of July, though. In the years since he had been taken under Stain's wing, he had slowly but surely grown from a malnourished child to an athletic teen.
Even without a quirk, he was more than capable of holding his own, which was only enhanced by his training. As the two traveled from city to city, Stain began enrolling Izuku at whatever martial arts schools were in the area.
However, there also was the issue of education. Due to his circumstances, Izuku was years behind in even basic subjects like math and Japanese. So when he wasn't training at a dojo or at whatever shack Stain had found for them, he was at the local libraries, soaking up as much information as he could just to catch up intellectually.
Izuku was not exactly dumb, per se; he could watch a hero or villain use their quirk and come up with uses for it that many could overlook, or come up with a strategy to get around the quirk, which had saved Stain's life on a few occasions.
The problem was he wasn't book-smart. So he spent a lot of time on the computers taking online tests for children a few years younger than him.
"You left your back open for a moment. That was a fatal mistake," Stain chastised. His student was on the ground, bleeding lightly from a nick on his back made by Stain's knife.
"Yeah, I know. I've been working on that," Izuku retorted. Finally picking himself up, he lifted up the back of his shirt and walked over to his bag. After ruffling around for a few seconds, he pulled out a tube of antibiotic ointment, which he diligently applied to the wound.
The feeling of his warm, wet flesh was something he had been forced to grow accustomed to. Scars along his back, chest, and limbs were proof of Stain's brutality when it came to his training.
"I can tell you are. But that little mistake can get you killed someday."
Izuku just gave a stern, "I know." before lying down on his stomach. Stain's training was hell sometimes, but it beat being on the streets.
"You wanted to see me?"
The man who spoke was the definition of "hobo". The unkempt black hair that dangled in his face matched the ruffled, dirty black clothes he wore on a regular basis. A gray scarf circled his neck multiple times, and appeared to be the only well-kept item on his body.
Contrasting his appearance was the very being he addressed. On the other side of a large desk sat a chimerical creature with clothes that looked to be freshly pressed. The being took a sip from a cup of tea, which he gently placed back down.
"Yes, Aizawa, that would be why I called you," the animal known as Principal Nezu replied. "I have done some thinking about what you've said in the past regarding the entrance exam."
Aizawa raised a brow, already trying to figure how much of a headache this conversation was going to leave him with.
"And, after doing some research on the current state of heroes, I think you are right in calling for a change in the entrance exam. Endeavor, All Might, Kamui Woods, Miruko, the list goes on. All of them have quirks that would excel in the entrance exam. But take Best Jeanist for example. He is the fourth ranked hero, yet his quirk would be useless against the faux villains we have been using. You have brought up how you and Midnight were also at an unfair disadvantage as well."
Nezu stopped to take another sip of tea, this time taking a second to savor the aroma the fine liquid let off before putting it down. Aizawa remained silent, not usually this interested in what the principal had to say.
"That does not mean we can completely overhaul the exam to only let those with less, I suppose the word 'flashy' will suffice, quirks pass. That is why I will be calling on you and the staff to take part in the entrance exam this year."
There it was; the inevitable drawback of getting your way with Nezu.
"I understand. What else are you planning?" Aizawa questioned.
"Well, I can't tell you all of my surprises. Where's the fun in that?" the chimera happily exclaimed, which sent an uneasy chill down Aizawa's spine.
Izuku was not in a good mood. He wasn't exactly sure why; today was just like any other. Wake up, train, go to whatever martial arts class he had that day, go to the library, go back to the shack, train some more. His usual routine for the last couple years.
But something today was just off. But he pushed everything down and continued looking through the store he was in. He needed more ointment and some protein mix. He walked up and down the aisles, hands in his hoodie pockets fumbling with his money and the tube of triple antibiotic.
Soon enough he found a small canister of chocolate-flavored protein mix. He grabbed one and made his way to the register, where everything proceeded as it should have. The woman scanned the items, he paid for them and pocketed the change, and left.
The store was still in view when a pair of large hands grabbed him and dragged him into an alley.
"Hey kid, got anything of value on ya?"
The man who grabbed him held out a hand expectantly. A quick once-over told him everything he needed to know. Some guy was down on his luck and resorted to mugging strangers. From what he could see, his quirk gave him claws for fingernails.
Either that or he just filed his nails on a regular basis.
"Sorry, all I have is cream and powder," Izuku replied, showing the man his recent purchases, then turning to leave the alley. He felt the man's hand on his shoulder again, bringing him to a stop.
"Well?" The man held out his hand again, signaling for Izuku to hand the items over. Izuku rolled his eyes and turned back to the mugger.
"I'm not in the mood right now. So you can either let me go or I'll make you let me go." Izuku slowly lowered one hand towards his pants pocket, seemingly unseen by his mugger.
"Sure, I'll let you go. Once you hand over everything you got. I figured a kid like you would be smarter than this."
Faster than the man could see, a knife embedded itself into his open hand, cleanly stabbing all the way through.
The pained screams that echoed through the alley and into the streets fell on deaf ears as the kid pulled the knife out and casually walked away.
Izuku felt a little better now, but also a little angrier.
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. I've been having less time to write, so writing isn't coming as naturally as it was when I was doing it a lot. Still, I hope you enjoyed.