Monoma's Date

"So, you expected me to be able to give you advice?"

"It was a shot in the dark…"

"It wasn't a shot in the dark. It was a shot into the abyss."

Monoma let out a groan of despair as he flopped back onto Izuku's bed, the greanette giggled and rolled back in his chair before opening his laptop. The blond had dropped by Izuku's house just half an hour prior with a look of fear and exhaustion on his face and asked Izuku for help with relationship advice.

"But maybe I can search up some stuff to help you?" Izuku offered as he typed away on his computer.

"Please…" Monoma begged.

"Oi, Midoriya." Both boys perked up to look at Shinso in the doorway, the insomniac held up a mug. "You're out of coffee." He had tagged along with Monoma, the rest of 1-B being much too loud for his taste, and he had grown used to Monoma's companionship through their training together.

"But we just bought a new box!"

"You're out of coffee."

Izuku sighed and decided to add coffee to his list of things to buy. " Well, alright…"

The three boys sat together, trying to help Monoma with his hell that was going to be happening a day from now. "A date, eh?" Shinso chuckled as he drank from his mug. "What's so special about this girl anyway?"

Izuku was curious about that too, at first he was shocked that Tokage had asked Monoma out on a date. He had noticed that there had been much… closer than they had been previously, and assumed that something could be happening with them, but didn't expect for Tokage to be able to crack and break Monoma's confident, almost arrogant, personality.

Now, Monoma was a blushing mess, unable to look anyone in the eye because he was too nervous about his date with Tokage tomorrow.

"Surprised she'd got enough energy for a date tomorrow anyways, we barely passed our finals a couple hours ago." Shinso took another sip of his mug.

Monoma groaned and sat up, "Setsuna…" He trailed off, unable to find the words.

"Yeah?" Izuku and Shinso asked.

A blush blossomed on Monoma's face before he beat it down, "She's just really cool… and her teasing always manages to surprise me." Izuku swore he heard his friend audibly gulp before continuing, "Despite her… eccentricities… she has become a dear friend of mine…"

"A very dear friend."

"SHUT IT, SHINSO!"

The insomniac laughed it off.

Monoma cursed and fell backwards onto the bed once more.

"Izu!" Inko popped her head in from the door, "Are you friends going to be staying for dinner?" The three boys glanced at each other and nodded, making Inko smile a blinding grin. "I'll make your favorite tonight to congratulate you for passing your finals!"

The three sat in silence, with Monoma quietly moaning about how he was going to look utterly incompetent. "I'm going to die…"

"Don't be dramatic, Monoma-kun." Izuku laughed, "Anyways, I looked it up and it says you should bring some kind of gift, like flowers or chocolates, and to be dressed appropriately for the event, you guys are going to the mall, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Wear something nice, but not too dressy." Shinso answered. "Bring her some food."

"Food…?" Monoma and Izuku asked in unison.

Shinso let out a dramatic sigh and leaned on the doorway before taking a sip of his mug, "You two have to realize she's not a "girly" girl, she's crazy." Monoma raised a hand to argue but stopped short, Shinso was right.

Well.. she wasn't crazy, more… spunky. Yeah, Setsuna was spunky. What the hell did spunk even mean?

"Okay, so what do you have in mind…? Monoma asked.

"Hmm." Shinso thought about it for a moment, taking another sip from his mug. "Give her some details about what's going on between Yanagi and Midoriya."

"W-W-WHAT?!" Izuku's head lit up, brightening to the point he looked more like a strawberry than a person. "W-what are you talking about?! Me and Reiko?! T-There's nothing going on!"

Both of the boys gave him a look. Shinso even took an exaggerated sip of his coffee.

And that's when Inko's head popped up in the doorway with tears brimming in her eyes, "M-My baby boy has a girlfriend!"

"I-I-I don't have a girlfriend mom!"

"Let's eat to celebrate my boy becoming a man!"

"MOM!"

…

The four now sat at the dinner table, three of them excitedly talking about Izuku's relationship while said boy grew more and more red with each passing sentence.

"I told you guys, there's nothing going on!" Izuku blushed.

"Sure thing, loverboy." Shinso teased.

"GRAHHHHHH!"

Inko frowned, "Now now Izuku, none of that at the table, let's enjoy the food."

The boys thanked Inko for the food before digging in, utterly enjoying the meal and feeling like it tasted better than even Lunch Rush's dishes. There was just something in it that made it different from the pro's food. Perhaps it was… a mother's love.

It helped ease them after the stressful day they had had. Helped them relax from the exam that their teachers had put them through. Helped them relax after the hell that their match with All Might was.

"So, Izuku, you never told me how your test went, just that you passed."

…..

"YOU NEVER TOLD YOUR MOM!" Both boys yelled in sync.

"I-It never came up!"

"What never came up, Izuku?"

Shinso chuckled, "We fought All Might for our final exam."

"A-ALL MIGHT?!" Inko stammered and glanced at Izuku before bursting into tears and checking over every part of his body, "My baby boy! Are you okay?! Did he hurt you?! Oh my goodness!" Inko fretted and cried over Izuku, as the boy tried to answer that he was okay.

Shinso and Monoma stared at each other with a grin.

"I'm okay, Mom!"

"There's a stray hair on your head, Izuku! Your hair never messes up! All Might messed up my baby boy's hair! Your cheeks are a little puffy, oh are they going to bruise?! My baby boy's face is gonna be bruised"

Izuku let out a dry sigh, but still had a smile on his face. Inko tried to grab his head so she could look at his hair, but Izuku gently grabbed her hand, "Mom…" He spoke as softly as he could as Inko locked eyes with him, "I'm alright, I promise."

Inko lost her strength as she looked at Izuku, she still couldn't believe her little boy was already becoming such a man. A strong young man, who beat his best friend, Bakugo Katsuki, who beat the Hero Killer, who beat All Might.

Where had her little boy gone? The one who would always play heroes.

…he had grown up.

Tears bubbled up in Inko's eyes, she stood up and hugged her boy's head close to her chest, she sniffled and tried not to let any of her tears slip down off her cheeks. "I'm so proud of you, Izuku. You're going to be… no. You're an amazing hero, my sweet little boy."

Izuku's eyes widened a little bit.

Maybe that's what he needed to hear all those years ago, when no one had believed in him. "Thank you, Mom."

Monoma glanced at Shinso, wondering if they were present for something that they shouldn't be present for. Shinso shrugged his shoulders before taking another bite of the food that Inko had cooked for them.

Inko cleared up her tears as Izuku took their bowls to clean. "Are you guys done with those or are you gonna get more."

"I'm done, here." Monoma handed over his bowl.

"Um gon ge mo" Shinso said with a mouthful.

Izuku giggled, while Monoma gave Shinso a glare for being uncouth, "Alright."

Inko sighed and grabbed her glass, fumbling with it in her hands before sitting back in her seat, "Hey, Izu?" She spoke towards the kitchen, "What do you want to do on your birthday on sunday."

"Birthday?!" Monoma yelled

"PFFFFFFT!" Shinso spit out rice in shock. "Sunday?!"

Izuku stumbled out of the kitchen, a confused look on his face. "Yeah…? What about it?"

"YOU DIDN'T TELL US!"

"Yeah…?"

"Izuku.." Inko called out, "I know you're not used to celebrating your birthday with anyone, but your friends are really sweet. You should have told them about your birthday."

Izuku thought about it. What his mom said was true, he really wasn't used to spending his birthday with anyone. Typically, they would just do a small celebration, him and his mom, when he got home from school.

Sometimes it would be nice, sometimes it wouldn't be.

Ka— Bakugo, would usually give him birthday beatings. They only got worse as time went on, but Izuku had gotten strangely used to them. At first they were… rough, but Izuku had adjusted as life progressed.

"Yeah, you're right, sorry." Izuku blinked. "I'm just not used to it. But if you guys wanna celebrate with us, then you're more than welcome to, we're probably just gonna do something small like we do every year."

"Don't worry, we're gonna get the whole Dekusquad together." Shinso gave him a thumbs up.

"D-Dekusquad…?"

"Well, it used to be the Cinnamon Roll Protection Club." Monoma cut in, "But that turned out to be too long so we went with Dekusquad before internships."

"W-Why?"

"You're kind of our leader dude." Shinso answered simply, "It only fits."

"Leader?" Izuku didn't fancy himself a leader. He was a strategist, the Class Representative, but he certainly wasn't a leader. He stammered and mumbled, that wasn't a leadership quality.

"You rallied our entire team during our fight against All Might." Shinso took a sip of his drink. "You're kind, smart, traits that gather like and opposite minds alike around you."

Inko's eyes shone with unshed tears. She was so proud of her son, her heart almost couldn't handle it. But leaders were also typically very involved with danger!

Monoma grinned, "Well, we're definitely doing something for your birthday, but first…"

"You gotta get through your date." Izuku chuckled.

"Oh, you have a date Monoma!" Inko smiled, eyes wide with delight. She reached around the table and held one of his hands, "I would love to help you get ready!"

The boy gulped, but he would take any help he could get…

…

"Yeah, yeah, I got it!" Monoma yelled into his phone as he sped through the crowd.

"And remember—"

"Being only five minutes early is too late, I know! Your mom hammered that into me yesterday." He let out a disgruntled sigh, he was at the very least twenty minutes early.

"Alright, alright." Monoma could practically hear his friend smiling on the other end. "I'll let you go now, good luck!"

"Thank you." The line went dead and Monoma's anxiety built up in his chest, he had arrived at their designated meeting spot, a lone spot near Kiyashi Shopping Mall's resident lizard pet store. He knew that she was a fan of the cold blooded creatures so he suggested coming here for the first part of the date.

She had instantly cooed about it, thanking him over and over when they were on the phone. He had a feeling that if he had suggested it in person, she'd have given him a kiss with each thank you.

His state of dress was casual formal, he had some khaki pants on with semi-formal shoes, a white shirt on with a light blue dress shirt over that, acting as a sort of jacket for him. He played with the button of his shirt, trying to distract himself about his upcoming… date.

Maybe earlier he would've called it doom, but he couldn't stop himself from feeling excited about this outing.

About being with her.

"Heya, Neito-kun."

His spine locks as that stupid voice calls out from behind him, but he still finds himself turning around anyways and goodness… she's gorgeous

Setsuna was wearing a casual black t-shirt with a blue skirt, one that matched her hero uniform, and tall black boots, a white jacket over everything. It was… simple, but still breathtaking.

"Hi." He somehow speaks with a stutter, "Setsuna."

The lizard-loving girl grins and yanks him by the arm, and before he knows it they set off.

The entire ordeal was… pleasant.

They went to the pet store like planned, looking at all sorts of cold blooded creatures that were definitely intriguing, some were a bit… scary. To him at least, Setsuna seemed to thrive in the environment, she even tried talking to some of the creatures, and when some would turn to her at the sound of her voice she was convinced that they could understand her.

She's a goofball, he knows that, he's uptight, yet he adores her.

She's a breath of fresh air he didn't know he needed.

After the pet store she drags him elsewhere, a little toy store that mainly focuses on hero plushies. She grabs a Ryukyu plush, "This is the hero that Ghosty interned with, she's the Dragoon Hero, close enough to a lizard!"

He chuckles at her, at her randomness.

She perks up at him, a soft and tender smile coming to her lips as she puts the plush back. "Ya know it's crazy…"

Monoma walks around her, grabbing a Vlad King plush, "What is?"

"Someday, there will be plushies of us here." She grabbed a Midnight plush and attacked Monoma's Vlad King using the whip, "I mean, that's a long ways away, but it's crazy to think about isn't it? The future."

Monoma let out a breath he didn't know he was holding, "Yeah."

"Here's an idea." She gives him a wide grin, showcasing her shark-like teeth, "When a company finally designs you a prototype, give me the first one. So I can always have a little Neito with me." The thought makes him blush, but he hides by laughing into his hand.

But then a thought comes to mind, "Alright." His agreement makes her pause, "But, only if you do the same."

It was her turn to look like a deer caught in headlights, "I don't think anyone would buy it."

His brows creased in confusion, "Why's that?"

"My quirk's kinda gross, don't think it'll make me that popular with kids." She shrugged off her words and put the Midnight plush back.

"Better than a copycat." Setsuna pouted before nudging his shoulder with her own, "What was that for?"

"Don't call yourself that."

"Don't call your quirk gross."

Her pout only intensified, "Touche blondie."

"Been a while since you called me that." She shrugged and looked away, "Fine fine, I won't call myself a copycat anymore." He relented, after all he didn't like upsetting her. "But don't call your quirk gross either, it's one of my favorites."

Monoma went to look for other plushies, hoping to find a dinosaur related hero that he would be able to buy for Setsuna, if he had stayed he would have noticed the volcanic blush across her face.

She let out a deep breath, she had always loved teasing, but being so close? Being so honest? It was so different from what she'd always been, how she had always interacted with her friends. She wanted to be a hero like Ms. Joke, someone who always put kids at ease with stupid jokes and laughs.

But her quirk was gross. She'd never admitted that to anyone besides her parents. And the pro that recommended her for UA.

Admitting that to someone else? Especially a boy that she was interested in? It was nerve wracking, yet liberating. And, somehow, it made her feelings feel more mature, like her feelings weren't childish, that they were real.

"Oi, Setsuna!" Flinching up, she couldn't help but let out a giggle as she saw Monoma grinning, a Godzillo plushy in his hands, "I found this one, want it?"

"Yes!" She really hoped this could be something serious.

…

The two walked around the mall, looking at little vendor shops and free sample stands before it would be time for them to live. They were highschoolers and couldn't afford much, but they enjoyed everything that they were doing together.

After leaving another stand, Monoma poked her hand with his pinky. Setsuna raised a brow before letting out her pinky, only for Monoma to wrap it with his own. It wasn't much, they both knew it, but it was enjoyable.

"So, when do you think Greenie and Ghosty are going to get together?" Setsuna asked with a skip in her step and a smile on her face.

"Well…" Monoma sighed as he let himself be dragged along by her, "Midoriya's denying that Yanagi has any sort of emotions for him besides friendship, so knowing that it'll be a while."

Setsuna's skip died and she pouted, "Phooie…"

The two laughed, wondering just when their friends would stop being stupid. Their intertwined pinkies became even tighter. Neither expected the day to be so… normal. Monoma was expecting a hyper, goofy, and rather crazy day that would end up being enjoyable when he looked back on it, yet it ended up being a tender and sweet date.

It turned out to be more honest and real than he was expecting, and he had to admit that he rather enjoyed that a lot. Setsuna on her part expected him to either be a blushing mess or a stoic knight, yet he was honest, sweet, and kind throughout the entire date. She knew he had a soft side to him, but seeing it in full force like this made her fall even more for him.

They both enjoyed it to no end.

And she really hoped the next topic she brought up wouldn't ruin it.

"Hey, Neito-kun."

"Yeah, Setsuna?"

"Did you hear about that creep that Greenie locked up?" She peaked up at him from the corner of her eye.

Monoma shook his head, "Are you talking about the Hero Killer?"

"Yeah, that one." The last they had both heard was that he was detained by Endeavor following the man's defeat at the hands of their friend. Monoma still wished he could have been there, by Izuku's side, to support him. But he knew that was unrealistic.

"What about him?" Monoma found himself asking.

Setsuna hummed as they walked along, going down a set of escalators, Monoma watched her eyes thinking, as if she was trying to form a perfect way to utter her next words,"The news said they're transferring him to Tartarus."

They walked off the escalators, and Monoma could only pause in his step, "The supermax prison…?"

She hummed, looking at him with a bit of concern. "Can't believe Greenie took down someone that dangerous…"

The gap between them seemed to only widen more and more as the weeks passed, neither could barely remember the first day of school when Midoriya could barely use his quirk. Now, a couple months later, he was leading the class as their Representative and in terms of power.

He had bested 1-A's lead and their prince: Bakugo and Todoroki, had taken down the Hero Killer, and went head to head with All Might. Though, they did all help with that last one.

But now, with his quirk changing? What would happen?

"Hey." Monoma blinked at her soft voice, "Wanna talk about something else?" Her tone was kind and sweet, and oh so captivating. "I don't like all this depressing stuff."

A smile graced his lips, "Yeah, me neither." And he gave her pinky a squeeze with his own.

He wished he could keep a hold onto it for a while longer, however he didn't get to as she unwrapped her pinky from his, to a little sadness on his part, "I'm gonna go get you a surprise, can you wait for me?"

Monoma nodded, "Of course." He wanted to add more, like, 'I'll always wait for you' but he found it… too much, he didn't know what to do, he was new to this… honesty and dating. Not to mention he wasn't one for the romantics. But he was trying his best.

"Thanks!" Setsuna walked off and Monoma sat down at a nearby bench, pulling out his phone.

Maybe he could tell Shinso and Midoriya about how the date was going? Or should he wait for it to finish first and then let them know? He wasn't sure.

He would… wait a bit. Not wanting to jump the gun too fast, or assume that everything was going smoother than it actually was. He was confident that it was going well, but he wanted to be absolutely sure first. He was a man of absolutes and—

"Hey, I know you."

Monoma paused, looking up and seeing an unfamiliar figure.

He was thin, with black clothes all over with shaggy blue hair peeking through the lifted hood. It reminded him of something, of someone, but he wasn't sure who. "You know me?" Monoma asked, perplexed.

The man let out a sigh, and it sounded wrong, before sitting down next to Monoma. The action sent a shiver of discomfort up the boy's spine, his systems were on alert. "Yeah, you were in the Sports Festival, part of 1-B, right?"

A slight nod, before–

A hand was wrapped around him, handing off of his shoulder, Monoma didn't know when it had gotten there. He was defensive, ready, but this guy just did that out of nowhere?

"You lost to that hot head from 1-A, Bakugo, right?" The man's voice was raspy, like he hadn't had any water in weeks. Monoma couldn't find it in himself to talk, "Didn't look like you liked him too much."

Well, that was accurate. He didn't like Bakugo.

"I don't like him too much either." Monoma didn't like how he spoke, there was a difference in their distaste for the Bakugo, this man's was much… colder, "I just want him dead." A small silence split between them, "Don't you?"

"W-What?"

A thin, dry, wrinkly hand came up and grabbed his neck. Only a singular finger held off so that Monoma wouldn't turn to dust. Saliva slid down Monoma's throat as he gulped.

"You remember me now, don't you?" The rasp wouldn't leave him alone.

Monoma did remember, memories from the USJ flooded back to him in an instant, seeing things turned to dust, the threats made, the damage that Eraserhead had taken, it all came in a jolt and vasts amount of fear locked him in place

"S-Shigaraki…"

The villain let out a soft series of chuckles, "So you do remember… but you still haven't told me what you think about Bakugo…"

"H-He's a jerk…" Monoma said, hoping that Shigaraki would leave him after an honest answer.

The grip of Shigaraki's other fingers on his throat tightened, the final one inching even closer, "He's just like the rest of you heroes, all he cares about is hurting other people, yet he's idolized by the public. They all focus on him, on all you violent little brats."

Shigaraki's grip got even tighter, leaving Monoma to gasp for air, "Why, after all I've done, why do they always focus on you, on Stain, on that little brat in green, is my destruction not eye-catching enough for their feeble minds?"

Monoma watched on, with little air, as the man silently fumed, not knowing what to do because honestly what was the difference?

But, the answer was easy. The students victory at the USJ was a triumphant moment while the League of Villains had failed their mission: to kill All Might, but why did they want to kill him? Again, with their attack in Hosu, the Nomus sent out were overshadowed by Stain, a man on a mission to rid the world of pros he called fakes.

Why were the Nomus even sent out in the first place?

On top of that, Midoriya's fame was due to his overcoming ability to always win no matter the odds. The public didn't know, but they did, about Midoriya's unwavering will to always save others.

That's why he had stepped up at the USJ, that's why he had stepped up to help Todoroki, why he had befriended Shinso even after the boy was terrible to him, why he pushed himself to fight All Might even after his quirk went haywire.

Stain and Midoriya had messages to deal out.

That heroism was special and fakes shouldn't ruin it.

And that heroes should always fight to save people, no matter the odds.

"Y-Your message…." Monoma muttered through a tight throat.

The vice grip loosened, and Monoma could see Shigaraki smile, "So I was right." Right about? Monoma didn't know or care as he tried to get more air, but whatever it was it appeared to make the villain happy, "You all want villains that aren't villains, villains that you can get behind…."

That's why Stain was so popular within their community, yes the masses at large saw him as evil, but there was a certain group that were hurt by heroes, the very heroes that Stain hunted down. That's why he had followers, that's why he was adored by the rest of Japan's villains.

It was the same thing with Destro, he fought for equal rights even though he was seen as a horrible monster by most of the crowd.

It was the same as Master… who gave equality, who took away curses from those that despised the gifts and gave them to those that wanted them, who would use them, that's how he gathered such an army. It all clicked.

"We need a message—-"

"N-Neito!"

There was nothing else Monoma could do as he stilled, both he and Shigaraki saw Setsuna before them, a look of fear obvious by her shaking eyes, eyes of recognition when looking at the older man.

Monoma wasn't sure what to do, Shigaraki's grin only widened as his grip tightened, "I can't leave any witnesses, I'm sure you understand." His voice was so close, practically in Monoma's ear,"I'm a villain afterall." And the final finger closed in.

But Nothing happened.

"W-What?!"

Monoma grabbed Shigaraki by the front of his hoodie and lifted him up and over his shoulder before slamming him onto the ground, knocking the wind out of the man.

The villain hacked for air, "Why didn't my quirk work?!" Shigaraki yelled and shot to his feet as Monoma stepped forward, acting as a shield between the villain and Setsuna. "What cheat code are you using?!'

A sly grin grew on Monoma's face, "You remember my quirk, don't you?" Shigaraki's eyes grew in anger as Monoma copied his own speech, "Copy, your decay quirk doesn't work on you, so it won't work on me either."

"You little bug!" Beating wasn't the right word to describe what Monoma's heart was doing. It was like a jackhammer in his chest as he watched Shigaraki boil in rage as the man's breath quickened, it was encompassing and he could only focus on it, pushing Setsuna further behind him, but then it stopped.

Shigaraki stilled before his mouth stretched to a grin, small flakes falling off of his crusted lips. "I'll see you again soon, and I can't wait to tear down everything you hold dear."

Monoma tried to reach for him, but the man stepped back and fled into the crowd, the masses were the perfect camouflage. "Damn…"

A delicate hand reached up and cupped Monoma's neck, looking over it for signs of strangulation. "Neito, are you okay?" Setsuna fretted, seeing red marks across the boy's neck. "Let's go tell security, okay?"

His breathing was rough and he touched his neck, the skin still felt tender, "Yeah, let's…"

….

Izuku sat, relaxing at home and checking over recent and old hero news articles, skipping over any that mentioned him (seriously the Stain incident was weeks ago, why were they still talking about it?) jotting down any notes about up and coming heroes or updating notes on ones that he had already recorded.

Knowing was half the battle after all, and Izuku always wanted to keep up to date with heroes. And, hopefully, he could find a way to add some capabilities to his arsenal.

So, that's how he found himself gazing at some recent Miruko fights, the Rabbit Hero was the current Number Six hero but in terms of combat ability Izuku reckoned she would be ranked third or fourth.

Miruko was a combat machine, knew all the ins and outs of her quirk, and had optimized the combat potential of her quirk through rigorous training and expert super move creation and precision. And now Izuku was wondering if he would be able to implement those skills.

His current Shoot Style boots would help, and the added strength that One For All gave him would make things easier, but he would have to precisely copy her moves, which would be hard because they were tailored to her unique rabbit anatomy.

Not only that, but he hadn't even gotten his current kicking style down. Which was a mixture of Gran Torino, the Ingenium family, and Miruko. To add on super moves from one of the top ten to the mix when his base wasn't perfect?

It was a recipe for disaster.

"But…" Izuku tapped his pencil on the table, writing down notes on leg positions, weight distribution, knee and hip angles, follow through timing, and foot movement, "With the summer camp coming up, maybe I'll have time to fix up my base, and I can make time to focus on the super moves later?"

He already had enough punching moves thanks to All Might, time to work on spreading out his arsenal, though he would definitely be looking into getting more down than just the Detroit, Texas, and Delaware smashes.

His own Manchester and St. Louis smashes were leg based, and were derived from Miruko moves but they still lacked precision.

"All Might shrugged my moves off so easily, I have to make them better, and try to get more of One For All's power out…" Izuku muttered as he wrote, "But I need to work on that other thing… Black Whip."

The quirk of his 5th Predecessor, Daigoro Banjo, or Lariat as he went by in the field, still eluded him. He had tried bringing out the quirk but lacked the ability to, there was just a lock between him and the quirk that he couldn't quite break through yet.

You're going about it all wrong kid, Black Whip's controlled through emotion, you gotta keep yourself in check!

The tapping of his pencil got worse and worse. Emotion? He was rather angry during their Final Exam. Was that the key?

The entire thing was… unfair to say the least, with everything stacked against them, All Might was using more power than Nezu said was allowed, on top of not being able to do anything against the man's monstrous strength. The singular reason they had won was due to Shinso's quirk acting as a perfect counter to All Might, and the fact that his friend had figured out the voice modulator.

There was so much to do, and Izuku wasn't sure if he could do all of it before graduation.

DING DONG

Izuku perked up from where he sat on the living room floor, glancing at the kitchen where his mom was. "I'll get it mom!"

"Thank you, sweetie!"

Raising to his feet, Izuku questioned who could be coming at this time, "A-All Might." Izuku stammered as he opened the door, seeing the emancipated form of Toshinori Yagi standing there with a wide grin on his face, "What are you doing here?"

"I am here! With a gift!" The pro grinned as his own joke as he lifted up a thin yellow manilla envelope, the kind that tickets for a concert would be in.

"Izuku! Who is it?" His mother called from the kitchen.

Glancing between the kitchen and the doorway, he invited All Might in. "It's my trainer, mom! The one that helped me get ready for the Entrance Exam!"

A small sound of pattering was heard before Inko was standing in the doorway, a look of confusion and wonder on her face, "Mr. Yagi, right? Izuku talks about you all the time."

"Yes." Toshinori let out a hand for Inko to shake, "My name is Toshinori Yagi, I'm Young Midoriya's personal trainer." The two adults shook hands, "I've just come to drop something off for him, courtesy of UA High School."

The two Midoriyas raised their eyebrows. "What gift could the school be giving my son and why are you delivering it?" Inko asked with a questioning voice.

Izuku gulped at the interrogating tone, but Toshinori simply pulled out a card and handed it to Inko, "Originally it was All Might that was supposed to deliver it, he can make transportation of things much faster than the rest of the staff, but he assigned it to me as his assistant."

The card was an I.D. from All Might's agency, an image of Toshinori on it, a designation below that displayed him as All Might's right hand, the pro's personal assistant. "He meant to deliver it but he has to get ready for an upcoming event, so I've come in his stead."

Inko glanced at the manilla envelope, "And what's the gift?"

Toshinori could only smile more, "As the winner of the Sports Festival, Young Midoriya here has earned himself two tickets to the upcoming I-Island Expo!"

"...the… I-Island… Expo…? I GOT TWO TICKETS TO THE I-ISLAND EXPO!" Izuku couldn't believe, tickets to the Expo! I-Island! The moving Island that was single-handedly pushing quirk research and other areas of engineering and research.

Now only that, but it was also the current work place of All Might's first ever sidekick, the American quirk scientist: David Shield!

"Yes, yes, Young Midoriya." Toshinori chuckled and handed the envelope over, "You get a ticket for yourself and a plus one, anyone you want."

A smile graced Inko's lips as she nudged Izuku's shoulder, "You know Izu, you could totally invite that girl that Monoma and Shinso were talking about yesterday." She giggled as Izuku's face bloomed into a strawberry-looking blush.

"Ah, Young Yanagi, yes?" Toshinori grinned, "My, that's a fine choice."

He wanted to protest, but… he did want her to go with him. It would be fun with her, despite knowing she wouldn't get what most of the things were about, but just being able to talk to her about all the things at the Expo would be wonderful. She let him ramble, and she giggled when he talked about something he enjoyed, she smiled at him when he said supposedly wondrous things.

Reiko… she made him feel good, smart, and happy.

Maybe he could invite her… and maybe…

Me and Reiko?! T-There's nothing going on!

….There could be…

"T-Thanks Mr. Yagi, and y-yeah I think I'll invite her mom." Just thinking about it brought back his stutter.

His silent thinking made him miss the way his mother's eyes watered, and Toshinori's confusion as his phone began to ring. Inko gave his trainer a look of confusion, while Toshinori raised a hand, "I'll take this outside."

And so he did.

"WHAT?!" Both Midoriya's ran outside, seeing the thin man clenching his phone as a look of anger crossed his face. All Might and Izuku locked eyes, "The League of Villains attacked Young Monoma at the mall."

"W-What?!" Izuku couldn't believe it.

Toshinori quickly went back to his phone, "I'll be there soon, Naomasa." He glanced at his student, "I'm sorry, I must get going, I'll message you as soon as I figure out what happened at Kiyashi."

Izuku couldn't form words or thoughts, he was only numb and was praying to some sort of higher power that his friends were okay. Inko nodded, tears already building up in her eyes, "Thank you, Yagi-san."

The pro was gone, and they were left to stew, to think.

Izuku didn't like thinking about this.

…

The bar was cold and barely lit up, and honestly Giran preferred it that way. Shit was comfortable. "So—" The information broker smiled as he sat down, sinking into the leather couch, " —what information do you want your hands on today?"

Across from him sat Tomura Shigaraki himself, the man still having that stupid,creepy hand on his face, but Giran wouldn't say anything. Didn't want to get dusted by the kid's quirk after all. Behind him were some of the new recruits.

Namely, that creepy girl, Himiko Toga, and the burned man, Dabi. No one knew what the guy's real name was, or even what his memo was, they were both just followers of Stain that joined the League since they thought Stain was an affiliate.

Tomura was fine with tricking them about that.

Other bodies littered the bar. Spinner, a lizard man that copied Stain's dress, sat at the bar with Magne, a woman with a large magnet. A weirdo called Twice was trying to talk to them but kept on contradicting himself.

A kid sat at the bar, though away from the others and drinking a smoothie since he was underage, while Compress tried to do magic tricks for him. Moonfish was trapped underground, they didn't want the cannibal eating any of them. And no one knew where Muscular currently was, probably off trying to murk some heroes.

Ah, but none of that mattered right now. It was time to get down to business.

Tomura leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees, "What I want is names of current bigshot villains, I want to have a talk with them, get my name out there, and ask them some questions."

Giran puffed a cloud of smoke from the cigarette in his tooth gap, "I can see about arranging that, but questions? What kinda questions?"

Tomura sighed and reached up, pulling off the hand that was his mask, "I want to see what pushes them forward, what their goals are, what makes them tick." What they could do to raise their numbers up, to get more backing, to get more of a push towards the destruction of the current hero society.

Another cloud of smoke puffed out of Giran's cigarette. The older man smiled, "I'spoze I could do that for you." Tomura nodded, and Giran could see a little downturn in his lips, the kid was thinking, changing, evolving. And man that was interesting to see. "And here, since you're one of my favorite customers, I'll give you some names that I think could help your cause."

Dabi smirked behind Tomura, and Toga hopped in place. Tomura leaned forward once more. "Yeah?"

"Overhaul, Re-Destro, and Wolfram." Giran pulled out three folders from his back, "A bigshot and two smaller companies." He laid them all out in front of Tomura.

"Re-Destro is the current leader of the Meta Liberation Army, or MLA for short, he's also the CEO of Detnerat which is a company that makes support items for people whose quirks mess up their bodies."

Tomura hummed, "Hiding in plain sight, I see. And helping others, indebting them and probably leading to recruitment through that? Interesting."

Say what you wanted about the kid but he could be smart when he wanted to be.

"Then, there's Overhaul, a small-time Yakuza boss, but he's doing big work right now." Tomura gave him a questioning look and he continued, "The resurgence of Trigger is all due to him, they've amplified the drug, making it stronger and lessening the drawbacks. But that's not all—" Giran took his cigarette out and smooshed it on the table, " —- some of my sources say he's got a temporary quirk-erasure drug in the works…"

The room went silent, no one had heard of a quirk-erasure drug, suppressant sure, but erasure was out of the question. Tomura grinned, "Interesting, very interesting."

"And then Wolfram, very small-time villain transportation service, but I've heard from some low-tier thugs that he's hired them for a big steal soon. Guys blabbed way too much." Honestly, such amateurs, telling an info broker all about their up-coming heist? Idiotic.

"What kinda heist?" This time it was Dabi who spoke up, Tomura didn't move to silence him which was surprising to Giran, but he continued anyway.

"There's an upcoming Expo at I-Island, the man-made moving island thing is gonna be near Japan soon so a ton of Japanese heroes and businessmen are gonna be there in a week. With all that business, someone from inside wants to steal one of their own pieces of tech." It was honestly absurd, but so so interesting.

"What's the tech?" Tomura wondered.

Giran tapped his skull, "A headpiece that acts as an administer of a healthy form of Trigger. No setbacks, to withdrawal, no damage to the body or brain, it's called a Quirk Amplifier."

The two men matched grins, "Think we can get some people in on that, Giran?"

"Why, of course. Who do you have in mind?" It was Giran's turn to lean forward.

Tomura glanced behind him, "Twice and Toga, the two are good combatants while also being good at espionage. They'll be making up our Underground Espionage Squad." Twice was a freak, a weirdo, but his quirk was invaluable. He was practically a one man army, or at least he could be. Toga was a master manipulator, not to mention she was good with a blade.

They could perfectly infiltrate Wolfram's raid and attempt to steal that Quirk Amplifier for them. And while they were off doing that, everyone else would be training for the Vanguard Action Squad.

Giran chuckled before snapping a figure, "Consider it done." He got up to leave, "I'll send you a number later, make sure those two are ready."

All he heard was a grunt in return, that was fine it was all he ever got from the kid, but just before he left the bar he heard, "Pleasure doing business with you."

Giran gave a mock salute as he put a new cigarette in his mouth, "Can't wait til next time."

The bar was quiet afterwards, with Toga giggling as she hopped around towards Twice. Dabi crossed his arms and leaned back on a wall, "You sure it's a good idea to pair those two? They aren't the most stable."

Tomura sighed, "If they succeed here then they're worth keeping, we don't need the Quirk Amplifier, but it would be something nice to have." It was more of a test than anything for them.

Dabi raised a brow, "You're more calculating than I thought."

"Well, I've been doing some thinking." Tomura stood and grabbed the hand on the table, sealing it on his face once more, "Now, get ready because I've got a special job for you."

"Me?" A chuckle left Dabi's burnt lips.

Tomura stared Dabi down, "In a couple of weeks, UA's going to be doing something special, a little Summer Camp I've heard, we're going to take some of the kids if we can. Two that I specifically want, and one is on my kill list."

"Why are you telling me this, Handy Man?"

"Because you burnt bastard, are going to be leading as Commander of my Vanguard Action Squad." Tomura walked by him towards the hall where his room resided. "You'll even get to meet the kid that put Stain away."

Dabi let out a surprised sound, "Yield?"

"Is that what they're calling him now?" Tomura asked, it was such a stupid name, "I thought his name was Deku?" He continued walking.

His Commander followed, "The public threw that name away, after all his classification as 'The Unyielding Hero' easily gave way to a new name. News stations have been using it as a sign for villains to give up, for them to 'yield' when faced with him."

Seriously, Tomura wanted to throw up, "He's a flame of inspiration for hero society."

"A flame you want to snuff out?" Dabi asked.

Tomura couldn't help but smile, "Right you are."

END

Okay, so we've got the set up for the next arc, the I-Island Expo, some fluff between Monoma and Setsuna, Izuku realizing that he and Reiko could maybe probably possible be a thing, and Tomura setting up for the future.

Now, there are things I don't want to do in the future, Joint Training and Endeavor Agency while fun in canon are boring to me here, so I'm gonna get rid of those, possibly even the cultural festival too, but right now we already have Tomura being proactive. He is essentially where he is at post All For One being arrested, at least in terms of trying to reach out to other villains

On top of that, I want to expand the League, make them seem like more of a real threat than they are in canon, so they could possibly get even more recruits, as well as more Squads. Like the Vanguard Action Squad. To my knowledge, there's no more designated groups within the League after that, so I added the Underground Espionage Squad in this chapter, though it only has two members.

I also wanted to let everyone know that my updates might slow down even more, writing this over and over has become mindnumbing but I still find it so interesting so I'm continuing.

But, I do have other fics I might want to publish, so I'm gonna ask you guys to pick between three and I'll see what gets chosen.

- Going Digital: A Digimon / My Hero Cross Over, blending the first five season of Digimon with MHA to create a prodigious experience.

- MHA Rewritten: My take on MHA from the ground up

- Izuku's Interns: Hero schools aren't a thing, Izuku is older than the main cast and is All Might's student, after becoming a full-fledged pro at All Might's agency it's time for him to train his first interns: Momo and Todoroki.