"Alright then, you all have your hero costumes, right? Remember, you aren't allowed to wear them in public. Don't drop them or anything." Aizawa said as he met up with his class at the train station to see them off to their internships.
"Yessir!" Mina yelled happily holding her case over her head.
"Speak clearly! It's 'yes, sir,' Ashido!" Aizawa yelled making the girl hug her case sadly.
"Yes, sir..."
"Make sure you mind your manners with the heroes at your internships! Off with you, now." Aizawa said making the giant group split up to head to their respective trains.
"Call me when you get to Gunhead's place, alright?" Izuku said as he walked with Ochaco over to her train. She nodded and pecked his cheek before walking inside. He turned around to see Hayato doing the same with Momo before she left to her train as well. "Hayato!" He turned around to hear his best friend calling his name.
"Oh, Izuku."
"Can you tell me where you're going to intern now?!" Izuku asked making Hayato shake his head. Hayato had kept quiet about where he was going to intern, only telling Izuku that it was close by. "Come on! Does your grandpa know at least?!"
"He knows, but I told him not to tell you or anyone else."
"Why? Is it that embarrassing?" Izuku asked playfully punching his best friend's chest.
"I wouldn't hear the end of it if I told you."
"Well...just like I told Uraraka, when you get there either call me or send me a text."
"Will do." Hayato said leaving towards the train heading where Nighteye's Agency was located.
"Hello! Gran Torino?" Izuku called out as he arrived at Sorahiko's home and opened the door.
"I'm here, I'm here." He looked to see the older man now wearing a white jumpsuit with a black mask over his eyes along with yellow gloves, boots, and a cape. "You finally made it. Where's Hayato?"
"Hayato arrived at his hero's agency almost ten minutes ago." Izuku explained as the older man walked behind him and closed the door. "I'm sorry he decided not to intern under you."
"It's fine, kid. Whatever I had planned for him, I can really do at any point. He's my kid's kid, and a damn fine person at that." Sorahiko explained as he looked up at the boy. "But you? I want to get ahead with you. So go and get dressed into your hero costume."
"You're too impulsive. You just run in blind." Nighteye said as he effortlessly dodged Hayato's attacks in a special room he had in the agency building for training. Hayato landed behind him, wearing his hero costume, and began to breathe heavily.
"What do you want me to do? This Quirk doesn't give me the time or anything to do what you think I can." Hayato said taking off his cowl.
"It could, you have the time. But what you're lacking, it's the something we can work on right now."
"What is it?"
"Train your body to be able to do more and use up less." Nighteye answered fixing his glasses.
"How? You can make me run as much as you want, nothing's gonna change." Hayato asked standing up.
"What's your top speed at the moment?"
"I can reach maybe 170 kilometers an hour, but I can only keep that speed up for maybe six close to seven seconds."
"Then use up a quarter of that kind of energy and keep it moving through your body." Nighteye said making Hayato look at him confused. He took out a comic book about a famous fictional red speedster and handed it to him. He quickly skimmed through the pages and looked at his current mentor confused.
"You know his powers are different than mine, right? I don't have some multi-dimensional force giving me powers."
"But, the world moves for you the same way it does for him, or am I wrong? Once you use your abilities, everything slows down." Nighteye asked crossing his arms. Hayato looked down and remembered how when he would activate his Quirk, it felt as if everybody slowed down and depending on how fast he was going: sometimes it felt close to a standstill for a brief moment. "I'm telling you to use a fourth of what you can do to make it seem easier for your body. We're training it to be able to do more work and use less of its precious minerals to do so."
"I'm gonna try." Hayato said closing his eyes and let his Quirk's powers flow through his body before weakening how much he was pushing into it.
"Do or do not, there is no try."
"I don't think that quote applies here." Hayato said opening his eyes to look at his mentor.
"It always does." Nighteye said noticing how Hayato's body began to vibrate and a faint white glow in his eyes. "Keep this up and then try to do everything normally until you're absolutely running on empty."
"Come on, kid. This really can't be the best you can do." Sorahiko said as Izuku laid on the ground, holding his stomach in pain.
"I can keep going!" Izuku yelled standing up. He looked down at his new costume, it was extremely similar to his old one except the materials were now different and even the color scheme was darker. Sorahiko smirked and jumped into the air, propelled by bursts of wind firing from his feet. He began jumping off the walls and the ceiling until he lunged at Izuku. He grabbed the older man right before he could make contact with him and tried throwing him to the ground. Sorahiko simply flipped in mid-air and propelled himself forward to headbutt Izuku in the nose.
"What limit are you using One for All at right now?" Sorahiko asked as Izuku covered his nose, feeling blood drip from it.
"Currently? Five percent?" Izuku said holding his nose shut.
"Not enough, push it to eight." Sorahiko said hitting his hand with his cane. He walked over to the sofa and sat down to look at the boy. "Your body has already grown used to five, we need to continue pushing more into it so that you can control it fully without any problems." Izuku closed his eyes and carefully began letting more of One for All's energy into his body. "You know, when I met All Might, he was nothing more but a Quirkless brat who my sworn friend decided to give her powers to. He grew on me, I could see that this kid had the power to change the world for the better. I sent him abroad so he could finish learning to be a Hero, now he's the number one hero in the world. I see that kind of potential in you too, kid. But you need to be willing to put yourself through hell."
"I'll do whatever it takes to prove myself as All Might's successor. I swear to you that I will be number one!" Izuku yelled before his phone began to ring. Sorahiko walked over and grabbed the phone to see that he was getting a call from Ochaco, but what caught his attention the most was how his photo for her was one of her kissing his cheek.
"Who's this?" Sorahiko asked as Izuku ran over and took the phone from him. He quickly answered and walked away from the old man, but that didn't stop him and he snuck over to eavesdrop on the call.
"Hello?"
"Deku! How are things going over there so far?" Ochaco asked making Izuku smile just from the sound of her voice.
"It's fine, I'm beginning my training with Gran Torino right now."
"Oh...I wasn't interrupting was I?"
"Nononono! We were taking a quick break!"
"Oh. Well I got to Gunhead's place safely, I just forgot to charge my phone before I came here so I had to wait to get some battery in it, sorry!"
"You don't need to apologize, as long as I know you're there then I'm happy."
"But the main reason I called...we really need to talk about Yao-momo and Hayato."
"Hayato and Yaoyorozu? Why? They're really good together."
"It's not about them being bad for one another, Yao-momo's really worried about him."
"...I can see where she's coming from." Izuku sighed as he took a seat. "He's been sort of distant...he has these moments where it's like the lights are on but no one's home...and not to mention he wouldn't even tell me where he's interning. I hate to admit it, but Blitz really did something to him."
"He lost his grandpa, he loses in the sports festival, his parents are back in town, and now he gets tagged by an extremely dangerous villain. Hayato is really going through a lot, Deku. You can't say it's just been because of Blitz." Ochaco said making Izuku cover his face with his hand. "Yao-momo is to the moon and back for him, but she can't stand seeing him like this."
"If she can't, then imagine me. I can't say anything else about them because their relationship is theirs, I can't get involved. But if she's so worried, then she should talk to him. If there's anyone who can make him talk right now, it's her." Izuku said before hearing another voice on the line call Uraraka's hero name.
"Oh, Gunhead's calling for me. You want me to swing by your place later?"
"Feel free, my mom loves when you visit. Bye."
"Bye." Ochaco followed that up with a kiss sound making him do the same. He ended the call and turned around to see Sorahiko looking at him in disbelief.
"G-Gran Torino! D-Did you hear any of that?!"
"My boy has a girlfriend and he's acting different now?" Izuku gulped at what Sorahiko said making him shake his head.
"N-No! You're confused! I said all of that to make you think that he wouldn't tell you something like that! Ha ha! See?! I'm laughing!" Izuku yelled while hoping he was covering his tracks. Sorahiko sighed and took off his mask to look at the boy.
"Hayato is my flesh and blood, right now he means the absolute world to me. So you are going to tell me the truth right now and I'll tell you one as well." Izuku looked at his options right now and he knew that any lie he could say would only get him into further trouble.
"Yes. Hayato has a girlfriend. He was going to tell you once they made it public to her family, it's probably the best thing going for him right now aside from the hero course. I'm in no position to tell you anything further about this, but just know that when he tells you: he'll probably have her with him so she can meet you at the same time. But, he is acting different. And we honestly think that when the Speed Hunter attacked us the other night, it left some kind of impression on him that's making him re-evaluate everything right now." Izuku explained sitting down to make eye contact with the old man.
"He's not re-evaluating anything, if anything he's evaluating his situation further. He's probably doing the best he can right now to personally put that rogue bastard behind bars himself. Now he has another reason to do so, when predators become obsessed with their prey: they will go to any means to trap them. You, me, and now this Yao-whatever girl, he wants to keep us all safe from the Speed Hunter, because deep down he knows that he couldn't live with himself if he does anything to us to get to him." Sorahiko explained taking a seat next to him.
"How do you know this?"
"He's my grandson. I can already figure how he's thinking." Sorahiko said with a proud smirk forming on his lips. "Now my truth, I know where he's interning. He's interning with Sir Nighteye, All Might's old sidekick." Izuku's eyes widened at this reveal.
"Nighteye...? Why him? And why the secrecy about it?"
"I'm not sure, but just know that everything will go back to normal. Now, get off your lazy butt and let's get back to your training."
"Sir...it's been almost an hour...can I stop?" Hayato asked with a warble to his voice as he sat in the middle of the training room. Nighteye looked up from his book and shook his head.
"Did you know that David Shield and All Might met each other when he saved him from a fire after moving to Los Angeles? That's in California." Nighteye said making Hayato roll his eyes. "Makes how you and Midoriya look like child's play. Oh wait, it was."
"Ha ha...very...funny..." Hayato said shaking his head before feeling his power suddenly leave his body. He fell backwards and began to breathe rapidly as his entire body began to ache. "Damn it!"
"You held that for...fifty eight minutes and forty seven seconds. " Nighteye said looking from his book to his watch. "I'm amazed you held on for so long. And you kept the power at 25 percent the entire time?"
"Like I had...a choice?" Hayato asked between breaths. Nighteye simply walked over and handed him a bottle of his favorite sports drink, that he then immediately chugged down. "What was the point of that?"
"Like I said, we're training your body to be able to do more and use up less."
"But wouldn't like I don't know, five percent, be better than twenty five?"
"Don't be stupid." Hayato flinched slightly as Nighteye turned to glare at him. "What are you? A kid? You need to push as much as possible and keep going. How do you think exercise works? You want to go fast? Then work on going fast. You're built for speed but you're lacking stamina. We're going to work your body as hard as possible to give you stamina." Nighteye explained fixing his glasses. "If you thought being in U.A. was hard work, then you haven't seen anything yet."
The next four days were hell for both boys. At one point, Izuku didn't have the strength to go home and slept at Sorahiko's to recover strength for the next morning. He was pushing himself to use double than what he had been using since the Sports Festival, and he would often finding himself using too little or too much energy. He could see why this man was the one who trained his idol, nothing but practical training for him even if it left him broken and bruised. He was too determined to let this slow him down, even if he left the old man's place late and had to leave his home extremely early: it was all worth it.
For Hayato, he felt like Nighteye was testing him to see when he would quit. Everyday he would be put through the same training that made his muscles scream for him to stop. After two days, he went from sitting in place to being forced to move around and keep himself at the speed Nighteye told him. He would be at his agency early and leave extremely late. He rarely got a break if it wasn't to replenish his energy, at the end of the fourth day it all felt easier for him.
But for their girlfriends, their training was worrisome. Momo was already having doubts about her own internship, but not being able to talk to him was upsetting her daily. Every time she called him, she would always get the same response by message hours later: Sorry! I'm really busy! I'll call you later! But he never did. As for Ochaco, Izuku would answer her but sometimes he sounded like it hurt him to talk or like he was holding his nose. She knew what he was doing was worth it but the cost was hurting her, even if she wouldn't admit it to him.
Meanwhile in Kamino, two villains sat in their bar. Tomura Shigaraki scratched his pale neck while his comrade made of purple mist served two glasses with whiskey.
"Where are they?" Tomura asked as he began scratching himself even more. "Kurogiri, did you tell them the right time?!"
"Patience, Tomura Shigaraki, patience." Suddenly the door to their hideout was flung open and they looked to see Blitz standing in the doorway with Stain in tow. "Hello. Please, have a seat." Kurogiri said motioning to two bar stools and sliding the glasses he filled over to them.
"What's this about?" Stain asked as he grabbed the glass and downed the liquid inside.
"We have a proposition for you." Tomura said as he reached into his pocket and took out a tube filled with a red liquid.
"How did you get that?" Blitz asked taking a step forward.
"I have my ways. I can supply you with as much as you need, all I need you to do is pledge your loyalty to our cause."
"And what cause is that?"
"Creating an All Might-less world." Stain and Blitz's eyes widened at this. "All Might is the reason so many villains are afraid of coming out and joining the party. You take out the other team's boss, it's all smooth sailing from there."
"And what if I say no?" Stain asked reaching for a knife holstered on his side.
"Then I'll persuade you." The two looked behind Tomura to see a TV screen with the words "SOUND ONLY" on it.
"Who are you?"
"A friend. You two are the most sought after villains at the moment, I'm very impressed. So I'd like to extend an offer to both of you: join us and the League of Villains, and whatever you seek will have our full support." The voice coming from the screen said making Stain chuckle.
"Can you rid Japan of all of those fake heroes?" Stain asked raining an eyebrow at the screen.
"I can do you one better, I can rid the world of them all."
"Same with Speedsters?" Blitz asked lifting up the front of his mask to drink the whiskey Kurogiri poured for him.
"Whatever your hearts desire, they shall be yours. Do we have an agreement, gentlemen?" The voice asked making Blitz and Stain look at each other. They nodded and looked at the screen.
"We're in."
"Mother, I'm back!" Momo called out as she entered her family's home...well, mansion, following another day at her internship. She greeted their butler and walked to her room, placing her bag on her bed and taking out her phone. She did the same as she had done the past few days, she looked for Hayato's number and was ready to dial it. She hesitated as her finger neared the button and simply placed her phone to her side. She then heard her message notification and looked down to see that Hayato had sent her a message already. She opened it to see a text message that read: I'm a little busy with patrols today, if you want I can call you if I have the time. She rolled her eyes at the message and threw her phone into her blanket. "Ugh! If I have the time, who the hell says that?! What is wrong with you?!" She then heard a knock at the door. "Enter!"
"Momo?" Momo jumped up slightly as her mother walked in. "Who were you talking to? All I heard was: what's wrong with you."
"O-Oh! My classmate is struggling in class! He's worried about failing his final exams in the coming weeks, but when I tell him all he needs to study, he says there's no point and I accidentally told him: what's wrong with you?!" Momo said hoping her mother was telling the truth about what she said.
"I see, well as long as that's the case."
"Well, what did you assume?" Momo asked with a slight gulp.
"That you were hiding a boy from me."
"Mother, don't be silly!" Momo yelled waving her hands nervously.
"Well, change into something nice. We're going out tonight."
"You must think that Sir is being harsh on you." Centipeder asked as he and Hayato, dressed in his hero costume, walked down the sidewalk.
"I think he's a dictator." Hayato said grabbing his left arm.
"He's dedicated to training you. He might be a little rough around the edges, but he's got your best interests in mind." Centipeder said as they crossed the street. Hayato looked down feeling his pocket vibrate and looked to see a call from Izuku coming in. "Take it."
"Hello?"
"Hayato, how's it going?"
"I'm on patrol right now, bud."
"Have you done anything heroic?"
"If you call getting my ass handed to me by my mentor heroic, then I've done a lot." Hayato said as he and Centipeder turned the corner. "And my old man?"
"He's heating up some Taiyaki right now, have you talked to Yaoyorozu recently?"
"Not really, I've been too busy. How's that special training going?"
"If you think you're in hell, imagine me." Hayato chuckled at Izuku's response while Centipeder looked at him and around them.
'Centipeder...' Nighteye's voice played in his mind. 'Within the next few days, Kiryuu will come into contact with the Speed Hunter again. When that happens, you are to try to get him to run as fast as possible.'
"Well, I'll leave you to it. Tell my grandpa I said hi." Hayato said before hanging up. He looked at wallpaper which was a photo of Momo, he sighed and put his phone away. Every part of him wanted to call her and hope she would answer, but considering how late it was getting: it was better if he texted her later...even if it was all he's been able to do. He and Centipeder continued their patrol until suddenly, something hit Centipeder away and into a parked car. "Centipeder!" He turned to run to his superior only to see something land on the car next to him. He looked up to see Stain glaring at him with a rusty and damaged Katana in his hands.
"Breakneck! Run!" Centipeder yelled as he extended his arm forward, making a long centipede-like limp go towards Hayato. Stain simply jumped forward and used his blade to cut the limb, making Centipeder yell in pain.
"So, you're one of the brats I have to deal with? You look like you're just a student." Stain said as he towered over Hayato, studying him.
"I AM a student, smart guy. What the hell do you want with me?"
"If you're just a kid, then I have no business with you. But him on the other hand, he's a different case." Hayato looked behind Stain and quickly activated his Quirk, using the moment of slowed down time to see that Blitz was headed his way. He turned to look at Centipeder who pointed at him to run and gritted his teeth. Centipeder looked at the boy, seeing how conflicted he was, before noticing the white glow growing brighter in his eyes. Hayato turned around and began to run, moments before Blitz reached where he was standing before. Blitz nodded at Stain who jumped away before he followed in pursuit of the boy, running through traffic and alleyways as other heroes in the area noticed the situation.
"Make this easy for me, boy!" Blitz called out laughing maniacally.
"Are you sure surprising Hayato is a good idea?" Izuku asked as he and Sorahiko sat on a train, headed to visit Hayato.
"I'm sure he'll like it. Just don't tell him I told you about Nighteye." Sorahiko said before the two heard a loud thud. They looked to the side to see the wall of the train burst open and a pale deformed man with its brain visible at the top of its head with four eyes burst through making the people inside the train scream.
"Nomu?!" Izuku asked noticing the similarity to the villain that All Might fought at USJ.
"Kid, stay back!" Sorahiko yelled as he shot towards the villain and tackled it, flying with it into the streets below.
"Gran Torino!" Izuku yelled as he followed, using Full Cowling to jump onto the rooftops. He looked down to see Sorahiko and Nomu on the street, glaring at each other. Before Nomu could attack him, it was hit by a stream of fire and the two looked to see Endeavor walking towards them.
"Back away, old man. I don't want you to get hurt." Endeavor said before the fire around the Nomu suddenly went out. It let out a shrill scream before releasing the fire at Endeavor and Sorahiko, both of whom dodged the attack by jumping up. Its muscles began to grow and it opened its mouth, making its tongue shoot out and grow into a web like net.
"Watch out, Todoroki! It's got multiple Quirks!" Sorahiko yelled before propelling himself as fast as he could towards the creature's head, slamming it into the ground. "I broke the ground, I must be out of practice." He said to himself before looking at the number two hero. "I appreciated the assistance, but why are you here?"
"I heard the Hero Killer was in town, but as it turns out: so is the Speed Hunter." Endeavor responded crossing his arms. Shoto and Izuku then appeared, running to the two men before hearing the words they never imagined they'd hear. "Also, it looks like the Speed Hunter is chasing a Speedster dressed similar to you." The two stopped and froze hearing this, immediately knowing who he was referring to. "The heroes that called it in said he looked young, probably as young as my Shoto."
"Hayato..." Sorahiko whispered as it dawned on him who it was too.
"Mother, if I may ask: where are we going?" Momo asked as she sat dressed in a long red dress in her family's limousine. She turned to look at her mother who sighed and fixed her hair.
"Momo, do you think you're ready to date boys?" Her mother asked making Momo blush.
"W-Well, it was never really a thought, but I would assume so."
"Well, one of my friends has a son your age. He's single, he's handsome, and he has a Quirk that would blend together perfectly with yours. We're going to meet them right now." Her mother's explanation made Momo's jaw drop slightly, but she stopped it before her mother could see her shock.
"Um...can I ask why?"
"Well, it'd be great to have you already looking for a husband. And he seems like the right boy for you." Momo looked outside of the window to look at one of the bright LED signs, hiding her disappointment from her mother.
'But he isn't...' Momo said before the car came to a screeching halt. They noticed people running past the car and opened the doors to walk outside and see explosions happening in the distance from them. "What's going on?!"
"A villain attack?!" Momo looked at her mother worriedly before creating a pair of binoculars from her arm to see what was happening. She gasped as she saw two more Nomu, a black one with its lower jaw exposed throwing a car, and a pale yellow one flying with a hero in its claw-like legs. "Momo, what do you see?"
"...Mother, get back in the car or run." Momo said throwing the binoculars away. But then suddenly the two heard screaming and looked up to see a shadow falling towards them. Momo moved out of the way as it landed on the car next to them and she looked to see Hayato, cringing from his immense pain. "H-Hayato?!"
"Momo..." Hayato whispered weakly before rolling off of the car. He looked where the Nomu were to see Blitz walking towards them with his claws ripping through the cars the citizens left on the road as if they were made of butter.
"Blitz? Hayato, what's going on?"
"I can't explain it to you right now-"
"Stop that!" Hayato flinched slightly while her mother looked at the two confused. "Since you started that damn internship, that's all I feel like I've been told by you. Like I don't matter, like I don't-" She was cut off by Hayato tearing off his cowl and pulling her in for a kiss which made the older Yaoyorozu's jaw drop as she saw her daughter give in and return the kiss. While it was only for a few seconds, to the two it felt like an eternity before Hayato broke the kiss, placing his forehead on hers.
"You DO matter, you're one of the few things that does matter to me. But, I need to get that bastard as far away from here as possible until someone can stop him." Hayato whispered making Momo place a hand on his cheek. "I can't let him get to Izuku, you, or anyone else. If he wants me then I need to lure him away like bait. Run as fast as you can. I just need to keep his attention on me."
"Please. Don't let him catch you. I can't lose my boyfriend before we even make it to a month." Momo begged as she could hear the scraping from Blitz's claws grow louder.
"As long as I think about running back to you, I won't." Hayato whispered planting another kiss, this time on Momo's forehead. "I'm sorry."
"I missed you." Momo said before Hayato stepped away from her. She nodded at him and walked over to her mother, grabbing her hand and running.
"Blitz, you want me?" He was answered by Blitz sadistically nodding. "Then come get me, jackass!" Hayato yelled throwing actual electrolyte chews into his mouth and running as fast as he could. Blitz chuckled and followed him, tearing into cars making them explode. Momo looked at their rapidly fading figures before stopping and taking out her phone. Once they were off the street and out of sight for Blitz, a thought crossed her mind. The two of them had just did and said all of that, and her mother was there to witness it all.
"Momo, who was that boy?" She heard her mother's question and bit her lower lip, she knew there was no way she could get out of this.
"Hayato! Where are you?!" Izuku yelled as he ran through the streets before being stopped by the tall figure of Sir Nighteye, standing as if he was waiting for him. "You're-"
"Kiryuu is in trouble. Do you wish to help him?" Nighteye asked as he turned his piercing gaze to the boy.
"Y-Yes! Of course!"
"He's headed towards the park where you two met, I will meet you there with heroes that can arrest him properly. Don't leave evidence you two fought the Speed Hunter, otherwise I will be in big trouble alongside Gran Torino." Nighteye said turning back around to walk away. Izuku took in the information he had just been given and ran away, not realizing that Nighteye was smirking.
"This is your test, Hayato. I know you won't fail." Nighteye said to himself before running to where he knew Centipeder was currently regenerating his missing limb.