Chapter Text
Izuku woke up to one of the most terrifying things he could imagine: a message from Nozomi telling him that she needed to speak with him promptly at 8 AM in her office.
He sighed, glancing over at the clock in his room.
7:48 AM
‘Shit.’
Gently as he could, he squeezed himself out from underneath his girlfriends - a concept that was still mind-boggling to him- and got dressed as quietly as possible.
Unfortunately, it’s hard to be gentle and quiet when you’re 195cm tall. The four women on his bed were all awakened by his motion, but he didn’t really have a choice in the matter.
Katsumi rubbed her eyes. “Where the hell are you going so fast?”
“Nozomi asked for me, in uh-” he checked the clock- “in nine minutes. Crap.”
Momo looked a little worried, which was a reasonable reaction when dealing with Nozomi. “You better hurry.”
“Right, right! Sorry for waking you up!” he called as he dashed out the door, one of his shoes still not tied.
Izuku reached up to knock on Nozomi’s door, but he was interrupted by a ‘come in!’ before he could make contact. He nervously swung the door open, his mind racing and fearing over what she had in store for him.
To his surprise, and to his concern, Nozomi wasn’t alone.
Sitting in one of the chairs in front of his desk was a middle-aged woman in an expensive and well-fit black suit. She had short, professional brown hair and a practiced, disarming smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes. Izuku could immediately tell that she was a foreigner, probably American.
“Come in, Midoriya,” Nozomi said cheerfully in her squeaky voice. “I have someone I would like you to meet. Please, have a seat.” She gestured to the chair next to the woman.
Izuku approached and took a seat. He looked down on the woman, of course, and he probably had at least 75 kilos on her, but he couldn’t help but feel a little cowed by her confident, experienced stare.
“Hello, Mr. Midoriya,” she said in accented Japanese. “You may call me The Director.”
“It is a pleasure to meet you.” Izuku bowed his head politely.
“The Director is offering us a unique opportunity,” Nozomi began. “Thanks to her truly unique quirk, we have a chance to look into the past and gather information that we would have no way of knowing about otherwise.”
“A chance, yes,” The Director added. “My quirk is called Lights, Camera, Action!, and it allows me to create television shows and movies using the events of people’s lives.”
Izuku paled. “W-wait, are you trying to sell my life as a show or something?”
Nozomi laughed.
God, that noise is still unsettling…
The Director’s smile never faded. “No. You see, I’ll be showing you the production.”
“But, I already lived my life. How will that help?”
“My quirk does not allow you to see the future,” she began, “but it does allow for us to see the past in unique detail. It turns the life and experiences of a catalyst into a television show or movie, like I said. The production will have all the qualities of its type, such as an opening theme, a credits sequence and sometimes even commercial breaks. However, it does not create documentaries, but dramas, comedies and more. All of my productions feature several artistic tools wound into them as part of this dramatization, among which are two of the most useful: foreshadowing and dramatic irony”
Izuku rubbed his chin. “So, we could see things that are foreshadowed to the audience, or know things that the ‘characters’ don’t know at the time? Like we might have been able to know about the attack on the USJ if we had watched the show?”
“Very good!” Nozomi chirped. “You catch on fast.”
“But wait,” Izuku muttered. “What’s a catalyst?”
The Director clapped her hands together. “I cannot use my quirk on everyone, only certain people function as ‘catalysts’ for my quirk. I can identify these people with a glance; they appear luminescent to me. I travel quite frequently, and was present in the crowd observing the Sports Festival.” She laughed a small amount, never losing her professional aura. “I have to admit, I have never been less surprised to see someone as a catalyst than the first man with a quirk.”
Nozomi sighed. “In light of all the attention you are receiving and are going to receive, I believe it would be wise to accept this offer. Furthermore, I believe it is fitting to include some of your classmates in the viewing.”
“W-wait, what?” Color fell from his face again. “Uh, w-what exactly does your quirk show?” he asked The Director.
“Basically everything, and then some,” she answered succinctly. “We will see your actions, words and thoughts. We will see the same of your classmates, your teachers and perhaps even the villains. Whoever is important to the story. I have no control over it, I am merely the vessel for my quirk in many ways.”
Izuku stared at Nozomi. I know she knows about my secrets, what game is she playing? She can’t mean to expose-
“I absolutely do mean to expose you,” Nozomi interrupted. “You were mumbling again, by the way.”
“ .ͅ.̝.Y̬o̬u ̗we͎ren’t.” Nana mumbled, sounding a little scared herself.
Izuku hid his fear with a blush. “B-but why? What is there to gain?”
Nozomi closed her eyes and looked down. “I’ve been giving your situation a lot of thought. Even though you are quite powerful, you are still but a man. The entire world is going to be against you in many ways, Midoriya. I believe it is in your best interest to emulate All Might in many ways, but not all. She insisted on standing alone, but I think it will be best if you stand with many.”
Izuku lowered his head in thought.
“̦Y̼ou kn̲o͟w͓,̮ she͙ m̰ight ̦b̯e r̺igh͎t, ̝To̺s̬hi͉ ̫coul̠d͉ ha̟ve ṳs͇e̳d̤ aͅ ̡f͎r̨i̬e̙nd̙ or tw̪o̞ a͓lo͕ṋg͕ ̠t͜h͖e way̡.͙ Y͍o͙u̥ k̯no̹w, sha̲re ̜th̦ę ̫burde͢n”͜
You’re okay with this?
Izuku felt her shrug. “It̢’s̻ ͈y̨oụrͅ ͇cho̮i̬c͚e. Tho̺se ̗f̹ri͟en͚d̞s of̯ y̙o̜u̜r̨s ̱are g̣ood ͈peo̦pl͔e, ̩y̫o͔u̳ ̫c̠ould̜ do̰ a̗ ͓ḽot͍ ̠w͚o̭rse̖ than͔ ḩavi͓ng ţhem̮ h̨elp̤ ̟y̘ou. ”
The Director was polishing her sunglasses in the meantime. “Take your time, Mr. Midoriya, but I have an offer than may assuage some of your concerns. One of my close associates has a memory-erasing quirk that could remove all of the ‘damage’ done by your secrets getting out, should you deem it necessary.”
“I…” Izuku paused, looking down again and rubbing his hand through his hair. “Alright. I-I’ll do it.”
“Excellent!” Nozomi clapped her hands. “Midnight will be the official UA supervisor, in charge of recording and reporting any findings relevant to the safety of the school and its students. Midoriya, I want you to go and get, let’s say… nine of your classmates that you trust the most.”
That’s an awfully specific number…
He shot a suspicious look to Nozomi. “You already know who I’m going to pick, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do,” she responded simply. “In fact, I’ve already sent for them. They’re waiting outside with Midnight, who will lead you to the viewing lounge I’ve set up. Now, off you go!”
Izuku scowled, but obeyed and stood up, heading for the door with The Director behind him.
All Might, I hope you’ll forgive me…
He swung the door open and stepped into the hallway, looking down at the group of girls gathered around. Mei, Momo, Ochako, Katsumi, Mina, Kyoka, Eiko, Shoko, Tsuyu… yeah Nozomi got it. Damn, she’s creepy.
“Hey, Deku!” Ochako chirped. “Midnight won’t tell us- what’s going on?”
“Uh… it’s hard to explain.” He wasn’t lying. This is all happening so fast.
“Who’re you?” Shoko flatly asked The Director.
Midnight cracked her whip. “Everything will be explained,” she called out over the group of students. “But later. For now, follow me.”
Midnight opened the door to a cozy room filled with couches, bean bag chairs, and large screen that dominated the far wall. “Grab a seat, boy and girls, we’ll get started shortly.”
Izuku froze in the doorway, the screen seeming to pull further and further away from him. Am I ready for this? They’ll know everything. I didn’t want to lie to them…
A buzz in his pocket shocked him back to reality. He pulled his phone out and saw another message from Nozomi. ‘AM knows and gives you her blessing.’
I wonder why she’s not here… He looked around the room at the nine students and Midnight, who were all looking expectantly at him.
“Izuku, are you alright?” Momo asked, looking concerned.
He blinked a few times then nodded. “Yeah, it’s just… well, I think you’ll understand why I’m a little stressed soon.”
Several of the women shot each other worried looks and raised eyebrows as he entered the room and sat down on the seat Ochako and Mei had saved between them.
The Director was standing quietly near the front of the room as the students got situated. Izuku sat in the middle of one of the couches, Ochako and Momo to his left, with Mei and Katsumi to his right. Kyoka, Mina, Tsuyu and Eiko had pulled up bean bags in front of the couch, while Shoko was sitting a little further away on a couch by herself. I’ll get her over here once she’s more comfortable.
“Mr. Midoriya, are you ready?” The Director asked. He hesitated for a moment before taking a deep breath and nodding. “Excellent. Then let me be the first to welcome the rest of you to the show. You may call me The Director, and I am here to show you something quite interesting, I would imagine. You are all here to witness the story of one Mr. Izuku Midoriya, retold flawlessly in living color.”
“Uh, what?” Mina asked dumbly.
“Be respectful, Ashido,” Midnight chided, “The Director is offering us some of her incredibly valuable time.”
The Director nodded graciously. “It is quite alright, Ms. Kayama, but thank you. Allow me to explain. My quirk is called Lights, Camera, Action!, and it allows me to create television shows and movies using the events of people’s lives.”
Izuku noted that she gave the exact same explanation as before. I wonder how many times she’s given this same speech…
“Wait, we’re gonna see Deku’s life?” Ochako looked back and forth frantically between the lone man and the American.
The woman nodded. “Correct. Although, I must first warn you. I have done this many times before with many other people, and one thing is always true. As part of this production, the thoughts and secrets of those involved, not just the catalyst become evident. Most if not all of you will have some personal thought or secret exposed at the end of our time together.”
The women shifted around a little, looking at each other.
“ However ,” The Director continued, “Whoever stays and experiences this, I can promise that you will forge tighter bonds with each other. An experience like this will cause many issues, but those who weather the storm come out stronger, in mind and spirit. Any of you that wish to not participate, you are free to leave. However... you will still be a character within the production, there’s nothing I can do to change that.”
Midnight’s eyes sparkled with excitement, but her body refused to let that leak out as she clicked her heels on the ground to grab their attention. “And, as much as I like the ol’ cuffs-and-chains, talking about this outside of here is absolutely forbidden . There is no safe word for the places you would be sent to for breaking those rules.”
Her eyes lost the excitement as her years of being a pro shone through. “If you cannot handle that pressure, you can leave now.”
All the students looked at each other and then to Izuku, who did his best to put on a reassuring smile, but he was pretty sure he was failing.
“No takers?” Midnight asked expectantly. “Excellent… Strap in kiddos, I’m sure this will be a very entertaining day.”
Izuku gulped.
The Director looked at Izuku, almost a little sympathetically. “Are you ready to begin, Mr. Midoriya?” she asked again, approaching this time. He nodded again, flinching slightly as she held her hand out towards him. He felt a tug in the back of his mind and suddenly green energy shot out of his eyes in a long band and coalesced into a glowing ball in The Director’s hand. It didn’t hurt, but the sensation was strange, causing Izuku to gasp slightly. The Director then held her two hands together and stared at the energy, looking intently at it. The onlookers watched her eyes as they moved inhumanly fast, seeming to be reading or intently observing something.
As quickly as she began, she stopped.
“Well!” She sounded impressed. “This is quite a rare one indeed!”
Izuku felt like he was being examined as an exotic specimen. I guess I need to get used to that, though. First male hero and all…
“Mr. Midoriya, you have a… hmm… The word escapes me in your language, but it is a sort of an animated, living story.” She was much more enthusiastic than she had been before. “What that means is the majority of the story will be told through narration, much like a book, but it will be accompanied by video like any other show. I’ve only seen a few of these in my entire career.”
With a clap of her hands, a stereotypical director’s chair appeared behind her as she took off her suit coat and placed it on the back of the chair before sitting down. Another clap brought a slightly shimmering film projector into existence on the floor in front of the screen. The students looked on in amazement, taken in by the surreal nature of the whole situation. Even in a world of quirks, this was unique.
“Without further ado, let us begi-.”
“Actually, one last thing first, sorry.” Izuku had a thought. He looked over at Katsumi. “Katsumi, come here.”
Mei pressed herself back against the couch as the man reached over and plucked up the blonde with no effort, placed her on his lap, and wrapped his arms around her. “What the hell are you doing, Deku?” she snarled.
He squeezed his arms a little, pulling her close. “If this is gonna be what I think it is, then you’re staying right here for a while.”
She grumbled, but wasn’t about to pass on the opportunity for him to hold her.
“Sorry!” Izuku called over his totally-not-blushing girlfriend. “We can get going now.”
The Director smiled knowingly and snapped her fingers.
The projector flickered to life and the future began in the past.
He was… unimpressed.
Izuku twirled his mechanical pencil in his hand.
Midnight couldn’t help but coo and blush slightly at the sight of teenager Izuku. Some of the others mirrored her reaction as they watched.
“Wait, that’s you?!” Kyoka raised an eyebrow. “You’re like… half the size you are now. How long ago was this?”
Izuku smiled sheepishly. “About a year ago.”
Momo’s head snapped to the back of his. “A year? That shouldn’t be possible.”
“I guess puberty hit him like a truck?” Mina shrugged.
Quirk history class wasn’t what he expected, but then again what did he expect from high school history? They were just repeating the same thing he had read, heard about, and had been lectured about for years .
“Woah, this is weird ,” Mei whispered with awe in her voice.
“The cause of the appearance of quirks is unknown, other than that it started 200 years ago…”
His green eyes glazed over as the teacher regurgitated the same stuff that society had been talking about for over a century.
His interest in the subject- quirks and the emergence of heroes- was the only thing that kept him going. But hearing the same info so many times made him slightly cynical about the start of the era. As amazing as it would have been during the time when quirks were rare, nowadays, Quirk-Bearers formed 80% of the population. They were common, so made the whole topic desperately mundane. The cause of it all no longer mattered to him.
Quirks themselves, on the other hand... those were still interesting. His eyes drifted to the explosion of blonde hair in front of him. His childhood friend... or was she an ex-childhood friend at this point? His pencil stopped twirling as abruptly as his thoughts.
Izuku pulled Katsumi in a little tighter as she shifted uncomfortably.
An idea.
He flipped open his journal, ‘Heroics for the Future; Concepts #5’, and found an empty page before starting to draw her out. Sharp chin, lean but heavily muscular body, he knew how strong she was under that baggy school uniform from experience. He rubbed a sore spot in his ribs. The gentle curves of femininity, nothing extravagant…
“Aww,” Mina cooed.
He chuckled to himself.
She’s almost... aerodynamic.
Several girls giggled. Katsumi blushed in his arms as Izuku groaned. This is gonna be a long day.
“W͓o̙w, ̭d̢id͓ yo͉u j̞us̘t̬ ͈r͎egret all ̯th͜e ̨good̗ ̰th̡i̱n͍gs yͅo͓u t̨h͕o̙ṳg̱hț ab͇ou̲t p̢e̫op̥l̜e?͙”̻ Nana giggled “A̰r̙e ̬y̮o̪u emb͕a͖r̖ras̻sed̨?̺ Caͅu̥se ̹th̙ẹ ͇gir͙l͈fͅrien̳d o̠n͔ yo̼u̧rͅ lap̬ ͟seḛm̢s h̲appy̭.̰”
Nana Please...
His mind stopped drifting as he looked down on the writing and small sketches in front of hi-
“Midoriya!” His attention shot back to his teacher, who was looking down at him with slight annoyance. She huffed. “I know you probably know all this stuff already, but could you at least not mutter?” He looked sheepishly around.
Not again...
“Yeah, that’s definitely Midori.”
Katsumi had leaned back in her chair and was glaring at him, the livid glint in her crimson eyes shining brightly, the one that hadn’t left her eyes since what- they were 4? He could barely remember her not looking at him with such malice. Honestly, he missed when she didn’t look at him like that.
She looked prettier without it.
Ochako beamed. “That’s so sweet.”
Katsumi blushed a little harder as she grumbled.
Shaking his head, he apologized profusely, still blushing madly at the small thought that floated through his stream of consciousness. The attention of the class gradually moved back to the teacher, although some girls were still casting him weird looks. They were something between being impressed and creeped out. Then again, those were the looks he- well, men got.
Ever since quirks became a thing, a pattern became apparent. As rapidly the number of quirk bearers increased in women, the number of men dropped with them, and now they only made up 20% of the total population. Seeing one nowadays had a kind of 'novelty' to it, and creeped some people out. But honestly, he couldn’t blame them.
With the rare exception of full families, most families were now just a single mother getting impregnated by donated sperm. His own mom was in the same situation and he doubted any of his classmates had ever even seen their dad, let alone been in the same room with a man other than himself.
Tsuyu tapped her chin. “He’s not wrong. My mom didn’t believe me when I told her there was a man in my class at first.” Most of the other girls murmured in assent.
“Most days you don’t even see one,” Momo added.
He began twirling his pencil again.
It was automatic, no conscious effort was given to it, but he found that it suppressed his muttering. Maybe it kept his subconscious busy enough so his mouth remained shut. He took a quick break to jot down the note in his journal as quickly as possible before beginning to twirl it again..
Maybe this was his quirk? Overactive subconscious?
He smiled a sad smile. Yeah right...
Men don’t have quirks.
“I know one that dooooes~” Mina singsonged.
Mei looked up at him. “Wait, you didn’t know you had one?”
He shook his head. “No idea.”
The bell rang, derailing his train of thought. The class was over and so was the day. The teacher bid farewell and left the classroom. He took a deep breath… and was quickly covered in smoke and ash as his desk sprouted a miniature mushroom cloud.
Kyoka flinched. “Damn!”
“Dekuuuu….” Katsumi seethed. She was mad at him. Again.
“Y-yes, Kacchan?” He grimaced. Why did he keep letting that nickname fly through his lips? Katsumi’s eyes shined even brighter with anger.
Momo held her hand over her mouth. “Your relationship was even worse than I thought.”
Mei leaned over to him while still looking at the screen. “...That wasn’t anger in her eyes, Zuku.”
Izuku’s hand had found its way over the blonde’s hair, petting it softly. “I didn’t know back then…”
“What the fuck were you murmuring about back here?” Her tone was calmer than what he had expected and what was used to. If her hand wasn’t sizzling on his desk with enough heat to leave a mark and her eyes didn’t have that glow, he might have thought she was actually relatively calm.
But damn did she look terrifying. “N-nothing!”
Smooth, real smooth, Deku, h e chided himself as Katsumi lifted up her hand and took his journal “H-hey, give i-“
She cut him off. “Oh really? ‘Cause I could have sworn that you were writing something down on this.” She started flipping through pages and pages of concepts, of how pro heroes could use their powers, possible support gear for them and even some for her classmates and- “Oh there it is...“ she flipped to the most recent page. The one about her. An analysis of her quirk along with support gear, with a picture of her for reference. “I still can't believe you are making these. Especially when they are not going to work for a man like you.” She looked up to see his reaction.
She paled when she saw the raw determination in his eyes. Dammit. It's still there.
“Why’re you trying to get rid of it?” Shoko asked, breaking her silence.
“I’ll find a use for them.”
His stutter was gone.
“When I become a hero.”
Some of the remaining classmates tried hiding their giggles, some outright laughed at him.
Ochako leaned into his left arm. “You sure showed them, huh?”
“I’m not a hero yet,” he argued. “I’ve still got to get through UA.”
“Yeah you are,” Mei added flatly.
Katsumi only wordlessly stared at him for a good couple of seconds.
Then his journal in her hands exploded.
Fuck, not again…
Izuku squeezed a little tighter as Katsumi attempted to squirm out of his arms.
She let the remains of the journal drop back to his desk.
“You. Are. Never. Going. To. Become. A. Hero.”
He looked down on the sad remains of his journal and felt someone pat his head; the hand brushed through his curly hair and landed on his shoulder. The delicate gesture would be appreciated if the hand didn’t start to sizzle against his shoulder painfully. He hoped that the heat would disappear, and only began to breathe again once it started to dissipate.
“So be a good boy,” he looked up to catch Katsumi smiling down at him.
His breath hitched.
“And give up.”
Izuku leaned in and whispered in Katsumi’s ear. “No.”
“Fuck you,” she responded quietly, some of the normal bite dulled by a slightly somber tones, causing Izuku to squeeze just a bit tighter for a moment.
Katsumi started walking away from him after that.
“And stop drawing me you creep!” she huffed and exited the classroom, hand still smo king.
No one noticed Izuku’s increased heart rate, and no one truly knew why he had a full body blush.
He can still look at me like that... She hissed in aggravation, clutching the page she stole from his notebook, the page with his newest sketch of her.
Goddammit…
Mina leaned back and looked upside-down at Izuku. “As much as I hate to admit it, Mineta was totally right about that whole ‘childhood friend’ subplot, huh?”
Izuku and Katsumi shot glances at each other.
He kicked a pebble across the road, trying his best to ignore the looks he got from children during his trek back home. Sighing, he took a turn leading to a more isolated route.
Eiko grimaced. “Now I feel bad for all the men I stared at.”
“It’s not like they’re zoo animals…” Mina added with a degree of guilt.
He didn’t want to see the wonder in the little girls’ eyes right now, it hurt to see them. Lost in thought, he didn’t notice the manhole cover shudder as he walked over it.
He didn’t have time to react when it flew off and his whole world suddenly turned a sickly neon green.
Katsumi flinched in his arms.
“Phahaha!” his captor bellowed as her slimy body wrapped around him in a dangerously affectionate hug. “Such a nice catch~” She giggled as he grasped at her, trying to force her off of him, only for his hands to flow through her harmlessly. ”I would love to tease you more but I have someone to hide from...” Izuku felt his mouth get forced open, and her body start to slither in. “So let me borrow your body.”
“D-Deku!” Ochako yelled in a panic.
She tasted like lime against his throat.
Katsumi huffed quietly. “What the fuck? No she didn’t.”
Mina looked back. “How do you know?”
So this is it, huh?
This is how I die?
He closed his eyes, the pain of her forcing her way through his throat making his eyes water…
Wait- she felt like water!
And she was in his throa-
“C’mon, stop struggling, it’ll only hurt for a mome-“ She suddenly felt his throat tighten immensely around her tendril, enough to shear the tip off ...
What the hell?
Kyoka laughed. “I just heard at least 4 people in this room try to do that with their throats.”
“S-shut up!” Mina yelled, blushing slightly.
Izuku heaved as the tendril bubbled back out and he managed to cough out the rest, taking deep erratic breaths. His whole throat was burning and aching, but she was out, for now. He forced his legs to move under her slimy grasp until his muscles finally budged and started to move. It felt was like he was walking through cement, but he only needed to move a couple more meters.
Gotta get somewhere public, then she’ll be forced to run away.
Mei had grabbed onto his right arm and was holding on tight.
He looked kindly at her. Her concern was heartwarming. “It’s fine, Mei. I’m okay.”
“My, my~ You are a feisty one, aren’t you?” He could hear her mockingly compassionate tone against his neck. “Too bad you’re gonna die...” He could feel her pushing against his lips again, trying to get back in. He couldn’t pull what he did last time again, his throat was already too tired. So if she got in, it would be the end.
“DO NOT FEAR!” His eyes snapped open as his whole body twisted with shock to look at the manhole.
“All Might!” The cheer erupted from around the room.
“FOR I AM HERE!”
Before he knew what was happening, the slime villain was blown off him. He felt his insides rattle from a shockwave.
She did that with just the air pressure of her punch!?
His internal gyroscope won over the imbalance caused by the punch and he managed to land on his feet, skidding to a halt. He slowly looked up and saw her, standing proud with her signature grin.
“Nice moves,” Tsuyu remarked.
His idol, the number one hero.
“A-All Might?” he squeaked out before promptly falling on his ass unconscious.
Tsuyu tilted her head. “Hmm. Bad follow up.”
Izuku laughed awkwardly.
He woke up to a calloused, but slender hand slapping him softly and repeatedly. “Young one? Young one are you ok?” His eyes snapped open and saw All Might looking down on him, her golden hair flowing free with two bangs in that signature gravity-defying V-shape.
She is gorgeous up close- Wait, up close?!
With an undignified yelp, he scooted back away from the hero with a blush on his face. “A-Aall Might?! You saved me?“ He tore his eyes away from the larger-than-life stature of All Might: tall and muscular. He looked around trying to find his bag as his inner fanboy kicked in.
Ochako giggled. “It’s hard to think that’s the same guy that held up a Zero Pointer.”
“C-can I ha-“ He saw her holding up the backpack he was looking for. She tossed it to him with her usual gallant smile and he was awestruck to find his notebook inside... “You already signed it? Thank you!” He began to bow rapidly. She nodded in response and patted the bottles in her pocket, where he could see green slime flowing within them. She had caught the villain.
“Take it as an apology for letting her-“ her smile faltered only an increment, Izuku barely managed to catch it- “get to you.”
Momo smiled softly. “What a shining example for us all.”
Izuku bowed down once more “I-it’s really no problem, ma’am. Y-you don’t need to apologize.”
She looked him over and saw the redness on his throat “If that mark-” she pointed at his throat, causing him to reach up and touch it reflexively and wince a little as he felt his throat ache again- “got on you. That’s on me, so…”
“Midoriya,” Izuku answered the unspoken question.
“So, I am sorry, Young Midoriya.” The number one hero felt her time limit make itself known in the back of her head. “But with that I must take my leave, more people to save!” She crouched down and got ready to jump.
Mina recoiled slightly. “Time limit?”
Suddenly, Izuku’s body reared back to life “Wait, All Migh-“ Seeing her start to unleash the potential energy in her legs to jump, he reacted.
And grabbed onto her leg.
“YOU DID WHAT?!” Katumi yelled in his arms.
“K-Kacchan, please !”
All Might felt... off, even more than she usually did as her body broke down on her. It felt like one of her legs was heavier… But that didn’t make sen-
“B-broke down?” Ochako stuttered. “What’s going on?”
She looked down.
“Midoriya?! What are you doing! Let go!” He looked back at her with watery eyes and flappy lips as they soared through the air. “Oh... right...”
“WHAT IF YOU FELL?!” Katsumi tried to tear out of his arms, but he wasn’t letting go.
“I didn’t mean to, it was just a reaction!” Izuku tried to defend himself.
After a graceful landing on an abandoned rooftop, All Might looked back at her unexpected passenger. “Look kid, I’m worried about you, but don’t overstep it.” She turned her back and started to prep up for another jump. Izuku managed to shake off his near-death experience and blurted his question out, looking down.
“Can a man be a hero?”
“Oh, this must be why you’re so attached to her,” Tsuyu reasoned with a small smile.
All Might halted and then felt her limit break. Steam started billowing from her frame as she shrank. Her muscular form ebbed away, and her skin tightened around her skeleton as her muscles deflated.
Screams erupted around the room. Izuku winced, his arms too preoccupied with keeping Katsumi in place to cover his ears.
“Can a man save people with a fearless smile on their face, like you? It’s just... even before I could speak, I wanted to be a hero, to save people just like y-“ He looked up and saw a skeletal impostor where his hero used to be. “-ouuuuuuuuuuuu...” His mouth slammed shut .
“Imposto-“ He raised an accusatory finger only to be silenced by said impostor raising her hand up.
“Y-yeah, that has to be right,” Eiko reasoned, wide-eyed.
“It’s me, Midoriya-“ She was interrupted by blood spewing from her mouth.
“I am All Might.”
“W-wait, that’s the woman who was with you at the Sports…” Momo looked up at him. “ That was All Might?!”
Izuku grimaced and cracked an awkward smile. “Surprise?”
“Wait, so that’s where you got the sign-” Katsumi stopped herself as The Director’s icy gaze suddenly snapped to her.
“No spoilers.” Her tone left no room for any arguments.
Wait, does that mean she’s seen everything already? Does that mean she saw Mei and I- Izuku stopped himself before he went down that path.
“ .̠..Q̙ui̻te t͉he vo̥y͜eu̡r, ̣ai͜n't͕ ̼sh̞e͉?̻ ” Nana quipped.
“A shapeshifting villain? No, then why would she save me… A shapeshifting hero? Why would she fake being All Might? Then all the credit would go to her-”
“Midoriya-”
“A shapeshifting vigilante? That’s possib-“
“MIDORIYA!”
Izuku found himself standing salute. “Yes, All Might!” he yelled before he caught himself. That person isn’t All Might, she couldn’t b-
“Look, kid, It's me, and since you have seen this much...” Her sunken blue eyes pierced his green ones as she pulled up her shirt. He immediately covered them and started blushing. “Not that you- Just look over here!” He peeked through his fingers to see a savage scar on her side. “The smile is hollow,” she stated, “much like the facade I need to keep after I got this wound five years ago.”
Gasps rang out. Even Shoko’s eyes were wide. That woman is competing against a shell...
He shuddered looking at the scar. If it’s half as deep as it was wide, then how is she even aliv-
“Wait, five years ago? Was it in the battle with Toxic Chainsaw?”
All Might lost her serious look and chuckled slightly. “I don’t know if I should be creeped out or impressed that you know enough about me to even guess that.” The smile melted away. “But no. It was from an undisclosed attack.”
Momo’s throat was dry. “Who could have done that to All Might?”
Izuku’s knees started to feel weak as she continued her speech. “The Symbol of Peace should never bow to evil, so this information stays between us.” She let her shirt down, covering her wound again. “And, kid, I am sorry but... You can’t be a hero.”
The room was silent. “O-oh,” Eiko finally stuttered.
Midoriya had a hard time breathing as All Might went on. “You’ve seen what happened to-” She sighed. “Even me.” He could tell she didn’t want to add that. “I can’t condone someone quirkless going after villains and endangering themselves.”
“That’s not an unreasonable stance,” Tsuyu admitted sadly.
Midnight sighed. “Doing what’s right isn’t always easy.”
She rose to her feet and patted his shoulder before turning and walking away. “But don’t worry Midoriya, there are many other ways to become someone’s hero. Firefighting, police work, charity…” She sighed again. “I’m sure you will find a way, but don’t obscure the facts… For your own safety.”
Izuku managed to whimper out an ‘I see…’ as she opened the roof access and left.
He desperately grasped at his collar, trying to unbutton it and allow air into his empty lungs.
I see...
Izuku found himself suddenly smothered by arms as Momo, Ochako and Mei all gave him big hugs. “H-hey, girls, it’s okay. It all works out.” He tried to reassure them, but it was flattering that they were so concerned.
“What the fuck are you doing?” Katsumi snarled, glaring at one of her lackeys and grabbing the cigarette out of her elongated fingers before proceeding to stomp on it.
“Hey, c-calm down, Kaccha- “ she yelped as an explosion went off in the ash blonde’s hands.
“You don’t get to call me that... ”
Kyouka couldn’t hold back her chuckle. “Tsundere much?”
Katsumi grumbled.
“Oooooo~” the explosive teen turned around to see the source of the sound and got a mouthful of slime for her effort.
The students gasped again while Katsumi snarled in Izuku’s arms.
“Quite the quirk you got there, Camouflage~” Katsumi felt her body being invaded by the slime.
Mina gasped. “So that’s how you knew…”
Her cowardly lackeys already running away.
Her hands started to go off with explosions against her will in panic.
It was a blur for her; battling with her own body to stay conscious took its toll, so she didn’t even notice the time passing. In the blink of an eye, the alleyway she was in was covered in flames and the entrance was surrounded by heroes. Yet none took a step forward to actually come and help her.
Why... She was feeling herself fade. Why is no one helping me?
She could imagine why.
Karma.
Izuku rubbed Katsumi’s arms reassuringly as he whispered “You were wrong” in her ear.
She grumbled, but still leaned into his touch.
She couldn’t help but think of the greenish-black mop of hair that she had been friends with way back when-
“Kacchan!”
God, I really am dying if I’m already hearing voices - She saw the familiar black mop dashing towards her.
De-Deku!?
Momo paled a little. “There’s something morbidly romantic about her last tho- what she thought were her last thoughts I mean, being about you.”
Izuku had managed to break through the wall of civilians and heroes and was running towards her at speeds she couldn’t even imagine him reaching.
No! Go away!
You’ll get hurt...
Midnight cupped her face sympathetically.
“You lost your chance boy~” the villain mocked him as she lashed out with a tendril.
The next few seconds were replayed in the news for a week straight.
Izuku, now seemingly powered by a goddamn god, did a combat flip under the tendril, not even slowing down an little as his hand grabbed onto a decently-sized rock which he pitched hard at the villain as he got back up.
Kyoka looked back and forth between the current muscular titan that was Izuku and the scrawny version of him on the screen.
There was a soft ‘What the fuck?’ from one of the heroes as the stone flew from his hand and stuck true in the eye of the villain.
“Yeah, what she said,” Kyoka added.
As the villain screeched in pain, the tendrils lost their grip on Katsumi, allowing her to get a well-needed gulp of air. But before she could ask what the fucking hell he was doing here, he was in front of her. Red boots ground against the asphalt as Izuku pivoted his body and speared the mass of slime with his arm, grabbing hold of her waist.
Katsumi hadn’t felt him initiate contact in ages, but as his hand wrapped around her tightly, she felt…
Safe.
Izuku blinked and turned to Katsumi, who was determinedly looking at the screen, avoiding all eye contact. He could still feel her heating up slightly.
Throwing his other leg to the side, the green-eyed hero wannabe twisted his whole body fluidly and managed to pull Katsumi out of the villain’s grasp.
“BLOW HER THE FUCK UP!” he screamed as he pulled her to an embrace, his body between the villain and her defensively. Katsumi complied and rose her arms up to the ‘face’ of her tormentor, taking some pleasure in the outright horror that was found in the villain’s one good eye.
Kyoka’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, shit.”
And let loose an explosion.
The whole street shook.
As the screen faded to black, a collective sigh was released from inside the room.
“A cliffhanger?” Mina huffed indignantly. “Come on, let’s get onto the next one! That was short!”
Mei leaned up against Izuku’s side. “It’s so weird seeing stuff from a male perspective.”
Momo nodded. “It’s bizzare to think that just 200 years ago there were an equal number of men and women.”
Katsumi glowered at Izuku. “When are you gonna let me go?”
He stared her down, causing her scowl to falter. Izuku leaned into her ear and spoke firmly. “Once you stop hating yourself.”
She grumbled softly in response.
Midnight cracked her whip. “Ashido is right! No time to waste, we have a lot of saucy backstory to get through, I’d imagine!” She looked up to the American. “Whenever you’re ready.”
Then her face froze. Wait… almost a year ago- Am I in the saucy backstor-
ARE THEY GOING TO SEE MY THOUGHTS?
The Director nodded, either ignoring or oblivious of the cold sweat the younger woman had broken into. With a snap of her fingers, the projector kicked to life again.