Naruhata Nice Guys

by SneakyMcSneakerson

Summary:

The Crawler has been whisked away to serve his time in America and in the months following the lockdown, Naruhata slowly starts to heal. In the spring after, a Quirkless boy with great potential catches Knuckleduster's attention.

A new hero begins his journey and in a new city, The Crawler's story continues.

-

(AKA The Vigilante Deku AU that's also kind of a sequel to Vigilantes that I'm working on while I wait for the Vigilantes anime to become a thing.)
(EDIT: APRIL 7TH BABY!!!!! LET'S GOOOOOOOO!!!!)

Chapter 1: Swan Song of The Nice Guy

"Around 7 P.M., the Naruhata Neighborhood experienced a large-scale blackout. With communications and mass transit paralyzed, gaining a complete picture of the situation on the ground has not been easy. It may be some time before the status quo is restored. According to residents who escaped the blackout zone on foot or by bicycle, the downtown area has also been afflicted by a series of disturbances. The City of Tokyo and the Metropolitan Police Department have put out a call to any available Heroes who might be able to keep distressed citizens safe or to contribute to a speedy resolution to this crisis."

"Goodness..." Inko said, worried.

"Villain attack?" Izuku mused, homework abandoned in favor of keeping up with the Naruhata crisis.

"It sounds that way," Inko replied, sighing in worry. "That town was always a little sketchy with Villains popping up left and right but this looks more serious."

Izuku rested his cheek in his hand and sighed. The news reporter moved on to some nothing story about baby pandas, so it seemed unlikely that they would receive an update any time soon. If only there were more details available. But that might've been the whole idea. The Villain(s) knocking out the power to a whole neighborhood to limit the spread of information...definitely a way to keep Heroes at bay as long as possible, especially All Might. Maybe this had something to do with the Bee☆Pop incident from about a week ago. Maybe the Villain(s) were making a daring rescue of their friend? Or just as likely eliminating a potential liability? Unless they start getting information out soon, who knows what-

"Izuku, honey, you're muttering again."

Oh. So he was.

"Well, on the bright side, we're out of the line of fire here...at least I hope we are," Inko stressed, while agitated, brow furrowed with anxiety. "Hopefully the Heroes can resolve this situation before it reaches this far."

Izuku gave a confident smile. "I wouldn't worry about it so much, Mom. All Might's sure to show up and save the day like he always does."

While not entirely convinced, Inko smiled at the thought. They have to keep the faith. Heroes have never let them down before. "You're absolutely right."

"And besides, if this Villain were to make it to Musutafu, we'd know. Every agency within a 5-mile radius would sound the alarm," Izuku added.

Inko sighed in bemused defeat. "I'm sorry, honey. It's my job to worry all the time, you know?"

Izuku gave his mother a light pat on the arm and smiled, "We're gonna be okay."

With a yawn, Inko glanced at the clock and muttered, "Yikes, is it that late already? Well, I'm going to go to bed then." Inko stood and pressed a loving kiss to Izuku's forehead. "Don't forget to finish your homework, okay?"

"Oh! Right, I completely forgot about that!" Izuku exclaimed as he pulled his work back towards him. "Good night, Mom!"

"Good night, sweetheart," Inko told him, smiling before she walked away and pulled the master bedroom door shut behind her.

The next half hour or so was relatively quiet apart from the chatter of the TV. Izuku and his mother didn't need to worry...right? All Might could handle this problem easily. But occasionally, Izuku would catch himself looking back up at the TV, expecting either a confirmation that All Might had taken care of business or...Izuku shook the thought from his head. Of course All Might would win. He always does. That's why he's the Number 1 Hero after all. And if all else fails, All Might wasn't the only Hero available. Naruhata couldn't be in safer hands. Work finally complete, Izuku stretched the tense muscles in his arms and looked up at the TV one more time. Still nothing?

Izuku sighed in defeat. Well, no sense in staying up to agonize over it, especially on a school night. Izuku stirred to stand from the kotatsu. They'll probably have an update by morn-

"Oh, hold on. One of our newscopters has entered Naruhata airspace."

That got Izuku's attention. Eyes locked to the screen, Izuku sank back down into his seat as the station cut to the live feed.

"We're coming to you live from Naruhata, currently in the grip of a major power outage. At this moment, in the sky above the town, two unidentified individuals are flying at high speed and firing off glowing projectiles at each other! A midair battle! That's right, viewers - It's a dogfight!!"

That it was. On one end, what Izuku presumed to be the Villain himself. A figure of hot, burning light that was admittedly hard to spot amidst the bloom of his explosions. He was little more than a skeleton wrapped in a protective sheet of plasma and pursuing his opponent with such furious determination and very little care for anything or anyone around him.

His opponent...Izuku didn't know this man. He was no Hero that he's ever seen before. He was a young man in his early twenties, if Izuku had to guess, and he was very plain looking. A real Average Joe Schmoe. Someone that Izuku could've (and probably have) passed by on the street without a second thought. The only thing that made this man stand out, apart from the fact that he could fly, was the Dark Color variant of the All Might hoodie that he was wearing.

The hoodie-wearing man was outpacing the Villain relatively easily, shooting down every projectile lobbed at him. Izuku couldn't help but find himself in awe. What Quirk was that? It had to be some form of...manipulation of air pressure? Gravity control? Probably a bit of both.

The man must've spotted the copter at some point and for a brief moment, it felt like he and Izuku locked eyes. A relieved and hopeful smile crossed his face. 'Everything's gonna be okay.' his face said, 'The Heroes are on their way. I'll keep him busy.' Izuku didn't register it at the time but he fished his Hero Analysis notebook from his school bag and flipped to a blank page, decorating it with a rather hastily drawn sketch of the hooded man. He made sure to get the detail on his hoodie exactly right. A fellow All Might fanboy deserved that much.

A wall of explosive fire set off behind the hooded "Hero", allowing the Villain to corner him and let loose a barrage of blows. But the "Hero" was fast. VERY fast. Fast enough to deflect every single one.

"Wow!" Izuku whispered to himself. "This guy is amazing!"

Suddenly, the Villain's fire went out, leaving charred bones to be brought back down to Earth by the pull of gravity. The "Hero" followed their descent, confused and...saddened? It was hard to tell with the newscopter wisely staying at a distance. Izuku could understand though. No Hero worth his salt actually wants to see Villains die. But at least Naruhata is safe now and the danger has pa-

BOOOOOM!

"Oh @#$#!!!!"

A resounding explosion shakes the newscopter, nearly knocking the camera right out of the cameraman's hands. Finally getting their equilibrium back, the camera turned back to the scene and found a mountainous behemoth of burning plasma energy rising from the alley the Villain fell into.

The Villain was back and he was bigger and angrier than ever.

The Villain didn't give the "Hero" a chance to react or even breathe. In one heavy motion, the Villain swatted the "Hero" straight to the ground. The camera followed the "Hero" as he bounced off the asphalt. Though he had gotten a great distance away from the camera, Izuku could tell from the way he flinched that the "Hero" was severely hurt from the attack and couldn't stand on his own.

Izuku set his pen down and continued to watch, worried for the "Hero".

"Where is All Might? What's taking him so long? Normally, he should've been here by now," Izuku murmured. "Please, All Might, this guy needs you."

The Villain behemoth took a couple more jabs at the "Hero", hurting him even further and forcing him to pull himself away from the Villain's abuse using his Quirk. A trail of blood followed him as the "Hero" ducked into an abandoned parking garage. For a moment, the Villain simply stood over the garage, seemingly in thought before letting out a roar that nearly blew out the speakers on their TV. Achieving a new form, powering up, the Villain took his rage out on the parking garage, intending to flatten it and the "Hero" inside.

Izuku couldn't bring himself to watch this. Burying his face in his arms, Izuku prayed, "Please, All Might. You need to get there now. If you don't...he's gonna die. Please, All Might."

"Are you seeing this, folks? A flaming giant has appeared in the old part of Naruhata! It's demolishing buildings! What a force to be reckoned with!"

"Isn't it too risky to stick around? Signal's getting choppy too..."

"Keep that camera rolling! Residents of East Naruhata should take shelter at once! We can only hope that Heroes will arrive soon!"

"Not dead yet, Koichi Haimawari?" The Villain's voice reverberated, a million men speaking at once, all their voices bouncing off of every building around him. Izuku peeked an eye up from his arms. That...that thing can talk?

"Skitter and hide like a cockroach all you like...no more half-measures from me." The Villain wound up another punch and a million voices shrieked, "I'll flatten the whole building!"

Izuku squeezed his eyes shut before the blow could land. The "Hero" was dead for sure. There was no way anyone could survive something like that.

"Wait! Shinji, point the camera down there! It's him! The Crawler!"

Opening his eyes, Izuku saw that the "Hero"...no, The Crawler had not only survived but healed his injuries and punched his way out of his certain doom. The Villain was NOT pleased.

Winding up a new punch, the Villain growled, "KOICHI...HAIMAWARI!!!!"

The Crawler, crafty little guy that he is, managed to skirt around every blow thrown at him. Izuku leaned in a little closer. As the camera was still a ways away from the action, Izuku couldn't tell from The Crawler's face but his body language seemed...conflicted. As if he discovered some new ability and was debating as to if he should use it...he seemed like he was actually arguing with himself over it.

The Villain managed to back The Crawler into a corner. Debating done with, The Crawler turned and threw a punch, his 'new ability' using the very air around them to punch three good-sized holes into the Villain's plasma body. Izuku snatched up his pen again to add that detail of The Crawler's Quirk into his notes.

Unfortunately, the high-powered punches only served as a momentary distraction rather than cause any real damage. Each hole punched into the Villain's plasma body was instantaneously restored. A regeneration Quirk? The Villain just kept coming at The Crawler. Nothing and nobody could stop him from getting his man.

Returning to his original M.O., the Villain chased The Crawler further down the street, trying to drop several buildings on him in the process. Inevitably, The Crawler was chased into the air, where he returned the favor with several more high air pressure punches.

One reckless move caught The Crawler off guard. The Villain's fiery punch sent The Crawler careening off further down the street, the camera following him as he bounced off the pavement yet again only to have his fall broken by a pile of garbage bags. This time, however, instead of fearing that The Crawler was dead, Izuku's body tensed as he waited for him to get back up.

"Come on, Crawler," Izuku murmured, determined. "You're not done yet."

The Villain's roar became background noise as Izuku watched The Crawler struggle to pull himself up from the trash pile that cushioned his fall. His first few steps faltered and he fell to his hands and knees, but he still pulled himself along with his Quirk. His All Might hoodie had burned up in the fire, scraps of it still clinging to him that fell away as he slid along back towards the Villain. The Crawler looked like death, but still he pulled himself back up to his feet and shuffled to his foe again...with a smile on his face.

'The Crawler looks just like All Might right now.' Izuku thinks, and can’t help but smile. 'The Crawler's so cool.'

Thus the trading of blows continued. The Crawler had managed to knock off one of the Villain's arms at one point only for him to reattach it and try to crush The Crawler between his palms a few seconds later. That's when Izuku and the news crew noticed there was cheering from the streets. Citizens were poking their heads out of their shelters to publicly show their support for the plucky young "Hero", forgetting that they were in the danger zone.

"Attention, citizens of Naruhata!" the reporter leaned out of the chopper to call out to the people below, "That giant Villain is fast, brutal and a threat to your lives! Evacuate the area and get as far away as possible! I repeat! Get as far away as you can now!"

Finally, the Villain took notice.

A flick of the Villain's wrist was enough to knock the copter off balance and have it throw the news crew out of it. The camera shook violently in its descent before stopping short above the pavement, narrowly avoiding a terrible fate.

"We've lost contact with the rest of the city and now a giant Villain is on the rampage. A daunting crisis, to be sure. We can hardly begin to imagine your distress."

The cameraman had managed to pull the camera back up to him and find the source of the voice: Number 4 Pro Hero, Best Jeanist! "But I urge you all to take heart as the thread of hope remains intact...because this town still has its Heroes!"

Finally. Izuku breathed a sigh of relief. The Crawler desperately needed backup and finally got it in the form of Best Jeanist, Edgeshot, Ingenium and Eraserhead. Hell, Eraserhead probably would've been enough. If Eraserhead can disable the Villain's Quirk, then this fight will be over in a flash.

...Still no sign of All Might.

The news crew was no longer a viable method of keeping up with the action. However, the news station (and Izuku, by extension) was in luck. Just as some had escaped the lockdown to share information with the rest of the world, some amateur journalists and clout-chasers had managed to sneak into Naruhata and livestream what they could. The quality of the footage was significantly crappier, but it was the best that they could find.

By the time the news was able to catch up, they had found Eraserhead and The Crawler still biding their time, keeping the rampaging Villain distracted in whatever way they could with the whole of Naruhata cheering for them.

"Sweet moves, Cruller!"

"You can do it, Crawler!"

"Knock his block off!"

"You're on the right track! Hit his weak point!"

"Kick that Villain to the curb!"

"Fight on!"

"KOICHI!!!!"

Swept up in it, Izuku leaned up on to his knees and joined the cheering. "C'mon, Crawler! You got this! Don't give up! You can beat this guy!"

The Villain's shoulders slumped. He seemed...disheartened? A small spark of empathy flitted in Izuku's heart. He could understand that pain. He's felt it before.

Suddenly, the Villain roared in rage and anguish one last time before his body erupted into several smaller versions of himself. He seems to have abandoned his plan to kill The Crawler specifically and moved on to just indiscriminate destruction. The Pros have their work cut out for them now. If there was still any order amongst the livestreamers that provided the footage, it was lost in the chaos.

What in the HELL was taking All Might so long!?

"HAVE NO FEAR!!"

FRIGGIN' FINALLY!!!

In barely seconds, All Might made short work of all the remaining suicide bombers (with Endeavor's help. Not that he needed it.) before he even finished his catchphrase.

"I AM HERE!!!"

"HE DID IT!!!"

"ALL MIGHT!!"

"UWAAAAAH!!"

"AAAAH!!!" a familiar voice sounded out.

"Mom, you scared me! I thought you went to bed!" Izuku laughed nervously.

"I was going to but I heard a commotion coming from out here," Inko laughed, "I had to see for myself!"

Izuku smiled, "See? I told you All Might would take care of things!"

Inko sighed in relief, "Oh, good. I was about to panic text Mitsuki."

Izuku chuckled and turned back towards the TV. Things were all wrapped up and the first thing reporters think to do is clamor for an interview with All Might...and maybe the other Pros if they couldn't get that. But Izuku's face fell when he noticed that someone was missing.

"Hey, where's The Crawler?"

"The who?"

"The Crawler. Uh, this guy that was keeping the Villain busy this whole time." Izuku showed Inko the page he had written about The Crawler. "He's got this super versatile Quirk and he was...he was just the coolest! He...I hope he's okay. He got really banged up during the fight."

Izuku didn't see Eraserhead either. Maybe The Crawler and Eraserhead dipped into the shadows together as Underground Heroes tend to do. Hopefully Eraserhead took The Crawler to a goddamn hospital.

But that ended Nightmare Night. The livestream feed was cut, the newscasters said their farewells for the night and that was that. The fate of The Crawler was left hung in the air and it AGONIZED Izuku. But there was nothing he could really do about that. He looked over the page that he wrote about The Crawler about 50 times before he finally fell asleep. Easily, The Crawler slid into the spot of Izuku's second favorite Hero that night.

-

Two and a half weeks went by and Izuku lost track of how many times he refreshed this page. He just couldn't let his entry on The Crawler stay so bare bones. He had to know more and he learned quite a lot about the man.

Koichi Haimawari, A.K.A. The Crawler was something of a legend around the Naruhata area for the past 3 odd years and was the main reason why the neighborhood hadn't fallen to the clutches of the Instant Villains and their shadowy controllers. When he wasn't fighting villains, he was doing little acts of kindness around town, no matter how lame they were.

Izuku Midoriya couldn't believe he was saying it to himself, but even though All Might was still the coolest in the universe...The Crawler was truly the romantic ideal of a Hero. One that everyone should aspire to be.

"Deku's been awfully quiet lately,” one of Izuku's 'friends' snickered.

"Hey, at least he's not going on and on about All Might,” the other laughed.

"Yeah, but now he's going on about this 'Cruller' guy, whoever he is."

"Crawler," Izuku corrected absentmindedly.

"Whatever, dude."

Bakugou didn't speak a word, only glaring at the green boy who didn't pay him any mind.

With one more click of the refresh button, Izuku lucked upon an update. Apparently, The Crawler had managed to narrowly avoid prison and had been upgraded from illegal Vigilante to an actual Sidekick to a Hero in America. He even had his name changed. It's The Skycrawler now. Izuku did frown a little bit, noticing the scar on The Skycrawler's left cheek that had not been there before. Where did he get that?

Oh well. At least The Skycrawler will get to continue being the second greatest Hero (behind All Might) that Deku's ever seen and now he won't have to worry about the police. Things fall where they should after all.

"C'mon, nerd," Bakugou growled, lifting Izuku out of his seat by the collar of his shirt.

"Huh? Kacchan, what're we-"

"Just c'mon, dipshit."

"Oh. Okay."

Izuku followed behind Bakugou and his friends meekly and continued to read the article he had found. Even though they were still leagues apart in capability with The Skycrawler having a Quirk and Izuku...not, something about The Skycrawler felt inspiring. That anyone, even the most unlikely person, could take a stand and be a Hero...meant something to him. If Koichi Haimawari could do it, so could Izuku Midoriya.

'Man...The Crawler's so dang cool.'

Chapter 2: Poltergeist

Summary:

Koichi finds out that he didn't leave Naruhata empty-handed.

San Francisco, California

A Few Days Prior…

 

Koichi had been just sitting here on the bed of his hotel room for the better part of the day. He was in for a couple more flights before they eventually reached their final destination in New York City. Makoto and Chris would drop by every now and then to check up on him, but for the most part, Koichi was on his own with just his thoughts and the electrical buzz of the air conditioning. Silence is the enemy of positivity and Koichi had silence in spades. Glancing back down at his phone, Koichi scrolled through the collection of texts from his friends and loved ones.

 

The Crawler: Plane landed safely!

 

Pop: Good to hear!

 

The Crawler: Feeling any better yet?

 

Pop: Still getting used to only having ½ of my depth perception.

 

Pop: I’m getting really sick of knocking everything over just reaching for my phone.

 

The Crawler: Sorry. :(

 

Pop: On the bright side, I have a good support system. Miu, Yu and the rest of the FeatherHATS drop by to check on me often.

 

Pop: And Knuckleduster’s daughter, Tamao, has been a great help with my rehab since she went through it herself. 

 

Pop: She’s a really sweet girl. Idk how she wound up with that crazy old man as a dad.

 

The Crawler: Lol

 

The Crawler: Rest up. Can’t wait to see you on stage again!

 

The Crawler: Or at least a video since I can’t actually be there, y’know?

 

Pop: Lol. I know, dummy.

 

Pop: Stay safe out there.

 

Pop: I miss you.

 

Koichi sighed and scrolled back and forth through the text log. ‘I’m sorry, Pop. I really made a mess out of things, didn’t I?’ Koichi scolded himself. ‘If I…. When I come back, we’re probably gonna have to have that talk.’ With a nostalgic smile, Koichi switched to the next conversation in line.

 

The Crawler: Plane landed safely!

 

Master: Thank God.

 

The Crawler: How’re you feeling? You looked in rough shape before I left.

 

Master: Still kickin’. My knee was fucked up way before that son-of-a-bitch shot me.

 

Master: I’m pretty lucky. Managed to walk away from that with just some nasty bruises.

 

The Crawler: Good to hear!

 

The Crawler: Guess it’s time to hang up the cowl, huh?

 

Master: If Tama has anything to say about it, yeah.

 

Master: But y’know me. I’m a stubborn old bastard.

 

Master: I’ll probably have to lose a limb before I even consider retirement. 

 

The Crawler: Plz don’t do that.

 

The Crawler: You’ve earned a break. Enjoy it!

 

Master: I’ll think about it.

 

Master: So, off to be a ‘true-blue hero’, huh?

 

The Crawler: I suppose so. Not the way I pictured it but what can ya do?

 

Master: Did Soga give you that letter I wrote you?

 

The Crawler: Yeah. I still have it. I got it in my carry-on just in case.

 

Master: Good. Then I won’t rehash everything I said. You already know.

 

Master: Give ‘em hell, kid. Show ‘em what it means to really be a Hero.

 

The Crawler: I will.

 

The Crawler: Thank you for everything, Oguro-san.

 

Master: The name’s Iwao, kid.

 

The Crawler: Thank you, Iwao. :)

 

Master: No, Thank YOU.

 

BZZT

 

Koichi was startled from his train of thought by the loud buzz and flickering of the lights in the room. ‘A power surge?’ Koichi worried, glaring accusingly at the lamp on the bedside table until it stabilized again. ‘Maybe there’s a heat storm outside? Seems kinda late in the year for one of those.’ Koichi was probably still rattled from the stress of the lockdown. It hadn’t been very long since…everything happened. Between having to chase down Pop, hiding out from the police and the Heroes and everything having to do with that Villain…

 

‘It’s over now, Koichi.’ Koichi closed his eyes, centering himself back in the present. ‘It’s all over now. You can relax now.’ His fingertips ghosted over the scar that the Villain left on him and Koichi frowned, remembering the Villain’s last words to him. ‘I wish I could’ve gotten through to him. Maybe if I said or did something different…’ Koichi sighed, ‘I messed up and I can’t save him now. All I can do is promise that it will never happen again. Hopefully, wherever he goes, he’s not in pain anymore.’

 

Koichi gently shook the thought from his head and returned his attention to his phone. ‘Did Soga ever respond?’ , he wondered, and opened up the group chat to check.

 

The Crawler: Plane landed safely!

 

Tamao: Awesome!

 

Moyuru: How’s America so far?

 

The Crawler: Haven’t really left the hotel yet. Makoto’s talking about dragging me out to see the Golden Gate Bridge before we leave.

 

Tamao: Sounds like fun! ^^

 

Rapt: Careful, my guy. Sounds like she’s gonna propose! Lol

 

The Crawler: Lol. She kinda already did.

 

Tamao: A regular chick magnet over here. LMAO

 

The Crawler: Who, me? No way!

 

Rapt: Dude, who’re you trying to fool? Pop, this Makoto chick, this random girl named Rin…

 

Rapt: Teach me your ways, o wise one. I can’t get girls to even look in my direction.

 

Moyuru: Cuz hot girls want the lead singer. Not the drummer.

 

Rapt: Or the bassist! You’re not special just cuz ur not the designated dumbass of the band, Tochi!

 

Tamao: XD Sorry guys.

 

The Crawler: Lol

 

The Crawler: Soga? Are you there?

 

Tamao: Don’t worry about him. He’s just sulking and being a big whiny baby.

 

The Crawler: Is he really that mad at me?

 

Tamao: He’s worried that ur gonna become some bigshot Hero and forget about us little people. Something something ‘just another cog in the machine’ something something.

 

Tamao: The word ‘sellout’ has been thrown around quite a bit lately.

 

The Crawler: Oh. I see.

 

Tamao: Soga, you prick. I know you can see this. Don’t make me talk for you!

 

The Crawler: It’s ok. I understand where he’s coming from.

 

Moyuru: He just needs some time to cool off and come to his senses.

 

Rapt: I think he forgot that you became a Hero against your will. Lol

 

The Crawler: Tbh I didn’t know what I was agreeing to until it was too late.

 

Rapt: LMFAO

 

Tamao: LMAO

 

Moyuru: LOL

 

Moyuru: Better that than jail, right?

 

The Crawler: Lol. Yes, much better!

 

The Crawler: Getting late on this side of the world. Good night, guys!

 

Rapt: G’night!

 

Moyuru: See ya later!

 

Tamao: Pleasant dreams, Hero!

 

The Crawler: And Soga…

 

The Crawler: I’m sorry.

 

Tamao: Don’t worry. I’ll give Soga a good kick in the ass and make him talk to you as soon as I can.

 

The Crawler: Thanks.

 

The Crawler: Oh! And while I’m at it, thank you for helping Pop with her recovery. I really appreciate it.

 

Tamao: It’s no trouble at all! Just paying a good deed forward. ^^

 

Rapt: Aw, bestie~! :,)

 

Moyuru: <3

 

Tamao: ANYWAY 

 

Tamao: Go to bed, goofy. Lol

 

Tamao: Ttyl

 

‘Nope. Nothing.’ Koichi sighed with dismay. ‘He really is mad at me.’ Clicking his phone off, Koichi began to muse on his thoughts. ‘I get where he’s coming from though. It feels like I got off too easy.’ Koichi bared a sad smile, setting his phone down on the bedside table. ‘Don’t worry, Soga. I’ll do my best to not become another cog in the machine. I prom-’

 

A sudden chill shot its way up Koichi’s spine. Instinctively, Koichi whipped around to face the source only to find nothing behind him. ‘Calm down, Koichi. It’s probably just the AC or something.’ Koichi absentmindedly rubbed at the back of his neck. A shiver wracked his body, the temperature still low around him. ‘Maybe I’m just tired. It’s getting late anyway. A hot shower and some sleep would hit the spot right now.’

 

Koichi dragged the suitcase he brought with him out from under the bed and flipped it open to retrieve a fresh set of pajamas to change into afterwards, sparing a fond smile at the envelope containing Iwao’s letter to him that he carefully tucked in amongst his things. Soga had agreed that he should keep it, just in case he started to question himself and needed a pep talk from his mentor. Maybe he’d give it another read before he fell asleep tonight.

 

-

 

A shower was just what he needed. The steam and hot water had done their magic, having relaxed every tense muscle in his body and proceeded to ease up his worries a little bit. ‘See? You were just getting in your own head too much.’ Koichi thought to himself with glee, as he dabbed the water off his body with what must have been the world’s fluffiest towel. ‘You just gotta give it some time. Time will make everything be-’ 

 

A sudden and startling new sound caused Koichi to freeze. 

 

The flickering lights from beforehand could have been easily explained. The sudden chill in the air could have been easily explained too. But the sound of footsteps outside the bathroom door could not be explained with a simple answer. The color drained from Koichi’s face, as he realized that someone was here. Hastily, he put on a bathrobe, and cracked the door open ever so slightly. He didn't see anyone out there and the footsteps had suddenly stopped. That didn’t mean that the intruder was gone, however. SGB at the ready, Koichi stepped out into the room proper.

 

“H-Hello? Is someone there?”

 

No response.

 

“I don’t want any trouble. I don’t have anything worth stealing. I won’t say anything to the police if you just turn around and leave.”

 

No response.

 

“Hello?”

 

Nothing.

 

There weren’t many places for a sneak-thief to hide in the room, and Koichi proceeded to check them all. Under the bed, in the closet, on the balcony - all proved empty without even a single sign that someone was there. With his search turning up nothing, Koichi relaxed and dropped the SGB. Maybe he had misidentified where the sound was coming from. Maybe it was a hotel guest with lead feet that just happened to be passing by.

 

“Argh, I can’t take this paranoia anymore!” Koichi exclaimed in frustration, as he turned back for the clothes that he had abandoned. “It’s actually gonna drive me crazy! Screw it, I’m going to bed.”

 

Now clad in a loose-fitting T-shirt and sweatpants, Koichi returned and flopped down onto the bed, twisting and flailing until he winded up under the covers. ‘Sleep oughta do the trick.’ Koichi said to himself, as he set up white noise to play off of his phone. ‘And Makoto will keep us busy tomorrow. A good distraction should help a lot.’ He clicked the light off, and snuggled a little further into the bed before his eyelids slid closed.

 

‘Good night, guys. I miss you all.’

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

Something interrupted him. Was he suddenly breathing so hard?

 

…

 

…

 

Why did it sound so loud and…angry?

 

Koichi groaned in protest of his sleep being interrupted and cracked his eyes open, squinting at the sudden flash of golden light that impeded his vision. Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, his heart stopped at what he found:

 

The Villain from before, who he would later learn was called ‘Number 6’, crouched over Koichi where he lay. He was still in one piece somehow and clad in the black-and-yellow jumpsuit and brown trench coat that he had when Koichi had first seen him during that fateful night. He looked like he was still very angry with Koichi.

 

As he noticed that Koichi was finally awake, the villain grinned a very malicious grin.

 

“Hello there, pest.”

 

With a startled shriek, Koichi instinctively flinched away from the villain and wound up shoving himself to the floor. Number 6 stood to his full height and chuckled in sadistic glee, watching the frightened Hero scramble backwards until his back hit the wall. “Y-You!? But…I-I don’t understand. You-” 

 

“Yeah, I bet not with that walnut-sized brain of yours,” 6 sneered in response.

 

“That’s just hurtful,” Koichi meekly protested against the insult.

 

“Anyhow,” 6 said with an almost charming smirk, and proceeded to hop off the bed to lean menacingly over the cowering Hero, “Sorry to leave you in suspense like that. I just needed a quick breather, y’know?”

 

Tentatively easing himself back up into a standing position, Koichi fearfully stammered out, “B-But…I don’t…I-I-”

 

“Any day now, genius.”

 

“It’s just that…y-you’re dead.”

 

6 laughed angrily at the statement. “Oh! So we’re dealing out threats now! Good! It’s about time you dropped the ‘Nice Guy’ act!”

 

“I-I wasn’t-”

 

“Suits me just fine,” 6 said with a smirk, rolling the tension out of his shoulders, “I got my second wind and I’m ready for Round 2.” Shifting into a fighting stance, the villain sneered, “So…shall we pick up where we left off then?”

 

“...Oh, I get it!” Koichi sighed in forced relief. “I’m just having a nightmare. Well, in that case, I’m going back to sleep. Good night!” Side-stepping around the villain, Koichi once again flopped face-first onto the bed, to 6’s confusion and annoyance.

 

“Wh- Hey! Don’t ignore me, you son-of-a-bitch!”

 

‘It’s just a dream. Go back to sleep. He’ll go away. Just go back to sleep.’ Koichi chanted to himself, the pillow pressed against his head in an attempt to drown out the angry protests of the villain, unfortunately to no avail.

 

A loud clap next to Koichi’s ear was accompanied by 6’s enraged demands. “Get back here and stop ignoring me, goddamnit!” 6 seethed, “What, you’re gonna issue one weak threat and then pretend I’m not even here? What the hell!?”

 

“I wasn’t threatening you,” Koichi protested a little more firmly this time, kneeling up from where he lay. At the same time, he started to inch himself towards the other side of the bed, just in case he needed to make a hasty getaway. “You ARE dead.”

 

“What the hell kind of sense does that make? I’m standing right he-” 6’s retort died in his throat, anger making way for confusion. “That scar wasn’t there before,” 6 stated, gesturing towards the thin line on Koichi’s left cheek. “Where’d that come from?”

 

“You gave it to me.”

 

“... I did?”

 

“You don’t remember?”

 

Number 6 frowned, breaking eye contact with Koichi to glare at the floor and sift through his memories. The silence was plenty enough to answer.

 

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

 

“You yanking me off the roof,” 6 growled in response. “I remember fire… but after that, things start getting fuzzy.”

 

“What day do you think it is?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“What day do you think it is?” Koichi repeated himself, shifting a little further away in anticipation of a negative response.

 

“I dunno. August something? I had more important things to think about. Why? What’re you getting at?”

 

“It’s September.”

 

The villain blinked in surprise at the answer. “... what?”

 

“Nightmare Night was a month ago,” Koichi confirmed with a sad expression. “You’ve been dead for a whole month.”

 

Koichi could see on the villain’s face that he was having trouble processing the information. After a beat, 6 chose a response: denial.  “Ha! Funny joke. Really funny! Your stand-up routine needs some work there, Koichi.”

 

“B-But I’m not joki-”

 

“ANYWAY,” 6 interrupted Koichi’s protest and moved towards the other side of the bed to block off Koichi’s escape. “It’s been a long night for the both of us, right? I’m sure we’re both exhausted. So, I’m just gonna tear your throat out and call it a night, ‘kay?” The tips of Number 6’s fingers then sharpened into claws. “Hold still.”

 

“Ah, wait-!” Koichi instinctively moved to shield himself from the attack.

 

Vwoosh!

 

“Huh?”

 

Zhwip!

 

“What the-?”

 

Vwish!

 

“What the hell is going on!?”

 

Koichi peeked out from behind the shield of his own arms just in time for 6 to make another swipe at him. 6’s hand met no resistance, simply phasing through him as though he were made of air. That was odd. The last time 6 swung at him with those claws, they HURT like all hell. “Huh? H-How…?”

 

Having grown increasingly frustrated with his inability to maul his most hated enemy to death, 6 closed in and moved for harder strikes. “Stop moving! Hold still so I can kill you!” 

 

Koichi wound up pushing himself back down to the floor, flinching back from the painless attacks. As Koichi quickly scrambled back to his feet, 6 was in hot pursuit, throwing blow after blow in an increasingly vain attempt to kill Koichi.

 

“Wait, wait, wait! Wait, stop!” The plea from Koichi convinced 6 to halt his assault for a moment. 

 

“WHAT!?” 6 snarled, infuriated.

 

Koichi had a theory to test. He tentatively reached a hand forward towards 6’s chest.

 

“Hey, what the hell’re y-”

 

Koichi’s hand met not a single ounce of resistance and passed straight through him, confirming his theory as correct. Now Number 6 was in the same position that Pop and Knuckleduster were on that night, except for 6 this position was a little more permanent. 6 immediately pulled away from this invasion. All the anger in him evaporated, leaving behind horror as the realization dawned on him that Koichi wasn’t lying after all. 6 numbly paced a few steps away from Koichi, staring at his hands and trying to wrap his head around the fact that he was now even less of a human than ever before.

 

“No…no, no, no…this isn’t right,” 6 mumbled, shocked and at a loss for words. “This doesn’t make any…B-But I’m standing right here! I can’t be…This is the exact opposite of how this was supposed to go.”

 

Koichi watched the villain pace and try to rationalize his situation for a while, sympathetic to the distress that 6 must’ve felt realizing that he was now one of the dearly departed. “I’m…so sorry that this happened to you.” Koichi said, as he gingerly took an experimental step towards the spirit. “...I failed you. I should’ve done more to save you. Maybe if I would’ve just-”

 

“This is all your fault.”

 

Koichi’s admission of guilt fell upon deaf ears. 

 

“H-Huh? Me?”

 

“Yes. You,” 6 turned to address the Hero once more with a murderous scowl. “You, that senile old bastard, that blue hedgehog lookin’ son-of-a-bitch and Pop… It’s all because of you people that I was kept from being the real me!” The claws were replaced by the glow of a readied Knuckle Bomb as 6 began to advance on Koichi. “And if you think I’m going to let you get away with it, you’re dead wrong!”

 

“H-Hold on a minute! We can talk this out!” Koichi pleaded, backing up into the wall again and shielding his face on instinct. Unfortunately, Number 6 was beyond listening at this point. His prey cornered, 6 wound his fist back for a devastating bombified punch and…

 

Click!

 

“Koichi? Is everything okay in here?” The voice of Makoto rang out through the room as the lights came up. “I heard you shouting in here.”

 

Koichi lowered his defenses and found that Number 6 was banished by the light. His heart still beating at a million miles an hour, Koichi took a second to catch his breath. “Uh…y-yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Koichi blatantly lied, “Just had a really nasty nightmare, that’s all.”

 

Makoto leaned a little further into the room, concern painted on her face. “Are you going to be okay? I can stay and keep you company if that’ll help.”

 

“No, that’s okay! I’m sorry I woke you up.” Koichi retorted with a sheepish smile. 

 

Makoto didn’t seem to be convinced, but relented all the same. “Ok then. If you’re sure. You know where I’ll be if you need anything,” Makoto told him, making a motion for the lightswitch.

 

“Could you keep the light on, please?” 

 

Makoto blinked in confusion at the odd request but complied, bringing her hand back to her side. “Are you sure you’re okay, Koichi?” she asked.

 

“...I’m trying to be.” Koichi said with a forced smile. Makoto would have to accept that as an answer. The door closed, signifying Makoto’s exit and Koichi was alone once again.

 

Koichi pulled the comforter and a pillow off of the bed and set up camp in the corner of the room with his back to the wall. Once again left alone with his thoughts and the buzz of the AC, Koichi sifted through the entire event and tried to make sense of what happened. He never did figure out how Pop and Knuckleduster came to him during that final fight against Number 6. He had chalked it up to a hallucination due to blood loss at the time. Was he still hallucinating…or perhaps he’d finally gone insane?

 

Koichi didn’t sleep a wink that night. 

Chapter 3: Befriending Your Local Phantom

Summary:

Koichi and Number 6 come to an understanding and Izuku lets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity slip from his grasp.

NYC, New York

 

For the next few days, 6 would take every chance he could get to pop out of nowhere and take a swing at Koichi to varying degrees of failure. Today would be no different. Koichi was just sitting there at his desk, so absorbed in whatever he was doing that he wouldn't even hear 6 prowling up behind him. If he did this just right, then he’d finally be rid of the pest once and for all… and maybe his wretched soul would finally know peace.

 

The spirit emerged from the shadows, careful not to make a sound and alert his prey. If he didn’t give Koichi any time to react, he might have been actually successful in his attack. Knuckle Bomb readied, 6 snuck up behind the distracted Hero. One good blow to the back of the head would get the job done. 6 reared his fist back, ready to blow that damn pest’s head off once and for all… and then he noticed something.

 

Koichi seemed deep in thought, tapping the pencil in his hand against the notebook before him. The page that was opened was covered mostly in scratched out scribbles. The only thing that wasn’t scratched out was a sketch of a faceless figure in some kind of costume. 6 dropped the Knuckle Bomb and leaned in a little closer. The sketch was labeled, “Hero Costume(?)”. It seemed like a streamlined version of that stupid hoodie that he was running around in for the better part of 3 years. The color scheme remained the same apart from a blue hood. It seemed like a good match for Koichi, but 6 furrowed his brow in thought as he analyzed the sketch. Something about it seemed… familiar.

 

“AHH!!”

 

Thud!

 

Oops. 6 had leaned in a little too far and blew his cover.

 

“Huh? Oh, uh, boo or whatever,” 6 mumbled and pointed to the sketch. “What’s this?”

 

Koichi pulled himself and the fallen chair up off the floor. “Hmm? Oh, Cap said that the All Might hoodie and skinny jeans combo wasn’t gonna be a good fit for a Pro Hero. So he’s got me coming up with something to send to the designer that he works with.”

 

“... It looks a lot like my costume. Was that intentional or…?”

 

“Not at first, but when I realized that it resembled yours, I just kinda just kept going with it.”

 

“Why?”

 

Koichi grazed his fingertips over his scar and replied with a sad smile, “Because… I’ve been thinking about what you said. About ‘finding meaning in stuff.’ I admit that I didn’t hear you very clearly the first time with so much happening. But after thinking about what you said and what Master told me about you… I think I’m starting to understand.”

 

“Tch. I don’t expect that the old man gave me a glowing review,” 6 scoffed at the mention of Knuckleduster.

 

“Nah,” Koichi laughed nervously, “He… doesn’t seem to be your biggest fan.”

 

“... That’s a shame.”

 

“Well, I figured that… deep down, we both wanted the same thing,” Koichi said, easing back into his seat as he continued. “We both wanted to be Heroes, right?”

 

“... I guess so. If you just stuck to the surface level stuff,” 6 huffed and folded his arms. “For me, it was a little more complicated than that. You’d know if you were paying attention to what I was saying.”

 

“Sorry,” Koichi gave his sheepish reply, “You’re right. I probably wouldn’t get it. There’s a lot of stuff about you I don’t quite understand yet. That’s as far as I’ve gotten so far.” Returning his attention to the notebook, Koichi continued, “I thought that maybe you came back because you left something unfinished. Probably… because you didn’t get to fulfill your dreams.”

 

“Your guess is as good as mine,” 6 said with a shrug. “I was actually starting to get used to the idea of being dead for a minute there. If I knew that I was just gonna come back here and haunt you, then… I would’ve retreated like I was told to do. Hindsight is 20/20, I guess.”

 

Koichi gave the spirit a quizzical look. “You were told to retreat? When was this?”

 

“When you managed to outpace me when I was in the acceleration state for the 50th time. Y’know, like the cheater you are.”

 

“I’m just as confused about that as you are! Honest!” 

 

“The fact you could keep up with me freaked out the Big Man himself and he told me I should retreat and never encounter you again. Something about being ‘the perfect foil for me in the days to come,’” 6 grumbled bitterly and frowned. “But I didn’t listen to him. I wanted you dead more than anything… and now I’m here.”

 

“Who’s ‘The Big Man’?” Koichi asked.

 

“All For One,” 6 replied. “He’s the guy who molded me into what I am now.”

 

Koichi shuddered at the mention of All For One. He had heard rumors about Japan’s No. 1 Villain still being alive for a long time now. They had lessened after All Might had defeated him, but the man’s reputation as The Symbol of Evil didn’t ease in the slightest. The thought that Koichi wasn’t too far out of All For One’s grasp unsettled him. “Wh-What did he want with me?”

 

6 gave a dismissive shrug. “He wanted me to salvage your body when I was done with you. Probably wanted your Quirk. But I guess he didn’t want it THAT badly. If he did, he would’ve stopped me from going to Destruction Style. I was pretty useless after that. There was no way I could’ve dragged your carcass back to him while trying to hold myself together at the same time.”

 

“So you were… sparing me?”

 

“No… maybe? I certainly wasn’t intending to,” 6 stammered out before quickly changing the subject, “What does this have to do with you ripping me off?”

 

Koichi rested his hands on his knees and thought for a good few seconds, trying to come up with a good way to explain his train of thought. “I thought that… this would be a way for us both to live out our dreams. That I could ‘take you with me’, so we can be Heroes together.”

 

6 blinked, a little surprised at the sentiment. “Huh… that’s… awfully nice of you.”

 

Koichi rubbed at the back of his neck and added, “Also, I thought that this would appease you and convince you to move on to the afterlife so I can finally get some good sleep.”

 

A genuine snort of laughter escaped 6 at the admission. “Wow, you really had something there for a second! …And then you ruined it.”

 

Koichi mirrored the laugh, with the words of, “I’m sorry. I haven’t slept in my bed in days ‘cuz it turns into Paranormal Activity around here at night. My back is starting to ache from sleeping in the corner all night.” 

 

The two shared a soft laugh. It was nice to see an actual, genuine smile on 6’s face for once… but it was a real shame that he had to die first. Guilt brought down Koichi’s mirth again. If only 6 had been willing to talk to him before, maybe things would’ve turned out very differently. He had always wondered…

 

“Hey, in all seriousness,” Koichi asked, “Why did you hate me so much?”

 

Way to kill the mood, Koichi, he realized. 6 frowned and replied, “You mean aside from you screwing up my plans? ...It’s because you had everything I wanted. My hero chose you as his disciple. He made you into somebody. Everyone was cheering for you. Everyone knows who you are… You know who you are. At least, I hope you do.”

 

“Yeah, you said something about that after you got burnt up.” Koichi said, “About not knowing who you are. Maybe that’s why you came back?”

 

“Dunno. Probably doesn’t even matter now.” 6 replied with a shrug. “If I ever was human, I probably don’t count as one anymore. Especially now, considering I’m dead.”  

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

A frustrated sneer curled on 6’s lips. “You can drop the ‘Nice Guy’ act anytime you want.”

 

“What if it’s not an act?”

 

“You don’t think I’m that stupid, do you?”

 

“No-”

 

“Look, if you’re done interrogating me, I have a question for you. ”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

6 made firm eye contact and asked, “When I went Destruction Style, you had multiple opportunities to escape. Back when I cornered you in that parking garage, you could’ve just slunk away and waited me out. I would’ve died thinking I killed you and wouldn’t have known the difference! You could’ve done the same thing after I damn near burnt you up but you came crawling back for more. So, why? Why did you keep coming back?”

 

Matching the Villain’s gaze, Koichi gave his honest answer, “Because I could tell that you were scared and in pain. I didn’t know how else I could help you, so I figured you could use some company in your last hours.”

 

For once, the chatty Villain was quiet. That… wasn’t the answer he was expecting. 6 turned his gaze to the floor, trying to process what Koichi said.

 

“And also because you were still gonna attack people. If I ran away at that point, then things would’ve just gotten wor- Hey, where’re you going?” 6 didn’t reply. He simply stalked off into the adjacent room and slumped down onto the couch. Koichi followed and took a seat beside him, concern and sympathy dressing his face. 6 seemed like he was very deep in thought. “Are you okay?”

 

6 turned away from Koichi and muttered, “I’m done talking for today. I… need some time to think.”

 

“... Okay. You know where I’ll be.” Koichi said. Honoring 6’s request, he stood again. “... I’d like to talk some more when you’re ready.”

 

“... sure. It’s not like I got anything better to do anyway.”

 

6 didn’t bother Koichi that night, the next night or the night after that, allowing Koichi to sleep in his bed for the first time in days. It was slow-going… but perhaps they would be okay after all.

 

-

 

APRIL

 

“ALERT! ALERT! The Mayor of New York City has issued a dispatch request to C.C. Corporation! CCC-02, prepare to deploy! CCC-02, prepare to deploy!”

 

Duty called. Koichi was suited up and ready to go when he caught his reflection in the mirror. Brushing his fingers over his scar once again, Koichi took a moment and contemplated the weight of responsibility, the meaning of existence… and Number 6.

 

“Wake up, Hero. Break’s over.”

 

6 leaned over Koichi’s shoulder and smirked. Over the months that passed, Koichi and 6’s relationship had become more stable with every conversation that they had. The phantom’s sudden appearances no longer frightened Koichi the way they once had. 6 would adamantly deny it, but one could even say that they were friendly with each other. 

 

“Yup. Back to work.”

 

6 guided Koichi through a couple deep, calming breaths to focus the Hero’s mind.

 

If one were to ask Koichi, he would say that he probably wouldn’t have made it this far without 6’s help. Over the year that he’d been away from home, the training and tactical advice that 6 provided had pulled him out more than a few scraps in his relatively short Pro Hero career and boosted him through the ranks at the C.C. Corporation. 6 even knew a few tricks to keep Koichi’s mind sharp and focused in the shakiest of situations, both physical and social.

 

Truly, Koichi couldn’t ask for a better wingman.

 

Koichi checked over his gear one last time, making sure he wasn’t missing anything and his communicator was tuned to the right frequency. Giving his ethereal companion a bright smile, Koichi asked, “Ready to get going, 6?”

 

6 responded with a bemused chuckle. “As if I have a choice.”

 

“That’s the spirit!” Koichi laughed.

 

“What, because I’m a ghost? How dare you,” 6 shot back in faux offense.

 

“Gate opening! Gate opening!”

 

Wind and light filled the room as the gate drew open to a runway to the New York skyline. It was beautiful up there. Compared to the tight and cozy sky he was used to seeing in that ramshackle hut that he lived in for so long, Koichi stood on this perch and felt like there was no end to the horizon. Koichi took in a lungful of that wind and smiled, knowing that the little boy in the All Might hoodie that he used to be would be so proud of him right now.

 

A soft tingling sensation in his arm brought him back to Earth. Koichi and 6 still couldn’t touch each other, but he could still feel the phantom’s presence. 

 

After drawing his mortal companion’s attention back to him, 6 smirked and said, “Let’s get it done, Hero.”

 

Koichi nodded and flipped up the hood of his suit, striding out onto the runway.

 

“CCC-02, The Skycrawler…Stand by!”

 

Koichi pressed a hand to his communicator and responded, “Control, this is The Skycrawler. Ready for take-off.”

 

“Acknowledged, Skycrawler. You are cleared for take-off. Happy hunting, Hero.”

 

After flipping his visor down to block out the blinding sunset, Koichi shook the excess nerves from his body, took a running start… and leaped.

 

Easily, this was Koichi’s favorite part of the job: flying. Feeling the rush of the wind going past, watching the world around him whiz by at dizzying speeds that he would have only dreamed of years ago and occasionally sticking to a building to catch his breath, Koichi remembered that feeling that he had for the briefest moment during Nightmare Night, of just how much fun he was having. He still felt it, even now. 6 must have felt it too, since the living man could occasionally catch a little bit of joyful laughter on his spiritual wingman’s end that was quickly smothered as soon as Koichi looked his way.

 

Unfortunately, as it often did, work ruins everything.

 

“Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Both engines of Skyfall Flight 400 have lost power due to a bird strike,” The transmission crackled through Koichi’s earpiece. “Can’t restart! We’ll go for an emergency water landing in the Hudson.”

 

“Time to make that money.”

 

Koichi zipped up the side of the building he stopped on and spotted the descending aircraft almost immediately. It was sweeping past the city a little too close for comfort. Without a little assistance, it was going to crash right into the side of a building before it even reached the Hudson.

 

That’s where The Skycrawler came in.

 

All it took was a handful of mid-air jumps and a rocket boost to bring Koichi within reach of his target. Koichi just barely managed to hang on to the wing and took stock of the situation. If he could get under the plane, he might be able to adjust the altitude and guide it towards the water better.

 

“Feels like you got a plan.”

 

“Yup . ”

 

Koichi caught the sight of a small child in the wingside window watching him in awe and flipped his visor back up to give them a small wave and a reassuring smile. A mistake 6 was quick to catch.

 

“Koichi, pay attention! You’re not attached-”

 

Vwoosh!

 

Koichi had lost his battle against the wind and was immediately yanked right off the wing. After a moment of panicked flailing, Koichi managed to course-correct and start mid-air hopping along the side of the plane, his ghostly wingman casually keeping pace alongside him and shaking his head in bemusement.

 

“Honestly, Hero. You’d be hopeless without me.”

 

“CUT ME A LITTLE SLACK, 6! I’M TRYING, AREN’T I!?”

 

“Inside voice, Koichi!” 6 scolded, pointing out the people in the plane that were definitely within earshot.

 

“IT’S FINE! IT’S NOT LIKE THEY CAN HEAR ME OVER ALL THIS TURBULENCE ANYWAY!”

 

“You sure about that?” 6 replied, jabbing a thumb towards a window containing a little girl tugging on her mother’s sleeve and pointing towards Koichi, no doubt asking her mother who the crazy Hero was talking to.

 

Once Koichi reached the nose of the plane, he dropped lower and clung his hands to the smooth metal underside of the aircraft. With a hefty amount of effort, Koichi manifested the strongest rocket boost he could to slow the aircrafts descent and gently guide it into the river below where it landed with a tremendous splash.

 

Cheers of relief and gratitude erupted from inside the plane, a sign of a job well done. Evacuations proceeded almost immediately. Fellow sidekicks had finally arrived at the scene (far too slow for 6’s taste) to help the passengers and crew back to shore.

 

“Hmph. That was insultingly easy,” 6 scoffed from where he perched on the nose of the plane before leaning over to check on The Skycrawler. “How’re you doin’ down there, Hero?”

 

Not well if the flailing and splashing was any indication.

 

“...* koff * 6, help!...* koff sputter* …can’t swim…* hack sputter* drowning!...”

 

“I’m a ghost, stupid. How’s my noncorporeal ass supposed to save you?” A distant sound caught 6’s attention. “Cap’s here. See? You’re fine.”

 

A strong hand gripped the hood of Koichi’s suit and lifted the drenched, pathetic little man out of the water. “Have some dignity,” Koichi’s new boss, Christopher Skyline A.K.A. Captain Celebrity said, sighing at the pitiful sight.

 

“Oh. Hi, Cap!” Koichi replied, coughing up a mouthful of water. 

 

Chris glanced back up towards the shore and an anxious expression came over him. The reporters were already gathering up, eager for a statement. This can only end well. Lifting his Sidekick up towards him, Chris whispered, “Don’t start relaxing yet. The real battle is about to begin.”

 

Easily, this was Koichi’s least favorite part of the job: the post-mission interview. As if it wasn’t bad enough that his time as a Vigilante fostered a natural aversion to the spotlight, the language barrier did him no favors at all. He had been studying his English, he swore! It was just that his brain couldn’t connect the dots as fast as everyone would like. Learning a new language was harder than it sounded! Admittedly, he’d been coasting by all this time with a little help from his friends in that regard.

 

Makoto, in particular, had been working with him on this for a while now. Koichi’s reputation back home was in the gutter, so it was all a matter of making him look good in the States where Vigilantism has much stronger roots. Makoto’s new plan was to plant one of her people in the crowd to give him a few softball questions that he could easily answer, at least until Koichi could speak for himself. How could that possibly go wrong?

 

“You’re the C.C. Corporation’s newest Hero, The Skycrawler!” one of the reporters shouted from amidst the crowd, “Could we get a comment or two?”

 

“You can ask my ward whatever you like!” Chris replied, clapping a hand against Koichi’s shoulder.

 

‘I’d like to go home, please,’ Koichi thought to himself, to 6's amusement.

 

One reporter pushed her way to the front of the crowd. Koichi instantly recognized her as one of Makoto’s people and breathed a sigh of relief. With a smile and a knowing wink, the reporter offered her microphone towards Koichi and asked, “Mr. Skycrawler, could I get a statement from you?”

 

“<Of course,>” Koichi responded in very shaky English.

 

“You started out protecting the streets of Naruhata in Japan, correct?”

 

“<That’s right,>”

 

“Do you intend to continue that good work here in New Yo-”

 

“Well, if it ain’t the Destructor of Naruhata!”, a new voice interrupted, belonging to a man that had pushed his way into the crowd and stumbled into the reporter, almost knocking her off balance. “How ‘bout you head downtown and smash Wall Street to rubble? Give those fancy-pants, necktie-wearing jackasses what’s coming to ‘em!”

 

The script had been torn to shreds and Koichi was lost. The man had spoken too fast and mumbled far too much for him to understand what the hell he just said. So instead he responded with a polite smile…and a pleading sideways glance towards 6.

 

‘PLEASE tell me you understood him.’

 

To Koichi’s dismay, 6 shrugged and said, “Nope. Sorry. Can’t help you this time.”

 

‘Don’t tell me that ! You always know what to say in these situations!’

 

6 gave a more insistent shrug. “The guy sounds like he’s been hitting the bottle since he woke up this morning. He may as well be speaking a totally different language. I got nothing. I’m sorry.”

 

‘Crap.’ Koichi gave a stressed sigh and quickly covered his potentially odd behavior by pretending like he was wracking his brain, searching for the word he was looking for. ‘C’mon, brain. Think of something! They’re all waiting on an answer.’ When his brain came up dry, Koichi panicked and defaulted back to the script.

 

With a triumphant pose and a disarming smile, Koichi answered, “<Yes, with all my might!!>”

 

Captain Celebrity’s facepalm was plenty of indication that he answered wrong. 

 

“Huh? What’s wrong?”

 

The sound of a mocking slow clap from the spirit that stood beside him made Koichi realize the mistake he just made. Great, now 6 was going to pick on him about this for the next week or two.

 

“Well done.” 6 snickered.

 

‘I panicked. What do you want from me?’

 

“Personally, I’m totally on board with this whole ‘smashing up Wall Street’ plan. We should do it sometime.”

 

‘HUH!? YOU SAID YOU COULDN’T UNDERSTAND HIM!’ Koichi scolded his ghostly companion.

 

“I lied,” 6 replied with a teasing smile.

 

‘NUMBER 6!’

 

Suddenly, the crowd of reporters came crashing down upon Koichi, demanding a clarification of his little blunder.

 

“Mr. Skycrawler! What did you mean by ‘Yes, with all my might!?’”

 

“Are you indicating that your heroics will focus primarily on supporting lower-income groups!?”

 

“Or are you laying the groundwork for your impending lawsuits!?”

 

“<I, ummm… errr…>” Koichi stammered out, overwhelmed by the aggressive interrogation he was receiving from the press. 

 

‘Too many big words. Don’t understand…’ Koichi lamented to himself. Frankly, Koichi was done being there and he’d like to go home any time now. A firm breeze reminded Koichi that he was completely soaked to the bone and sent a shiver throughout his body. ‘Oh good, a valid excuse to leave.’

 

Koichi turned to Chris and made the pitiful request of, “<Can I go home? I’m cold. I fell in the river…>”

 

“Excuse you?”

 

“Are you messing with us?”

 

“Answer the question!”

 

“You poor, pathetic little creature,” 6 teased, earning a sullen pout from the water-logged Hero.

 

All of a sudden, a bolt of red-blue-and-gold cotton smacked against Koichi’s face, startling Koichi out of his misery. “Hey, bro! Put this on, won’tcha?” said the man that was running a nearby souvenir stand that ‘bestowed’ this gift to the Hero.

 

Koichi pulled the ‘gift’ off of his face and held it up to get a better look at it. “Oh! Is this what I think it is…?”

 

It was an All Might hoodie! A nostalgic smile crept across Koichi’s face as he admired every stitch of the garment, right down to the cheap vinyl ‘I LOVE NY’ emblazoned on the back. It’d only been a year since he came to America but it felt like it’d been a lifetime since he had put on one of these and started his journey to becoming a Hero.

 

“They actually sell these hoodies overseas?” 6 wondered aloud. “I didn’t think All Might would be as popular outside of Japan since the US has their own No. 1 to obsess over.”

 

‘Well, All Might did a stint of Hero work here in the US before he made his Japan debut,” Koichi explained as he pulled the hoodie on. ‘I guess America still remembers him.’ Koichi rubbed the soft cotton against his arms and savored the warmth it provided as a shield against the unforgiving breeze. While it didn’t completely solve the current problem, the hoodie served as a little slice of home in these uncertain times and that brought a warm smile to Koichi’s face.

 

Speaking of home, a thought occurred to Koichi. “Ah! I should show Pop!” he exclaimed to himself as he rummaged through his utility belt, praying to any god that would listen that his phone survived being dunked into the Hudson. Mercifully, it had. He’d have to thank 6 again for the idea of making his utility belt waterproof.

 

Koichi flagged down a nearby pedestrian and meekly requested in his broken English, “<Excuse me, sir? Could you take my picture? I have a friend back home. I want to show her this,>” It took a second for the man to decipher what the Hero had said, but he shrugged and agreed to the request, accepting the Hero’s phone. The lifted camera seemed to draw the attention of a handful of others that flocked to join their Hero, even including Captain Celebrity himself.

 

Koichi felt that soft tingling sensation against his shoulder again, 6 having joined the group and slinging his arm around Koichi’s shoulder.

 

‘You’re not gonna show up in the picture, y’know.’

 

“I know. But I wanna be included anyway.”

 

Noticing the initial flash of the camera, Koichi turned to show off the emblem on the back of his hoodie with a grin. Kazuho was probably going to tease him about getting this excited over a hoodie later, but it didn’t bother him in the least. After a moment, the man handed Koichi’s phone back to him, the picture having been taken. Koichi thanked the man profusely as he left and smiled at the photo.

 

The photobombers that joined Koichi clamored to get a peek at the finished product, passing completely through 6 as they did so and leaving the phantom on the outside of the group. Honestly, 6 shouldn’t have been too surprised that it turned out this way, being left on the outside. It’s no different than what he’s used to. Besides, no one could see or hear him now. Even if he really wanted to be a part of the conversation, The Powers That Be and their cruel sense of humor kept him from it.

 

So he just stood there and watched. The crowd continued to try to interact with Koichi and the poor man could only really politely smile and nod. He seemed more relaxed now. It must’ve had something to do with that hoodie. 6 would have to interrogate Koichi later to find out what mystical power it had to give him that confidence. Or maybe that one reporter wasn’t too far off the mark with that ‘supporting lower-income groups’ line. After all, the average citizen was Koichi’s people. 

 

A thought wiped the smile from 6’s face. He couldn’t help but wonder…what if he was successful in becoming O’Clock II? What if that was him? In truth, being a Hero wasn’t even the goal for 6. The goal was being somebody. After that… 6 realized that he didn’t plan that far ahead for once. Certainly, he would be far less likely to stick his entire foot in his mouth like earlier, but he wouldn’t be nearly as loved as The Skycrawler was.

 

…Why was Number 6 brought back here anyway? Was this some sort of cosmic prank? His own special brand of Hell where he had to watch his dream happen for Koichi over and over and over again until Koichi’s natural death? Whatever it is, the joke was starting to get stale.

 

With a bitter smirk and a scoff, 6 muttered to himself, “Must be nice.”

 

Koichi’s ears perked up upon hearing the Villain’s sigh of despair. The group was starting to dissipate at this point, especially with Cap urging them to return to their homes. No one really noticed Koichi wandering off a few paces and giving his ghostly friend a sympathetic smile.

 

“You okay, 6?” Koichi asked, keeping his voice low.

 

“Yeah, I’ll live,” 6 quickly realized the irony behind that statement and sputtered, “You know what I mean.” Koichi had to smother his laughter to avoid receiving weird looks from passersby. Well, if this was Hell… then Number 6 supposed there were worse people to burn with.

 

A stiff breeze sent another shiver through Koichi’s body. The hoodie was probably saturated with river water and useless at keeping Koichi warm by now. “C’mon. Let’s go home and warm up before you catch a cold or something.” 6 said, beckoning the Hero to follow him back towards Cap.

 

“Yeah. Some warm pajamas and a nice hot bowl of soup would really hit the spot right now.”

 

-

 

Musutafu, Japan

 

“Wait, you’re leaving? Already?”

 

If you had told Izuku this morning that he’d encounter and be rescued by THE No. 1 Pro Hero, All Might, he would’ve been quite skeptical of you. Why would ALL MIGHT of all people waste his time on a Quirkless little nobody like him, right?

 

And yet, there he was! Standing right in front of him! He even gave Izuku his autograph while he was out! God, he was so cool! Alas, just as quickly as All Might appeared, he was preparing to leave again.

 

“Pro Heroes are constantly fighting time as well as enemies!” All Might casually responded, limbering up and preparing for take-off.

 

Instinctively, Izuku took a step forward but quickly stopped short. He had a point. All Might was still on the clock after all. The sooner he carted that Sludge Villain off to jail, the better. There was just… so much that Izuku wanted to ask of his absolute all-time No. 1 favorite Hero. Izuku would have given anything for even a crumb of insight from the man himself.

 

But… that’s right. All Might was on the clock. Izuku didn’t have the right to interfere with his work. Besides… who was enough of a fool to want to ask THE NO. 1 if it’s possible to be a Hero without a Quirk? Deep down, Izuku felt as if he already knew what All Might would say… and to hear it from All Might’s own mouth would probably kill him more than anything. Izuku slowly slid back into his original spot. Perhaps… ignorance is bliss, after all.

 

Clutching his notebook to his chest, Izuku said, “Thank you for rescuing me, All Might.”

 

“All in a day’s work, young man!” All Might responded with his trademark smile. “Now stand back! I’m taking off!”

 

And off he went, a strong gust of wind marking his grand exit into the sky.

 

“THANKS FOR YOUR CONTINUED SUPPORT!!”

 

Izuku watched the Hero disappear into the sky in awe. It was still a little difficult to fathom that he got within two feet of All Might. If only they had the time to actually talk…

 

‘It’s not the end of the world, Izuku,’ the green boy said, sighed, and shook his head. ‘Maybe we’ll see him at a fan meet-up sometime and we can ask him then. Maybe by then, I’ll be ready to hear his answer.’

 

Nothing left to do but drag himself back home and relay the story of All Might’s daring rescue to his mom. As he walked, Izuku flipped his notebook open to admire the two-page long signature that All Might gave him. ‘At least it wasn’t a total waste.’ , Izuku thought to himself with a smile, ‘At least I got All Might’s autograph out of it. Betcha don’t have one of those , do you, Kacchan? Huh? Stupid jerk.’

 

Absent-mindedly, Izuku flipped a page backwards and found his year-old entry on The Skycrawler. Huh, that’s a name he hadn’t heard in a while. The Skycrawler must’ve been keeping his head down and going with the flow lately, barring the occasional social snafu like promising to ‘smash up Wall Street’. The reminder prompted Izuku to fish his phone out of his pocket to check for any updates on the ex-Vigilante.

 

‘I wonder what The Skycrawler’s been up to these days.”

Chapter 4: The Invisible Boy

Summary:

Izuku gets his first taste of lawlessness by playing hooky from school and going on a day trip.

Today was a new day and the world was still spinning. Life settled back into the daily routine. Salarymen shuffled into bullet trains to head off to work, Heroes set off for their morning patrols and students packed their school bags and set off towards their respective institutions of higher learning. Life continued as it always has and always would.

 

But, see…here’s the thing: School was the exact last place Izuku wanted to be right now. Especially after the horrid day he had the previous day (excluding meeting All Might, of course). Izuku didn’t think he could handle another day of the constant belittlement he receives from his peers. He didn’t even want to look at Kacchan today after his little ‘swan dive’ comment from the day before.

 

The night before, he had retired to his room early and spent the night thinking, whereupon he settled on a decision: he’s not going to school today. He deserves a mental rest day from it all and he’s going to take it. 

 

That’s why he stuffed a dark green hoodie and a black cloth face mask into his backpack before he left. He’d be less recognizable with a disguise. Now…what was he going to do with this ill-gotten free time?

 

The first thing Izuku did was simply wander, deliberately avoiding where he was supposed to be going. He was admittedly a little jumpy and tense. This was the first time he did anything spontaneous or ‘rebellious’ that he can recall. Any second now, a policeman, a ‘Good Samaritan’ or, God forbid, his mother is going to beset upon him and ‘talk some sense into him.’ He was sure of it. 

 

At one point, the paranoia got to Izuku so much that he ducked into an alley to don his ‘disguise’, which in hindsight would’ve actually made him stand out more. ‘I really should’ve planned this out better,’ Izuku sighed to himself. ‘Where even am I now?’

 

 Izuku sunk into a hidden corner behind a dumpster and checked his phone. He had wandered quite a bit aways from his apartment and much closer to the station. A little day trip sounded like a nice idea. Getting lost in a crowd that didn’t immediately recognize him as Defenseless Deku… where he could simply… be…

 

‘H-Hold on, Izuku!’ he said to himself, grinding that train of thought to a halt. ‘Doesn’t this seem like too much? What about Mom? She’ll be worried sick.’ Izuku rested his chin in his hand and sighed. Well, what was he supposed to do now? He couldn’t very well give up on his plan and go to school now . He’d receive an earful for ‘being late’. No choice but to commit now.

 

If he was going to commit to this ‘day trip’ plan, he’d have to pick a destination. Scrolling through the train schedule, he spotted a familiar name: Naruhata. If Izuku had ever been to Naruhata, he must’ve been very young at the time. Now that Naruhata had suddenly become a household name thanks to The Crawler and Nightmare Night, Izuku couldn’t help but be a little curious.

 

‘It’s about a 2 hour train ride from here.’ Izuku thought, ‘I could just go there, walk around a while and come right back. Mom won’t know the difference.’

 

The plan was set. Off he went to Naruhata!

 

-

 

‘Naruhata’s looking pretty slick these days. It’s almost as if there wasn’t a massive disaster here.’ Izuku thought to himself as he stepped into the late morning sun outside of Naruhata Station. 

 

The reconstruction around the shopping district has mostly been completed at this point and business was in full swing, as if nothing had ever happened. As Izuku strolled on, he took in the cityscape around him. The Marukane Department Store stood tall amidst the sea of buildings, the crown jewel of Naruhata’s shopping district that the other shops around it were lucky enough to keep up with. The name alone reminded Izuku of the videos he saw on Narufest when he was researching The Crawler. It’s a shame that Narufest had gone under. He totally would’ve attended a show if it were still going.

 

Izuku flipped his hood down and relaxed some as he continued to walk and become unseen in the crowd of streetwalkers. Ironically, it was within the crowd that Izuku felt like he could breathe. There was something strangely comforting about being invisible in a metaphorical sense. It allowed him to become a passive observer to life around him.

 

The crowd started to thin somewhat the further away from the station he got, so he switched from people-watching to window-shopping, passing by a newly-bought building that was not yet opened. The sign out front read: “Coming Soon: Hopper’s Cosplay Club”. The blue-haired girl in the pirate costume on the poster struck him as somewhat familiar. ‘Hmm, she looks like one of those idols from Narufest.’ Izuku made a mental note and continued to walk.

 

If he was being honest, Izuku wasn’t entirely sure where he was even going. Sightseeing, he supposed. It was a little surreal to be walking around the same streets that The Crawler was patrolling for years. Maybe he could see a Vigilante in action here! That would be something! He’d always been taught by the media that Vigilantes were little more than deranged thugs that wanted an excuse to use their Quirks for their own gain, but clearly these people hadn’t met The Crawler or his friends.

 

Eventually, Izuku found himself on a sparsely populated street corner. After checking the time on his phone, Izuku looked into the window of the building beside him and spotted the most gorgeous little tabby cat curled up on the window sill, snoozing in the sunlight. Looking up to the sign above him, it read “Hopper’s Cafe”. ‘Oh, the same Hopper’s that own the cosplay cafe a little closer to the station?’ Izuku said to himself, tilting his head in curiosity at the discovery. 

 

As if on cue, the cat uncurled from its slumber and stretched out, the movement bringing Izuku’s attention back to the creature. “Hi there!” Izuku said, giving the cat a small wave. The cat in turn meowed a greeting and pawed at the window, beckoning Izuku to come inside.

 

‘It has been a while since breakfast. Lunch at a cat cafe actually sounds nice.’ Izuku mused, rifling through his backpack for the stash of money that he’s been saving up as a ‘just in case’. Looks like he has just enough to cover an hour or two of time to visit his new friend as well as something to eat. Izuku straightened back up, pulled his mask off and stuffed it into the pocket of his hoodie before heading inside.

 

The inside of the cafe looked rather sleek as far as cat cafes go. Spacious enough for several tables, a bar set against the far wall and cat trees dotted all over the place. The clientele and even some of the staff were…interesting looking characters. More than half of the customers had mutation Quirks which was honestly a rare sight in his neck of the woods back home. Izuku wondered why that might be.

 

Suddenly, a menu was pushed into Izuku’s hands by a blue-haired waitress. “Welcome to Hopper’s. Grab a seat and I’ll be with you in just a sec,” she said, so busy with her own work that she didn’t even glance in his direction. 

 

Izuku meekly wandered over to a small table in the corner by the window, slung his backpack under it and rested there, perusing the menu the waitress gave him. It was rather simple, about what one would expect for a cat cafe, mostly drinks and light fare. ‘Ooh, they’ve got pork katsu sandwiches!’

 

Izuku was figuring out the money when the waitress returned. “Sorry for the wait,” she sighed, readying a notepad to take his order with. “I was supposed to get the cover charge from you before you sat down but you showed up just in time for the lunch rush. We charge by the hour. How long were you planning on staying?”

 

“Just a couple hours,” Izuku replied.

 

The waitress seemed to falter for a second, finally giving Izuku a very curious look whereupon he recognized her as the girl from the poster advertising the Hopper’s second location. “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be in school right now?” the waitress scolded.

 

‘Damn babyface. She figured me out.’ Izuku muttered under his breath. He pressed a finger to his lips, silently begging the young woman to keep his little truancy adventure a secret.

 

The waitress rolled her eyes and mumbled, “Well, whatever. You’re still giving us money so it’s none of our business I guess.”

 

“Thank you, miss,” Izuku sighed in relief.

 

“Trust me, you’re not the first rule breaker any of us met and I doubt you’ll be the last.” The waitress waved her hand dismissively. “I’m Miu, by the way.”

 

A soft sensation against Izuku’s leg caught his attention. Upon inspection, he found his little friend from the window rubbing up against his leg. Izuku smiled and reached down to give the furry creature a scritch behind the ear.

 

“A couple hours, you said?” Miu spoke again. “That’ll be ¥ 2770.” Izuku counted it out and placed the money in Miu’s hand. “And while I’m here, I may as well get your order.”

 

“Just a pork katsu sandwich and a green tea, please.”

 

Miu jotted it down on her notepad and nodded. “Gotcha. I’ll be right out with that.” Before Miu could walk off, the cat jumped up onto the table and meowed, grabbing Miu’s attention for a moment. “Hey there, Mochi,” she said with a smile. A smile that quickly faded into a pout as Mochi climbed over Izuku’s shoulder and into his hood. “Oh, I see how it is. You’ll shower this kid with love and affection but completely ignore everyone else?”

 

The cat responded with a contented mrrp and purred.

 

“Even after I shelled out some good money for that fancy wet food?”

 

The cat only purred.

 

Miu sighed in frustration, in contrast to the amused smile on Izuku’s face. “You’re lucky you’re so cute, you little snob.” Miu gave Mochi a little scratch on the head before she returned to work.

 

-

 

After his food was eaten and paid for, Izuku decided to use up the rest of his time to visit with the other cats in the cafe (Mochi content to nap in his hood) and people-watch some more.

 

The owners, Ichiro and Jiro Hotta, seemed awfully amused by what Miu related to them about the truant in their midst. “Great, The Cruller went and made vigilantism look cool.” Izuku heard one of them (Jiro, he thinks.) chuckle. “Now all the kids are gonna wanna try it.”

 

Well, Hotta did have a point. There had been an uptick in incidents involving self-appointed ‘Vigilantes’ in the year that followed Nightmare Night. Usually, these ‘Copycat Crullers’, as the news so eloquently called them, were jaded salarymen or cocky youths that got in over their heads and went charging at a Villain, trying to prove that they were Hero material too despite the hand they’ve been dealt in life. Most of these incidents… ended just the way you’d think.

 

Not Izuku, though. He was certainly not planning to leap head-first into danger any time soon. He just wanted to do something selfish for his own mental health today. Nothing more.

 

Izuku checked the time. His time was almost up. So…what was he going to do now? Was it time to head back towards home already?

 

“So, any plans for the evening?” 

 

Izuku’s ears perked up at the sound of a conversation between two patrons behind him.

 

“Oh, my brother and I are going to a concert at The Kantina tonight!” the other person replied.

 

“Oooh, that sounds like fun!” the first person laughed. “Who’s playing tonight?”

 

“A local band. I think they’re called Deep Dope.” the other person responded.

 

“Oh, I’ve heard of them!” The first person said. “But aren’t they a punk rock kinda band? Why are you…oh.”

 

“Yeah. The lead singer’s hot.”

 

“You are just too much sometimes, Akira.”

 

“Haha, don’t judge me!” the other person laughed. “Have you even seen him on social media? Look!”

 

“...”

 

“Well?”

 

The first person sighed. “Yeah, he’s cute.”

 

“Told you!”

 

Izuku stopped following along at this point. He’s got all the info he needs. ‘A punk rock concert at The Kantina, huh?’ Izuku mulled over the thought, resting his chin in his hand. ‘When’s the last time I’ve been to a concert? Probably that live show All Might did a few years ago.’ Izuku shrugged. Screw it. He’d already be in plenty of trouble for skipping school. He might as well go the whole nine yards.

 

Well, his time was up. Time for him to be on his way. Izuku stood from the spot he took next to one of the cat trees, dusted himself off, grabbed his backpack from under his table and strode out of the-

 

“Whoa, whoa! Wait a minute!” Miu exclaimed before retrieving the sleeping cat from Izuku’s hood, Mochi meowing in protest of his disturbed nap. “I know he’s cute and all but you gotta talk to the owners if you wanna adopt him.”

 

“Oh crap! I totally forgot he was there! Sorry about that!” Izuku stammered with a quick apologetic bow.

 

“Just…be more mindful next time, okay?” Miu sighed.

 

“Ah, cut the kid some slack, Miu.” one of the Hottas (Ichiro, this time?) laughed. “That might’ve been Mochi’s master plan the whole time. He’s a schemer!” 

 

“Look, I’m just trying not to get fired over here.” Miu shot back.

 

The other Hotta waved to Izuku and said, “Thanks for coming in, kid. Try to stay out of trouble.”

 

“I-I will! Thanks for having me!” Izuku bowed once more before leaving.

 

Just as he stepped outside, Izuku spotted a trio of people approaching and instinctively stood aside and held the door open for them. A blue-haired girl that looked exactly like Miu with shorter hair and glasses and a plain looking man stood on either side of their friend and offered their thanks towards the kind green boy, but the person in the middle was the most interesting of the bunch:

 

A young woman with cotton candy pink hair tied back in a simple ponytail and glasses that failed to distract from the medical eyepatch over her left eye. She was having some difficulty walking, having to use crutches to do so. She smiled towards Izuku and gave him a soft, “Thank you.”

 

Izuku returned the smile and said, “No problem!” Izuku watched the trio cross the threshold and the last thing he saw before the door swung closed was Miu’s face visibly softening at the sight of them.

 

Izuku took a deep breath and surveyed his surroundings. He had some time to kill. What should he do until the concert?

 

-

 

Izuku: Hi, Mom! I’m probably gonna be coming home late. Kacchan and I are meeting up to study for this next exam that’s coming up.

 

Mom: The two of you made up already?

 

Izuku: Yeah…we had a heartfelt talk about it at lunch. Surprising, considering it’s Kacchan. Lol

 

Mom: I’m so glad to hear it! You two used to be so close. I’m glad you’re working things out.

 

Mom: Have fun, sweetie! Be safe coming home!

 

Izuku: I will! Love you, Mom!

 

‘There’s a special place in Hell for sons like me that lie directly to their Mom’s face.’ Izuku wheezed anxiously. ‘Please, please, PLEASE don’t fact-check that with Aunt Mitsuki. Kacchan will kill me for using him as a cover and then Mom will probably kill me for lying and sneaking out and Aunt Mitsuki will definitely help her hide the body.’

 

The further Izuku walked into Naruhata, the sketchier it started to look. Construction projects littered the streets, making it quite clear where the city placed their priorities. A few spots Izuku recognized from the live broadcast he watched a year ago. ‘Man, it still feels weird that I’m here.’

 

A sound down one alley that he passed caught his attention, the tak, tak, tak of metal against concrete. When Izuku turned his head to inspect the sound, he caught the sight of a tall, broad-shouldered shadow stagger away into a different part of the alleyway. A nervous shudder wracked the poor boy’s body. Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea after all…

 

…But Izuku had come too far to simply turn around and leave. If he ran into trouble, he’d just run away. He was good at that. Taking a deep breath and straightening his back, Izuku continued to march until he reached his destination.

 

The Kantina was a relatively small venue, essentially just a seedy dive bar that had a stage attached to it that hosted local talent on the regular, usually cover bands. The turnout for Deep Dope, however, seemed quite substantial for a local cover band. They must be just as good as those two Hopper’s patrons made them out to be. As he approached, Izuku took note of the small line of people waiting outside. Odds are good that it was packed in there. Deep Dope must be really good. 

 

Izuku watched for a moment. The type of people that came out to see Deep Dope fit the stereotype of punk rockers, a very intimidating bunch. Izuku watched as the line began to shrink, each group handing off money to the bouncer before they entered.

 

‘Crap.’

 

Izuku checked his stash of money and cursed under his breath. His math was a little bit off and there was no way this was going to be cheap. Izuku looked back up and spotted a trio of punk rockers plus a bookish blonde woman who stuck out like a sore thumb, no doubt the girlfriend of the man whose arm she clung to. Plan B: Izuku could use these four as a distraction to sneak past the bouncer.

 

Reassembling his disguise, Izuku kept his head down and speed-walked his way into the-

 

“Hey, hey, hey! Come back here!”

 

A strong hand gripped Izuku by the elbow and yanked him out of his mobile hiding spot. The annoyed bouncer addressed the quartet and asked, “This one belong to any of you?”

 

The ringleader of the group and boyfriend of the blonde woman, a young man in his mid-twenties with fluffy platinum blond hair and dark sunglasses resting on his head, looked down at Izuku with an expression of contempt and mild disgust and answered, “No.”

 

“Thought not,” the bouncer sighed. “You folks have a nice night. Enjoy the show.”

 

After a little urging from his girlfriend, the man and their friends disappeared into the venue, leaving Izuku alone to be confronted by the bouncer. “Now you,” the bouncer grumbled. “Don’t think you can just sneak past me without paying the cover charge like I won’t notice.” The bouncer stuck out his hand and demanded, “ ¥ 7000.”

 

Izuku checked one more time to be sure and…yup. He was short. Izuku sighed anxiously. Now what?

 

“Hey, wait a minute,” the bouncer said, “How old are you anyway?”

 

Ah, so the whole point was moot then. “Um…21?” Izuku blatantly lied. If his lying worked on his mom, then he hoped beyond hope that it would work on this guy too. “I’m just really short for my age.”

 

Alas, the bouncer was smarter than Izuku gave him credit for. “I don’t get paid enough for this shit,” the bouncer grumbled under his breath. “Go home, kid. Come back in about 10 years.”

 

The bouncer grabbed Izuku by the shoulder, spun him around and gave him a gentle (by the bouncer’s standards) shove in the direction he came from. Izuku turned back and attempted to plead his case. “B-But I-”

 

“I said: Go home!” the bouncer said again and waved him off before returning to work, addressing the next concert goer in line.

 

Well, Plan B was a total bust. Izuku clicked his tongue in frustration and started to pace away. ‘Crap. So what…I came up all this way for nothing? That sucks.’

 

A muted flash of yellow-and-red on the wall of the alley beside the venue caught Izuku’s eye. Curious, Izuku went to inspect it and found a spray-paint graffiti mural in honor of The Crawler. The words “Destructor of Naruhata'' were painted beneath it, although the word “Destructor” was struck out in favor of “Savior.” Izuku smiled. Despite how badly The Crawler’s reputation had tanked on a national level, it was good to see that he still had fans and supporters in his hometown.

 

Izuku pulled his phone from his hoodie pocket and snapped a photo of the mural. ‘Gonna make this one my home screen.’ Izuku smirked to himself. After stuffing his phone back into his pocket, Izuku looked into the alley. Parked a little further in was a white van with “Deep Dope” detailed onto the back in bright red letters. Beyond that, the alley emptied into a more open area that acted as a small courtyard for the adjacent apartment building with two large dumpsters pushed up against the wall of a third building.

 

Izuku startled, noticing the man leaning up against the wall before it emptied into the courtyard. Quickly, Izuku ducked behind Deep Dope’s van to avoid being spotted. Shortly after, he heard a beep and a door being opened, which startled the man.

 

“Ah, shit!” the man cursed under his breath.

 

“There you are, Souji!” a woman’s voice scolded.

 

Izuku peeked around the van. Both of the characters at the end of the alley were wearing the same uniform. Staff members, with the woman sounding as if she had more authority than the man. A manager, maybe?

 

“A little late for a smoke break, don’tcha think?” the woman sighed, folding her arms over her chest.

 

“Hey, Honda-san,” the man said with a nervous snicker. “Figured I had a minute or two before the show started.”

 

The woman sighed and shook her head. “10 minutes to showtime. Wrap it up and get your ass back in there, alright?”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

“I mean it, Souji,” the woman said, grabbing the badge attached to her belt and pressing it to the sensor that opened the electronic lock on the door. “You’re on thin ice enough as it is.”

 

“Yes, ma’am.” The door closed, signifying the woman’s departure and allowing the man to mutter under his breath, “Fuckin’ bitch.”

 

For Izuku, on the other hand, watching the whole interaction gave him an idea. Upon inspection, Izuku spotted a badge exactly like the one the woman had attached to the man’s belt. Eureka! Plan C: “borrow” that badge from the man, sneak in through backstage back to the venue proper and it’d be like he was there the entire time.

 

It was highly unlikely that he could walk right up to the guy and ask him for it, so Izuku needed a distraction. Reaching down, Izuku snatched a palm-sized rock out from the dirt and slipped into the blind spot between the van and the wall. Izuku gave the rock a good throw towards one of the dumpsters on the other side of the door, where it struck the open lid. Miraculously, it struck in just the right spot that the resulting momentum brought the lid down with a tremendous slam !

 

“Bwah!?” the man sputtered, startled by the sudden noise. For a moment, he simply glared at the dumpster, expecting whatever made that noise to suddenly pop out, but when it didn’t, the man sighed in mild annoyance and stubbed out his cigarette. “The hell was that?”

 

The man started wandering towards the dumpster to investigate, exactly what Izuku was hoping for. As quietly as he could manage, Izuku snuck up behind the staff member. Carefully, Izuku grabbed the knob of hard, black plastic that the badge was attached to and pulled it off the man’s belt.

 

Whether it was the rustling of Izuku’s backpack or the snap of the crappily cheap metal hook against plastic, a sound caught the man’s attention. “Huh?” he murmured and turned to see if there was someone behind him.

 

The technique that Izuku used to just narrowly avoid detection could be generously referred to as “Looney Tune-ing”. Making sure to stay in the man’s blind spot and staying very quiet, Izuku watched the man survey the background looking for the source of the sound. 

 

A thought occurred to Izuku. Once he’s done investigating this noise, the man will probably go back to his original spot right across from the door he wants to go into. A minor snag, though. One he could easily fix. Izuku reached back down to snatch up another rock.

 

Not seeing anything, the man shrugged and went back to his original investigation, completely unaware of the hooded kid ‘Looney Tune-ing’ right behind him. Izuku shuffled a few paces back as quietly as he could, waiting for the perfect opportunity to use his second distraction. Once the man opened the lid of the first dumpster and started to inspect the inside of it, Izuku sprang his trap, aiming for the furthest dumpster in the line and tossing the rock at it where it struck the side with a reverbing thunk !

 

The man startled at the sound, nearly dropping the lid on himself and lifting himself up to glare at the new sound. “Damn raccoons,” he grumbled, pacing off to investigate this new sound and providing Izuku with the time he needed.

 

Making sure his hood and mask were up in case of security cameras, Izuku dashed over to the door, unlocked it with his ill-gotten badge and slipped inside.

 

The beep of the electronic lock didn’t go unnoticed. The man whipped around at the sound just in time to see the door close. “Honda-san?” he called out. Silence was all that answered. “Gorou? Is that you? C’mon, if this is a prank, it ain’t funny!”

 

-

 

‘Alright! Halfway through!’ Izuku gave himself a metaphorical pat on the back for getting this far. Slowly creeping through the hall, he scanned every inch of the, frankly, shabby looking backstage area. ‘Shouldn’t be too hard to find my way back to the venue from here. I just gotta look for the-’

 

A door labeled ‘Green Room’ opened, nearly smacking Izuku right in the face. Like a deer caught in the headlights, Izuku remained perfectly still and quiet as he listened to the band’s chatter from within.

 

“C’mon, man,” the first voice sighed, “Is now really the time to get high?”

 

A second voice, this one more gravelly and higher-pitched than the first, laughed after a quick coughing fit, “I’m not gettin’ high, Moyu! Honest! Just a few puffs to take the edge off before the show. Want some?”

 

“Ehhh…maybe after the show,” the first voice, ‘Moyu’, said. “I’m just saying, don’t you want your senses to be sharp for this?”

 

“Nah. I’m just the drummer,” the second voice chuckled. “You guys have to worry about all that technical shit. I just operate on vibes and vibes exclusively so I’m good.”

 

“Well, could you have your ‘vibes’ match the damn song this time?” a third voice, gruff and perpetually angry sounding, grumbled in response.

 

“I’m good, man,” the second voice protested. “Damn, you guys worry too much…Soga?”

 

“Nah. I need to focus,” the third voice, ‘Soga’, said.

 

“Suit yourself,” the second voice said. “Tama?”

 

“Don’t offer her that shit,” ‘Soga’ scolded the second voice.

 

“Why not?”

 

“Yeah, why not?” a fourth voice, presumably ‘Tama’, shot back from just on the other side of the door, making Izuku hold his breath even tighter.

 

“Your dad would kick our asses again on principle,” ‘Soga’ sighed, annoyed.

 

“1). I doubt my dad actually gives a shit if people smoke weed, Soga,” ‘Tama’ retorted, “And 2). I don’t really give a shit what my dad thinks either.”

 

“Look, I just don’t wanna piss him off again,” ‘Soga’ replied, “He’s already kicked my ass enough for one lifetime.”

 

“Sometimes I can still feel where he got me with the brick,” ‘Moyu’ added. 

 

“Next time, Tama. Promise!” the second voice said.

 

“Hmph, fine then,” ‘Tama’ huffed indignantly. “Well, I’m gonna grab something from the vending machine while we wait. You squares want anything?”

 

“Dude, I’m not a square! What the hell?”

 

“Not you, Rapt. Those squares.”

 

“I’m good, but if Rapt’s gonna insist on smoking before the show, might as well grab him the biggest thing of water you can find,” ‘Moyu’ said.

 

“Not a bad idea, actually,” ‘Rapt’ agreed. “Cotton mouth’s a bitch.”

 

“‘Kay, a water for Rapt. Soga?”

 

“I’m good.”

 

“Cool. Be right back.”

 

The green room door closed, leaving Izuku practically two feet away from ‘Tama’, a young woman decked out in denim and leather punk rock attire and with long brown hair that she had swept over her left eye. ‘Tama’ smirked to herself and produced a pack of cigarettes from her jacket pocket. “Dumbass,” she snickered to herself as she put the cigarette in her mouth and pulled a lighter from the same pocket.

 

‘Tama’ hadn’t noticed Izuku yet. Her distraction with her cigarette provided Izuku a saving grace. Taking the opportunity, Izuku dashed off down a different hallway. ‘Tama’ glanced up at the sound of footsteps but only saw an empty room where someone probably should’ve been. “Huh. That’s weird. Could’ve sworn I heard something.”

 

-

 

After a little more dodging and weaving, Izuku found the door he was looking for. If Izuku was right, this door would let him out right beside the stage. All he would have to do then is just get lost in the crowd and hope that the bouncer hadn’t told the rest of the staff about him.

 

Izuku had nearly grabbed a hold of the bar to push the door forward when he realized, ‘Hold on…there’s probably a security guard on the other side that’ll grab me as soon as he sees me.’ Pressing his ear against the door confirmed Izuku’s fear, hearing amongst the noises of the crowd the muffled voice of a man redirecting an unruly concert goer away from the door. ‘Crap. How am I gonna get past this one?’

 

Faint footsteps from behind him startled Izuku. Noticing the drink machine against the wall beside him, Izuku quickly put two-and-two together and realized that ‘Tama’ was coming his way. He needed to hide. Fast.

 

A door on the opposite wall, marked ‘Utility Closet’, provided sanctuary for the young trespasser. Izuku ducked into the room and closed the door as much as he could while still leaving it cracked open to watch.

 

‘Tama’ entered the frame, fishing her wallet out of the opposite pocket. For a while, she just stood in silence, smoking the cigarette and buying a couple drinks from the vending machine. It was when she bent down to retrieve the second drink that another set of footsteps caught her attention. She smiled up at the new person to enter the frame, a man with spiky blue hair and sharp teeth, decked out in a similar outfit of black denim and leather.

 

“Hey, you,” ‘Tama’ chirped, “Changed your mind?”

 

The man gave an indignant scoff and as soon as ‘Tama’ was upright again, he snagged the pack of cigarettes out of her jacket pocket. “I was wondering where my pack went.” he sneered, laying claim to the voice of ‘Soga’ from earlier.

 

‘Tama’ shrugged and with a teasing smirk, said, “I don’t see your name on it.”

 

‘Soga’ shook his head, slipped a cigarette of his own between his lips and checked his pockets for a moment. With an annoyed sigh, he stuck his hand out towards ‘Tama’ and grumbled, “Gimme back my lighter, asshole.”

 

‘Tama’ gave a mischievous giggle and placed the lighter in her friend’s hand. “It’s just way too easy to make off with your shit, man.” ‘Soga’ didn’t give her a response, instead focusing on lighting his cigarette and looking over what the machine had to offer. “Tell ya what…” ‘Tama’ spoke again, “I already have my wallet out so I’ll get your drink. Consider it repaying you for stealing your cigs.”

 

‘Soga’ gave ‘Tama’ an accusatory look.

 

“...again.”

 

“That’s better,” ‘Soga’ said with a smirk. ‘Tama’ rolled her eyes in response and put a few coins in the machine.

 

Izuku exchanged a few glances between the duo at the vending machine and the door. He really was stuck here for the time being, wasn’t he? His brow crinkled in thought. How’s he going to get through this one?

 

-

 

A look of sour nostalgia flitted across Soga’s face. Without really thinking, he got the exact same brand of soda that he bought the day that Koichi literally ran into him for the first time. First the mural on the alley outside and now this? What was this? The universe trying to send him some kind of cosmic message?

 

‘Nah. Who even believes in that kinda shit anyway?’ Soga scoffed, ‘Probably some kind of freaky coincidence.’

 

“Earth to space cadet,” Tamao teased, giving Soga a light poke in the temple, “You still there?”

 

Soga swatted Tamao’s hand away with a hiss of, “Knock it off.”

 

“Regretting your choice already?”

 

Soga shook his head in response and took a sip to prove it. “Nope.”

 

Tamao leaned against the machine, her teasing demeanor morphing into one of mild concern. “So what’s up then? You look like something’s bugging you.”

 

“Nothin’. It’s just…” Soga trailed off, not exactly thrilled to discuss his current train of thought. Especially not to Tamao, who’s been on his case about it for a year now.

 

Tamao was quick to connect the dots and her concern quickly changed into exasperation and disappointment. “You still haven’t talked to Koichi, have you?” Soga’s groan of frustration was plenty enough of an answer. “You told me you were gonna text him last week, Soga! What’s the hold up?” Tamao said, giving her friend a scolding smack on the arm.

 

Soga gave a noncommittal shrug. “I figured that Pop would be the hard one for you to talk to ‘cuz that meant you’d have to own up to your ‘pre-ass whoopin’ from Dad’ bullshit.” Tamao continued. 

 

“She was hard to talk to,” Soga protested.

 

“I’m not saying she wasn’t,” Tamao sighed, “What I’m saying is that Koichi’s way too nice to hold a grudge against people and Pop has a damn good reason to hate your guts. So why is it the nice guy that you’re draggin’ your feet on? You’re not still pissed at him for leaving, are you?”

 

“No, okay?” Soga sighed in exasperated defeat. “I never was. I’m just…worried about him, I guess. If the Hero society over there doesn’t chew him up and spit him back out, then he…might not come back the same.”

 

“And that’s what’s bothering you?”

 

“I keep having this dream about him coming back and arresting all of us.”

 

“That’s just your paranoia talking, Soga.” Tamao said. “I think if they really did send him back for us, Koichi would give us a heads-up about it.”

 

“Tch, he shouldn’t have had to choose between jail and exile anyway,” Soga grumbled. “Koichi risked his entire damn life for this godforsaken town and that’s how they repay him? They should be holding a damn parade for him, not this…”

 

“Well…you guys knew you weren’t gonna get praise for being Vigilantes.”

 

“...yeah,” Soga sighed. “It’s easy to forget that sometimes. If it weren’t for that American Hero, Koichi would be looking at a lot of time behind bars, so I’m grateful for that. I’m just…”

 

“...worried that he’s gonna forget about us?” Tamao predicted the rest of Soga’s sentence.

 

“...yeah.”

 

“Well, going radio silent on him sure as hell won’t help,” Tamao said, giving her friend a light nudge on the arm. “I bet the poor guy’s homesick anyway. I think he’d be happy to hear from his friend, right?”

 

“...Tomorrow,” Soga replied. “I’ll shoot him a text tomorrow. I mean it this time.”

 

“Good. I’ll be standing over your shoulder to make sure you do this time.”

 

“Alright, mom,” Soga huffed sarcastically.

 

“Quit slouching,” Tamao shot back.

 

Thunk!

 

A clatter from the utility closet behind them halted the conversation.

 

“Huh?”

 

“The fuck was that?”

 

-

 

Izuku made the most amateur of mistakes in not paying attention to where his hands and feet were at all times. In his shifting around for a comfortable stance, he had accidentally nudged over a mop that was leaned against the wall beside him and now he had ‘Tama’ and ‘Soga’s’ full attention. 

 

A shiver rattled down Izuku’s spine. ‘Soga’ was looking directly at him. Not really seeing him exactly, but he knew that ‘Soga’ knew something was there. Panicked, Izuku shifted off to the side out of view…and unintentionally confirmed ‘Soga's’ suspicions. 

 

“Did you see that?” Izuku heard ‘Soga’ say. “That shadow just now?”

 

“Probably some big-ass rat or something,” ‘Tama’ replied. “This place is grimey. I’m shocked it hasn’t been condemned yet.”

 

Izuku pressed himself as far into the wall as he could, hands clamped over his mouth and praying that ‘Soga’ and ‘Tama’ would just leave. A very tense silence followed…finally broken by the sound of a couple cautious footsteps.

 

“Soga, c’mon. You’re gonna piss off the staff.”

 

Izuku’s heart could’ve stopped dead as soon as he saw ‘Soga’s’ fingers curl around the door. It was over. He was done for. Time to pack it in. ‘Well, that’s that for me, I guess.’ Izuku lamented, accepting his fate. ‘Mom, Kacchan, I hope you guys will visit me in prison.’

 

“Oguro-san? Kugizaki-san?”

 

-

 

Soga almost leapt straight out of his skin at the sudden introduction of the third party, which Tamao found incredibly amusing. “Are you okay?” Tamao asked in between mirthful laughter. “You looked like you were gonna have a heart attack!”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to sneak up on you like that.” The manager sheepishly apologized.

 

“I-I’m fine, I’m fine,” Soga stammered, trying to regain his cool while coughing and sputtering on a sudden intake of cigarette smoke. “Wh- * koff koff * What’s up?”

 

“5 minutes to showtime. We’re ready for you on stage,” the manager said.

 

“Cool. *koff* Thanks.” 

 

The manager gave an acknowledging nod and scurried off.

 

“You gonna live?” Tamao teased and gave Soga a firm thump on the back.

 

“Unfortunately,” Soga coughed.

 

Tamao smirked and offered him his drink to soothe the burn of nicotine and ash in his throat. “Well, c’mon Debbie Downer. Let’s go get the guys. This house ain’t gonna bring itself down.”

 

Soga took one more lingering glare in the direction of the utility closet, a silent declaration of ‘ I know you’re there, ’ to whatever or whoever was in there. “...don’t tell the guys about that, okay?” Soga said, returning his attention to Tamao, “Especially not Rapt. He’ll never let me hear the end of it.”

 

“I don’t know…” Tamao chuckled, “It was pretty funny.”

 

“Asshole,” Soga grumbled and gave his friend a quick elbow jab in the arm.

 

“Ow. Jerk,” Tamao laughed, returning the jab as the two walked away.

 

-

 

‘That was way too close!’ Izuku released the breath that he had been holding for the last few seconds. ‘Another second later and he would’ve found me for sure!’

 

Izuku slid over to peek through the crack again. The hallway was empty now. If he focused enough, he could hear ‘Soga’ and ‘Tama’s’ conversation growing fainter the further away they got. ‘So, those guys are Vigilantes? And they know The Skycrawler?’ Excitement replaced tension. Izuku would love nothing more than to interview one of them about vigilantism and especially about The Skycrawler’s vigilante days!

 

‘Wait, no…no one’s supposed to know I’m here.’ Izuku immediately backed down from that thought. ‘Maybe I can come back another day and see if I-’

 

The sound of the door leading out to the venue opening made Izuku clam up again. From his hiding spot, who he could assume as the security guard stationed outside the door walked past, a hand pressed to his headset as he spoke to the person on the other end.

 

“What do you mean you got locked out? Don’t you have your badge on you?...I bet you left it on the bar again, ya dumbass…Yeah, yeah, I won’t say anything to Honda-san but you owe me big time for this…Oh, quit yer bellyachin’. I’m coming…”

 

Oh, that’s right! The staff member outside that Izuku got his key inside from! This was perfect! Now the door he wanted to go through was left unlocked and unguarded.

 

‘Now’s my chance!’

 

-

 

This seemed like exactly Iwao Oguro’s kind of place. Dark, dirty and reverberating with the kind of raw energy that Knuckleduster was drawn to. These kinds of venues were untapped powder kegs that if hit wrong, would quickly become volatile and explode. It has been a good long while since Knuckleduster has thrown himself into (or started) a bar brawl.

 

That’s part of the reason why Iwao came: to either shut down a riot before it starts or start one if things seem too boring. Preferably the former, considering who’s on stage tonight. Unpaid security, as it were. Not that the band really asked for it…

 

…not that Soga and the gang need it either. Iwao is confident that the three former thugs could handle themselves if things started to get out of hand. Hell, he was more than confident that they taught Tamao how to protect herself too. But… a father still worries. It’s his job to.

 

Iwao shuffled towards the bar, settling into a vacant stool and leaning his crutch against the bar next to him. As much fun as it would be to join the pit, his busted knee would only make his life even more of a hell than it already was. Physical therapy and a lot of painkillers can only do so much. Besides, if there was one thing he took away from his time as O’Clock, it was ‘the best seat in the house is the one where you can put your back to the wall and see everything that was happening in the room.’

 

The bartender slid over and said, “Evenin’, sir. What can I get started for ya?”

 

Iwao placed down a handful of wrinkled bills on the bar in front of him and replied, “A Boilermaker.”

 

“Coming right up,” the bartender answered, scooping up the money and sliding off.

 

Iwao shifted in his seat and scanned the room. The venue was practically packed full of punk rockers, which Iwao couldn’t help but be a little impressed by. A crowd has already formed by the stage with a handful of stragglers and loners hanging out around the bar. A rolling murmur from the crowd filled the air. Nothing out of the ordinary so far.

 

That was until Iwao spotted a kid who had to be in his middle school years bursting through a door he had no business coming out of. He made a quick mental note of what the kid looked like: dark green hoodie, black face mask, yellow backpack, red shoes and a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it glimpse of something haphazardly stuffed into the kid’s hoodie pocket. At this distance, Iwao couldn’t quite tell what it was exactly but it was connected by a chain to a knob of hard, black plastic and a crappy aluminum clip. That was all he could see before the kid barged his way into the crowd and partially disappeared amongst the throng of punk rockers.

 

“Here you are, sir.” the bartender spoke up again, sliding over a pint of beer and a shot glass of whisky. 

 

On a hunch, Iwao looked over the bartender himself and almost immediately spotted a similar clip attached to the man’s shirt collar. Hanging from it was a sheath of plastic protecting his employee ID as well as a chip embedded in the card that must grant him access to employee only areas.

 

‘Hmm. Interesting.’ Iwao hummed in thought before downing the shot of whisky. He could let a little thievery and trespassing slide. At least this looked like a brand of teenage stupidity of the kid’s own making and not influenced by a shady group of ‘friends’. Honestly, Iwao was more curious about the rest of the kid’s story and how he wound up in this kind of place.

 

But that would have to come later. The show was about to start.

 

-

 

‘Made it!’ Izuku breathed a sigh of relief as he disappeared into the safety of the crowd. ‘As long as the bouncer didn’t warn his coworkers about me, it should be smooth sailing from here.’ Finally noticing the clip of the stolen badge dangling from his pocket, Izuku hastily hid the evidence of his crime and hoped that no one noticed. That was when the murmur of the crowd around him raised into a dull roar of cheering as Deep Dope took the stage. Izuku squeezed through the wall of punk rockers until he could get a clear view. 

 

‘Tama’ and ‘Soga’ strode out onto the stage, yellow Flying V and blue Les Paul respectively slung over their shoulders. Following quickly behind was the drummer, ‘Rapt’, a man with a Quirk that gave him a lizard-like appearance, and the bassist, ‘Moyu’, a man with a sturdy build, brimstone skin and a single flame on his head as opposed to hair. After a quick sound check and a lot of hyping up the crowd, especially from ‘Rapt’, ‘Soga’ pulled the microphone from the stand.

 

“How’re you motherfuckers doin’ tonight?”

 

The crowd roared in answer.

 

“Ah, c’mon! That shit was weak! Lemme hear ya!”

 

‘Soga’ held the mic out towards the audience and Izuku winced as the volume increased in the crowd’s answer.

 

“That’s more like it!” ‘Soga’ snickered, “Hope you bitches are comfortable down there! You’re in for a long night!”

 

Even in this slightly clearer spot in the crowd, Izuku had to stand on his toes in order to see. He was just thankful that the concert goers in front of him didn’t take offense to him using their shoulders to keep his balance.

 

“Since you guys came all this way to see us tonight, how ‘bout we play you your favorite song?” ‘Soga’ asked the crowd and the audience whooped and hollered in delight. “If this is your first time at one of our shows, this one we wrote a year ago, in dedication to a good friend of ours. He was from this part of town and he used to keep this neighborhood running almost single-handedly until that sentient Ken doll, Captain Celebrity, took him away from us. We haven’t had an Instant Villain incident in a full year, thanks to him. And when that ugly motherfucker from Nightmare Night showed his face around here, our friend was on the scene faster than anyone. Even All Might!” ‘Soga’ smirked and offered the mic towards the crowd again. “You all know who I’m talkin’ about…”

 

“ THE CRULLER!!! ”

 

“Wrong! Try again!”

 

“ THE HAULER!!! ”

 

“We’ll work on it!”

 

Ba-dum-tsh!

 

“Shut up, Rapt!”

 

The audience rumbled with laughter and the tension and uneasiness in Izuku’s body started to melt away.

 

“So, raise a glass and make some noise for Naruhata’s Golden Boy! This one’s for you, Koichi!” ‘Soga’ set the microphone back into the stand and slung his guitar into his hands. “This one’s called ‘ Mr. Nice Guy ’.”

 

It took Izuku a few seconds for his hearing to properly adjust to just how loud the venue became. Between the shredding guitars, pounding drums and cheers from all directions, it all was very disorienting at first. Yet, Izuku felt safe here. There was an unspoken camaraderie that permeated through the air in this building. In The Kantina, there were no enemies; just a bunch of people that answered Deep Dope’s rallying cry.

 

Izuku quickly adapted to the energy of the crowd, moving and shouting in sync with the punk rockers that surrounded him. What was the word to describe what he felt in that moment? “Teenage euphoria”? That sounds about right. For a moment, the world outside those walls stopped existing and only this feeling of euphoria, adrenaline and life was left.

 

In the shuffling behind him, someone must’ve pushed someone who was pushed into someone else and wound up being pushed right into Izuku. The domino effect shoved him forward into a mosh pit that had formed in the middle of the crowd. Izuku had just barely managed to avoid being punched in the face by an errant mosher that didn’t see him. 

 

“Shit, sorry about that lil’ man! You good!?”

 

Izuku gave the man a thumbs up, the confusion of being thrust into the middle of the mosh pit quickly wearing off.

 

“Fuck yeah!” The mosher laughed and returned Izuku’s thumbs up.

 

Izuku was just as quick to adapt to the mosh pit, though his moshing was incredibly stiff and needed work. But that didn’t really matter. What did was that Izuku was having the most fun he had ever had and felt the most alive he ever did. It felt like youth, freedom…

 

…pure rebellion.

 

…and it tasted so, so sweet!

 

-

 

Every so often, Iwao could catch a glimpse of the kid in the green hoodie amongst the crowd. A smirk crossed his face. At least the kid was enjoying himself. 

 

Iwao took a sip of his drink and looked up with pride at the other part of the reason that he came.

 

‘Attagirl, Tamao. Attagirl.’

Chapter 5: I'm With The Band

Summary:

Izuku gets to watch how a Vigilante works, up close and personal.

Izuku was exhausted . His feet ached from standing on concrete for the last few hours, his hearing was muffled from the constant high decibel bombardment and at one point, he had taken a wild crowd killer to the shoulder (that his fellow moshers quickly punished by ejecting the offender from the circle). But all in all, Izuku felt like he could mark this little trip to Naruhata as a roaring success. Now it was time to go home and plan to take this experience straight to his grave.

 

First things first, he needed to dispose of the evidence of his ‘wrongdoings’. Taking the ‘advice’ of the security guard from before, Izuku decided to leave the badge that got him inside on the bar. It’s not stolen if it never left the property, right?

 

Now, Fate has a wicked sense of humor and a really bad habit of messing up even the most carefully laid plans right at the very last second through some kind of bizarre contrivance. Sometimes, she even goes out of her way to make a callback to something that happened before in a better written story. For example, she could just have Izuku trip over his own shoelaces and send him stumbling backwards into the patron sitting next to him at the bar, dousing the man in his own drink in the process. 

 

“Ah! Sorry! I didn’t see you there! Are you okay?” Izuku stammered, pulling himself back to his feet and being met with a murderous glare from the man from Plan B. Okay, maybe there were a few enemies in The Kantina.

 

The man slammed his now empty glass down on the bar with a snarl of, “You little shit!”, and took a swipe at Izuku that just barely missed. 

 

Quickly coming to the conclusion that he probably wouldn’t be able to talk the man down from his irrational anger, Izuku instead opted for a hasty retreat. As soon as the man and his friends shot up from their seats, Izuku turned on his heel and bolted for the door, unceremoniously shoving into and aside the thinning crowd in his retreat through the venue and past the bewildered bouncer out front.

 

Unfortunately, his pursuers were just a hair faster than him. One hand snatched him by the hood and another (Izuku couldn’t quite tell who it belonged to) punched him in the back of the head so hard that it made the beatings he received from Kacchan feel like love taps in comparison, leaving Izuku dazed and his ears ringing.

 

From behind them, Izuku heard the man’s girlfriend protest, “Shinya, please! He’s just a kid! He didn’t mean anything by-”

 

“Shut the fuck up, Mari!” the man snarled back.

 

Suddenly, Izuku could feel himself being dragged off into an adjacent alleyway. Best case scenario, Izuku was probably about to get beaten unconscious, maybe even robbed. He didn’t even want to think about the worst case scenario. Izuku continued to struggle, which earned him a few more ‘love taps’. He did not come all this way just to be beaten half to death over a perceived slight and left to bleed out in some dingy alleyway far from home.

 

But things were not looking good for him.

 

-

 

Iwao spotted the kid in the green hoodie once more outside the venue. It seemed that the poor kid had accidentally stepped on someone’s tail and was reaping the consequences. 

 

It was a little hard for him to tell since it was dark, the harsh lighting from the sign above wasn’t helping and he only had one good eye left anyway, but something about the thugs that were beating on the poor kid seemed familiar. Iwao dropped his cigarette to the ground, stubbed it out with the foot of his crutch and started staggering in the direction of the alley that the thugs dragged the kid into.

 

‘Where do I know them from?’

 

-

 

“Great show, everyone!” the manager said with a very pleased smile. She plucked out the check that she had written out for the band and handed it off to Soga. “Thank you again for all your hard work!”

 

“Thanks for havin’ us.” Soga replied.

 

“We hope to have you again very soon! You guys were amazing!” The manager said, grabbing her badge and unlocking the door behind her. “You all have a great rest of your night! Drive home safe!” And with that, she disappeared back into the venue.

 

Time to pack up and head home for some well deserved rest. Tamao gathered up the guitars and stuffed them into the back of the van while Rapt and Moyuru tackled the drum kit and Soga leaned into the van to stuff the check into the glovebox to deal with the next day. 

 

Leaning back out of the car, Soga found Tamao leaning up against the van beside him, hand raised and offering a high five. “Not bad, porcupine man!” she chuckled.

 

“Not bad yourself, cyclops.” Soga smirked and reciprocated the high five.

 

“Hmph, no wonder you’re still single if that’s how you talk to women.” Tamao huffed.

 

“Nah, just you.”

 

Tamao made an appalled noise of faux offense and grumbled, “Bitch.”

 

Soga’s laugh quickly morphed into a yawn. He might have to hand off driving to someone else tonight. Maybe he could sneak a quick nap on the drive back.

 

“So what’re you planning to do with the money the venue gave us?” Tamao asked. “Anything new and shiny you’ve got your eyes on?”

 

“First, I’m gonna do the responsible thing and put it towards rent and bills.” Soga answered.

 

“Ugh. Yuck, adulting.”

 

“It’s what you sign up for when you get old.” Soga said, rolling the tension from his shoulders. “If there’s anything left after that…” Soga looked back to check on Rapt and Moyuru’s progress and teased loud enough for them to hear, “Maybe I’ll lend Rapt whatever’s left so he can get one of those fancy drum kits that fold up.”

 

“He could afford one already if he hadn’t got himself cut off.” Moyuru added.

 

“Ahaha. Shut up, asshole.” Rapt sneered in response.

 

“Nothing for you, though?” Tamao asked. “New guitar? New bike? …rental girlfriend?”

 

“For me? Nah. I’m… not looking for that right now.”

 

“...oh, I get it.”

 

“...Huh? What do you…” Soga trailed off, noticing the impish expression on his friend's face. Tamao was a very smart young lady, quick to pick up on little details to piece together and the puzzle that was Soga Kugizaki wasn’t nearly as complicated as he would like to believe. She could read him like an open book.

 

“So you’re waiting for Koichi to come back then?”

 

Soga didn’t answer and turned away, the flustered sear of scarlet visible on the tips of his ears betraying him. His feelings towards the hooded Vigilante had started to become… complicated shortly after their encounter with Stendahl a few years back, this was true. It took him a while to come to terms with this. But Pop was there first. It seemed like a favor and an act of penance for him to stand aside for her and her even more obvious feelings for Koichi. She never did get to tell Koichi how she felt, though… and neither did Soga.

 

Soga finally broke the awkward silence, leaning around Tamao and addressing their other friends. “You guys done back there yet?”

 

Rapt chucked the cymbals into the back of the van and shouldered the door closed. “All set!”

 

“‘Bout time.”

 

Rapt and Moyuru rejoined the group and Moyuru raised an eyebrow at his friend’s expression. “You alright, Soga? You’re looking a little red.”

 

“I’m fine.” Soga lied.

 

“What were you guys talking about over here?” Rapt chimed in.

 

Tamao opened her mouth to answer but was quickly overpowered by Soga’s embarrassed response of, “ Nothing. ”

 

Tamao and Rapt shared a teasing giggle over Soga’s flustered response and Moyuru shrugged and said, “Alright then. Whatever you say, man.”

 

“So, afterparty?” Rapt chuckled.

 

“Fuck that. I’m beat.” Soga said with a yawn. “Moyuru, you feel up to driving tonight?”

 

“Sure.”

 

“Awesome. Let’s get-”

 

A loud, metallic crash from the other end of the alleyway grabbed the group's attention. A trio of punks had dragged a kid in a dark green hoodie into the alleyway and threw him into the trash cans that were up against the wall. Instinctively, the kid curled into a tight ball and shielded his head with his arms. Clearly, this was not the first time he had his ass beat.

 

“Lil’ fucker…” the leader spat out, giving the kid a swift kick in the side.

 

A mousy blonde woman followed and pleaded, “Shinya, come back! Please, he’s not worth the trouble!”

 

“Mari, just shut up and stand over there, alright?” the presumed ‘Shinya’ snarled in response. The woman timidly backed up against the railing and cast her eyes to the ground, afraid to incur more of her boyfriend’s wrath. 

 

“Tch, just bought this fuckin’ jacket,” the leader growled. “Didn’t yer mommy ever teach you any kinda common courtesy, you lil’ shithead?” The leader kicked the kid beneath him square in the middle of his back, the blow softened by the backpack the boy was wearing. Nevertheless, the action encouraged his lackeys to get their own hits in.

 

“This shit was expensive. I think you should pay me back for it, yeah?” the leader snickered with a malicious grin. He grabbed the kid’s backpack by the cloth handle, lifting the kid off the ground ever so slightly alongside it. “What’s in the backpack, huh? Money? Valuables? I think I’ll take it off ya. That’d be a good start.”

 

Izuku didn’t fight his attackers when they all but ripped his backpack off of him. They could have it if it meant he could leave with his life. While the leader and one of his friends continued to beat on the kid, his other friend, a lanky, vaguely reptilian man, tore open the backpack and dug out Izuku’s emergency money stash.

 

“This really all you got?” the lanky man scoffed. “This is chump change. So freakin’ lame, man!”

 

The leader snatched the wad of bills from his friend’s hand and counted for himself, a displeased huff escaping him. “What else does he got in there?”

 

The lanky man dug through the backpack, tossing things out of it that failed to impress. “Jack shit.”

 

The leader pocketed the ill-gotten cash and squared another kick in the middle of Izuku’s back, this one drawing a pained cry from the battered teen. “Guess we gotta beat the rest out of ya,” the man snarled.

 

“Heh, you’re really in for it now, punk.” the lanky man snickered.

 

“Dude’s unstoppable when he gets like this.” the other man laughed.

 

Izuku gritted his teeth and endured a few more blows, each harder than the last one. “By the time I’m done with ya, your family won’t recognize you!” the leader sneered. “This is all happening ‘cuz you had to go and piss me off!”

 

“ Hey! ”

 

The lead thug whipped around to glower at the intruder, the glower immediately softening to an expression of starstruck awe when he recognized the lead singer of the band they just saw on stage approach, a deathly serious glare on his own face.

 

“Oh shit, hey man!” the lead thug said, “We just came out of your show! You guys fuckin’ killed it! I-” His unspoken request for a handshake was swiftly rejected when Soga smacked his hand away. Soga wasn’t here to greet a fan. He was here to put a punk back in his place.

 

Gesturing down towards the kid on the ground, Soga growled, “The fuck’s goin’ on down here?”

 

“Tch, teachin’ the lil’ pissant some manners.” the lead thug said. “Why? What’s it to you?”

 

Soga angled himself so that he stood in between the thugs and their chosen victim. “Beatin’ on kids is a little beneath you, ain’t it?” Soga said, folding his arms over his chest and showing that he would not be easily moved. 

 

“Not too early to teach ‘em respect.” the leader scoffed. “Why do you care anyway? You the little bastard’s dad or something?”

 

“No. You just remind me of this one asshole I used to know.” Soga said. “You don’t wanna be that guy-”

 

“Save the sermon for someone who actually gives a shit.” the leader spat out. “So, what did you come over here for? Just to preach at us? This ain’t got nothin’ to do with you and your shitty band anyway. Move out of the fuckin’ way.”

 

Soga very defiantly stayed right where he was, which only angered the thug more.

 

“I said: Move .”

 

Soga responded with an indignant sneer.

 

“You’re really starting to piss me off, asshole.”

 

His taller, sturdier friend leaned over the lead thug’s shoulder and said, “Look, man. If you like having your teeth in your mouth, I’d listen to what he’s sayin’.”

 

The lanky one, on the other hand, was encouraging of the altercation. “Kick his ass, Shinya!”

 

“If you wanna get another shot off at the kid, you’ve gotta go through me first.” Soga growled. “At least then you’d be swingin’ at a guy who can fight back.”

 

The lead thug closed the distance between the two until their faces just barely touched, looking to intimidate Soga into backing down. “Are you threatening me, punk?”

 

“I’m warning you.”

 

Now that the thugs were no longer beating on him, Izuku deemed it semi-safe enough to peek out from behind his arms to watch the altercation going on above him. He thought he recognized the voice of his savior. Was that ‘Soga’? Izuku couldn’t help but be a little bewildered that ‘Soga’ turned out to be the kind of guy who was willing to stick his neck out for a total stranger like this. He would be moved to tears if he wasn’t scared to death.

 

Meanwhile, Rapt and Moyuru were staying off to the side, mostly keeping an irate Tamao out of the fight but ready to jump in to assist their friend if the two started trading blows.

 

“Hey, Moyu?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Am I really high or do those guys look… eerily similar to us?”

 

Moyuru frowned and answered, “Man, I wish you were just really high. I’m stone cold sober but I see it too.”

 

“Not gonna lie, this is really starting to freak me out a bit.” Rapt sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, accidentally letting Tamao slip past him in the process.

 

Moyuru was quick to catch her, however. Ever the multitasker, Moyuru held Tamao back by the back of her jacket with one hand and gave Rapt a reassuring pat on the shoulder with the other. “Deep breaths, little buddy. You’re fine.”

 

“Dammit, Moyu! Let go of me!” Tamao protested, uselessly trying to wriggle out of Moyuru’s grasp.

 

“Just let Soga do his thing. He’ll let us know when he needs backup.” 

 

Tamao huffed in frustration and reluctantly allowed Moyuru to pull her back. “Fine. Just so long as you mother hens let me get a few hits in. Especially on the blond guy. He sucks.” Tamao crossed her arms and pouted, disappointed that she could only look on while Soga was being outnumbered. Then she noticed the timid blonde woman in the background. A sympathetic frown drew across Tamao’s face. ‘Poor girl. How’d she wind up with these creeps?’

 

A little bit of territorial growling and a few juvenile shoulder shoves from the lead thug meant to rile Soga up later, the leader grew fed up with the whole thing. “Y’know what? Fine. You want the lil’ dickhead’s beatin’ so damn bad, I’m more than happy to oblige.” Without hesitation, the lead thug sucker-punched Soga square in the mouth.

 

Soga braced himself against the wall behind him so that the force of the impact didn’t throw him backwards onto the kid he was trying to protect. The green kid on the ground behind him wisely ducked his head back under his arms to shield himself from the chaos. Things were going to get hectic. As soon as Izuku saw his chance to escape, he was going to take it. 

 

As soon as the blow landed, Tamao slipped her arms out of the sleeves of her jacket and left it abandoned in Moyuru’s grasp. “Ah! Tama, hold on a minute!” Moyuru exclaimed, trying to pull his friend back from the imminent scuffle.

 

The lead thug’s girlfriend watched on, horrified. This was getting out of hand. Her boyfriend was near impossible to talk down when his pride was wounded and someone dared to challenge him, but maybe if she tried one more time…

 

Gathering what courage she could, the woman almost took a step forward when a heavy hand gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. “‘Scuse me, miss.” the bearded and heavily scarred man that the hand belonged to said as he shuffled past her. The woman squeaked in surprise and watched the man as he approached the group in the alley.

 

Soga pushed himself back up to his feet and pressed the back of his hand to his mouth, a hiss of pain escaping him at the unwelcome sting. The leader was no slouch in a fight, that much was certain. And yet, Soga was still right where he planted himself, unmoved.

 

Half-amused by Soga’s act of defiance, the leader sneered, “Cocky fucker. You’re actually willing to die for some random kid you know nothing about? I’m almost impressed.”

 

Tak, tak, tak…

 

Izuku recognized that sound. Peeking through his arms, Izuku saw a pair of heavy boots and the foot of a metal crutch approach, a new challenger to enter the fray.

 

Soga opened his mouth to respond but stopped short, recognizing the looming figure behind his opponents. Instead Soga lifted one hand over his shoulder, a signal for his friends to stay put. Moyuru, Rapt and Tamao were just as quick to recognize their ally and stopped in their tracks, Rapt and Moyuru instinctively backing off to give good ol’ Grandpa Fist a wide berth. Tamao, on the other hand, just folded her arms, a wistful upturn to her lips.

 

The leader’s friends took the hint from the trio behind Soga and turned around to look for themselves, startling when they recognized the man that stood behind them. “You gonna just stand there like an idiot or are we gonna fight?” the leader snarled, unaware that his friends had opted not to tangle with Grandpa Fist again and hightailed it out of the alley. 

 

Soga tilted his head and addressed the man standing right behind the leader. “Hey, pops.”

 

The leader whipped around but didn’t get to see much before Iwao grabbed a handful of his shirt and yanked him off the ground. “Ah, now I recognize you punks.” Iwao said. “You were the ones that were hassling the kid with the glasses the other day, weren’t ya?” The leader batted at Iwao’s arm in a fruitless attempt to free himself. “Guess the three of you haven’t learned your lesson from last time, have you? Fine by me. I don’t mind handing out refreshers.” Iwao snickered, reaching into his pocket for his silver-plated knuckle dusters.

 

“Hold up a sec.”

 

The older vigilante paused as his apprentice approached. Soga threw open the leader’s jacket and dug through his pockets, occasionally having to swat away a feeble attempt from the thug to elbow him in the face. “Soga. Fancy runnin’ into you here.” Iwao said.

 

“Gimme a break, gramps.” Soga scoffed. “We always knew you were down there. You’re kinda hard to miss.”

 

“Just returning the favor.” Iwao said with a grateful smile, a silent acknowledgement of Soga doing him a favor by keeping an eye on Koichi and Kazuho during his absence. “What’re you lookin’ for?”

 

“The money he swiped off the kid down there.”

 

‘Right, the kid in the green hoodie.’ Iwao craned his neck to check for himself, finding the kid on the ground and slowly emerging from the ball he curled up into. ‘He’s got the ‘protect your head’ thing down. That’s a start.’ 

 

Soga found the wad of bills that the leader had shoved into his pocket. “Hey. Was this everything you took off him?” he growled up at the thug in Iwao’s grasp.

 

“Fuck you!”

 

“Was this everything you took?” Soga repeated himself much more firmly this time.

 

The leader was quick to pick up on the fact that he had been defeated and very reluctantly replied, “...yeah…I think so…lil’ fucker didn’t have anything else worth takin’.”

 

Iwao turned back to the conversation and noticed the red smear dripping down Soga’s chin. “Your mouth’s bleeding, by the way.”

 

“Yeah, I know.” Soga grumbled. “This asshole and his bony hands.” Soga tried again to wipe the blood off his face but only smeared it more in the process. “Hope you're not planning on taking this one as an apprentice too. I don’t think I can tolerate him the way I tolerate Koichi.”

 

Did Izuku hear that right? Apprentice? Koichi? As in Koichi Haimawari!? AS IN THE SKYCRAWLER!? Izuku propped himself up on his hands and gazed up at the burly, scarred Vigilante in awe. ‘This old guy…is The Skycrawler’s mentor?’

 

Iwao gave a non-commital shrug to the comment. “Who knows?”

 

Soga frowned, sparing one more side glance at the thug dangling in Iwao’s grip. “Well, one thing I can say in his favor is that he has a solid right hook. But that’s about it.” Soga then repaid the thug for his sucker-punch earlier with a firm hit to the gut, very nearly punching the wind right out of him. “There. Now we’re even. He’s all yours.” Soga shoved down the retaliatory kick from the thug and paced back towards the kid and his friends.

 

“Shit, Soga. You alright?” Rapt asked.

 

“Aside from getting punched in the face, yeah, I’m just peachy.” Soga said in sarcastic retort.

 

“Yeesh, he sure got you real good.” Moyuru added with a grimace.

 

“I’m fine.”

 

“I’ll go get the first aid kit from the van. I’ll be right back.” Tamao said before hurrying off.

 

“I’ll be fine!” Soga protested to no avail as Tamao climbed into the vehicle and rustled around for what she was looking for.

 

“It’ll make a pretty badass scar, though!” Rapt snickered.

 

“But when you tell people how you got it, you’re gonna have to jazz up the story a bit.” Moyuru said. “Make it some real Commando shit where you take on a thousand dudes at once and all you got was a scratch on your lip.”

 

“And who the hell’s gonna believe that?” Soga chuckled.

 

“Yeah, Moyu! You forgot about the mob’s pet tiger and the fact that it was all happening during a hurricane!” Rapt added.

 

Tamao returned with the first aid kit and set it down on a nearby trash can, popping it open and retrieving an alcohol wipe to clean her hands off with. Soga turned to check on the kid he was defending and finally addressing him directly, asked, “Hey, kid? You alright down there?”

 

“I-I think so.” Izuku mumbled nervously in response.

 

Soga knelt down and offered a hand to help Izuku back up to his feet. “C’mon. Get back up.” 

 

Izuku accepted the hand offered to him and was lifted back up to his feet. “Are you okay?” Tamao asked. “Do you need medical attention too? I got all the stuff right here if you need patching up…”

 

“Oh no, I’m fine!” Izuku replied, dusting himself off. “Just a few scrapes and bruises…maybe a slight headache from being punched in the back of the head, but I’m okay!” Izuku skimmed a hand over the back of his head, relieved that it came back clean with no trace of blood. Boy was Izuku grateful that ‘Soga’ stepped in when he did.

 

“Are you okay?” Izuku asked his rescuer, who blinked in surprise at the question. “I-I’m so sorry that you got hurt because of me. Because I made a dumb mistake and got myself into trouble…”

 

Soga gently gripped the kid by the shoulder, shaking him from his self-deprecating monologue and said, “Hey, don’t sweat it. This isn’t the first split lip I’ve ever had and I doubt it’ll be the last. I’d prefer that they beat on me than you anyway.”

 

Tamao tapped Soga’s shoulder for his attention, water bottle in hand. “Hey. Sorry to interrupt, but I’m gonna need you to shut up for a minute so I can take a look at your mouth.” she said.

 

“I’ll be fine, Tamao.”

 

“Oh, my bad. I didn’t know you wanted that thing to get infected that badly…” Tamao playfully sneered back.

 

“...good point.” Soga sighed, defeated.

 

“Damn right.” Tamao smugly snickered, unscrewing the cap on the bottle and pulling Soga’s head down lower so she could rinse the blood off his face. “Now hold still a second.” With Soga distracted with Tamao patching him up, Izuku turned back to check on Iwao and the thug he was dangling off the ground.

 

“Put me down, you old bastard!” the thug snarled, feebly continuing his attempts to free himself. With every attempt proving to be more and more useless, the leader called on his backup… 

 

“Guys, what’s keepin’ y-” 

 

…only to find out that he’d been abandoned. “Huh? Guys!?”

 

“Oh, you mean those two goons that’re halfway down the street already?” Iwao hummed, nodding in the direction of the fleeing thugs.

 

“Wh- Hey! Ryuuji! Mitsuaki! Come back here, you damn cowards!” 

 

“Looks like it’s just you and me now, princess.” Iwao sneered with a sinister grin, reaching into his pocket and slipping the knuckle dusters onto his free hand.

 

Iwao could see the fear in the thug’s face. He knew that he wasn’t going to get out of this unscathed. Defeated and abandoned, the thug opted for one more defiant snarl of, “I-...I ain’t scared of you, old man.” 

 

“Liar.”

 

Quickly surmising where exactly this was going, Moyuru reached across and clamped his hand over Izuku’s eyes. 

 

“Huh? Hey! What’re-”

 

THWACK!

 

WHAM!

 

CRACK!

 

POW!

 

WHABAM!

 

‘...oh. Never mind. This is fine.’

 

Satisfied with the punishment he doled out, Iwao tossed the thug out of the alleyway, his ragdolled body smacking against the railing beside his girlfriend with a loud clang ! The woman knelt beside her battered boyfriend and worried over him, “Shinya!? Are you okay?” The hand she offered to help him up to his feet again was swatted away and the thug shoved himself back upright, unsteadily swaying a bit from the barrage he just took.

 

“Be smart, boy.” Iwao warned. “You’ll just get smacked around again if you come back over here.”

 

The leader glared back at the group in the alley for a moment, seemingly considering going back for more, but ultimately accepted defeat. “This ain’t over, ya old bastard.” the thug snarled back. “This is the last time you get to make chumps out of us! Just you wait, we’ll get you - all of you - next time! And you!” The thug pointed out Izuku specifically, “You better hope these assholes are here to save you next time, ‘cuz if they ain’t, you’re fuckin’ dead!” The thug snatched his girlfriend by the wrist and dragged her away, shouting after his friends as they finally disappeared.

 

A brief silence filled the alley. Moyuru had retracted his hand from Izuku’s eyes as soon as the thug had left and Izuku blinked in confusion, looking around the now calmed scene. Iwao winced and hissed in pain, rubbing at his braced knee. That was probably as much as his knee would allow him to do for now. Moyuru, knowing that Rapt would probably taunt the thugs into coming back if left unattended, gripped the lizard man by the back of his shirt and held him back, much to Rapt’s chagrin.

 

“Mmm…doesn’t look too deep. You’ll probably live.” Tamao said, placing a cold compress in Soga’s hand and pressing it to his mouth. 

 

“Love your bedside manner, by the way.” Soga teased back.

 

“Right? I’d make such an awesome doctor.” Tamao snickered. “Just hold that there for a couple minutes, ‘kay?” Tamao glanced up at their fortuitous savior with a wistful expression, one that Iwao noticed and returned.

 

“Hey, stranger.”

 

“Hey, sweetie.”

 

Tamao folded her arms and said, “So, how long’s it been since you busted out of the hospital and went AWOL again? Almost a year now? Where’d you disappear to this time?”

 

Iwao shrugged and said, “Y’know…I’ve been around…”

 

“Just… ‘around’, huh?”

 

“Yup.”

 

Tamao gave a disappointed sigh. Even after all this time, Iwao still had this bad habit of keeping things to himself. “Fine. Keep your secrets, then.”

 

“Um…is that guy okay?” Izuku timidly asked, “That sounded really…crunchy.”

 

“Aside from making his dentist a very rich man, he’ll live.” Iwao said with a self-satisfied smirk.

 

“Oh…okay then.” That didn’t exactly make Izuku feel better. ‘Is… Is this guy really The Skycrawler’s mentor? I don’t remember him going around and punching the snot out of people before.’

 

Rapt wriggled out of Moyuru’s grip and slid over to the green kid, gave him a little tap on the arm and asked, “What the hell did ya do to piss them off so bad, anyway?”

 

“Well…” Izuku sighed, “It’s actually really stupid now that I think about it. All I did was accidentally bump into the guy and maybe I accidentally spilled his drink in the process. Because of that, for some reason, he got really irrationally mad at me. Personally, I think they were just looking for an excuse to beat someone up.”

 

“Yup, that sounds about right.” Iwao said, sneaking a sideways glance towards Soga, Rapt and Moyuru, the trio also hearing similarities between Izuku’s story and that of how they met Koichi a few years ago.

 

“Kinda spooky…” Rapt muttered to Moyuru.

 

“Talk about deja vu.” Moyuru muttered in agreement.

 

‘That damn cosmic message again?’ Soga sighed to himself. ‘I’m not following here! Where the hell are you going with this?’ Internally groaning at the bemused smirk on Tamao’s face, he grumbled, “Don’t say it. I already know.”

 

“Hmm? Say what? I wasn’t gonna say anything.” Tamao said, words honeyed with mock innocence.

 

“Yeah, sure you weren’t.”

 

Izuku wrung his hands and said, “Thank you - all of you - for saving me. I thought for sure that I was a goner. I… I don’t think I have anything to really repay you with…”

 

“Don’t worry about it.” Iwao chuckled, “I got to beat the hell out of someone this week so I’m set.”

 

“Dad…” Tamao scolded.

 

“Mmm! Speaking of repayment…” Soga pulled out the money he retrieved from the thug from his pocket and handed it back to its rightful owner. “Got this back for ya.”

 

“Thank you so much!” Izuku sighed in relief. “Honestly, I would’ve just let them have it if it meant they’d stop kicking me.”

 

“Nah, not with guys like that.” Soga sighed and shook his head. “Like you said, they were probably just looking for an excuse to beat the shit out of somebody. Giving them what they wanted would’ve just amused them and encouraged them to- Ow! Shit!” Soga flinched away from the sting of the ointment Tamao dabbed onto his lip.

 

“Well, stop getting punched in the face then, you big cry baby.” Tamao sighed.

 

There was no need for Soga to say any more than that. As optimistic as Izuku wanted to be, Soga was absolutely right. ‘Man, I really got in over my head here.’ Izuku sighed to himself. ‘Lesson learned: I am never doing one of these ‘day trips’ ever again.’ Izuku retrieved the backpack that was abandoned in the thug’s escape, returning the money to its rightful spot inside it and set about gathering up the rest of items that were scattered in their search for more valuable fare, Rapt and Moyuru joining in to lend a hand. “Thanks. I-I really can’t thank you guys enough.” Iwao leaned on his crutch and studied the kid intently.

 

“So… you’re still alive?”

 

“Yessir.”

 

“Nothing broken or internally bleeding?”

 

“No sir.”

 

“Those goons didn’t run off with anything important?”

 

“I… don’t think so. I packed light and I think the most valuable thing on me was the money and my phone.”

 

Iwao hummed. “And that badge you swiped to sneak in with?”

 

“I-” Registering what was asked, Izuku froze. ‘How did he know!? Ah crap, he must’ve noticed the badge in my pocket earlier! Argh, one stupid mistake… ! Quick! Play dumb!’

 

“H-Huh? What badge? I don’t know what you’re tal-” Izuku trailed off as Iwao stared him down with the look, the very same look a parent would give a child that they caught in a lie. “...I left it on the bar for the staff to find later.” Izuku timidly answered with the truth this time. “I figured it wasn’t stolen if it didn’t leave the building…”

 

Iwao was satisfied with this answer. “Good.”

 

“‘ Sneak in ’?” Soga piped up, craning his neck to give the green kid a quizzical look which earned him an exasperated “Hey!” from the girl that was trying to put an adhesive suture strip on his injury. “Wait, was that you in the supply closet earlier?”

 

Izuku shrank in on himself and nervously gave the non-committal response of , “...I dunno…”

 

The Vigilantes saw right through Izuku’s attempt at misdirection, eliciting a few amused chuckles from Rapt, Moyuru and Knuckleduster. Soga shot Tamao a smug look and said, “‘Big-ass rat’ she said…”

 

“Ok? So you were right this time. What do you want? A cookie or somethin’?” Tamao shot back in frustration, grabbing a handful of Soga’s collar and dragging him back to her. “Come back here. Do you want me to patch you up or not?”

 

“And nobody noticed you were even there?” Moyuru said.

 

“Eh… well, not really.” Izuku modestly corrected, relieved at the lack of a lecture. Gesturing to the blue-haired man against the wall, Izuku added, “He almost caught me.”

 

“Smart kid.” Iwao chuckled.

 

Rapt nudged his friend in the arm and said, “Hey, didn’t we do something like that in high school?”

 

“Oh yeah! You mean the Toxic Avengers concert, right?” Moyuru replied.

 

“Yeah, that’s the one!”

 

“Only we weren’t nearly as slick as him.” Moyuru chuckled. “Didn’t we get arrested?”

 

“Yeah! I got tazed!”

 

“Most people wouldn’t consider that a good memory, Rapt.” Soga said.

 

“I know. I don’t. But still, though… good times!” Rapt snickered.

 

Rapt paused his collection, noticing a notebook that the thug from before had carelessly tossed to the ground. The way it landed left it splayed open, displaying a sketch of a very familiar figure. Rapt scooped the notebook up off the ground and brought it closer, curiously studying the contents of the entry it was opened to.

 

“Thank you, sir.” Izuku said, accepting the textbook that Moyuru handed him.

 

“Don’t mention it.” 

 

That should’ve been the last of the scattered items, but with one more lookover, Izuku noticed something was missing. Something very important. “Uh oh.” Izuku muttered under his breath, digging through the backpack to make sure he didn’t just overlook it.

 

“Still missing something?”

 

“Uh, yeah. A notebook I use for sch-”

 

“Is that Koichi?” Rapt muttered aloud.

 

The mention of Koichi caught the ear of the entire group and Izuku paled, recognizing the notebook in Rapt’s hands as his own. Now released from Tamao’s clutches with a fresh bandage on his split lip, Soga paced up behind his friend and said, “Rapt, what the hell’re you doin’?”

 

“Check it out.” Rapt replied, handing the notebook to Soga.

 

The notebook in question had seen better days, singed and wrinkled from water damage. The damage must’ve been recent, as any bit that was written in graphite was traced over in ink. Soga hummed curiously, brushing bits of burnt paper off on his shirt. First thing of note, the kid’s a pretty decent artist, having captured The Skycrawler’s costume down to the most minute detail in the sketch. 

 

“E-Excuse me… that’s mine…” Izuku quietly protested, his attempt to take the notebook back foiled when Soga leaned out of his reach. “Please give it back…”

 

The page accompanying the sketch was filled with little tidbits of information about Koichi’s Quirk. It was guesstimation at best. But it was surprisingly accurate… almost frighteningly so. Logically, the kid could’ve come to these conclusions about Koichi’s Quirk and how it worked from studying the plethora of videos of Koichi in action that had been uploaded to the internet over the years. That was the optimistic conclusion. However, Soga was not an optimist. Far from it.

 

Turning a suspicious eye to the kid, Soga said, “What the hell is this?”

 

Turns out, just like a broken clock, Kacchan could be right sometimes. The Hero Analysis notebook typically wasn’t easy to explain to those that weren’t privy to Izuku’s trail of thought. So to a bunch of Vigilantes who had to be constantly on guard from law enforcement and Heroes as well as Villains, especially with the Nightmare Night incident still being fresh… It was perfectly understandable how it might look kind of concerning and creepy.

 

“Sounds like Koichi’s got a stalker!” Rapt teased.

 

“N-No! It’s not that!” Izuku protested. “It’s… well…” 

 

“Well?”

 

“Well…” Izuku wrung his hands and took a breath before he said, “...ever since I was little, I’ve always thought Heroes were the greatest. Especially All Might! All Might’s the greatest Hero that ever lived!” There was a little amused snort from Iwao behind him and Izuku self-consciously reeled back his enthusiasm. “All Might inspired me to become a Hero just like him. To be a Hero that everyone can look up to, where they can see my fearless smile and know that they’re safe…”

 

“‘Kay, cool,” Soga snorted, unconvinced. “So apply for a Hero School or something.”

 

“...with what Quirk?”

 

That got the point across. A sudden uncomfortable air spread amongst the group and Soga’s accusatory expression faded to one of awkward pity. “...ah. Sorry,” Soga said. 

 

Was it worse to be mocked or pitied? Both were equally bad. But Izuku put that aside for now and soldiered forward with his explanation. “But I didn’t want to let that stop me from trying for UA. I want to be a Hero more than anything!” Oops, he was getting too loud again. Izuku meekly continued, “So, uh, that’s the reason for the notebook. Whenever I see a Hero and get to watch how their Quirk works, I take notes… so I can learn from it and hopefully, become a Hero as amazing as them someday.”

 

Huh. Okay. That wasn’t the reason Soga was expecting to hear but it wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought it was gonna be. Soga’s eyes drifted back towards the sketch of his old friend in his hand. Hell, that sounded downright endearing the more he thought about it. “And our buddy Koichi’s in here?”

 

Izuku brightened up. “Yeah! My mom and I were watching the news last year when the lockdown happened and I got to watch The Crawler in action. He was incredible!” Spurred on by a topic that he was very passionate about, Izuku launched into a somewhat rambly recap of the entire event, forgetting in his enthusiasm that his new companions knew full well what happened during the lockdown and unaware of the growing smile on Iwao’s face as he talked. “He’s my second favorite Hero of all time! …r-right after All Might, of course.”

 

Soga chuckled, “Yeah, Koichi would be in full agreement with you on that one.” Placated, Soga snapped the notebook closed and returned it to its rightful owner.

 

Izuku’s arm moved backwards to pull his backpack off and put the notebook in its rightful spot but slowed to a stop as a thought came to mind. The question he wanted to ask All Might. In hindsight, he could easily predict how that conversation would go, the same direction it would if he were to ask a lower ranking Hero like Death Arms or Midnight. Their entire job was to protect civilians from huge threats so it stands to reason that they would warn a Quirkless kid that they were meant to be protecting away from their line of work. Of course All Might would’ve said no.

 

A Vigilante, though…

 

They aren’t bound by licenses and Pro Hero standards. At the end of the day, Vigilantes went back to day jobs and lives as civilians like him. If he were to ask a Vigilante this question, he might receive an entirely different answer.

 

What’s the harm in asking?

 

Determined, Izuku hugged the notebook tight to his chest and spun on his heel to address the older Vigilante standing behind him. “Um… sir?”

 

“Knuckleduster.”

 

“Mr. Knuckleduster… sir…” Izuku cleared his throat and asked, “Is what I heard earlier right? You’re The Crawler’s mentor?”

 

Iwao shrugged and said, “Eh, if that’s the word you wanna use. Really, all I did was give him, Pop ☆Step and these three jackasses a swift kick in the rear to get ‘em started on their way.” 

 

A trio of protests at being referred to as a ‘jackass’ and one snort of laughter went off behind Izuku and he nearly lost his momentum suppressing a laugh of his own at the timing of it all. Izuku cleared his throat and continued, “Can… Is it okay if I ask you something?”

 

“Depends on the question.”

 

“Ok, so… you guys don’t need a license to do Hero work. According to the law, you’re not supposed to do that but you do anyway. That’s one thing but…” Izuku took a deep breath and took the plunge and asked the question.

 

“Could a powerless kid like me… ever hope to be someone like you?”

 

Knuckleduster answered with a knowing grin.

Notes:

Hi! I'm back! Sorry it took me so long to break out of Writer's Block Hell. The Vigilantes anime announcement snapped me out of whatever distraction I was in. Here's hoping it's legit! I want a Vigilantes anime so bad!

Chapter 6: Do You Take Action or Don'tcha?

Summary:

When it comes right down to it, Izuku's had that Hero's Spirit in him all along.

Izuku would be lying if he said it wasn’t just the tiniest bit satisfying to see the look on Kacchan’s face when he reappeared at school the next day. If Izuku didn’t know any better, he’d think that Kacchan learned that his words have more weight to them than he realized. But this is Katsuki Bakugou we’re talking about here. Izuku wouldn’t hold his breath on that one.

 

He could’ve gone without the dressing down he received from the guidance counselor that morning for skipping but it couldn’t be helped. Aside from that, things seem to roll by as usual, with the exception of Bakugou outright ignoring him. Compared to the day before, that was a serious step up.

 

Eventually the school day ended and everyone went along on their merry way, some sticking around to help clean the classrooms and such but most, including Izuku, heading home for the evening. Today, Izuku did something that was just as out-of-character for him as the ‘day trip’ the previous night: he took the scenic route home. He had some stuff to think about.

 

Once he was certain that he’d lost his fellow schoolmates, Izuku got his phone out of his pocket, put his earphones in and brought up YouTube. After a little bit of digging during lunch, Izuku discovered that Deep Dope had their own channel where they uploaded their music as well as certain highlights from past shows. They were doing rather well for themselves for a band that was at least a year or two old.

 

Izuku found one of the songs from the set played the night before that he really liked and pressed play. “Army of Misfit Soldiers”. According to the lyrics, the song was an anthem for those that didn’t fit Hero society’s perfect mold. Those with Quirks that were considered straight up useless, those with Quirks that immediately branded them as Villains in the eyes of society and even Quirkless kids like Izuku. It was his favorite Deep Dope song so far.

 

Izuku walked along, humming alongside the vocals, fingers tapping against the straps of his backpack in time to the drums and his eyes to the sky as the conversation he had with Knuckleduster the night before rolled around in his head.

 

-

 

“You’ve done enough, pops.” Soga’s concern fell on deaf ears as Iwao just kept walking. “We can drop the kid off at the station.”

 

“Last train for the night left already,” Iwao said.

 

“IT DID!?” Izuku yanked his phone out of his pocket and jabbed at the screen. Sure enough, Iwao was right. He had overstayed his welcome and was essentially stranded in Naruhata. “Ah, man…”

 

Izuku was nudged out of his stressed-out inner monologue by the older vigilante he was following. “Where’d you say you lived, kid?”

 

“Ah! Musutafu!”

 

“Yeesh, that’s quite the train ride,” Rapt chimed in.

 

“So you’re gonna drive him all the way back?” Tamao asked.

 

Iwao shrugged and said, “Why the hell not? I’ve got nothin’ but time on my hands these days. Been a while since I’ve had a good night drive.” Tamao opened her mouth to argue but her father beat her to it. “Besides, you kids have work and school in the morning. You’d better head home and get some rest.”

 

Tamao and Soga shared a sour look over the poorly received teasing jab. Tamao rolled her eyes and huffed, “Whatever. See ya later then, I guess.” With that, Tamao folded her arms, turned on her heel and marched back over to the van with Rapt and Moyuru awkwardly trailing after her. Soga lingered for a little while longer before he shrugged and followed after.

 

Izuku blinked confusedly up at the older Vigilante, wondering what that was all about. Iwao shook his head and gave the kid a bemused smirk back. “Teenagers…” he sighed as he continued to shuffle onward.

 

Izuku glanced back at the vigilantes that had helped him before. He felt like he should say something so that their meeting didn’t end on such an uncomfortable note. As he followed Knuckleduster wherever he was going, he shouted back, “You guys were awesome tonight! I’ll definitely be back for another show!”

 

That put a little bit of cheer back on the band’s faces and they waved back and shouted their ‘see ya laters’. “Thanks for coming,” Soga added. Satisfied, Izuku caught up with Iwao. The older vigilante didn’t get very far.

 

Iwao could almost laugh at the irony. He’s certainly not as fast as he used to be. Age, injury and a stolen Quirk had forced the former Pro to slow to a crawl. Being hobbled like this had at one time brought him intense misery but now… it was what it was. He was still breathing and his heart was still pumping. That, for now, seemed good enough for Iwao Oguro.

 

The kid was polite enough to walk at his pace, sticking right by his side the whole walk back to his truck. Iwao did, however, notice out of the corner of his eye the occasional glances at his brace and crutch Izuku took, almost as if the kid wanted to ask what happened but deemed it impolite to do so. So Izuku stayed tight-lipped and the whole walk was done in silence.

 

Eventually, the two found Knuckleduster’s truck, parked in a far-flung alley a good distance away from the bar itself. Why Iwao chose to do that Izuku had no clue. Nonetheless, Izuku hopped up into the passenger seat and securely buckled himself in.

 

Izuku jumped a little in surprise when the bulky end of Iwao’s crutch landed in his lap. Following shortly after, Iwao managed to lift himself up and into the truck with a little bit of difficulty. Finally off his feet, Iwao sunk into the seat and sighed in deep relief. “Fuckin’ hell…”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, yeah. My knee just thinks I’m an asshole, that’s all.” After a moment's rest, Iwao pulled the seatbelt over his chest and pulled the door closed. “Musutafu.”

 

“Yup.”

 

Iwao nodded and cranked the ignition. The truck loudly rumbled to life, the clear lack of a working muffler and the radio cranked up to max volume creating a cacophony that made Izuku wonder if he actually left the concert or not for a half second. Ah well, what’s a little more hearing damage? The truck jerked and sputtered a little as Iwao tried to talk it into actually driving. It was a wonder that it hadn’t fallen to pieces yet. By some miracle, once the truck got going, it seemed to smooth out. Izuku watched the streets he had explored the whole day roll by, the whole ride through Naruhata serenaded by rock so classic that it classified as oldies in this day and age. Eventually the city started to fizzle out and the road straightened, leaving Naruhata in the rearview mirror. 

 

Fifteen minutes into the drive down the long road that eventually led to Musutafu, the radio lessened in volume. It was still loud, mind you, given the busted muffler, but Iwao had reached over and turned the volume down. “What’s your name, kid?” he asked.

 

Izuku had to speak up to be sure he would be heard over the truck’s sputtering. “Uh… my name is Izuku Midoriya.”

 

Iwao nodded and asked, “So, Midoriya… how’d a nice kid like you wind up in our neck of the woods?”

 

“I… had the day off from school so I decided to… uh, take a little day trip,” Izuku stammered.

 

Iwao smirked and said, “Right. Gotcha. I bet your folks must be thrilled about this ‘day trip’ plan of yours.”

 

Izuku shrunk into the side of the car, eyes turned to the floor and mumbled, “I mean… my mom would probably freak out if she found out about this… She’s my mom, y’know. She worries about me…”

 

“What about your dad?”

 

A little bit of bitterness flavored Izuku’s expression and he answered, “I don’t think he cares. He hasn’t been around for a while now.”

 

“Mmm.” There was a lengthy awkward pause in the conversation before Iwao cleared his throat and continued his train of thought. “Two hours from home, though. Been a while since I’ve had to deal with teenagers but kids playing hooky from school don’t usually go that far. You were runnin’ away from something, huh?” Izuku’s willingness to talk had been exhausted by the topic and he shrank in further on himself. 

 

Iwao softly laughed to himself. He’d have to pry that answer out of the poor kid. Fortunately, he was feeling generous that night and offered Izuku the carrot. “Tell ya what, you tell me your story and I’ll tell you what happened to my knee.”

 

Izuku sputtered, “Y-You noticed!? I’m sorry! I wasn’t trying to gawk or anything! I-”

 

“That sound like a fair trade?”

 

Izuku’s gaze went back down to his lap. He did vent to his mom about it a little the day before but most of the conversation was swallowed up by ‘Holy crap, Mom! I met All Might! And he was so much cooler in person!’ It would be nice to talk about his troubles to someone that actually wanted to know.

 

Izuku stared down at his lap, twiddling his thumbs and said, “…I get bullied a lot at school… for being Quirkless. Yesterday was especially bad. We were talking about what high schools we were going to apply for and as soon as my classmates found out I wanted to go to UA, they all just laughed at me and completely wrote me off. As far as they’re concerned, I don’t have a chance to get into the Hero track without a Quirk.”

 

“I thought UA lifted that restriction a while ago.”

 

“They did! That’s what I tried to tell them but nobody listened to me!” Izuku said, getting a little more animated thanks to the reassurance that Iwao was on his side. “I kinda think that most of my classmates just pick on me as a defense mechanism.” Izuku lowered his voice as if one of his classmates could hear him talking crap from miles away and snuck in a little jab of his own, “If I did have a Quirk, they’d probably be the ones being bullied. There’s this one kid in my class whose whole Quirk is just being able to pull his eyeballs out of his head.”

 

Just the mental image alone was haunting enough to make Iwao fully cringe. “Jesus Christ, what the fuck?”

 

Izuku laughed out loud. “Exactly!” He shuddered at the image. “So creepy… and that kid has more of a chance of being a Hero than me? Just because he has a Quirk and I don’t?” Izuku propped his elbow against the edge of the window and rested his chin in his hand as he watched the night roll by. “But the worst part about it was… Kacchan- er, this kid I grew up with, that I called my friend since childhood… he was the cruelest out of all of them. He said that I didn’t have what it takes to stand with the best of them, that I’d just die in the entrance exams and that even trying would just be embarrassing… and that’s probably some of the nicest things he said.”

 

“This kid is your friend?”

 

“Eh, well, his mom and my mom have been best friends for forever so that’s probably the only reason we’ve hung around each other so much…”

 

“Ah, that makes sense.”

 

Izuku sighed and said, “So, yeah… it was a really bad day all around… OH! Except for the fact that I met All Might! That… almost made it better! Almost.”

 

“You met All Might?”

 

“Yeah! I even got an autograph from him in my notebook! Took up two whole pages!”

 

“How’d you wind up running into All Might?”

 

Izuku scratched at his temple, willing the remaining puzzle pieces he was missing to the front of his mind. “Well, I was taking a different route home and this sludge villain jumped up out of the sewers. I’m not really sure what he did but he was running from All Might. The villain saw me and decided that he could use my body to hide from All Might in.” Izuku was completely unaware of the way Iwao’s hand tightened around the steering wheel as he recounted the story. “I thought I was done for, but then All Might showed up and saved me! I, uh, kinda passed out from lack of oxygen for a bit and All Might left me an autograph while I was out. Then he just scooped up what was left of the villain and left… It was so cool to see him up close in the flesh!”

 

“...Ha! Just tack on the fact that you nearly died like it ain’t important,” Iwao said. “You’ve got guts, kid.” Izuku and Iwao shared a good chuckle over that…

 

…wait.

 

Izuku nearly died .

 

For some reason, that fact completely and totally slipped his mind for an entire day and a half. Shouldn’t he be more affected by that near-death experience? Was meeting All Might really enough to deflect or at least cover up the trauma of nearly being murdered? “I, uh… hold on. I need to process that.” Izuku pressed his forehead to the cold glass of the car window with a firm thunk, glaring out into the night and trying to put that thought out of his head. Alas, the only ‘comfort’ Iwao had to offer was just laughing a little harder. “Come on, quit laughing at me! I’m actually spiraling over here!”

 

Izuku sighed and shook his head, forcing the thought to the back of his head to deal with later. “Anyway, that’s pretty much all there is to my story,” he said. “I just needed the day off so I took it. I don’t even know why I chose Naruhata specifically, if I’m being honest. I just saw the name ‘Naruhata’ and thought to myself, ‘Hey, The Crawler’s from there.’ Next thing y’know, I’m on the train.” Izuku glanced back out the window and dismally muttered, “Now it’s back home to my regular life… back to my mom, my crappy school and my classmates… and Kacchan…”

 

Iwao reached into the pocket of his coat and retrieved a cigarette from the pack he had in there as well as a lighter. It took him a second to light it and take a smooth drag one handed. Once he was set, he had an answer to Izuku’s woes: “Break the lil’ bastard’s nose.”

 

Izuku jolted out of his melancholy and sputtered in shock at the suggestion. “I-I can’t do that!!!”

 

“Why not? I guarantee that he’ll quit messin’ with you once you show him who’s boss.”

 

“I’ll get expelled, for starters! And besides, even if I did do that, I don’t think I’d be breaking anything, let alone put a bruise on him.”

 

Iwao raised an eyebrow and said, “What, you’ve never thrown a punch before? Not even in self-defense?”

 

“If I did, then it must not have been hard enough for anyone to even acknowledge that I tried to protect myself. I mean-” Izuku rolled up his sleeve and pointed out the absolute lack of muscle on him. “I’m basically a twig.”

 

“Doesn’t your school have a martial arts club or something?”

 

“Yeah… a Quirk-based one…” 

 

Hence, the kid not really learning how to fight. “Hmm…”

 

Izuku took a breath, folded his arms across his chest and stated with firm determination, “Well, I’m going to UA one way or another, even if I’m the only one that believes in me. It’s not like UA is going to bar me from taking the entrance exam just because I’m Quirkless now. I’m going to be a Hero and I’m not letting anyone stop me!”

 

“That’s the spirit,” Iwao chuckled. “Well, a deal’s a deal.” With his curiosity sated, Iwao patted his thigh just above the brace on his knee and started his own story.

 

“Got into a scrap with a villain a few years back. You heard about the Sky Egg incident?”

 

“Yeah. Captain Celebrity’s big send-off party that got attacked by a bunch of flying monsters.”

 

“The guy I was fighting was the one who sent them. Hell, he was one of the bigger bit players in the whole Instant Villain thing we’ve had to deal with for the last couple years.” Iwao took another drag of his cigarette, cracking the window and tapping the little cone of ash on the tip out the window. “Tricky speedster type. Plan A was to take him by surprise while he was busy patting himself on the back but I bungled the shot. So we had to fight.”

 

Izuku unconsciously leaned forward and listened with his whole self, totally enraptured by the tale.

 

“I’d been following his trail for a while and I had a trap set up for him. Should’ve gone smooth but he had a couple aces up his sleeve I couldn’t plan for. Literally,” Iwao explained. “We had each other on the ropes for a while but he must’ve had an appointment to keep or something. End of the fight, the fucker stomped my kneecap backwards and legged it.”

 

Izuku replied with a sympathetic wince. “How’d you get out of there?”

 

Iwao snorted and said, “I’m a stubborn ol’ bastard. I managed to drag my sorry ass a block and a half away before I passed out from the pain and some Good Samaritan dragged me to an emergency room.”

 

“What happened to the villain?”

 

“He got away that day, but he still got his. Remember? You said you saw it on the news last year.”

 

…wait, he’s not talking about…

 

“You mean the 20-story tall plasma villain from the lockdown!?”

 

Iwao scoffed. “He was a way smaller fish when I last saw him but yeah, that was the guy.” It was starting to get a little smoky in the car for Izuku’s taste and he cracked his own window to let it clear up. “One thing I will give him, though,” Iwao said, bringing Izuku’s attention back to him. Iwao chuckled darkly with a grin that bordered on manic. “It was a damn good fight.”

 

‘ Kinda… scary, but okay… ’

 

Izuku’s curiosity was satisfied and he didn’t have much more to contribute to the conversation. For another long stretch, the vigilante and the kid sat with that silence, the radio and the busted muffler the only sound for a good while.

 

…actually, Izuku did have one more thing he wanted to talk about.

 

“Hey, Mr. Knuckleduster? Sir?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“I noticed that you didn’t really answer my question earlier,” Izuku said. “About if a Quirkless kid like me could be a Hero… or a Vigilante, I guess. Either one.”

 

Iwao shrugged and answered, “Does it matter if you have a Quirk or not?”

 

Izuku blinked confusedly at the response. “Everyone seems to act like it matters…”

 

Iwao gave the whole concept a derisive snort. “Society these days brainwashed people into putting so much stock into powerful Quirks that they’ve forgotten what real justice is.” Izuku opened his mouth to respond but Iwao beat him to it, punctuating every chunk of his next sentence by thumping his knuckles against the steering wheel. “In that moment, when it’s clear what’s gotta be done, do you take action or don’tcha? That’s all you need to be a real Hero. No license, no Quirk, nothing but the right answer to that question.”

 

“...it’s that simple?”

 

“It’s that simple.”

 

Izuku slumped back into his seat. He… hadn’t thought of it that way before. By that logic, he could be a Hero right now if he wanted. A very illegal one that couldn’t rely on the police or other Heroes at any point whatsoever but still…

 

“Well?”

 

“‘ Well? ’”

 

“You said you wanted to be a Hero, right? Do you take action or don’tcha?”

 

He was actually asking Izuku the question this time. Izuku stared down at his lap and wracked his brain for any instance that might prove one way or the other but came up empty. “I… don’t know…”

 

Iwao gave that answer a sage nod and said, “You will. One of these days, life’s gonna throw you a curveball to test your reflexes. When that happens, you’ll know for sure where you stand on that question.”

 

It wasn’t a definitive yes or no on whether Izuku could be a Hero or not, but the answer itself was still reassuring in some way. Izuku smiled softly to himself. He was looking forward to this curveball.

 

For the remainder of the first hour, Iwao and Izuku filled the silence with idle small talk. Eventually, the late hour took its toll on Izuku and his eyelids grew heavy, too heavy to keep open. For the last leg of the trip, Izuku dozed off with his face pressed against the window.

 

-

 

What felt like mere seconds later, Izuku was prodded awake by his traveling companion.

 

“Kid. Wake up.”

 

“Huh? Whazzit?”

 

“We’re here.”

 

Izuku ground the heel of his hand against his eye, trying to rub out the sleep. Pushing himself back upright, Izuku took a glance out the window and was met with the familiar sights of Musutafu. Home sweet home.

 

“You’re gonna have to guide me the rest of the way,” Iwao said.

 

“Yeah, sure.” Izuku pressed his face to the window and looked for a landmark that lined up with what he memorized of Musutafu’s streets. “Not this light but the next one, take a right.”

 

Once Izuku got his bearings, it didn’t take very long before Iwao’s truck rolled up right in front of his apartment building. “End of the line,” Iwao said as he threw the truck into park. 

 

“Thank you so much, Mr. Knuckleduster… uh, again,” Izuku said, quietly unbuckling his seatbelt and readjusting Iwao’s crutch so that it would balance against the back of the seat when he left. “Sorry for making you go to all the trouble to drive me this far.”

 

“Ah, don’t worry ‘bout it,” Iwao said, stubbing out what remained of his cigarette and dropping it into the empty beer can that was resting in the cup holder this whole time. “Like I said, got nothin’ but time on my hands these days.” With that, Iwao gave Izuku a nudge on the arm and said his farewells. “See ya around, kid.”

 

“Yeah. See you later, Mr. Knuckle.”

 

“And remember: the next time you see that lil’ asshole ‘friend’ of yours, give ‘im a good sock in the jaw and he’ll quit botherin’ you.”

 

“I’m… not going to do that, but thank you.” 

 

Izuku hopped out of the truck and waved back at the vigilante that brought him home safe as he jogged off towards home. “Seriously, though! Thank you for everything!”

 

Now the challenge of sneaking back in . Izuku fell silent, quietly climbing the stairs up to his unit, trying to fish the spare key he took with him when he left from his backpack without making a sound. Izuku unlocked the door to his apartment and nudged it open with all the careful delicacy of a bomb defuser, closing it behind him just as carefully. With that, Izuku pulled off his shoes and tiptoed through the darkened apartment, past his mom’s bedroom all the way to his own.

 

Safe! Day trip completed and Izuku made it back home in one piece! As soon as his bedroom door closed, Izuku breathed a deep sigh of relief, quietly setting his backpack on the floor by his bed and setting about to pull off his disguise so that he could change into pajamas. As he did so, however, he glanced at his window and noticed a light coming through the crack in the curtains. 

 

Taking a peek, Izuku raised an eyebrow. Knuckleduster’s truck was still down there, idling on the street. Oh, maybe he was waiting to make sure Izuku made it all the way back into his apartment safely before he left? 

 

Izuku tiptoed back over to flip on his bedroom light before he returned to the window. He nudged the curtains open and gave his bedroom window a soft tap with his knuckles before he waved down to Knuckleduster on the street, letting him know that he made it home. After a second, Iwao’s hand reached up and waved back over the hood of his truck before the vehicle finally began to roll away.

 

And that was that. The day had officially come to an end. Izuku Midoriya was never more grateful to see his bed than he was at this second. Izuku swapped his disguise for pajamas and collapsed down onto his bed, rolling around until he found a comfortable position to sleep in.

 

…And yet, the sleep dragged its feet. For a while, Izuku just lay there, staring at the ceiling, giving Iwao’s question some serious consideration.

 

-

 

In that moment, when it’s clear what’s gotta be done, do you take action or don’tcha?

 

‘Do I?’

 

The only thing that came to mind when Izuku thought hard about it was that one time that Kacchan fell into a river when they were kids and Izuku’s first thought was that his friend was hurt and needed help. For some reason that Izuku never really understood, that gesture infuriated Bakugou and really kicked off their antagonistic relationship. Maybe he wasn’t supposed to do that? Hell, Izuku wasn’t sure if that even counted anymore. Little Kid Izuku and Teen Izuku were two different people. Maybe he would’ve taken action then but now…

 

A burst of air from a passing car snapped Izuku out of his trance. Right, he was still walking home. Where was he now? Looking around, Izuku spotted a landmark he recognized: the tunnel he was passing through when All Might rescued him. Where he nearly… died. It made Izuku a little nauseous thinking about that so he quickly stuffed that thought back into the bin where it belonged. From now on, he was avoiding that tunnel like the plague. He might even avoid manhole covers as well.

 

Taking a whole different route to avoid the tunnel brought Izuku further into a part of town he didn’t frequent all that much. Uncharted territory. Izuku emerged into a little pocket of air between buildings that was big enough for a small park, a little patch of green nestled in between infrastructure. Izuku noticed some noises coming from that direction and pulled an earbud out of his ear.

 

The park had visitors, a trio of youngsters. The oldest had to be around his age with sun-kissed skin and long brown hair that was pulled back into a ponytail. He was tossing a ball around with a younger boy that looked exactly like him, his little brother Izuku deduced. The youngest of the trio, a little girl that shared her brothers features, was off on her own, twirling around in the grass. Eventually, she grew too dizzy to keep spinning and had to stop, giggling to herself all the while. When she did, she spotted Izuku across the street and gave him a big friendly wave. The gesture was too adorable, Izuku just had to smile and wave back.

 

The next arc the ball followed after it struck the ground was just a little too high for the younger boy to hit back. Despite the impressive jump for a kid his age, the tips of his fingers were only able to brush the bottom of the ball, giving it a little extra air time as it bounced away. As it followed its path, the ball bopped off the little girl’s head, getting a little squeak of surprise out of her. With a happy squealing laugh, the little girl chased after the bouncing ball.

 

She chased it right out into the street…

 

…just as a delivery truck turned the corner, with little to no chance of seeing her…

 

In that moment, when it’s clear what’s gotta be done, do you take action or don’tcha?

 

Izuku didn’t register the fact that his feet were moving until his side bounced off the sidewalk on the other side of the street, the little girl scooped up into his arms and held tight to his chest. A loud pop and the squealing of tires were the only sounds of the narrowly avoided tragedy on the street behind them.

 

Izuku just lay there for a good second, catching his breath and letting his brain catch up with what had just happened. The little girl he saved must’ve done the same. She was silent for only a moment before she started to shake and tremble in Izuku’s arms. Izuku awkwardly patted her on the back and said, “H-Hey, it’s okay. It’s alright. I’ve got you.” Izuku did his best to give her a reassuring smile. That was a really scary experience and the stress made his smile wobble but Izuku meant it. He was there. She was safe. 

 

The little girl sniffled and made an understanding noise.

 

“Lala!”

 

“Big brother!”

 

The little girl wriggled around in Izuku’s arms and reached out for her oldest brother, who had scrambled over to Izuku’s side, panic and dread in his face. Izuku allowed him to scoop up his younger sister and the oldest boy held her tight to his chest, letting her sob into his shoulder and whispering soothing words to her in a language Izuku couldn’t understand. The middle kid joined his big brother down on the sidewalk beside him, speaking to both of his siblings in their native language and giving his sister a comforting pat on the back. Izuku, in the meanwhile, just sat up and took his time to breathe and get his heart to stop racing.

 

The truck driver leaned out the window and shouted, “Jesus, are you kids alright? I-I didn’t see the little one until the last second!”

 

Izuku raised his arm and wearily answered, “We’re all okay!”

 

“Alright, well… quit screwin’ around in the street! It’s dangerous y’know!” With that, the truck driver leaned back in and drove off.

 

‘Maybe watch where you’re driving then, jerk.’

 

A soft sensation against his neck made Izuku jump. When he looked down, he found a tiny pink bird-like creature, nuzzling into the crook of his neck and twittering a relieved and happy tune. “Hi there,” he sighed, giving the creature a little scritch on its tiny head. Without any warning, the oldest of the kids clapped his hand against Izuku’s shoulder and pulled him in for a weird diagonal-hug.

 

“Thank you,” he said, relieved and grateful. “Thank you so much.”

 

Izuku smiled and gave the other boy a light pat on the back. “I’m glad you guys are okay,” he said. Izuku leveled a sympathetic smile towards the little girl in her brother’s arms and asked, “Right? Everyone’s okay, right?”

 

“Yeah, Lala just got a little stressed out, but she’ll bounce back,” the oldest boy said, giving his sister a comforting pat on the back. “She’s super tough. Aren’t ya, princesa ?” The little girl miserably hiccuped into her brother’s chest but made an affirming noise all the same.

 

There was a light laugh from the middle kid and when his brother gave him a quizzical look, the middle child gestured towards the perfectly flat rubber disc in the street and said, “I, uh… I think the ball’s a lost cause.” Izuku and the older boy shared an exhausted but relieved laugh.

 

“Phew. Oh man…” the older boy sighed. “That… could’ve been really bad.”

 

“Y-Yeah…” 

 

“Would’ve been a lot worse if it weren’t for you… uh…” The older boy cleared his throat and extended his hand out towards Izuku. “The name’s Rody Soul. Nice to meetcha.”

 

“Nice to meet you, Soul-san,” Izuku said, accepting the firm handshake.

 

“And what might the name of our intrepid Hero be?”

 

Izuku blinked, utterly taken aback by the description. “Ah, I’m Izuku Midoriya… and I’m not a Hero… not really…”

 

“Yeah?” Rody smiled and said, “Well, you sure are a Hero to me.”

 

That got Izuku like a shot in the heart. Someone considered him a Hero? Without even knowing that he was Quirkless? That was all it took? “R-Really?”

 

“Well, yeah. Why wouldn’t you be?” Rody chuckled. “If you didn’t jump in when you did…” The little bird on his shoulder trembled at the thought but Rody shook it off. “Seriously. Thank you for being there.” Rody let Izuku’s hand go and gave him another pat on the shoulder. “I won’t forget this.”

 

The little girl sniffed and whimpered, “...wanna go home…”

 

Rody rubbed a soothing circle into her back and said, “Yeah. We’ve had enough excitement for one day.” While the older boys were pushing themselves back up to standing, the little pink bird-creature darted over to nuzzle Izuku’s cheek with a happy chirp. “ Pino! ” Rody hissed disapprovingly, snatching the creature away and stuffing it in the pocket of his jacket. “Sorry ‘bout her. Pino… doesn’t seem to understand the concept of personal space.”

 

“Oh, that’s alright…” Izuku replied sheepishly, his brain still stuck on processing what Rody said.

 

“Got it!” the middle kid said, having successfully retrieved the carcass of the ball from the street.

 

Rody ruffled his little brother’s hair and said, “Well, we’re gonna head back home then. And we’ll probably avoid the street the whole way there.” With one more pat on the shoulder for Izuku, Rody said, “ Gracias, amigo . I owe you one.”

 

“Bye!” the middle kid chirped, keeping up alongside his brother as they started to walk off.

 

The little girl rubbed her eyes dry and waved back at Izuku over Rody’s shoulder. “Bye-bye, Hero!”

 

Izuku used the heel of his hand to stem the moved tears that threatened to spill over and he waved back. “Bye!! Stay safe!” And the Soul siblings were off, leaving Izuku right where he was planted but moved nonetheless. He scrubbed at his eyes, drying off emotional tears, with a big, wobbly, tearful and joyous smile on his face. He was a Hero to somebody. That took a bit to sink in. Knuckleduster was right. He didn’t need the Quirk or a license. One person on this planet thought of him as a Hero without even needing a power… and that made every single second worth it. Once Izuku got it out of his system, he took a deep breath and continued on his way, now with a new skip in his step.

 

A little closer to home, Izuku noticed a group of people walking along, loudly chattering amongst themselves. One of them carelessly tossed their empty soda bottle at a recycling bin, missed entirely and just kept walking, letting the bottle clatter to the ground. Izuku didn’t give it much thought. He just scooped the bottle back up and made sure it was properly disposed of in the correct recycling bin.

 

-

 

Satisfied with what he’d watched, Iwao let his binoculars rest against his chest and took a long, pensive drag of his cigarette. Admittedly, he wasn’t expecting the kid to get that metaphorical curveball he was talking about this quickly, but goddamn, did the kid handle it like a champ. Iwao was beyond impressed.

 

“Yup, thought so,” he said to himself with a pleased grin.

 

Iwao ground what remained of the cigarette on the ledge beside him and swung his legs back over the side, using his crutch to force himself to stand and started walking towards the rooftop access door. Thank god the elevator was working this time.

Notes:

Featuring Special Guest Star: Truck-Kun

Chapter 7: Movie Night

Summary:

A regular Sunday with Koichi and Number 6.

NYC, New York

Captain Celebrity Corporation HQ

 

“Mr. Haimawari, I do have a bit of… well, calling it ‘good news’ would be a touch optimistic,” Captain Celebrity’s attorney, Mr. Murdoch’s voice said through the phone’s speaker. “We were able to reach a settlement with the hospital. I’ve been able to negotiate a couple zeroes off the end of the amount they’re asking for, which admittedly isn’t saying much, but you have to take all the silver linings you can in this business, I’m afraid.”

 

“ Huh!? The hospital was suing me too!?”

 

“That’s correct.” A fluttery sound accompanied Mr. Murdoch’s words as he flipped through the file he had. “They were adamant on receiving compensation for the damages they incurred during the attack. They claim that the entire first floor sustained heavy damages as well as ¼ a floor’s worth of windows. Not to mention the employee parking lot pretty much being turned into a gravel pit.”

 

“But that wasn’t even me! It was-” Koichi stopped himself mid-sentence. Er, the windows thing… that was Soga, making the distraction that Tsukauchi asked of him. Allies don’t rat out their allies so Koichi just pressed his fists into his lap and kept his trap shut.

 

Mr. Murdoch falsely predicted the rest of Koichi’s sentence. “The villain, I know.” Good for Soga but now Koichi was probably going to have to hear about it from an angry spirit tonight. “I assure you, Mr. Haimawari, if the villain survived this ordeal, he’d be facing all of this legal backlash as well.”

 

“I know,” Koichi said with a frazzled sigh, letting his face rest in his hands. “This sucks. I’ve never had to deal with all this legal stuff before. I’ve never even gotten a traffic ticket before…”

 

“Well, you’ve been handling it very well for a first-time offender,” Mr. Murdoch said, sneaking in a reassuring joke hoping that it would brighten Koichi’s mood. Makoto mirrored that sentiment, giving Koichi a pat on the back. “Just keep doing what you’ve been doing; tell the complete and honest truth and make sure your story is consistent. My team and I will do everything in our power to at least lessen the load as much as possible.”

 

“I will. Thanks, Mr. Murdoch.”

 

An electronic tone beeped on the other end of the line. “Hmm? Excuse me for just a moment.” After some clicking from Mr. Murdoch’s keyboard on the other end, he returned with better news. “Some actual good news, Mr. Haimawari. We’ve got a lawsuit dropped.”

 

“Great! That’s good, right?”

 

“It’s one less on the pile. I’d call that good progress.”

 

Koichi breathed a sigh of relief. It wasn’t much but at least something good came out of today’s meeting.

 

Over the speaker, the sound of a door opening preceded another voice. “Excuse me, Mr. Murdoch?”

 

“Yes, Gwen?”

 

“You have another call on line 3. Your client says it’s urgent.”

 

“You’ll have to be more specific, Gwen. Was it Mr. Parker?”

 

“No, sir… the other one.”

 

Mr. Murdoch let out an aggravated sigh. “For Christ’s sake, Wade…” he grumbled. “Thank you, Gwen.” The door clicked shut and there was a tapping sound next to the receiver. “I apologize for having to cut this short but I have, I presume, several fires I need to put out. Some possibly literal. Mr. Haimawari, for now, business as usual until our next meeting. Keep your head down, do the best you can and please, please don’t imply any further plans for citywide destruction.”

 

Huh. Usually, 6 would be snickering like a madman over the reference but he’s being rather quiet right now. He must be ‘asleep’ or something. “Understood. Thanks for all your hard work, Mr. Murdoch.”

 

“We really appreciate it,” Makoto added.

 

“It’s no trouble at all. Until next time.”

 

“Oh! Hold on, Mike. While I still have you…” Chris interjected. “Pam’s going to do the big grocery haul for Easter weekend here pretty soon and she wanted me to get a headcount of everybody that’s coming. You have any plans for then?”

 

“Hmm, I do have a dinner planned for my family then. But I think I can stop by to say hello and steal a couple of rolls on my way there.”

 

“That counts! I’ll let Pamela know. Looking forward to-”

 

Suddenly, there was a shrill, shrieking noise coming from the other end of the line. “Ah, one of the fires was literal. I have to go,” Mr. Murdoch rushed out before he dropped all pretense of professionalism. “God damn it, Wade!”

 

“Okay, before you get mad at me, I can explain!”

 

Click.

 

There was a moment of awkward silence as Mr. Murdoch abruptly left the conversation. Eventually, a laugh from Koichi broke it and he said, “Wow. Being a Hero lawyer sounds more exciting than I figured it would be.”

 

“Never a dull moment around here,” Chris agreed.

 

Makoto placed her chin in her hand and hummed thoughtfully. “That ‘Wall Street’ blunder didn’t help Koichi’s reputation all that much,” she said. “We’ll have to do some damage control…”

 

Chris shrugged. “Would probably be easier to just keep the camera off of him entirely…”

 

“If we did that now, Koichi’s reputation would stay in the red and nothing would improve,” Makoto replied. “Maybe ‘Operation Safety Net’ could use some tweaking…”

 

Just the thought of having to do that interview malarkey again filled Koichi with dread. “Honestly, I’m with Cap on this one,” he wheezed.

 

“See?”

 

“Aside from the inevitable public statement the two of you will have to make…” Makoto murmured, tuning out Koichi and Chris’s groans of pure terror. “We’ll have to build up some goodwill to offset this.”

 

Before Makoto could start brainstorming out loud, Chris’s office phone rang. Quick on the draw, Chris snatched up the receiver, pressed it to his ear and answered with a rehearsed, “Captain Celebrity. How can I save your day? …Oh, hi honey.”

 

Makoto smirked and whispered to herself, “Homework for tonight, then.”

 

“N-No, I do have caller ID on. Force of habit. Sorry, sweetheart,” Chris muttered into the receiver. “...Oh, I’m at the office right now. Koichi, Makoto and I just got off the phone with Mike. We were discussing the kid’s legal issues back home… About as well as you’d expect.”

 

“Ouch.”

 

“Speaking of, Mike says he might stop by and say hi on Easter… Yeah, busy guy. He said he might have enough time to swipe some rolls but that’s about it… Yeah, that’s what I said!” Chris gestured apologetically towards the receiver before covering one end with his hand. “Oh, uh, Pamela… and Junior say hi, by the way.”

 

“Sounds like important family business,” Makoto teased. She stood up from her seat, tapping Koichi on the shoulder, prompting him to get up as well. “Well, we’ll get out of your hair and let you get to it, boss.”

 

Koichi followed Makoto out of the office, waving back at Chris as he left. “See ya tomorrow, Cap!” Chris returned the wave as the door slowly slid shut behind him.

 

Now finally freed from all that legal gibberish, Koichi heaved a long sigh of relief and asked Makoto, “Was all that good?”

 

“Bit of a stumble with that Wall Street thing but someone dropped their lawsuit on you. Evens out, it sounds like!” Makoto replied with an optimistic thumbs-up.

 

Koichi shrugged. “I’ll take it.”

 

Makoto gave Koichi a pat on the shoulder, which turned into her straightening out the pull strings on his hoodie. No reason why. Her hand just gravitated there. Koichi’s been working so hard lately, even if he has tripped up on occasion. Makoto just felt compelled to help in any way she could, even if it was something that small.

 

“I don’t know what Cap and I are gonna do when you go back home in the fall,” Koichi sighed.

 

Makoto was able to push back her homecoming for at least another year to help Koichi get settled. But she couldn’t stay forever. She had everything set in place for her to come back home for good a year ago and there was no taking it back. “That’s why I’m being really particular about my replacement,” she said. “I have to make sure they’re trained well enough that they can just jump right into my spot when I go home and get caught up right away. I can’t let anyone else pick my replacement. The last time I let someone do that… well…”

 

“Yeah…” Koichi sighed.

 

“How’s Pop doing, by the way? Have you talked to her lately?”

 

“Yeah, I heard from her the other day. It sounds like she’s about ready to ditch the crutches!”

 

“That’s great to hear!” Makoto gently poked Koichi in the shoulder and asked, “Did you two talk about… anything else?”

 

…Oh, yeah. That talk … about feelings and stuff. Koichi scratched his fingers into his scalp and said, “Right… I was so focused on getting settled here that I totally forgot about that.”

 

Verdict: Truth. Makoto let out an enduring sigh that just screamed ‘Of course you forgot.’ “Well, hey, there’s no time limit on this talk,” she said. “I’m more patient than you think.”

 

“Sorry…”

 

“Don’t be. I was a little worried that I was coming on too strong for a bit, if I’m being honest.”

 

“No way! I was just… I wasn’t expecting you to feel that way about someone as ordinary as me.”

 

“Don’t sell yourself short like that!” Makoto giggled. Then she patted Koichi on the arm and said, a bit more seriously, “Really give it some thought, okay? It’s not just me or Pop, y’know. The last thing either of us want is for you to be unhappy because you felt pressured to choose. Think about what you want your future to look like.”

 

“I think no matter what I do, my future’s going to be here ,” Koichi said, a morose, homesick tinge to his voice.

 

“You never know,” Makoto replied. “Once we get you on the right track, paying off the rest of this debt should be a breeze. You’ll be back home before you know it.” She grinned and declared, “And when you come home for good, we’ll throw the biggest ‘welcome home’ party Tokyo’s ever seen!”

 

With that to look forward to, Koichi’s homesickness felt less daunting. He smiled and said, “I’d really like that. Oh, y’know, when I was starting out at college, I had wanted to have a whole bunch of friends hanging around my apartment. It always felt really empty before Pop and Master came into the picture. Why don’t we do that? Get everybody together and just shoot the breeze like we used to?”

 

Makoto’s smile strained. It was clear she had some really unfortunate news.

 

“...they finally tore my building down, didn’t they?”

 

“ Yeah… ”

 

Koichi gave a dismayed sigh and mumbled, “Oh, okay then… I guess the first thing I’m doing when I get back home is house-hunting .”

 

“You’re more than welcome to crash at my place in the meantime.”

 

“Thanks, Makoto. I really appreciate that.”

 

“Okay, putting a pin in all this future talk!” Makoto declared with a playful poke in Koichi’s chest. As they continued their walk, Makoto asked, “What’re you planning to do with the rest of your weekend?”

 

“Well, usually around this time of week, it’s movie night with a friend of mine,” Koichi answered.

 

Makoto folded her arms and let out a teasing sigh. “Oh, I see how it is. Pop and I both lost to a mysterious 13th hour contestant,” she chuckled. “I genuinely didn’t see that coming. Well played, mysterious woman. Well played.”

 

“Huh? Oh, no. It’s not a girl friend or anything.”

 

“I’m teasing you, Koichi,” Makoto giggled. “I thought you would’ve gotten used to that by now.”

 

As the two passed by, a voice called out from the break room. “Oh! Hi, Makoto! Hi, Koichi!”

 

When Koichi first came to America, it was decided between Makoto and Chris that it would be a good idea to stick Koichi with a squad of sidekicks that were more fluent in Japanese, to help Koichi settle in easier. Ironically, these sidekicks were the most Western looking bunch that Koichi had ever laid eyes on. The one that called out to them was Laurel Blake, otherwise known by her Hero name, Danger Magnet. Beside her were her teammates Frank Jones (a.k.a. Split), Thelma Dinklage (a.k.a. Jinx) and Norman Rogers (a.k.a. Ultra Instinct).

 

“Hey there, guys!” Koichi replied.

 

Frank glanced up from his copy of The National Exaggerator and said, “Hey, what are you doing here? Aren’t you supposed to have the day off?”

 

“Technically, I do. Makoto and I just got out of a meeting with Cap and his lawyer about… uh, my problems.”

 

“One of the lawsuits against Koichi got dropped!” Makoto added, injecting a little more optimism into the conversation.

 

“That’s great to hear!” Frank cheered and gave Koichi a hearty pat on the back.

 

“Your bank account must be ecstatic over the news,” Thelma laughed.

 

Koichi sighed and lifted an exhausted arm into the air. “Yay, I don’t have to worry about my rent this month!”

 

Frank abandoned his magazine on the table and said, “If this doesn’t call for a celebratory coffee, I don’t know what does!”

 

“Oh, donut too!” Norman added as Frank went off to the back of the breakroom. “Like, you’ve got to have a snack with your coffee, y’know.

 

“Aw, shucks. You guys don’t have to do all that,” Koichi said with a bashful chuckle.

 

Makoto laughed and gave Koichi a pat on the shoulder. “Well, you enjoy your coffee break with the others,” she said before turning on her heel. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

 

“Huh? You’re not staying?”

 

“Nah. I’ve still got a lot of stuff to do at home anyhow,” Makoto replied. “Maybe if I’m lucky, I’ll get some writing done tonight.”

 

“Oh, you’re working on another book? What’s this one about?” Koichi asked.

 

To that, Makoto gave him a knowing wink and answered, “If I told you that , then I’d be spoiling it. You’ll just have to find out when everyone else does.” With one last wave, Makoto was off and Koichi stayed, spending the rest of his coworkers’ shifts chatting about anything and everything under the sun over coffee, including Frank’s boundless plethora of unnecessary net trivia. Koichi wondered to himself why Frank was so fascinated with nets and traps anyway. They don’t have anything to do with his Quirk.

 

-

 

The sun had passed its peak by the time Koichi walked outside and was beginning its descent back down to the horizon. What time was it? 1:00? Koichi sighed. Why did time zones have to be so complicated? If he remembered right, there was a… 13(?) hour difference between New York City and Tokyo… so that means everybody back home must be asleep. A wistful smile pulled at Koichi’s mouth. Hopefully they’re sleeping well.

 

Then Koichi walked face-first into a cloud of smoke and was brought back to Earth. “Whoops, sorry!” Norman said, waving most of the smoke away. “I forgot you were back there.”

 

“* koff koff * I’m okay,” Koichi sputtered. A strain of sweetness managed to find its way through the smoke, piquing Koichi’s interest. “Ooh, that smells really good, actually. What is that?”

 

“It’s called Mango Tango,” Norman replied, turning the mouthpiece of his vape to Koichi so he could smell it. Exactly like it said on the label, it smelled heavily of mango, pineapple and papaya, enough so that you couldn’t tell there was nicotine in there. The things they can do with technology…

 

Frank took a deep breath of fresh air and cheerfully declared, “Alright, gang! Where to next?”

 

“I’ve got some work I need to do on my criminology thesis,” Thelma replied.

 

“Well, I dunno about you guys, but I am starving!” Norman laughed.

 

“Shock of the century,” Thelma teased back.

 

“There’s this shawarma joint a couple blocks down that everybody in the office has been talking about. The ‘perfect post-heroism treat’, Tony called it,” Norman said. “Personally, I find it hard to believe anything could top Giovanni’s but, like, nothing ventured, nothing gained.”

 

“Ooh, y’know, I could go for some falafel, actually,” Laurel chimed in.

 

Thelma shrugged. “You know what, I think I could work on my thesis one-handed.”

 

“I have no clue what shawarma is, but I’m open to trying anything!” Frank added.

 

Norman gave Koichi a gentle nudge on the arm and asked, “You’re coming too, right Koichi? My treat.”

 

Koichi answered, “Sorry, I wish I could but I already made plans. It’s Sunday so my room… ( well, no. He’s not my roommate ‘cause he physically can’t pay rent) * ahem * My friend and I usually have movie night.”

 

“Oh, far out! Sounds like a fun night!”

 

“Who says ‘far out’ these days?” Thelma snarked. “Don’t worry, Koichi. I’ll save you a wrap and keep it from the living vacuum over here.”

 

“Aw, c’mon Thel!”

 

“We should all get together as a group to hang out sometime,” Laurel said. “Us, you and your friend. I’d really like to meet them.”

 

Koichi blinked, surprised before a big, nervous grin formed across his face. “I’d… I’d really like that too!” Koichi said, cautiously trying to navigate through this topic. “It’s just… It’s going to be really hard to pull off.”

 

“Oh, your friend has a really busy schedule?”

 

“... eeeeeeyes , let’s go with that.”

 

Laurel’s eyebrow popped up at Koichi’s odd answer. “Well, if the stars manage to line up someday and your friend gets a break in their schedule, I think it would be really great to meet up,” she said. “What’s their name?”

 

If someone could shoot Koichi right now, that would be fantastic, thank you. “Uh… Si… gmund,” he stammered. “Y-Yeah, Sigmund… Jo- Smith…?” After staring blankly at him for a moment, a catlike smile formed on Laurel’s face and she nodded, mirroring Makoto’s expression from before. The rest of the team seemed to ‘catch on’, snickering and shaking their heads at Koichi’s botched attempt to misdirect. “Wait, no, it’s not what you’re thinking.”

 

“It’s alright,” Laurel laughed. “Well, anyway, I hope you and your ‘friend’ have a great night.”

 

“But it’s not like that!”

 

Koichi’s teammates said their goodbyes and went on their merry way, despite Koichi’s insistence that it ‘wasn’t like that!’ Well, this was going to be a running joke amongst the team for a good couple weeks. Nice work, Koichi. You went and made things harder for yourself. But he had no idea how he was supposed to explain to people that his friend/roommate was a ghost. Ever since Quirks became a thing, the belief in the supernatural just kinda… vanished. No one would believe him. He’d just have to grin and bear it when the ‘Sigmund Josmith’ jabs start coming in. Until then, it was time to head back the way he came from.

 

On his walk, Koichi noticed a narrow alley shooting off from the street. After making sure the coast was clear, he slipped in, braced his hands and feet against both sides of the alley and slid all the way up the sides of the buildings, up to the roof, just like he used to do to get to his old ‘penthouse.’ The building he went up to had to be just as tall if not a little taller than his old building, surrounded by other buildings around it, which framed a slice of the sky… just like back home.

 

Koichi found a spot in the middle of the empty rooftop and settled down for a while to just think and watch the clouds roll by… until his vision was blocked by a familiar face.

 

“What’s up, loser?”

 

Koichi smiled up at his ghostly roomie and said, “Hey, 6. You’ve been quiet for a while.”

 

“All that legal crap was boring me to tears. I had to tune it out for a bit.”  

 

Number 6 settled himself down on the rooftop beside Koichi, fully stretched out. “Excuse me, sir. Your arm is in my chest,” Koichi quipped.

 

“ You move then.” 6 readjusted and propped the back of his head in his palms. “So catch me up. What’d I miss?”

 

“Well, the hospital’s still really mad at me over that whole Nightmare Night thing,” Koichi explained. “Fortunately, Mr. Murdoch was able to talk them down a little.”

 

“Ha, sucks to be you.”

 

Koichi sighed, “Yeah, kinda. But on the bright side, someone else dropped their lawsuit on me!”

 

“Nice. Maybe you can actually afford rent this month.”

 

“That’s what I was thinking!” Koichi laughed. “Oh, Makoto’s working on a new book!”

 

“Yeah? What’s this one about?”

 

Koichi shrugged. “I dunno. I asked and she said if she told me, she’d be spoiling it.”

 

“You.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I’m pretty sure that means, ‘I’m working on your biography.’”

 

“...Huh? Why would she want to write it about me ?”

 

“You’re asking the wrong guy.”

 

“I don’t really know what she’d write about. My childhood was pretty ordinary.”

 

“It’d be the most boring book in history.”

 

“Yeah… Hey. ”

 

“It’d be a really fancy paperweight.”

 

“Okay, now you’re just making fun of me.”

 

Number 6 shrugged and chuckled, “Aw, let me have my fun. Picking on you is the worst I can do to you now.”

 

Koichi folded his arms and harumphed. Maybe that was true but still… “Anyway, where was I? …Norm’s going on vacation for a week next month.”

 

Number 6 grimaced. “Oh god, we’re not dogsitting again, are we?”

 

“Nope, Frank volunteered this time.”

 

“Okay, good,” 6 said with a sigh of relief.

 

“Aw, c’mon. It wasn’t that bad. I thought it was nice having a couple furry friends hanging around.”

 

“Yeah, nice if you’re not the furniture . You lost a shoe-and-a-half to the little one, remember?”

 

“He’s just a puppy, 6.”

 

“...Koichi. Both of Norman’s dogs can talk. That little bastard did that on purpose,” Number 6 huffed. “You should get a cat. At least cats are honest about the fact that they don’t like you.”

 

Koichi smirked and said, “Yeah, maybe. Maybe when I’m in a better place financially. We’d have to get them vaccinated and spayed or neutered and vet visits cost way more than just taking myself to the doctor. Besides, I don’t think I’d be strict enough to dis…” Koichi trailed off, realizing that he remembered Eraserhead telling him the same thing before, while hiding from the rain under a random awning… and in some way, that made him think of home…

 

“...what?”

 

“Huh?”

 

“You got all mopey on me there for a sec. What is it?”

 

“...nothing. Just… a little homesick, I guess. New York City’s been really good to me since I got here, but… I don’t know.” Koichi curled up on himself and mumbled, “I wonder how Naruhata’s doing…”

 

If only that was a thing Number 6 could relate to. Home? Friends? Family? Number 6 never knew a thing like them. ‘Home’, for him, was wherever All For One set him down to forget about while he focused on his big All Might Killer. The closest person he could point to and say he was close enough with to call a ‘friend’ was a bee and if she wasn’t dead already, she must be royally pissed off at him for leaving her behind. And family…?

 

That was just another reason why Number 6 envied Koichi. Not just because the vigilante he was stuck to got the attention of the Hero he idolized. There was so much Koichi had that Number 6 didn't get to have, a home, loved ones, a sense of belonging, an identity of his own… How was that fair? For all of that to come so naturally to him but Number 6 gets less than nothing? And here Number 6 could only watch on and be bitter. 

 

It’d be a lot easier to stay bitter, though, if fate hadn’t seen fit to superglue 6 to Koichi’s back and force him to understand how the man that got everything he wanted worked. A change in perspective certainly can do a lot…

 

…Y’know what the both of them need right now? A good distraction. Number 6 sat up and asked, “Hey, whose week is it to pick the movie?”

 

Koichi hummed in thought, reviewing the last week in his mind as best his memory could let him. “Uh… oh, I think it’s yours.”

 

“Oh, sweet.” Though for him, there wasn’t much point in it, Number 6 still pulled himself up off the ground. “Well, let’s get goin’, yeah? While we’ve still got weekend to waste.”

 

“Sure thing,” Koichi replied, getting back up on his feet himself.

 

“We still have some popcorn at home, right?”

 

“The microwavable kind, yeah.”

 

“Good, good.” A mischevious smirk formed on his face and Number 6 perfectly mimicked Norman’s speech pattern when he said, “‘Cuz, like, you totally need popcorn for the movies, man.’”

 

Koichi snickered and finished the joke. “‘It’s, like, some kind of unwritten rule or something.’”

 

Number 6 pretended to be utterly appalled at what he just heard. “I can’t believe you, Koichi. Just talkin’ shit about your coworkers behind their back like that… You think you know a guy,” he said with a dramatic gasp. “I’m gonna tell Norman what you really think of him one of these days.”

 

“You started it!” Koichi protested. “He can’t even see or hear you. How’re you gonna tell him anyway?”

 

“I’ll figure something out.”

 

-

 

Koichi’s new apartment building lay just a block-and-a-half away from Captain Celebrity’s agency. Not bad for a work commute and definitely quite the switch-up from living in a mostly abandoned dump by himself. The people who owned this place seemed to actually care about its upkeep. That much was clear from the lobby itself, which practically sparkled in comparison. Koichi made sure to greet the purple-skinned security guard stationed by the front door on his way to the elevator. Lucky for that guy, he got the world’s easiest job. Only an absolute idiot would think it was a good idea to try to rob anyone that lived in a building filled floor-to-ceiling with Heroes.

 

Another big change was that instead of what amounted to a trailer stuck on the roof, Koichi now lived smack dab in the middle of the centermost floor of the building. With that, came another delightful novelty: neighbors. Sure, Koichi’s had neighbors before but that was back when he was little and lived in the countryside. Since striking out on his own, the closest thing he had were Pop and Knuckleduster. Now he had actual, legitimate neighbors, the kind that say hi whenever they catch each other in the hallway, make small talk when they have the time, invite Koichi over for BBQ on the weekends or holidays. Something that Koichi had been sorely missing from the college experience that he had envisioned before he left home.

 

The neighbor to his left was a bespectacled journalist for the local newspaper. Koichi only ever got to talk to the guy in short bursts before he seemed to get the sense that something was going on and disappeared, but he seemed like a nice enough guy. He did look eerily similar to this really popular Hero that’s been going around lately. Like, incredibly similar. As if they were the same exact person, sans the glasses. What an odd coincidence.

 

The neighbor to his right was the world’s most alluring cat lady who seemed really fond of Koichi especially. Most of the time, her attempts at flirtation would go straight over Koichi’s head but his cluelessness didn’t deter her from fawning all over her adorable neighbor whenever she got the chance. Every so often, he’d hear her window opening in the middle of the night. She’d always have a new, pretty piece of jewelry the day after when that happened. Surely, there’s no correlation between the two…

 

The neighbors across the hall were a small family of 5: father, mother, teen daughter, elementary schooler son and an infant. This bunch was the first to welcome Koichi to the building, back when he was fresh off the plane, lost, confused and hadn’t even started learning English yet, and helped him feel like he wasn’t completely alone. The Carrs were good people. Neighborly , as a matter of fact.

 

In recent apartment news, Mrs. Carr had recently left on a month-long business trip overseas, leaving her husband in charge of their three kids, a task that Mr. Carr took with a bit more bravado than he should’ve. The poor guy was struggling with the setup. Koichi could tell when he turned the corner out of the elevator and saw the Carr family patriarch fumbling with his front door, exhaustedly oblivious to the mail that slipped out from under his arm in the process. Nice Guy instincts kicked in and after tossing his backpack towards his door, Koichi scooped up the forgotten bills and was able to catch Mr. Carr before he closed his door. “<Hi, Mr. Carr!>” Koichi said, startling the poor man awake.

 

“Huh? Oh, hey- yawn … Hi, Koichi,” Mr. Carr replied, the eye bags he developed over the last couple weeks sharply contrasting his usual Mr. Spectacular energy. “Did you just get back? I thought you were out today.”

 

Koichi nodded and handed what he collected back to its rightful owner. “<You dropped this.>”

 

“I did?” Mr. Carr sighed and stuffed the envelopes back under his arm. “Ah, geez…”

 

“<Are you okay, Bob? You look tired.>”

 

Mr. Carr pinched the bridge of his nose and laughed a miserable laugh. “Helen makes it look so easy. I don’t know how she does it,” he said. “My daughter’s mad at me for embarrassing her in front of a boy she likes, they changed math since I was in school for some bizarre reason and our youngest is having a field day with all his new Quirks.”

 

“...Quirk s , plural?”

 

“I haven’t gotten any quality sleep for the last few days. Soon as she gets home, I have to get Helen to teach me how to juggle all this stuff.”

 

Koichi nodded with a sympathetic smile and offered, “<Need help?>”

 

Mr. Carr paused for a moment before he replied, “I shouldn’t take advantage… but…” He glanced back into his apartment, seemingly checking to see if his kids were listening before he answered, “Would you mind at all having the kids hang out with you for a bit after school tomorrow? Just long enough for me to get a good nap in?”

 

“<Leave it to me!>”

 

Relieved, Mr. Carr said, “Thanks so much, Koichi. You’re a lifesaver.”

 

“ Daaaad! ”

 

Heaving another sigh, Mr. Carr joked, “Well, duty calls.”

 

Koichi gave his neighbor an encouraging pat on the shoulder and said, “<You’ve got this.>”

 

“Yup. You have a good night, Koichi. And thanks again for picking up after me.”

 

“<No problem. I’m good at it!.>”

 

Mr. Carr disappeared back into his apartment and Koichi went to do the same, retrieving his backpack from beside his door where he left it. “...Oh, is that okay?” Koichi asked Number 6. “Having the Carr kids over tomorrow?”

 

Number 6 shrugged and answered, “Sure. The older kids aren’t nearly as destructive as Norman’s dogs are so it should be fine… although, the baby did set our apartment on fire last time, remember?”

 

“...yeah, we should check the fire extinguisher.”

 

“Probably a good idea, yeah.”

 

An ethereal giggle echoed out, taking Koichi and 6 by surprise. Where it came from, neither could tell. It certainly looked like they were alone but they definitely heard something. It sounded like it was right next to Koichi’s head.

 

“What the hell? Is that a baby?”

 

“A baby… is it? I can’t see it.”

 

“Huh? Why are you asking me that? I can’t see it either.”

 

“You can’t? I kinda figured…”

 

Number 6’s face soured and he grumbled, “Seriously?”

 

“Well, I don’t know how this ghost thing works!”

 

“I swear, if I was only a little more solid, I’d smack you upside the head…”

 

The ghostly babbling floated off down the hallway and before it could completely escape, Mr. Carr stuck his head back out of his apartment, cookie jar tucked under his arm. “Hey, did Jack come this way?” he asked. Bewildered, Koichi numbly pointed in the direction the sound was going. “Thanks.” With that, Mr. Carr dragged himself towards where the sound was going, waving a cookie in the air in an attempt to lure his youngest back from whatever dimension he dipped into.

 

“That was Jack?”

 

“Huh. Guess so. We already knew he could self-immolate and I figured the eye lasers were related to that somehow, but that …”

 

“That’s new.”

 

“That’s really new. Just how many Quirks does that kid have, anyway?”

 

“I don’t know… you think we should be worried?”

 

“...let’s just hope he takes after his folks and stays on the Hero side. A person with all those abilities would be trouble if he became a Villain.”

 

“Yikes.”

 

For whatever reason, something had worn out in Koichi’s apartment door a while ago, making it incredibly stubborn to open most of the time. But after fiddling with it for a good minute, Koichi was able to force it to unlatch and let him in. “Home sweet home,” he sighed.

 

His new apartment was really nice. It had actual rooms, even! It was a 2 bedroom, 1 bath affair, meant to hold more than just one person. For a while, Koichi didn’t know what he was going to do with all that space. Hell, he still doesn’t. His old penthouse (may it rest in peace) felt a little big for a college fledgling and this was easily twice its size. Fortunately, having a pesky ghost around kept the place from feeling too big.

 

As Koichi pulled his shoes off, he announced to the empty apartment, “I’m home.”

 

And Number 6 finished the joke. “Welcome back.” That put a little smile on Koichi’s face. 

 

With that, he left his backpack beside his shoes and wandered into the kitchen, poking through the cabinets and retrieving the bulk box of microwave popcorn. Into the microwave for a minute thirty and just as the bag started to puff up, Koichi dropped to his heels, going through the bottom cabinets in search of a decent bowl to pour it all into.

 

“Ack!”

 

Koichi glanced over his shoulder and said, “You okay over there?”

 

“Yeah… I fell through the couch,” 6 responded, grumbly mostly out of embarrassment. “Holy crap, there’s a lot of pennies down here.”

 

Number 6 rolled sideways out from under the couch and got back up, absent-mindedly dusting himself off as if he’d actually get dusty now before he tried it again. “Okay, just think solid thoughts…” Cautiously, he lowered himself back down and was a bit more successful at staying on top of the couch cushion… until he declared victory and fully relaxed back, upon which he just fell right back through again. “Damn it!”

 

Koichi returned with a glass mixing bowl filled with popcorn and couldn’t help but stifle a laugh at Number 6’s struggles. “I’m just glad you haven’t fallen straight through the floor yet,” he said.

 

“Me too. I guess I can’t get that far away from you, for some reason. Joy of joys.”

 

Number 6 lifted himself up onto his palms out of the couch and found Koichi’s outstretched hand waiting for him. It took a raised eyebrow from 6 to make Koichi remember that he was noncorporeal. “Oh, whoops. Sorry, I forgot,” Koichi chuckled.

 

“Thanks anyway.”

 

Koichi settled in on his end of the couch as 6 picked himself back up. “Alright, third time’s the charm,” he muttered, determined and gave it another shot, lowering himself down on the edge of the seat. When he successfully managed to settle in, he pushed his luck and carefully fit himself in so he was lounged across the remaining space. This time, he gave it a second or two to make sure he wouldn’t just fall through the couch again before he declared victory. “Finally. Got it.”

 

“Good job.”

 

“Don’t praise me like a little kid.”

 

Koichi grabbed the remote off of the coffee table and asked, “Did you have anything in mind?”

 

Number 6 opened his mouth but caught himself, realizing that he didn’t have anything specific planned. “Just start scrolling,” he replied with a nonchalant hand wave. “I’ll stop you when I see something.”

 

“Alrighty.”

 

-

 

Movie night was always the highlight of Koichi and Number 6’s week and tonight was no different. Together, they followed street rats combing the desert for diamonds in the rough, the living crossing over to the land of the dead in search of lost family secrets and human girls flitted away to the spirit world, paying off their debts in bathhouses for yokai. But eventually, it had to end for the day.

 

The evening sun painted a golden stripe through the apartment as it beamed in through the biggest window Koichi had. Koichi had gotten up from the couch a few minutes ago to wash the empty popcorn bowl and Number 6 waited on the couch where he left him, staring at the ceiling with nothing much better to do. Eventually, looking for interesting patterns in the texture of the ceiling bored him and 6 cautiously pulled himself up so he could peer over the back of the couch at Koichi and see what he was up to. Satisfied with his work, Koichi rinsed out the mixing bowl and held it over the drying rack to drip dry while he was eyeballing the dishes from breakfast that morning.

 

A thought came to Number 6 and, dreadfully bored with the silence, he just came out with it.

 

“Hey.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Anyone tell you that long hair would suit you?”

 

The mixing bowl sunk down into the drying rack and Koichi turned to address his ghostly roomie with a look of amused confusion. “Where did this come from?” he asked.

 

Number 6 shrugged and muttered, “Just a thought, is all.”  

 

Koichi dried his hands off on the side of his shirt and asked, “You really think so?”

 

“Yeah, why not? I mean, I-” Something occurred to Number 6 and he pedaled back with, “Oh, you never actually got to meet ‘Rokuro Nomura’, did you?”

 

“Nope. But Pop told me a lot about him… -er, you?”

 

“You at least remember that I told you Nomura’s face was based on yours, right?”

 

Koichi strained a smile and said, “Yes, I do. And it was terrifying at the time.”

 

Number 6 laughed, “Good. ‘Terrifying’ was what I was going for then.” He lowered back down and Koichi followed after him, leaning over the back of the couch. “Well, I did say that Rokuro Nomura was one of my favorites, yeah? Not to brag or nothin’, but…” Number 6 playfully flipped his hair and Koichi gave him an ‘exasperated’ sigh in return. “Correlation ‘n all that…” 6 shrugged and mumbled, “It was just a thought…”

 

Koichi ran a hand through his hair and said, “Mmm… I don’t know. I never really got the chance to experiment with my appearance like that. My mom always wanted me to look ‘job interview ready’ since I got into middle school. If it got any longer than the tip of my ears, she’d trim it back off.” Koichi shrugged and replied, “I guess I just kinda got used to it this way.”

 

Number 6 gestured to the apartment and said, “Well, your mom’s not here, is she?”

 

“Not now ,” Koichi said with a nervous chuckle. “But if we keep talking about her, we’re gonna summon her.”

 

“She’s gonna have a hard time dragging you back to the countryside now that you’ve been exiled from Japan,” Number 6 teased.

 

“Yeah, but she could move here . Basically the same thing. Though…” Koichi rested his chin in his palm and mumbled, “The last few times she came to visit before I got… well, exiled , she didn’t lecture me as hard as she used to. I wonder why…”

 

Number 6 let out a bewildered scoff and said, “You talk about her like she’s a woman to be feared but you miss her lecturing you?”

 

“...she’s my mom,” Koichi replied with a shrug and a fond smile. 

 

The conversation petered out for the most part there and during the awkward silence, Koichi ran his fingers through his hair, trying to envision that version of himself. To him, he felt like it would be a clumsy, silly fit, like a really bad cosplay of one of the guys on the cover of those trashy romance novels that middle-age women are so fond of. But 6 was the one who suggested it. He glanced down at Number 6 and asked, “Do you really think I could pull it off?”

 

“Only one way to find out.”

 

Soon enough, the sun dipped behind the horizon and the gold in the sky turned into a fading deep blue, spotted with the sparkle of city lights. All the basic chores were taken care of, dinner eaten and it was time to turn in for the night. Another exciting day of hero-ing was waiting for them in the morning. 

 

Fortunately, Koichi’s nighttime routine wasn’t all that complicated. He was able to mostly phase out the white noise machine after a month of living with 6. He was good company now. Off went the lights and after knocking back a couple of melatonin chews, Koichi flopped down on the bed, fully stretched out starfish-style. His muscles protested the idea of needing to get up the next morning to go to work. They insisted he call in ‘sick’, but who would pay the bills around here? And that’s not even mentioning the lawsuits.

 

Koichi’s gaze drew over to the corner by the bedroom door and he noticed the glow of 6’s scar. That scared him half to death before, when 6 was still lashing out at him in anger and confusion. Now it was a comfort to see. “You don’t have to stand in the corner, y’know,” he sleepily laughed.

 

“But I like watching you sleep,” 6 teased in the creepiest croak he could manage. “You look so vulnerable… and easily strangleable in your sleep.”

 

Koichi gave a lighthearted huff of laughter and scooched over to one side of the mattress. “Plenty of room…” he said, patting the empty space beside him.

 

“You’d invite me into your bed right after I just implied I’d kill you?” Number 6 said, bewildered. “You’re a weird one, Haimawari…” Koichi seemed unphased by 6’s admonishment and drummed his fingers against the open mattress he offered. “...well …since you offered so nicely…”

 

It took him a try or two to stay ‘afloat’ but Number 6 got settled on the bed by Koichi’s side, his presence not even making a dent in the mattress, almost like he wasn’t even there. But Koichi could see him and that was all he needed. “Comfy?”

 

Number 6 rolled his eyes at the needless question and said, “Sure. As comfy as I can get.”

 

Koichi stifled a yawn with the back of his hand and stretched the remaining tension out of his muscles before he flipped over onto his side. “Good night, Number 6,” he mumbled.

 

Number 6 rolled over onto his side so the two were back-to-back. “Yup. G’night.”

 

As the blue in the sky turned to black, the hero and the ghost drifted off to sleep…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

… bing!

 

“Bwuh?”

 

Yanked out of his slumber, unsure what time or even year it was, Koichi pushed himself back up onto his elbows. At some point during the night, he had tossed around, somehow sleeping diagonal across the bed.

 

“Quit hogging my side of the bed,” Number 6 grumbled.

 

“Sorry.” 

 

Koichi rolled and flopped around until he reached the edge of the bed where he sat and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. The glaring red numbers on his alarm clock said it was midnight. Awful early, but then again, he was thirsty. It wouldn’t hurt to get up for just a second to- bing! Ah, there it was again! Koichi’s head snapped in the direction of the noise and saw the halo of blue light around his phone. A text? Who was texting him at this hour?

 

“It’s midnight. Turn that off,” Number 6 said, tired and increasingly annoyed about his sleep being interrupted.

 

“I have to leave it on in case it’s work,” Koichi replied, thoroughly blinded by the brightness of his phone screen.

 

“Hmph.”

 

Eventually, Koichi’s eyes adjusted to the light and he was able to make out the notification and who sent it. “...Soga?”

 

“Oh, so now he wants to talk to you,” 6 scoffed. “And he couldn’t even wait until morning.”

 

“I think it’s daytime back home.”

 

“Excuses.”

 

Maybe if he ignored Koichi hard enough, 6 would be able to tune out the world and go back to sleep. But the sound of faint voices from Koichi’s side of the bed pulled him back. Resigned to the fact that he wasn’t getting back to sleep until he figured out this little mystery, 6 propped himself up and shuffled over to lean his chin against Koichi’s shoulder. “What is that?”

 

Koichi tilted his phone so 6 could see the video Soga sent him, that of Knuckleduster training some middle-schooler with green curls and freckles how to fight, back home in his ‘secret lair’, as Rapt called it before. Every so often, Iwao would stop to show the kid how he should have his arms held up or what his foot stance should look like, as best he could given his bum knee. Granted, this still involved a bit of smacking the poor kid around but that was the patented Knuckleduster training method.

 

“Same ol’ Knuckleduster…” Koichi said to himself with a fond smile.

 

“Who’s that kid supposed to be?”

 

“Uhh…” Koichi ran the video again, making sure to watch the middle-schooler specifically but no bells were rung. “I dunno. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him before.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

You know who would know, though? The guy that sent Koichi the video in the first place. How could he not take advantage of Soga finally contacting him after all these months?

 

The Crawler:

Hi, Soga! It’s been a while since I’ve heard from you!

How’s things in Naruhata?

 

The text bubble on Soga’s side flitted in and out of existence. Koichi clearly took the poor guy by surprise with his speedy response. Eventually, Soga figured out how to respond.

 

Soga:

Same old, same old

Aside from the video I sent anyway.

The old geezer found himself a new apprentice.

 

The Crawler:

You mean the kid he’s kicking the crap out of?

Who is he?

Chapter 8: Apprentice #3

Summary:

The Midoriyas receive a visit from a mysterious Mr. Takeshi Kuroiwa and Izuku finds himself in Naruhata once again.

A couple days ago…

 

Inko slumped down into the driver’s seat and rested her head in her hands. Yet another flunked job interview. Of course she should’ve listened to her gut and not quit her last job when she got pregnant. She was only thankful that the money Hisashi sends every month in lieu of any actual meaningful contact is enough to provide for her and Izuku. But that courtesy won’t last forever. Eventually, they’re going to stop dancing around this separation nonsense and actually get the damn divorce.

 

But before she really got on Hisashi’s case about it, she wanted to be ready… and the job market is being less than charitable right now. “Ugh, what am I going to do?” Back to the drawing board, it seems… 

 

But that can wait until tomorrow. It’s restock day. Inko still had to drop by the store to get groceries for the week and make dinner. After rubbing some energy back into her eyes, she pulled herself upright in the seat and turned the engine on. “...The best you can, Inko. The best you can…”

 

-

 

“Masaru, honey, it’s the same exact brand,” Mitsuki snickered, watching her husband seriously consider one of the two boxes of pasta he pulled off of the shelf. “It’s not brain surgery.”

 

“Hmm… well, one’s called ‘Premium’ and the other’s called ‘Deluxe.’ I wonder what the difference is?” Masaru hummed to himself.

 

“The price tag, I assume.”

 

The Bakugous were just about finished with their own shopping trip when Mitsuki glanced over her shoulder and noticed Inko round the corner. “Hey, you!” she chirped and trotted over to her friend, snapping Masaru out of his trance as he noticed his wife wandering off.

 

“Oh, Mitsuki, Masaru! It’s so good to see you two!” Inko replied as she was being smothered in Mitsuki’s embrace.

 

“You look like you had a job interview today,” Mitsuki said.

 

“I did.”

 

“And…?” Inko sighed in defeat and the Bakugous mirrored her disappointment. “Damn.”

 

Inko murmured, “I knew I shouldn’t have quit my last job. Hisashi insisted that he’d be able to provide for me and Izuku, but…”

 

Mitsuki scowled and grumbled, “Yeah, he did say that, didn’t he? The cowardly piece of-”

 

“It’s frustrating, but hang in there, Inko. Mitsuki and I are here to help in any way you need,” Masaru said. “As soon as I hear about an opening at my job, you’ll be the first to know.”

 

“Thank you so much,” Inko said with a grateful sigh. “And, while I’m at it, thank you for looking after Izuku the other day.” Smiles of support faded into looks of confusion.

 

“Huh?”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Inko blinked, confused. “He told me he was studying for an exam with Katsuki… wasn’t he?”

 

“Study date? I don’t remember there being a study date,” Mitsuki muttered before looking over at her husband. “Was Izuku hiding somewhere in the house the whole time and I just didn’t see him?”

 

Masaru shrugged. “I have no idea.”

 

Mitsuki looked back over to Inko’s increasingly horrified face and with a sympathetic smile, placed her hand on Inko’s shoulder and said, “Inko, hon… I think I’ve got bad news for you…”

 

-

 

“I just don’t understand, this isn’t like my baby at all,” Inko moaned, her head in her hands.

 

Mitsuki reached over to give Inko a supportive pat on the back, keeping her eyes on the road. “Honestly, I figured this sort of thing was gonna happen eventually. That boy of yours has been racking up Good Kid points since the day he was born. He’s gotta cash them in before he loses them.”

 

“Well, if he wasn’t at your house, then… then where did he go? What sort of trouble could he have gotten into?”

 

“Hey, hey, the most important thing is that whatever stupid teen adventure Izuku went on, he came home safe and sound.”

 

Inko sighed, “I suppose so… it’s just…”

 

Mitsuki affectionately scratched her fingers into Inko’s hair. “You’re doing the best you can, Inko.”

 

“...I’m trying… It feels like I’m failing but…”

 

“You’re doing the best you can.”

 

Mitsuki pulled into the closest space to the Midoriya’s building she could grab, her husband pulling their car into the space right next to Inko’s. Once they stopped, Mitsuki popped the trunk and everyone grabbed a plastic bag out of the back before they made their way into the building, past the scarred, bearded, eyepatch-wearing man with the nice blackthorn walking stick waiting at the bus stop.

 

Inko unlocked the front door and shouldered it open, Mitsuki and Masaru right behind her. “Ugh, if only that bum would add an extra zero to the payments he sends you every month,” Mitsuki snorted. “Then you’d be able to afford to move you and Izuku to somewhere with more room to stretch out in.”

 

“That’s true,” Inko replied. “But I wouldn’t want to make his life harder too.”

 

“Why? You’re trying to leave the bastard, aren’t you?”

 

“That is the plan…” Inko sighed, setting the bag in her hand on the counter. “I’m just trying to go about this carefully. At least until I can provide for the both of us on my own, I don’t want to risk doing anything that would make this divorce harder for me.”

 

Mitsuki sniffed, setting the bag in her hand on the counter beside Inko’s and digging through it to pass things along to Masaru to put away. “At least that cretin is good for something.”

 

“Two things,” Inko corrected.

 

Mitsuki laughed, “Yeah, at least you got a pretty good kid out of the deal. Good thing he takes after you more than that flake you married.”

 

Knock, knock, knock…

 

Everyone paused, glancing in the direction of the knocking. “Were you expecting someone, Inko?” Masaru asked.

 

“I don’t think so.”

 

“I swear to God, if it’s that Hisashi punk showing up just as we were talking about him, I’m gonna smack the stupid out of him,” Mitsuki huffed.

 

“Don’t get arrested, honey.”

 

“Which is why I said ‘smack’ , not ‘stab.’ ”

 

“It might just be the mailman. Maybe he finally figured out that this is my apartment and not the one next door,” Inko said.

 

“Is that old biddy still stealing your mail?”

 

“...eh, is it really stealing if my packages just wind up at the wrong unit?”

 

“It’s stealing when she doesn’t give them back!”

 

Knock, knock, knock…

 

“ Alright, already! Hold the fuck on, would ya!? ” Exasperated, Mitsuki passed the bag she was rummaging through to Inko and muttered, “I’ll get it.”

 

Once his wife was safely out of earshot, Masaru shook his head and chuckled, “And she wonders where Katsuki gets his colorful language from.”

 

Mitsuki flung the front door open with a grumbled, “Alright, alright, I’m here. What d’ya need, you im… patient… Oh .”

 

“Mrs. Midoriya?”

 

“Oh, no. I’m just her friend. My husband and I were just visiting.” Mitsuki glanced the stranger up-and-down and smirked before she turned to shout into the apartment, “Hey, Inko! There’s a very tall drink of water at the door asking for you!”

 

Inko glanced up from the bag of groceries she was looking into, bewildered. “What?” Her only answer was Mitsuki leaning back out of the landing to excitedly wave her over. Inko wandered over to see what all the fuss was about, Masaru curiously tagging along after. The man at the door easily towered over her and had certainly seen his fair share of battle with scars tearing up his face, some dragging down the side of his neck, some scarring over his left eye. But none of that detracted from his charm…. Or those muscles…

 

“ Oh .”

 

“ Oh, wow. ”

 

“Right?” Mitsuki snickered to her husband before she nudged Inko forward. “This is my best friend, Inko Midoriya,” she said. “And she’s basically single right now, by the way.”

 

“ Mitsuki! ” Inko gasped. “I’m so sorry about her.”

 

The man chuckled, shifting himself around on his cane so he could offer a proper handshake to the lady of the house. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

 

Inko welcomed the man’s handshake with both hands. “Likewise.”

 

“I was hoping I could steal a moment of your time.”

 

“Oh, of course. Please, come in.”

 

As the man shuffled into the apartment, Mitsuki nudged Masaru and herself back out. “Well, we’ve got our own groceries to take home still. We’d better do that before something melts,” she said. Before she was gone completely, she giggled to Inko, “I’m cracking open a bottle of wine as soon as we get home. I want details .” Masaru offered a supportive double thumbs-up over his wife’s shoulder.

 

“Oh, would you two go on already?” Inko lightheartedly scolded them and shooed them off.

 

While he was waiting for the hostess to come back from sending her friends off, the man curiously looked around the room, noticing the pictures on the wall and smiling at one in particular of a younger Inko carrying around a tiny freckled boy in an All Might onesie. 

 

Noticing the brace on the man’s leg, Inko hopped forward and pulled out a chair at the dining table for him. “Oh dear, I’m so sorry that you had to climb all those stairs just to get up here,” she fussed. “Please, have a seat. You must be tired.”

 

“Kind of you. Thank you.”

 

“Can I get you anything to drink? I have water, barley tea…” Inko offered while the man settled into the chair. “I also keep beer in the back of the fridge, mostly for guests…”

 

“A beer would be great.”

 

After a moment, Inko returned with a can of beer for him and a cup of tea for herself. Settling in across the table from the man, she said, “I apologize, I wasn’t expecting visitors today. I would’ve tidied up a bit otherwise.”

 

The man laughed, “No need to worry about all that. You should see the dump I sleep in.”

 

Inko giggled in kind and said, “Well, in any case, it’s nice to meet you, Mr…?”

 

With that prompting, the man reached into the inner pocket of his jacket and produced a business card. “Takeshi Kuroiwa.” Inko accepted the business card from ‘Kuroiwa’s’ hands and grazed over it.

 

Creating A Better Life Together

NPO: Civil Assistance

Naruhata Area Representative

Takeshi Kuroiwa

 

“Naruhata? That’s quite a ways from home,” Inko murmured to herself. “Er- what sort of projects does your nonprofit work on?” A question Iwao was asked before and one that he had the perfect roundabout kinda-sorta-the-truth answer for.

 

“We provide support for neighborhoods such as East Naruhata, where the local government and community organizations prove to be less than effective. Our volunteer workers do odd jobs around town to make life a little easier, like keeping the roads clean, patrolling for crime at night and, occasionally, looking after the odd lost child.”

 

“Oh, I see. So this is a… neighborhood watch sort of setup?”

 

“Exactly. When Heroes have a bad habit of overlooking your town, somebody’s got to pick up the slack.”

 

Inko gave a fascinated hum and set the card down on the table beside her. “Well then, what brought you down to Musutafu, Kuroiwa-san?” she asked.

 

“Checking up on one of those lost kids I mentioned,” ‘Kuroiwa’ answered. “But it looks like I might’ve gotten here a little early.”

 

Considering that she just learned that her son lied to her about his whereabouts earlier in the week and she still hadn’t figured out what exactly he was doing, Inko quickly realized who ‘Kuroiwa’ was talking about. “...wait… you don’t mean my Izuku?”

 

‘Kuroiwa’ gave her an apologetic smile. “I do.”

 

Inko snatched the card back up, really paying attention to the line just above ‘Kuroiwa’s’ name. “ He was in Naruhata!? ” she exclaimed. “I-I only just now found out that my son lied to me about where he was then, but… Naruhata!? How did I never realize…” Inko’s face sunk into her hands and she gave a miserable groan. “ Oh, I’m such a horrible mother… ”

 

‘Kuroiwa’ reached across the table and rested a reassuring hand on Inko’s shoulder. “No, no, not at all,” he said. “Your boy’s… what- fourteen? Fifteen years old? Most kids get a little less scared of the consequences of their actions around this age. Nothing you can do about that.”

 

Inko sighed, “What on Earth was he doing there in the first place?”

 

“Well- and my sample size is pretty small so I wouldn’t take what I say for gospel or anything- but my guess is the same thing most moody teenagers do when things aren’t going right for them,” ‘Kuroiwa’ answered, pulling this phone out of his pocket and pulling up a video from his gallery for Inko to watch. “They catch a show or two.”

 

The video in question was taken from his spot at The Kantina’s bar, capturing part of Deep Dope’s performance. Izuku himself- or his hand, rather- would pop up into frame every now and then over top of the crowd. “A local band- Deep Dope, they’re called- was having a performance that night,” ‘Kuroiwa’ explained. “I ran across your son outside of the venue after the show was over, looking pretty lost and out of place, and offered him a ride home.”

 

Slight omission of the facts, sure, but poor Mrs. Midoriya was already stressed out enough about this entire situation. No need to make it worse by mentioning the drunken idiots that were kicking her boy around.

 

“Thank you so much for that. I’m so sorry for all the trouble-”

 

“No need to thank me for that. Like the saying goes, ‘it takes a village to raise a child.’ And from what your son told me on the way home, it sounds like all he’s got right now is his mom.”

 

Inko sighed, “And I’m not even sure if I’m being much help.”

 

“You’re doing a better job than those snot-nose classmates of his, that’s for sure.”

 

Inko laughed, wringing her hands in her lap. “I’m sure Izuku mentioned that he was born Quirkless…”

 

“He did.”

 

“It pains me that something that I forced on him at birth is getting him bullied at school. I… I want to do something more about it… but you know how our society views this sort of thing…”

 

“‘You’ve got to let the kids figure it out on their own…’”

 

“‘And if you interfere too much, it makes you a monster parent.’”

                                                                   “...a monster parent.”

 

Inko took a sip of her tea, shyly tracing the edge of her cup with the tip of her finger as she set it back down on the table. “I… take it that means you have children of your own, Kuroiwa-san?” she asked.

 

“One. A daughter,” ‘Kuroiwa’ answered. “Just started college this year.”

 

“Did she? What school is she going to?”

 

“Naruhata Women’s College.”

 

Inko smiled and said, “You and your wife must be so proud of her.”

 

‘Kuroiwa’ paused, his smile turning sad and nostalgic. “...I think she would be.” Iwao took a somber sip of his beer and to answer Inko’s look of sympathetic confusion, ‘Kuroiwa’ clarified, “My wife… got sick and passed away a few years ago.”

 

“ Oh, ” Inko sighed, reaching forward to place a comforting hand on ‘Kuroiwa’s.’ “I’m so sorry.”

 

“Thank you,” ‘Kuroiwa’ replied, placing his other hand on hers. “My… Tamao and I are getting by as best we can, now that her mother’s gone. Nodoka was a wonderful woman.” ‘Kuroiwa’ chuckled to himself, “Not sure I’ll ever find a woman that’s willing to put up with my shit like she did.”

 

After a moment, both of them noticed that they’ve been touching hands for a little longer than perfect strangers should and pulled back. ‘Kuroiwa’ cleared his throat and asked, “Is it the same situation for your husband? I’ve noticed there’s no pictures of him up on the walls…”

 

“No, he’s alive…” Inko answered, a bit of bitterness furrowing her brow. “...if you can even call him a ‘husband’ anymore. Hisashi took a work post abroad not too long after my son was diagnosed as Quirkless. Hindsight being what it is… he was running away. If it wasn’t for the support payments he sends every month, I wouldn’t be surprised if someone thought he was dead.” 

 

“His loss.”

 

…Inko’s eyes popped open in surprise. Was ‘Kuroiwa’... flirting with her? Was that what that was? Bashfully, Inko replied, “No… not really. I’m sure that-”

 

“Respectfully, Midoriya-san, I still have one good eye left,” ‘Kuroiwa’ said, a faint smile noticeable over the rim of his beer can. “And I know a beautiful woman when I see one.”

 

“ Oh, stop, ” Inko giggled like a shy schoolgirl, a pink glow dusting her cheeks. It sure has been quite some time since a man has given her this kind of attention… and it wasn’t unwelcome.

 

‘Kuroiwa’ finished that sip and set his beer back down, folding his hands against the tabletop. “I lied. I didn’t just come up here to check on how your son was holding up,” he admitted. “There was one more thing.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“On the way back up, your son mentioned having some interest in Hero work.”

 

Inko smiled and replied, “Absolutely he does. My Izuku gets so much joy out of watching Heroes do what they do. All Might, especially…” Inko gestured in the direction of the photo of her little boy in his All Might onesie. “...as you might’ve seen already.”

 

“Yeah, he said as much.”

 

“There is this new Hero that Izuku’s been really fascinated with recently. The… um…” Inko placed her chin in her hand. “His name escapes me for some reason. The… Hauler, I think it is?”

 

“The Crawler .”

 

“Ah, yes, that’s it!” Inko smiled and added, “Now that I think about it, I think I met this Crawler Man before. I got all turned around while I was doing some shopping in Naruhata once and that nice young man stopped to give me directions.”

 

‘Kuroiwa’ smirked. “Yeah, he sure was one ‘ nice guy ’, wasn’t he?” Clearing his throat, ‘Kuroiwa’ continued, “The reason I bring this up is because, sad to say but it will be really difficult, if not downright impossible for a Quirkless kid to join the Hero track of a Hero school like UA. Not just because of the lack of Quirk but the stigma that comes with it.”

 

Inko sighed, “Yes, we know. But still, I think Izuku is more interested in the ‘saving people’ aspect of the job than anything else. Maybe… maybe he could help people in other ways?”

 

“Joining the police force or being a first responder would be a viable option,” ‘Kuroiwa’ replied. “But whatever he decides to do with his life after he graduates, I figured that he’d appreciate the offer I came by with now .” He gestured to the business card by Inko’s elbow and said, “If he’s at all interested in volunteer work, the minimum age requirement to apply is…” Iwao had to take a second to remember exactly how old Kazuho was when she started running alongside him and Koichi. “...fifteen years old.”

 

“For volunteer work?” Inko murmured, glancing at the card again. “Well, Izuku will be fifteen in July, so-”

 

“Three months? I think we can overlook that,” ‘Kuroiwa’ chuckled with a conspiratorial hand wave. 

 

Inko picked the card back up off of the table and hummed in thought. “Mmm… but two hours from home?”

 

“Daily would be a bit much, yeah. It would be more of a weekend/project based schedule.”

 

“Oh, okay. That sounds more reasonable.” Inko read the card once, twice, thrice, committing every line to memory and the longer she stared at it, the more the concept seemed to grow on her. “...I think Izuku would really like this idea.”

 

‘Kuroiwa’ grinned. “I do too.”

 

Inko glanced up at the clock on the wall, taking note of the time. “Oh!” Inko hastily dropped the card back on the table and finished off her tea. “Speaking of Izuku, he should be getting out of school soon. I had better get dinner started,” she explained as she jumped up from her seat and scurried over to the kitchen.

 

“Anything I can do?” ‘Kuroiwa’ offered.

 

“Oh, no, please. You’re my guest, you shouldn’t have to do anything,” Inko insisted, tying on an apron. She came back long enough to summon the remote from over the back of the couch and left it on the table by ‘Kuroiwa’s’ arm. “Feel free to turn on the TV if you’d like.” With the hostess busy, ‘Kuroiwa’ turned his chair to the side and clicked the TV on.

 

“Another shocking case of brutal vigilante justice in Naruhata last night. A group of gangsters were found beaten unconscious and left tied up on the side of the street. There’s no named suspect as of yet but some locals believe this to be the work of the infamous Naruhata Vigilantes, specifically one colloquially referred to as the Janitor of the-” Wrong channel. Click!

 

For a while, ‘Kuroiwa’ distracted himself with the zany game show he came across. Then the smell of something delicious cooking drew his attention back to Inko and the simmering pot of broth she was tending to. With a flick of her wrist, Inko telekinetically pulled a knife from the knife block and into her hand so she could gracefully cube up the block of tofu in her palm. Feeling an eye on her, Inko glanced over and her guest greeted her with a smile and a wave, a smile she returned as she dropped the tofu cubes into the pot.

 

Iwao kept that smile, taking another sip of his beer. ‘Cute…’

 

Then, the sound of the front door opening and closing rang out through the apartment. “Hi, Mom! I’m home!”

 

“Welcome back, Izuku!” Inko answered. “Dinner’s almost ready!”

 

“Oh, awesome! What’re we having for dinner toni-” That was when Izuku stuck his head into the main living area, locked eyes with this so-called ‘Kuroiwa’ and his entire soul fled his body.

 

“Welcome back,” ‘Kuroiwa’ said.

 

“...Uh… M-Mom? Who’s… Who’s our guest?”

 

“Kuroiwa-san was in town and he dropped by to check up on you,” Inko explained.

 

“...Kuro… iwa?”

 

‘Kuroiwa’ chuckled, “C’mon, kid. You haven’t forgotten about me already, have ya? The old geezer that drove you back home?”

 

Playing along, Izuku said with a strained grin, “R-Right! Hi, Kuroiwa-san! It’s… really good to see you again.”

 

“How was school?”

 

“Ah, y’know. Same old, same old.”

 

“That Kacchan kid of yours still giving you problems?” Izuku shrugged. “You remember what I told you the other night?”

 

“I do and I absolutely did not do that,” Izuku replied.

 

Nothing from Inko? Izuku and Iwao glanced over at her and noticed that she was distracted with putting the final touches on their meal. Izuku took full advantage of that distraction to cover his mouth and whisper, “ Why are you here!? ”

 

“ Just gimme 5 more minutes. I think I’ve got her on board. ”

 

“ On board with what!? That explains literally nothing! ”

 

“ Shh!! I’m going somewhere with this. Just trust me, okay? ”

 

“ It’s kinda hard to trust a guy that just… appears in my house. ”

 

Then Inko spoke up, “Alright, that should do it.” Inko returned to the table with a couple of carefully balanced bowls. “Izuku, honey, could you give me a hand, please?”

 

“Ah, sure thing, Mom.”

 

Dinner for tonight was oyakodon with some miso soup to accompany it. The whole spread looked delicious and smelled even better. After thanks for the food were given, everyone dug in, enjoying the first few bites in blissful silence. ‘Kuroiwa’ downed his bowl of miso soup in one gulp, laughing to himself as he chased after the cubes of tofu at the bottom of the bowl. “Mmm, it feels like it’s been ages since I had a good home-cooked meal,” he said.

 

Inko gave a bright smile and replied, “I’m so glad you like it!”

 

Izuku glanced back and forth between his mom and ‘Kuroiwa’ with a raised eyebrow. Sure seems like Knuckleduster did… something to put his mom in such a good mood before he got home. What exactly, he wasn’t entirely sure. This whole situation felt really surreal. Why was Knuckleduster even here in the first place? Exactly how many details did he give his mom about this whole ‘day trip’ fiasco?

 

“Izuku?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“How was that concert you went to?”

 

Hindsight being 20/20, maybe it’s not such a good idea to ask your kid questions they aren’t prepared for while they’re eating soup. They will choke. After a few good helpful whacks on the back from Inko, Izuku was able to bring his coughing under control enough to attempt to play dumb. “C-Concert? What concert? I don’t know what you mean…”

 

“The concert that Kuroiwa-san found you outside of the other night. Deep Dope, was it?”

 

“Yes, ma’am.”

 

Ah. Apparently, the answer was all the details. “Oh. That one,” Izuku deadpanned, glaring at the dirty, rotten traitor sitting diagonally from him. The utter fiend didn’t even have the common decency to look Izuku in the eye and face judgment for his treachery. “It… was good. I had a lot of fun.”

 

“I’m glad you had a good time, honey,” Inko said. Izuku, in turn, furrowed his brow in confusion. Why is she not mad? This is all completely bonkers. “What was Naruhata like?”

 

“Uh… looks like they’re still rebuilding from the lockdown. The district around the station looks nice though.”

 

“Did you find any interesting souvenirs to bring home?”

 

Again, Izuku would like to direct you to the dirty, rotten traitor sitting at his table, eating his food. “Apparently I did.”

 

“It sounds like you had a very fun trip,” Inko said with a smile, sneaking a bite of her rice. “You’re grounded, by the way.”

 

There it is. “ Understandable. ”

 

Inko set her bowl and chopsticks down and continued where she and ‘Kuroiwa’ left off. “Kuroiwa-san?”

 

No longer on trial, ‘Kuroiwa’ returned to the conversation. “Midoriya-san.”

 

“I still have one teeny-tiny little hang-up about this volunteering concept.”

 

“Huh? Volunteering?”

 

“I’m not so sure about the ‘patrolling for crime at night’ part.”

 

“Completely understandable, but don’t worry. We’ll save that part for the older staff members. We’d be sending your son home in time for curfew anyhow.”

 

“Wait, what? Me ?”

 

“Oh, phew. That’s a relief.”

 

“Although, your son did mention that he was struggling with bullying at school. Not to be an instigator, but we do offer self-defense courses.”

 

“What’s going on?”

 

“Oh, dear. I had hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that… but I suppose it’s not… the worst idea in the world.”

 

“Mom?”

 

“I’m not suggesting your boy go attack these punks himself-”

 

“Except that’s exactly what you were-”

 

“-but on the off chance Izuku runs into trouble in the future-”

 

“No, no, I completely agree with you.”

 

“ Hello!? What’s going on here!? Can you two even hear me!? ”

 

With an assured smile, Inko answered, “In that case, I think this would be a great use of Izuku’s free time.”

 

“Mom, I’m literally sitting right here.”

 

“Sounds like we have a deal then.” For the first time during this whole diatribe, someone addressed Izuku. “Our first meeting will be tomorrow, 12:00 sharp. That sound good to you, young man?”

 

“But I didn’t agree-”

 

“Tomorrow it is.”

 

“ Hey!! ”

 

Inko reached across the table, taking ‘Kuroiwa’s’ hand in hers and said, “Please take good care of my son.”

 

“I’ll look after him like he was one of my own,” ‘Kuroiwa’ answered, psychically pissing off Tamao all the way back home in Naruhata.

 

“ What is going ooooonnnnn!!?? ”

 

-

 

‘Kuroiwa’ accepted the hand up Inko offered him, using her and his cane as leverage to stand back up from the landing, house slippers exchanged for his shoes. After he was up and situated, Inko grabbed his jacket off of the peg where he left it and handed it back to him. “Thank you so much for coming to see us, Kuroiwa-san.”

 

“Thank you for having me. You’ve been such a gracious hostess,” ‘Kuroiwa’ said with a charming smirk.

 

“Will you be alright going back down all of those stairs? I can come with you…”

 

‘Kuroiwa’ shook his head and replied, “Nah, no need. Going back down is a lot easier than climbing up . I’ll be just fine. Thank you for the offer, though.” Then he looked towards the confused freckled boy behind his mother and said, “I’ll see you tomorrow. 12:00 sharp. Don’t forget.” ‘Kuroiwa’ paired this reminder with a sly nod of the head that was probably meant to be interpreted as a wink.

 

“Er… yes sir, Mr. Knu- Kuroiwa . * ahem * …sir.”

 

‘Kuroiwa’ nodded and flipped his jacket over his shoulder. “Alright then, I’ll be on my way,” he said as he pushed open the front door. “You two have a good night.”

 

“Take care, Kuroiwa-san. Get home safely!”

 

It was right at that second that Izuku realized that Knuckleduster neglected a pretty important detail of this arrangement: where was he meeting him? “Ah, whe-” Too late. ‘Kuroiwa’ was already gone.

 

Izuku wheezed. ‘What the heck just happened!? Feels like I got whiplash.’ Izuku had so many questions. And if he wanted answers… ‘Well, since Mr. Knuckle went to all the trouble of making up a fake story for me…’ Izuku gave a defeated huff. ‘...I guess I have no other choice but to go back to Naruhata and see what he wants.’

 

“ What a man~ ”

 

“ Mom, ” Izuku hissed, completely scandalized by the words that just escaped his mother’s mouth.

 

“ Ah! Aha, oops, I didn’t mean to say that out loud!”

 

-

 

10 AM the next morning, Izuku was prepped and ready for… whatever this was. No need for a disguise this time. Just the basic essentials for yet another ‘day trip.’ So much for never doing this sort of thing again.

 

“Do you have your phone charger with you, hon?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“And the spare key in case I’m not home when you get back?”

 

“Yup.”

 

“What about-”

 

“C’mon, Mom. I’m gonna miss the train at this rate,” Izuku sighed, hopping up from the landing with his shoes tied and shouldering his backpack on.

 

“Okay, okay. But here,” Inko said and placed a small handful of bills in her son’s hand. “Just in case you need to buy yourself lunch while you’re up there.”

 

Izuku folded the stack into a nice, neat rectangle and stuffed it into his pants pocket. “Thanks, Mom.”

 

“This is exciting, huh?”

 

“...Y-Yeah. It sure is… something.”

 

“Have fun, sweetie! I want to hear all about it when you get home!”

 

‘Uh… I don’t think I can do that, Mom. Pretty sure whatever Mr. Knuckle wants to see me about is very, very illegal,’ Izuku thought, though he still tried to reassure her with a smile and a shaky thumbs up. ‘I’ll… figure out something else to tell you on the way home.’

 

After one last goodbye hug for his mother, Izuku was off. ‘Yeah… I’m definitely going to Hell.’

 

-

 

“Hi again, Naruhata.”

 

Admittedly, seeing this sight again so soon, the magic has dimmed somewhat. Especially now that he has even less of a reason to be here than before, aside from the one that Knuckleduster completely made up to justify Izuku being this far from home. While the crowd around him dispersed into the street, Izuku stayed right where he was, rocking back and forth, from heel to toe. 

 

…What now? If only Knuckleduster wasn’t in such a hurry to escape from the apartment before telling Izuku where he was supposed to go. ‘Guess it’s a good thing I brought that business card he left with me.’ It had to be a little safer to talk freely now that Inko wasn’t around. And since Knuckleduster was being decidedly unhelpful, it looked like Izuku was the one that was going to have to- 

 

Brring! “ AAH! ”

 

Just as he was about to start typing Iwao’s number into his phone himself, an incoming call took over the screen. The number was unsaved, but comparing that to the business card in his other hand, Izuku quickly figured out who it was. Beep! “Hello?”

 

“Kid, it’s me.”

 

“Ah, Mr. Knuckle.”

 

“Slight change of plans-”

 

Izuku couldn’t help himself. This whole fiasco was so confusing and frustrating that he had to snark back, “Oh, so there was a plan, huh? First time I’m hearing about it.”

 

There was a dismissive snort on the other line. “I couldn’t very well tell you any of the plan with your mom sitting right there , could I?”

 

“...No, I guess not,” Izuku huffed. “Gotta say though, I’ve never been volunteered to do volunteering before.”

 

“First time for everything,” Iwao said. “Alright, I know I said 12:00 but this one’s on me. I kinda fucked up the schedule a bit. Turns out I was missing a couple things we’d need and had to run a few errands, so I’ll be running a bit late.”

 

“Need for what?”

 

“I’ll explain more when I see you.”

 

“Okay. Well, I just got off the train. What should I be doing in the meantime?”

 

“As soon as I hang up, I’ll text you an address. You remember the band you saw from the other day?”

 

“Deep Dope?”

 

“Exactly. The address I’m sending you is where the guys have their day job at. Just head over there and tell ‘em I sent you. They’ll know what to do… they’ll gripe about it but they’ll know.”

 

Izuku sighed, “Yessir, Mr. Knuckle… Hey, what is this all about anyway?”

 

“I’ll tell you when I see you.”

 

“Or you could tell me no-” Beep, beep, beep. “Hello? …ah, that jerk hung up on me.” In the time it took to create a contact for Knuckleduster in his phone, the text that Iwao promised popped down from the top of the screen. Izuku copied the address and plugged it into his maps app, gaining a business name from it. “Toshi Motors…”

 

-

 

“Toshi Motors… Toshi Motors…”

 

It was the glimpse of the engaging red-and-gold banner above the shopfront’s door out of the corner of his eye that caught Izuku before he could miss the turn completely. “Ah, there it is!” 

 

The building Toshi Motors was housed in looked like it separated out into 3 distinct parts: the storefront itself on the ground level, a functionable apartment on the 2nd floor and a garage attached to the side of the building where mechanics could work on bikes that needed repair. Izuku crept up to the storefront window, squeezing behind one of the motorbikes that was put out on display and peered in. Not much traffic today, from the looks of things. He thought he saw that Tochi guy from the other night behind the counter. It at least looked like him… if he had a fiery mustache and aged about 20-30 years overnight. So, not Tochi then, or at least not the specific Tochi he was thinking of. Man, that familial resemblance is uncanny. In that case, where is -

 

“Get your bitch ass the fuck outta here!”

 

That shout came out of the garage, where Izuku saw Soga quite literally throw some guy out of the door. Izuku was quick to identify the guy as one of the thugs that was beating on him outside The Kantina, now with a fresh shiner. Remembering his threat from before, Izuku ducked down behind the bike, backpack over his head and stayed still and quiet so he wouldn’t be spotted.

 

“ Augh , you sonuvabitch! You can’t just treat payin’ customers like that!”

 

“We have the right to refuse you service!”

 

Crash!

 

“Don’t throw my bike around like that!”

 

“Take your shitbox somewhere else! You ain’t getting shit here!”

 

“Man, fuck you guys!”

 

Izuku held his breath tight as he watched the thug from the other day wheel his motorcycle away, muttering and cussing under his breath. As soon as he could no longer hear the thug’s grumbling, Izuku emerged from his hiding spot. Soga had already dipped back into the garage and as Izuku crept closer, peeking around the side of the garage door, he could hear the rest of the band within.

 

“Rapt, don’t post that! We still need this job.”

 

“Yeah, yeah. It’s going to the group chat. Gimme a little credit, Moyu. I ain’t that stupid.”

 

“Eh… I wonder sometimes.”

 

Tamao snickered, “Man, what’re the odds we’d see that douche again? Small world…”

 

Soga snorted, “Yeah. Small, shitty little town we live in.”

 

“That was fun, though. Seeing the look on his stupid face when he came back here and saw us…”

 

“Right!?” Rapt agreed, blessing the memory of the thug’s expression with a chef’s kiss. “Perfection. Like he was expecting Grandpa Fist to be right behind him again.”

 

“Well, at least he ain’t a complete…” That was when Soga noticed a hand and a little pop of green looking in at them from the other side of the door. “...Hello? Who’re you?”

 

Caught, Izuku poked into frame and announced himself with a meek, “Hey, it’s me again.”

 

“Ah… the kid from the alley.”

 

“Hey, Koichi’s stalker is back!” Rapt laughed.

 

“I’m not a stalker!”

 

Also remembering the thug’s threat against the kid from before, Soga waved Izuku in. “You’d better get in here before that asshole decides to come back for Round 2.” No argument there. Izuku scurried into the garage, finding safety in experienced numbers.

 

“Hi! Good to see you again!” Tamao cheered.

 

“Hey, little man,” Moyuru said.

 

“Hi, you guys,” Izuku replied. He glanced up at Soga and noticed the bandage he had on his lip from the night before was gone. “Looks like your lip healed up since last time.”

 

Soga nodded and said, “Yeah. No scar or nothin’. Rapt is weirdly disappointed about that.”

 

“It would’ve looked cool! ”

 

“Anyway, hi. What the hell are you doing here?”

 

That was a damn good question. Izuku shrugged and heaved a huge sigh. “Honestly, I’m still not sure. Mr. Knuckle hasn’t been explaining anything.”

 

“Mr… Knuckleduster, you mean?”

 

“Yeah. He just… appeared in my house yesterday and put on this whole song and dance about volunteer work and convincing my mom to let me join.”

 

Soga started to catch on. “He called himself ‘Kuroiwa?’”

 

“Yes! He had a business card and everything!”

 

Soga pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering to himself, “Really, Gramps? The kid!? ”

 

“He… hasn’t really explained why he wanted me to come back to Naruhata. He said he’d explain when he saw me next but-”

 

“I know exactly what he’s doing,” Soga sighed. “He’s bored, since Koichi’s been exiled, Pop’s been laid up in the hospital for the last few months and I wouldn’t let the old man die like he wanted.”

 

“Eh? What was that last one?”

 

“That guy needs a hobby. An actual hobby, like… fuckin’ knitting or something. Not barging into peoples’ lives and dragging them into this vigilante shit.”

 

And the answer reveals itself. “...Huh?”

 

“Yeah, but could you honestly see a guy like that knitting?” Moyuru chuckled.

 

“Oh, crochet knuckleduster warmers!” Rapt joked.

 

“Now there’s an idea for what to get him for Christmas,” Tamao giggled.

 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Izuku sputtered. “You mean… Mr. Knuckle wants me to be a vigi-”

 

Click! “Yo, we are here to relieve you guys!” The next shift had arrived, coming in through the exit to the storefront. Whatever jokey remark the coworker at the head of the pack was going to come up with died off when he noticed a surprise fifth person in the garage. “Uh… what’s with the kid?”

 

Tamao was quick on the draw and came up with an acceptable sounding lie. “I picked up a babysitting gig for my… friend’s roommate’s cousin.”

 

“ Baby sitting?” Izuku muttered in mild offense.

 

“Babysitting? The kid looks old enough to look after himself.”

 

“Yeah, we’re just hanging out with him for the day. His mom didn’t want him sitting around an empty house while she was out all day.”

 

“Huh. Alright,” the coworker replied. “Well, anyway, we’re here now. You guys punch out and get the fuck outta here before you rack up too much overtime.”

 

“You got it, boss,” Soga sarcastically quipped. Soga, Rapt and Moyuru hurriedly scrambled over to the time clock and as he passed by his coworker, Soga threw a thumb over his shoulder to the pristine white motorcycle in the middle of the bay and snickered, “Thanks for taking that Tomioka asshole off our hands!”

 

“Oh, shit, not that prick again! Wait, no, punch back in! I don’t wanna deal with him!”

 

“Too late,” Rapt laughed, time card punched and placed back in the rack.

 

“Sucks to suck,” Soga added.

 

“Fuck,” the coworker huffed. “That guy’s gonna be the death of me, I swear. He makes one snide remark when we bring it back out to him and I’m gonna piss in his fuel tank, so help me God.”

 

“Bro, chill. There’s a kid right here,” one of the other 2nd shifters chuckled, gesturing to Izuku.

 

“Hasn’t stopped you guys from cussing up a storm already,” Izuku snarked.

 

“Hey, there’s another guy you should keep an eye out for,” Soga said. “Shitty peroxide blond, douchebag sunglasses, got himself a new black eye. He comes back, give him another one and tell ‘im it’s from me.”

 

“What? What the hell did we miss?”

 

Izuku meekly followed Soga and his friends out of the garage, sticking out like a sore dweeby thumb by comparison. Moyuru started to part from the group, wandering towards the storefront. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna let my dad know we’re takin’ off,” he said.

 

Rapt lifted a hand up. “Toss me the keys. I’ll pull the van around.”

 

Moyuru gave Rapt a look but reluctantly handed him the keys. “You get to pull it up to the curb. You do not get to drive it.”

 

Rapt groaned, “Aw, c’mon, man! Why not!?”

 

“You know good ‘n damn well why not.”

 

“Goddammit, I hit a light pole one fuckin’ time!”

 

“And curbs… and trash cans… and you backed into a parked car that one time.”

 

“Exactly! One time!”

 

Soga flicked off his lighter and let a cloud of smoke puff out the side of his mouth. “‘Friend’s roommate’s cousin’, huh?” he said, giving Tamao a teasing side eye.

 

“I’m rusty at it. Leave me alone,” Tamao scoffed, demandingly flexing her hand towards Soga’s pack of cigarettes until he relented, gave her one and called back his lighter to light it for her. “At least it worked.”

 

“Yeah, but only ‘cuz 2nd shift is run by idiots.”

 

Tamao breathed a stream of cigarette smoke and addressed Izuku with an apologetic smile. “Sorry my Dad managed to get a hold of you.”

 

“If it helps, you’re not the first person he pulled this shit with,” Soga added. “I’m sure he has some deep, meaningful reason for what he does, but we’ve gotta wait until shit hits the fan before he tells us anything.”

 

“Ah… I see.”

 

After a moment of thought, Soga asked, “Hey, what’d you say your name was?”

 

“Izuku Midoriya.”

 

Midoriya… oh, because he’s green. Ha, that’s clever. “Midoriya,” Soga repeated. “Look, you know you won’t be hurting anyone’s feelings if you’d rather turn around and go home, right?”

 

“Yeah, I know… but…” Izuku hummed thoughtfully. “...I’m willing to hear what Mr. Knuckle has to say.”

 

Soga frowned but accepted that with a reluctant nod. “Alright. So long as it’s your choice and not his.”

 

-

 

Klak, klak, klak…

 

Izuku leaned around Soga to look into the warehouse, wow-ing in awe. “What… is this place?”

 

“Our secret lair~”

 

“ Knuckleduster’s secret lair,” Soga corrected Rapt. “He just lets us come over and mooch off him if we need something.”

 

Tamao wandered out into the open space in the middle of the building, taking it all in with an unimpressed and even kinda sad expression. The whole place reeked heavily of dust, sweat, cigarette smoke and gunpowder. “So my dad’s been holed up here for the last few years?” she mumbled. “...dusty as hell in here.”

 

“Your dad did kinda leave it untouched for three years,” Moyuru said.

 

“Yeah and he’s been back for one year and still hasn’t dusted. Gross.”

 

Soga and Rapt came over to join them, Rapt rolling backwards over the back of the couch and Izuku slipped off his backpack, leaving it by the side of the warehouse door. While the adults stood around and talked, Izuku went exploring.

 

To the immediate left of the door, Izuku saw a desk pushed up in front of a pegboard where a good handful of tools hung from. A blank-screened laptop sat in the middle of the desk, surrounded by various junk but what Izuku noticed was the pictures that Knuckleduster stuck wherever he could fit them, pictures that once had a home on a corkboard in Koichi’s apartment. Mostly they were of The Crawler and Pop☆Step and their misadventures in Naruhata. Knuckleduster himself only showed up in one or two.

 

Or three, actually. There was one tiny snapshot taped to the corner of the laptop, showing the man himself, younger, happier and before all those scars. Beside him, a dark-haired woman and between them both, cradled in their arms was a little girl with orange ribbons in her pigtails. Tamao, no doubt.

 

Beside that, Izuku found a map of the entire area around the Naruhata station pinned to the wall. The updated version, that is. Izuku noticed that the original was unpinned, crumpled up and stuffed down the side of the wastepaper basket by the desk. Already, Knuckleduster had started marking up this map, taking note of his route as well as that, presumably, of Soga, since he had marked them off with their respective initials… or something of the sort. Iwao’s route was marked ‘KD.’ Close enough. Right beside the map, Izuku nearly walked into a rolling corkboard almost around the same size as the map on the wall. Nothing pinned to it yet, like it was set up and waiting for something to go up on it.

 

Judging from the tracks on the floor near the back of the room, someone, Knuckleduster more than likely, pulled out some of the exercise equipment from the wall they were backed up against. His knee must’ve hated that. In the furthest corner of the back lay a makeshift shooting range with a handful of targets set up at different distances, each with holes in them. The human-shaped target had a hole directly in the center of its forehead. ‘Yeesh…’

 

A table set next to where the shooter was supposed to stand had ammunition and a few firearms set up and ready to go. Two shotguns, a hunting rifle and a handgun that was taken apart and ready to be cleaned. Izuku rested his fingertips against the edge of the table to look over it all and an uneasy crease in his brow formed. ‘Just what kinda Hero is Mr. Knuckle anyway?’

 

“Hey, don’t touch those! Those’re still loaded!”

 

Immediately, Izuku whipped his hand back. Good thing Soga and his friends were still keeping an eye on him. At least they’re not completely irresponsible.

 

One last thing that caught Izuku’s eye was a stack of 4-5 cardboard boxes tucked up by a shelf back near the warehouse door. Written on the side of one of the boxes stacked on top in permanent marker was the phrase, ‘Return to Koichi.’ Izuku’s curiosity got the better of him and he popped open the flaps on top, greeted with a very familiar red-white-and-blue pattern. 

 

Hoodies, a whole collection of them. Almost every version of All Might’s costume, probably all the way back to his Young Age but in hoodie form filled each box up to the brim. Carefully lifting the hoodie he was looking at up, the hood flopped out from under the main body of itself. This one in particular was well-worn and well-taken care of. There were spots here and there where rips and tears were sewn back up, well enough that you’d have to be right up close to notice the stitches. All except for one, where one half of the hoodie’s ‘ears’ was sewn back on.

 

Astonished at this find, Izuku gasped, “This… this is…”

 

“...for safekeeping.”

 

“ ACK! ”

 

Finally, Knuckleduster had caught up, lurking in the doorway right behind Izuku and carrying a plastic shopping bag in his free hand.

 

“Took you long enough, pops,” Soga scoffed.

 

Tamao sighed and said, “Didn’t I tell you the beard was gross, Dad?”

 

“What, you want people to see this ugly mug without it now?”

 

“At least trim it or something.”

 

Izuku hastily stuffed the hoodie back into the box and pressed the flaps shut. Before he could say a thing, Iwao explained, “Koichi got hustled off to America in a bit of a hurry and he couldn’t take everything with him. So we all just grabbed something of his to hang onto until he comes back.”

 

“ If he comes back,” Soga muttered.

 

“ Until he comes back. Don’t be such a pessimist.”

 

“I shouldn’t have been snooping like that anyway. Sorry, Mr. Knuckle. My curiosity got the-”

 

The shopping bag Iwao carried briefly rested on Izuku’s head as the older vigilante shuffled by. “That’s Sensei to you, kid.”

 

“‘ Sensei ’...? So, Kugizaki-san was right?” Izuku muttered.

 

“About you being my new apprentice? Yeah.”

 

“Fuckin’ called it.”

 

“Apprentice!? But I didn’t…” Iwao wasn’t really listening again. He had stopped at his desk and rested the bag next to his laptop, pulling out the long, rolled up paper tube that stuck out the top and leaving it right there. Izuku trailed after and stammered, “I just… why? I don’t understand. Why do you want to mentor me so badly?”

 

Iwao turned around and poked Izuku in the forehead, getting a squawk of surprise from the youngster. “‘Cuz you answered my question,” Iwao answered. “Remember? About taking action when you need to? Apparently, you do take action.”

 

“...Eh?”

 

With a hand freed, Iwao retrieved the pack of cigarettes from his pocket and stuck one in his mouth. “If you froze… if you weren’t even there, then that little girl would be dead right now,” he explained, fiddling with his lighter. “I know her brothers were grateful that a good samaritan was hanging around and jumped in to do something when a Pro wouldn’t be able to respond fast enough. Nice work handling that curveball I was talkin’ about.”

 

“ Ah! You mean that thing with- …wait, where even were you!? I didn’t see you anywhere!” In response, Iwao pointed up to the ceiling. “What. The roof?”

 

“You’ve still got a lot of work to do,” Iwao mused, lightly manhandling the kid. “First things first, we gotta put some muscle on you. Teach you how to fight and-”

 

“Wait, wait, wait!” Izuku protested. “Who even said I was going to be your apprentice anyway? I didn’t get to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to anything!”

 

“You said you wanted to be a Hero, didn’t you?”

 

“Well… yeah but I figured I’d be… the legal kind?”

 

“Pretty sure that foreign kid already told you that you were a hero. A real one. Not like those glory hounds on TV. Why wait around for the Commision to give you the okay when you can just keep doing what you’re good at?”

 

“What I’m good at?”

 

“Being there. Jumping in the second you see something about to happen. Sticking around to make sure the victims are safe ‘n sound after. Picking up litter while you’re at it.”

 

“So you saw all of that then? You could’ve jumped down to help, y’know.”

 

“Yeah, probably could’ve but I didn’t see any good trash piles to land in. I would’ve just busted my other knee.”

 

Izuku sighed, “Okay, I guess I see your point.”

 

“You had everything under control, anyway.”

 

“Did I though?”

 

“Anyway, my point,” Iwao said. “You wanna be a Hero? Stick with me then. Starting today, I’m gonna show you what it takes to do Hero work…” With a clenched fist and another one of those manic grins, Iwao declared, “...and just how good it’ll feel to pound some Villains! Soon as I show you the ropes, that is.”

 

Ever since he was diagnosed as Quirkless, Izuku only ever wanted someone to tell him that he could be a Hero too. Now he just can’t stop hearing it. Not that he can be a Hero, but that he already was one. This was incredibly illegal, no doubt about it. But as long as he can be there, as long as he could save people with the same kind of fearless smile as All Might, legal or not… Izuku couldn’t think of a reason to refuse.

 

“...on one condition.”

 

“Go ahead.”

 

“Please don’t ever say it like that again,” Izuku cringed. “You have to know what that sounds like.”

 

“ Thank you! ” Tamao replied with an exasperated groan while her friends immaturely giggled around her. “Seriously, Dad! Work on your phrasing!”

 

Iwao laughed, “Alright, alright. Deal. Good thing the stuff I bought won’t go to waste.” Iwao grabbed the shopping bag he came in with off of the desk and staggered off towards the shooting range, which gave Izuku a chance to check out that tube he left on the table. Rolling it around under his palm, Izuku read ‘Musutafu’ along the top of the paper. A map of Musutafu? Ah, a map for that empty mobile corkboard! Now the old timer is just spreading himself too thin, isn’t he?

 

“What is that anyway, pops?” Soga asked.

 

Iwao held the bag up, showing off the logo on the side, that of a nearby sporting goods store. “One of you punks -I forget which one specifically- ran off with the focus mitts I left at Koichi’s place,” he said. “I cut out the middleman and got a brand new pair.”

 

“Uh… I wanna say it was those middle school kids,” Rapt said from his upside-down spot on the couch.

 

“‘Those middle school kids?’ Rapt, you’ve gotta be more specific,” Moyuru replied.

 

“You know, that one kid with the funky goggles and his buddy with the Jojo cap!”

 

“Samazu and Namimaru,” Soga clarified.

 

“Yeah, those two!”

 

“‘Focus mitts?’ What’re those supposed to be for, Mr. Knu- * ahem * Sensei?” 

 

“Your first lesson,” Iwao responded, strapping the mitts on tight. “I’m gonna teach you how to throw a punch that’s worth a damn.” With the mitts fastened on securely, Iwao took a bracing breath and pushed up off of the table, leaving his crutch propped against the table and limping more into the open space in a way that made his new student and the punks watching from the sidelines concerned.

 

“Dad, are you sure you-”

 

“I’m fine.” 

 

“C’mon, pops, you’re gonna piss off your knee doing that. Switch me, I can-”

 

“I said I’m fine. You two worry too damn much,” Iwao scoffed. “So long as I stay right in this spot, I’ll be just fine. This twig ain’t knockin’ me over anytime soon.”

 

“ Hey! ”

 

“Your words, not mine.” Settled, Iwao waved Izuku over. “C’mon up here, kid. Let’s see what we’re workin’ with.”

 

“Ah… o-okay.”

 

Iwao tapped the open palm of one mitt with the side of the other and said, “Throw your best haymaker right here. Just pretend that it’s that little asshole friend of yours.”

 

“Why are you so insistent that I beat up Kacchan?”

 

“Come on, what’s the hold up?”

 

“Okay, okay!” Izuku balled his fists up tight, lifted them up to his shoulders into what he figured a good fighting stance looked like and swung at the open pad of the mitt as hard as he possibly could… and it barely even registered.

 

“...what, that’s it?”

 

“You don’t gotta rub it in,” Izuku groaned. “I told you, though. That’s why I-”

 

It took a second for Izuku’s head to stop spinning and when it did, Izuku found himself face down on the floor and… yup, his nose was bleeding. Not broken, but definitely bleeding. ‘Ow… ow… ow… what just happened? Did he… punch me so hard we skipped a paragraph?’

 

“You threw that punch like you were afraid to hurt me,” Iwao said. “That’s something you’ll have to get over by the time you start patrolling. No villain is going to treat you with the same kinda courtesy.”

 

“...G-Got it… Sensei…”

 

“Oh, shit!”

 

“ DAD! ”

 

“Christ, old timer, you’re gonna kill the kid doin’ all that!”

 

“Are you trying to send the kid back to his folks in a body bag or something!?”

 

“He’s fine, he’s fine. See, he’s getting back up already,” Iwao said, gesturing down to Izuku as he pushed himself back up to his feet. Steady on his feet again, Izuku dusted himself off and smeared off the blood dribbling from his nose before he marched back to Iwao, fists up and a fire of determination alight behind his eyes that put a pleased grin on his new master’s face. “Attaboy. Alright, again.”

 

Bap! Thwap!

 

“ Ack! ”

 

“Throw your whole weight into it.”

 

Bap! Thwap!

 

“ Ow, geez! ”

 

“No, I meant your entire body weight.”

 

“Y-Yeah!”

 

Bap! Thwap!

 

“ Aghk! ”

 

“Okay, here. Try this. Make sure your feet are shoulder width apart, arms up and drop your center of gravity. Make yourself a wall of steel.”

 

“Like… like this?”

 

“Exactly like that. Now, try again. Throw your whole weight into it.”

 

Bap!

 

“Good, good! That was better!”

 

Thwap!

 

“ Ow! Why’d you hit me again if that was better!? ”

 

Soga and his friends were completely lost for words. Apparently, this was a thing that was actually happening. Tamao glanced over at Soga and he responded with a reluctant sigh. Like he said, as long as the kid was choosing to be here…

 

Well, since this was a thing now, Tamao didn’t see any reason to keep Pop out of the loop. She pulled her phone from her pocket and held it up to record Izuku’s first training session. The kid’s a quick learner, that’s for sure. After getting smacked around a couple times, he started mimicking Knuckleduster’s stance and that seemed to be netting him some results. When she thought she recorded enough, she switched over to her texting app and dropped the video into her chat with Kazuho.

 

Tamao:

Hey, Kazu-chan! Look what my dad found!

 

-

 

Kchk.

 

Hearing the physical therapist’s door open, Miu and Yu started up from their seats as he came out, carrying Pop’s crutches under his arm. “Well, you won’t be needing these anymore, fortunately,” he said to his patient. “You might still be a little weak for a while but if you stick to the recovery plan we created, you should regain that strength in no time.”

 

“I understand. Thank you, doctor,” Kazuho said, slowly and carefully plodding along behind him.

 

“You have my number in case something comes up, but if all goes well, hopefully we’ll never have to see each other again,” the therapist said with an optimistic smile.

 

“I hope not,” Kazuho weakly joked. 

 

With that, the therapist disappeared back into his office and Kazuho staggered over to her friends who wrapped her in a hug as soon as they could grab her. “Congrats on your successful rehab,” Yu said.

 

“Thanks.”

 

“We should go shoe-shopping to celebrate,” Miu playfully suggested. “Maybe we could find you some cute new platforms.”

 

“Eh, might be a bit too soon for platforms just yet,” Kazuho replied.

 

“Alright, then a cute pair of sneakers.”

 

“Unless you’re too tired for that,” Yu cut in. “We could do that some other day if you need to rest.”

 

“...maybe, yeah. But I’d be up for stopping by a cafe to sit and have a snack.”

 

Miu chuckled, “I know just the place. I get a pretty decent employee discount there!”

 

The trio of former idols made their way through the waiting room back to the front door, Miu and Yu matching Kazuho’s pace. Along the way, Kazuho heard muttering in the corner of the room.

 

“Oh… look, it’s that bee girl.”

 

“Ugh, the nerve she has showing her face in public after what she did.”

 

“Some villains really have no shame.”

 

Kazuho deflated upon hearing that. Sure, the ‘villain’ label was taken off of her as soon as the authorities realized that they were dealing with a parasitic Quirk but according to the court of public opinion, Kazuho had already lost and for the foreseeable future, there’d be no fixing that. Yu gave Kazuho a supportive pat on the back. Miu, on the other hand, grabbed a throw pillow off of an empty couch and whipped it in the direction of the old ladies in the corner.

 

“Would you gossipy old hags shut up!?”

 

That earned Miu a scolding, “Ma’am, please don’t do that!”, from the receptionist.

 

“ Miu! ” Wrangling her sister, Yu hustled all three of them out the door with an apologetic, “Sorry! We were just leaving!”

 

A small smile came back to Kazuho and she whispered to Miu, “Thanks for that.”

 

“Any time.”

 

A canopy of gorgeous cherry blossoms greeted the girls on the way out of the hospital. Hanami season was in full swing and going for a stroll under the gently falling petals helped to ease Kazuho’s burdens just a little. “Pop?” Yu said. “I’m sorry you still have to hear that kind of stuff.”

 

Kazuho shook her head. “Kinda hard to blame them, honestly. After all the trouble I caused…”

 

“Pop, c’mon. That was the bee’s fault, not yours,” Miu protested.

 

“Yeah, but… I let Nomura catch me off guard like that in the first place…”

 

“I don’t think any of us expected him to have been a villain this whole time,” Yu said.

 

“Kinda makes a lot of his behavior even creepier in hindsight, now that I think of it,” Miu agreed. “... I’m sorry. I noticed something was off and I had no clue how to approach you about it. I should’ve been way nosier.”

 

Kazuho huffed a miserable laugh. “I dunno. Nomura was very convincing. I’m not sure I would’ve believed you back then.” Kazuho placed a hand on Miu’s back and said, “But thank you. Thank you both for still being here.” Miu and Yu held Kazuho in a combined side hug.

 

One of the pink petals landed on Miu’s shoulder and she picked it off, comparing it to the color of Kazuho’s hair. “...Hey, Pop?”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“Do you think you’d want to do the singing and dancing thing again?”

 

“I’d really like to. More than anything, but…” Kazuho sighed. “Bee☆Pop kinda ruined that for me, huh?”

 

“There’s gotta be something we can do about it,” Miu lamented.

 

…Kazuho wanted to laugh and cry all at once. She couldn’t believe she was going to say it, since her jealousy was one of the things that fueled Bee☆Pop’s villainous rampage in the first place, but she knew of only one person that could possibly help her now. “I hope Makoto comes home soon. She’ll know what to do. She always knows what to do.”

 

Bing!

 

“Ah! A text?” Kazuho retrieved her phone from the pocket of her cardigan and flipped it open, smiling at the notification. “Oh, it’s Tamao!” While she was distracted with that, Miu and Yu shared a look, using that infamous twin telepathy to hold their own conversation with facial expressions alone.

 

‘Huh. She sure got excited, didn’t she?’

 

‘Those two sure became pretty fast friends over the last few months, huh?’

 

‘Yeah… ‘friends’...’

 

‘Oh, leave her alone, Miu.’

 

‘Well, I don’t blame her really. Oguro is really pretty.’

 

‘She is!’

 

‘Though I think she hangs around those shady guys a little too much. We oughta steal her away one of these days.’

 

‘Mmm, yeah. That’d be fun, I think!’

 

Curiously, Tamao sent along a video with her text. Kazuho pressed play and turned her phone sideways, the action beckoning Miu and Yu to watch over her shoulders. “...Oh no, the old geezer got another one,” Kazuho sighed.

 

“That’s Koichi’s old mentor, right?” Yu asked.

 

“Yup, that’s Knuckleduster all right… can’t this man teach someone how to box without smacking them around? Sheesh.”

 

Yu squinted at the green-haired boy on the receiving end of this ‘training.’ “Huh, that kid looks… familiar,” she muttered. “Have we seen him before?”

 

Before Kazuho could answer, Miu gasped and exclaimed, “ I know that kid! That’s Mochi’s new favorite person! He was over at Hopper’s earlier this week, skipping school like a lil’ delinquent.”

 

And suddenly, the faint memory of the kid that held the door open for them popped up for Yu and Kazuho. “Oh, now I remember him!” Yu said. “Oh man, how did Koichi’s mentor manage to get a hold of him?”

 

Kazuho let them talk, watching the video as a pained expression drew across her face. ‘Poor kid,’ she sighed to herself. ‘Get out of this vigilante business while you’ve still got the chance.’

 

-

 

That Monday, Soga, Rapt and Moyuru settled in for their lunch break at work when Tamao came trotting in through the open garage door. “Hey, I’m here early!” she announced.

 

“So you are,” Moyuru replied. “Last class of the day got canceled?”

 

“Yeah. From what I hear, there was a villain attack that took out the station near my professor’s house… and her car,” Tamao explained. “So she’s kinda stranded at home for a couple days.”

 

“Damn, that sucks,” Moyuru sympathized.

 

“Lucky break for you, though!” Rapt chuckled, tossing the wrapper of his rice ball towards the trash can and completely missing. “Dammit.”

 

“I’ll say,” Tamao agreed, setting her backpack down by the metal folding chair she claimed and retrieving her laptop from it. “Gives me an extra day to finish this stupid essay. Ugh, I hate doing research. I just feel like I’m remembering everything wrong.” Soga welcomed Tamao to the garage by ruffling her hair which got him a noise of ‘annoyance’ in return. 

 

Admittedly, the guys weren’t much help when it came to Tamao focusing on her essay. She was fully willing to ignore it to chat and joke around with her boys. Soga listened, occasionally inserting his own opinion to whatever topic they were discussing. In the meantime, he kept his hands busy, munching on a sandwich with one hand and scrolling through social media on his phone with the other.

 

Surprise, surprise, the official Captain Celebrity account had posted a response and public apology for the Wall Street blunder. The comment section underneath was filled to the brim with Skycrawler memes. Some of them were even funny. It was only a matter of time before the internet meme machine managed to get its claws into Koichi. Poor guy.

 

Underneath that was a post by Koichi himself on his own account. This one was a video he took very early in the morning, panning up from his feet dangling over the edge of a skyscraper up to the morning sunrise. The caption: ‘What a view.’ 

 

‘Tch. What a sap.’

 

When was the last time that Soga spoke to Koichi anyway? With that question in mind, Soga switched over to his texting app and scrolled down to find the conversation with Koichi that was buried over the last few months. Soga frowned, having to scroll up through a good handful of gray speech bubbles before he came across a blue one. The last time he texted Koichi of his own volition was during their watch over the hospital before the lockdown. Koichi had tried to initiate a conversation since but Soga… couldn’t bring himself to respond. Eventually, it looked like Koichi gave up. Soga would talk to him when he was ready.

 

“...Hey, Tamao.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Can you send me that video you sent to Pop? Of your dad and Midoriya?”

 

“Sure.”

 

That took all of two seconds to do. Copy, paste and send. Done. Soga clicked his phone off and left it on his knee to focus on his sandwich.

 

“Good job. I’m so proud of you,” Tamao teased.

 

“Shut it.”

 

Tamao glanced at the clock on her laptop. “It’s, uh… I hate time zones. I think it’s midnight over there… probably.”

 

“Good,” Soga sighed. “Then I get a few hours to figure out a response-”

 

Bing! Bing!

 

“...eh? What the fuck, it’s midnight over there! Why are you awake right now!?”

Chapter 9: Nightmare Night

Summary:

In fast-paced times like these, it's very easy to lose track of people.

Notes:

Here you go, have a largely Soga and Tamao-centric flashback chapter that may or may not have a couple things in it that will become very relevant to the plot, one sooner, one later.

Hope you're in the mood to cry. This mf made me cry 3 times just writing it out.

Content warning for the beginning of this chapter: it contains an attempt at writing a panic attack and minor mentions of vomit.

2 weeks before the Naruhata Lockdown

 

A cutesy J-pop song that Tamao had programmed on a long time ago rang out from her digital alarm clock, jarring her awake. With a weary grumble, she smacked the snooze button. That bit of nostalgia is nice and all but a few more minutes of sleep would’ve been nice…. Argh, et tu, stomach? Fine, fine, Tamao’s gonna get up then.

 

Completely and totally against her will, Tamao pushed herself up and sat on the edge of her bed, stretching out her arms above her head. Redecorating has definitely helped make her feel comfortable sleeping in her old room again. It was almost embarrassing reflecting on how cringey her young teen self was. Made her wonder what Lil- …what she really liked about her in the first place. 

 

Tamao swiped the hair tie she left on the side table and put her hair up. A ponytail seemed nice and simple enough for today. “Hungry…” Her legs seemed to have their own protests upon getting up off the bed but they quieted down right quick.

 

It’s so weird being here. Being back in her old house… alone. It’s so empty and quiet now. Back when she was a dumb middle schooler, Tamao would’ve loved having the house to herself. She could’ve had friends over, watched movies, played video games and played her guitar as loud as she wanted and her annoying dad wouldn’t be around to complain. Not now. Now more than ever, she wishes she could hear her mom and dad’s voices again. 

 

To this day, she can’t come anywhere near her parents’ old bedroom without feeling sick to her stomach. When… if her dad ever decides to return from the void he disappeared into, they should move. This place is tainted.

 

Tamao blearily wandered into the kitchen, needing the step stool to be able to reach up into the cabinet and retrieve a bowl and a box of cereal. Why couldn’t she have inherited some of her dad’s tall genes? Once her bowl of cereal was assembled, she carried it out of the kitchen, towards the living room and on the way, she passed by a picture hung up on the wall of her and her parents in happier days. She pressed a kiss to the tips of her fingers and planted it on the picture just above her mother’s forehead. Her dad got an ‘affectionate’ flick to the forehead. “Morning, Mom. Morning, Dad.”

 

Tamao got nice and cozy on her preferred spot on the couch, carefully balancing her cereal bowl in her lap while she leaned over to grab the remote. Why did she leave it on the far edge of the end table? Who knows. Tamao certainly doesn’t. Once she got it, she clicked the TV on and the morning news report greeted her.

 

“I’m here in downtown Naruhata, the morning after a series of bombings rocked the neighborhood.”

 

First bite aborted, Tamao exclaimed, “Wh- bombings!? Oh shit, I thought that was thunder.”

 

“Viewers may recall that three years ago, Naruhata was hit by a massive villain in an incident known as the Kaiju Attack. And now the city looks like it has once again been attacked by a monster. Although progress is being made clearing the streets of rubble, the area has been cordoned off out of fear that any of the damaged buildings could collapse.”

 

Whoa… this looked really serious. Downtown Naruhata, was it? That didn’t include Soga, Rapt and Moyuru’s apartment, did it? Tamao got her phone from the pocket of her shorts. She was going to send a text, check in and make sure everyone was okay. Before she could, however, canned explosions and loud pop music burst from the TV’s speakers as the news switched over to recorded footage of last night’s villain attack.

 

“This footage was recorded by a passerby and seems to show a young woman dancing amid the blasts like a leaf in the wind.”  

 

Indeed it did. Look at all those explosions. That’s one hell of a Quirk she has. 

 

“Her gestures appear to control the explosions…”

 

The camera pulled in closer. Oh… so it’s not the explosions then? Watching the girl move, hovering high in the air and ‘dancing’, it seems like her Quirk is more controlling whatever was making the explosions. Then Tamao noticed her outfit. It looked sick. This girl was very cute and lord almighty, did she have the figure to pull it off but… what’s that on her back? They look like… like insect wings.

 

“...while she witnesses the destruction and laughs to herself.”

 

The camera pulled in as close as it could get to the girl, showing her laughing and singing to the destruction she caused and Tamao’s spoon slipped out of her hand, clanking against the edge of her bowl and sending them both clattering to the floor.

 

…wait… wait, wait… the dark makeup… the dark, almost ‘bruise-like’ tint to her skin… the outfit with the insect theme… the explosions… the fact that her hair is brushed over her… her left eye…

 

…oh my god.

 

“There is extremely loud music coming from every direction. This seems to have been achieved by hijacking wireless signals and broadcasting through all nearby electronic devices and speaker systems.”

 

…oh my god, no.

 

“Yeah, that was the girl who used to sing out on the streets years ago. Now she emcees events or something, I think? Kinda famous around here.”

 

No, no, this can’t be real. Dad got her last time. How… no, this can’t be right.

 

“She always seemed like a sweet child.”

“Nah, I knew she’d turn out to be a bad seed. What’d I tell ya?”

 

…this has to be a nightmare. Tamao’s still asleep. Right, Dad got her for good. She can’t come back. Dad made sure of it. This is something else. A dream. A nightmare.

 

“She said something like, ‘until next time,’ right?”

“Too scary.”

 

That was finally when Tamao noticed that she was crying, tears streaming down the right side of her face. Her left stayed dry. Of course it did. She no longer has tear ducts on her left side. Her hand clutched at the grafted-over patch of skin covering her empty eye socket to make sure. Her heart was beating so fast. Her throat felt tight. It burned trying to breathe. Why? There’s no way… it can’t be… it can’t be…

 

“Local authorities were already investigating the disappearance of a local high school girl, reported missing several days prior and are now searching for the girl in question for her likely connection to the bombing.”

 

Missing!? For days!?

 

…no.

 

“And this just in.”

 

No, no, no.

 

“The authorities have made a statement that the local Naruhata girl known as ‘Pop☆Step’ has been declared a Villain and is wanted as a suspect.”

 

…Pop… Step?

 

Against her better judgment, Tamao unconsciously pulled up the photo gallery on her phone, scrolling down a good few years until she came across a photo that Kuin left on her phone. One that she had been debating with herself on whether or not to delete for years. A little souvenir of ‘Tamao’ and Pop☆Step, posing for the camera. 

 

Tamao had wanted it. She liked Pop☆Step. Sure, her music wasn’t… well, good but Tamao admired her for her stage presence and just how fun she made being a guerilla idol look. And, hey, Pop was quasi-famous around town. That was really cool, she thought.

 

Kuin allowed it. Why? Tamao couldn’t say. Probably to throw Tamao a bone, for once? Or because it gave Kuin an alibi for the Instant Villain rampage that came after. Hachisuka couldn’t have possibly done it, officer. She was hanging out with her friends and getting a picture with a super cute idol at the time.

 

…Ain’t that right, Tamao?

 

“The Villain designation and registry is typically reserved for repeat offenders charged with Quirk-based crimes. This is a rare exception, given the girl’s age and the fact that this is her first offense.”

 

The taste of bile crept up the back of Tamao’s throat and she shot up off of the couch, sprinting to the bathroom to vomit.

 

-

 

“A Naruhata college student and known associate of Pop☆Step, one Koichi Haimawari, age 22, is currently missing as well. Investigators are proceeding on the assumption that Mr. Haimawari was likely also involved in this incident.”

 

No, the fuck he was not. Why was Soga even listening to this drivel? 

 

Soga had to constantly remind himself, listening to the whole news report during his patrol, that none of these people had any clue of what it was they were dealing with. Queen Bee had the sense of mind to lay low while she was controlling Tamao. As far as he was aware, this was the first time the general public was made aware of her…

 

…and she makes her big debut to the public dancing around in her victim’s body, using Pop as a meat shield and a scapegoat all at once. That’s how he was certain that Queen Bee wasn’t nearly as mindless as she seemed to be on her own. Only a truly thinking creature has the capacity to be this fucking sadistic.

 

That bee needs to die. 

 

That bee needed to die three years ago.

 

Brring! Beep!

 

“Kugizaki.”

 

What greeted him on the other end of the line was the sound he was expecting to hear but was dreading the whole morning: Tamao’s hysterical sobs of panic.

 

“S-Soga… Soga, I…”

 

“Tamao?” 

 

Tamao had been recovering so well over the last few years. It’s been a good, long while since Soga had to talk her through a panic attack. Of course the reappearance of this monster would dig up her trauma this violently. Soga stopped and slumped down to his heels against the stone fence beside him so he could devote his entire attention to calming his friend down.

 

“Hey, hey. Shh, it’s okay. You’re alright. You’re safe. I’m here. I’m here with you.”

 

“She’s supposed to be dead! She has to be! Dad killed her! She can’t… I can’t… H-Hurts to breathe… I’m sorry, I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

 

“Tamao, breathe. You’re going to be okay. You’re… you’re still at your dad’s place right?”

 

“Y-Yeah.”

 

“Where specifically in your dad’s house?”

 

“...bath… bathroom floor…”

 

“Are you stuck there or can you get up off the floor?”

 

“...p-probably… I dunno…”

 

“If you can, go to the sink and splash some cold water on your face. That should help.”

 

“...o-okay…”

 

Tamao was able to will her hand to cooperate enough to shakily put Soga on speaker before she left her phone beside the base of the toilet and began the long, arduous task of getting back up. After a while, she was able to claw her way up the side of the sink, throw the cold water valve open and stick her face under the stream. Shockingly, this seemed to work in distracting her brain and after she pulled her face back from the water, breathing came to her a little easier.

 

Was that all she needed to do? What else did her therapist tell her? Grounding techniques, right? Asking her senses questions so they didn’t think about the trauma. Okay, what’s one thing her senses notice in this room?

 

Touch? Tamao patted the hard, porcelain top of the sink. Check.

 

Sight? …well, there’s her own tear-stricken face in the mirror. Not… particularly helpful, but it’s something. Check.

 

Smell? …that would be her own vomit. Damn, she didn’t even get to eat anything yet.

 

Taste? Again, her own vomit. This isn’t working. She needs a new therapist.

 

Sound? “You saw the news, didn’t you?”

 

Tamao sighed and bent back down to get a mouthful of cold water, swishing it around in her mouth to catch every stray speck of puke still stuck to her teeth before she spat it back out. “...yeah, I did,” she answered, closing the cold water valve.

 

“Fuck. I’m sorry for not giving you a heads-up. I was just listening to it before you called.”

 

“...’s fine.”

 

“Do you want me to come over there? I can, if you need me.”

 

Tamao climbed back down to her original spot on the cold tile floor, pulling the handle on the toilet on the way down. “...no. I don’t know,” she mumbled. “...hearing your voice really helps.”

 

“Good. I’ll stay on the line for as long as you need.”

 

For a moment, Tamao closed her eye and focused entirely on steadying her breathing, comforted by Soga’s presence despite him not physically being there. Eventually, she managed to find words to speak once more. “Soga?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“For what?”

 

“That time when I lured you to that weird katana guy and then drugged you.”

 

“That was Hachisuka .”

 

“Yeah, but-”

 

“You are not Hachisuka.”

 

Tamao pressed the side of her face into the tile and muttered, “I just… don’t get it. Dad said he was real thorough about it. Incinerated her and her entire swarm. How…”

 

“One of the bees must have managed to get away.”

 

“Great,” Tamao said with a sarcastic huff. “That’s just great. Why can’t anything ever just be done?”

 

“Let me know when you figure that out.”

 

After a long minute of silence, Tamao asked, “...so… what are we gonna do about it?”

 

“...I was able to drag The Crawler out of the trash last night,” Soga explained. “We’ve got him laid up at Moyuru’s folks’ apartment. Soon as he wakes up, we’re gonna hash out a plan.”

 

“Ok. What about me?”

 

“ You are gonna hunker down there at your dad’s place for a while until I give you the all clear.”

 

To that, Tamao leaned up off the floor and protested, “What!? Why!?”

 

“There’s no reason for you to have to deal with his bee shit again. We’ll take care of it.”

 

“But I should be there! It’s my fault this happened in the first-”

 

“No, it’s not! Tamao, you were a victim. You’re not responsible for anything that happened to you or her!”

 

Tamao scoffed, “So, what? You want me to just sit around for who-knows-how-long with my thumb up my ass while you guys-”

 

“Yes! Because I’m asking you to!”

 

“I’m not laid up in a hospital bed anymore, you know that right?”

 

“Are you fucking hearing yourself? You just had a panic attack from hearing about this on the news!”

 

“I know, but I’m not that fragile! I want to help! Please just-”

 

“I said no .”

 

Embittered, Tamao growled, “You did the job my dad gave you. You don’t have to protect me this hard anymore.”

 

“I’m not saying no because your dad told me to!” Soga snarled back. “I’m saying no because you're my friend! I care about you! I want to protect you from this so just fucking let me! ”

 

In an instant, Tamao’s indignation dissipated and a tense, sad silence took over. As she laid back down on the floor, Soga sighed and said, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that.”

 

“It’s okay,” Tamao mumbled.

 

“Look… we don’t have a plan right now. But when we get one… we’ll keep you in the loop, if that’s what you want.”

 

“...okay. I can work with that, I guess.”

 

“Okay… How are you feeling right now? Any better? Aside from me yelling at you like an idiot, I mean.”

 

Tamao softly smiled and said, “A little better, surprisingly.”

 

“Okay. Good. Just… take it easy for the rest of the day, alright? Distract yourself with something.”

 

“Okay…” Tamao sighed. “...Soga? Promise me something?”

 

“Anything.”

 

“Stay safe? All three of you,” Tamao said, a few tears managing to escape her and roll across her face to the floor. “If any of you die, I’ll kick your asses,” she tearfully joked.

 

Soga muffled a laugh and answered, “I’ll hold you to that.”

 

“And when you save Pop… when you…” A glow of rage for the only creature she ever held this kind of hatred for boiled up from the depths of her heart, hot tears pouring down over her face and she growled, “When you get a hold of her , you make sure that little bitch stays dead this time.”

 

That was all the reason Soga needed. With a nod and a reinforced sense of determination, Soga answered, “Roger that.”

 

-

 

Subject: this beetch

 

Hey, Soga. It’s me.

 

First of all, thank you for actually letting me do something to help. Wish I didn’t have to basically harass you into it first tho. Lol

 

So, you said you needed ‘research material’ to come up with a strategy for this bee thing? I got some! It sucked, I had to stop a couple times to have a good cry but I got some! I attached a folder with all the videos I could find. All the good ones, anyway. The further back I go, the shittier the quality gets. It’s like watching videos of Bigfoot.

 

There’s one thing I noticed about it tho. I remember when Kuin had control over me, whenever one of her bees died, that would reflect back at me. That’s probably one of the reasons that Kuin tried to stay out of the spotlight so much, because one of the only ways she could defend herself would wear out her host too much/too fast.

 

But it looks like… I dunno. Either Kuin’s Quirk evolved or Pop’s body was tinkered with somehow, cuz “Bee☆Pop” here is wasting bomb bees by the hundreds and it looks like it’s not even affecting her. Getting up close and personal with her isn’t gonna be easy. If only Koichi didn’t have such a hang-up about shooting her in the leg or something. That would’ve made catching her a lot easier. Idk how much time you’ve got until she comes back again but from the update videos you sent, it looks like Koichi’s making some sort of progress. I hope he’s ready.

 

Things are quiet up here. Kinda too quiet. I have to keep music on so I don’t get too into my head about it. And yes, after you yelled at me about it the other day, I avoid the news. I hope this ends soon. You guys stay safe, okay? If there’s anything else I can do from here, plz tell me. I’m getting bored in my enclosure and I need enrichment.

 

Don’t die. I’ll kick your asses if you do.

 

T.O.

 

Attached Folder: THE BEETCH IS BACK 

 

A smirk graced Soga’s lips. Well, at least Tamao was trying to keep her sense of humor during this whole torturous process. What a trooper. With Moyuru and Rapt occupied keeping Koichi busy, Soga clicked open the attached folder and got to studying.

 

Later that night, Moyuru returned from his patrol around the area, ducking under the warehouse door with two full-to-the-brim shopping bags from the convenience store. “Yo, I got grub,” he announced to the room.

 

“Fuck yeah, food!” Rapt cheered and hopped up from his spot next to Koichi. Koichi was just about finished patching himself up from that day’s training so he didn’t need Rapt at the moment.

 

Moyuru handed off the convenience store bags to Rapt, who scurried back over to Koichi so they could get the first pick of the lot. In the meanwhile, Moyuru came over to Soga, untucking the stack of papers he held under his arm and resting them against his friend’s shoulder. “And copies of the map.”

 

Soga numbly reached up and took them. “How’s it looking out there?”

 

“Not much progress on building repair out there. I mean, even if they rush to get it all done, who knows when it’s just gonna come back down again,” Moyuru said. “Half the shops are closed and I didn’t see many regular people out there. But there are a lot of Heroes on patrol right now.” Moyuru leaned over Soga’s shoulder to check out the laptop screen. “What’re you up to, Soga? …oh, videos from that night?”

 

“Yeah. Tamao pretty much strongarmed me into giving her something to do,” Soga replied. “She found some halfway decent videos to study from.”

 

“...how’s she doing?”

 

“About as well as you’d expect.”

 

“Where is Tama anyway?” Rapt asked.

 

“Home. Where it’s safe,” Soga answered.

 

“Is… that alright? She’s gotta be bored and freaked the fuck out just sitting there and waiting for all this to blow over,” Rapt suggested. “Maybe… maybe it would be better if we did bring her-”

 

To that, Soga twisted the chair around and gave Rapt a stern glare. “No. Hard no,” he firmly stated. “I want Tamao nowhere near this shit.”

 

“Alright, alright. I was just sayin’. Y’don’t gotta bite my head off.”

 

“Hell, I don’t even want the two of you here! If I had my way, you guys would be staying with her and Koichi and I would be handling this on our own!”

 

“Well, good luck trying to get rid of us now, asshole,” Moyuru chuckled.

 

Soga sighed. “Look, this is… this is fine. This whole thing has retraumatized her enough. I don’t wanna make it wor-” Then Soga noticed Koichi. The absolute dingbat was just sitting there with his hand raised, waiting for someone to address him. “Why the hell are you raising your hand?”

 

“Ah! S-Sorry, I’m just a little bit lost,” Koichi answered with a sheepish laugh. “Um… who’s Tamao?”

 

Soga frowned and replied, “...she’s a friend of ours.”

 

And if this bee thing traumatized her before… “That’s how you knew about all this bee stuff, isn’t it? …because Pop’s not the first?”

 

Soga shook his head, his eyes dropping to his lap. “No… Pop’s not the first… hell, Tamao wasn’t even the first. And I don’t think the girl before her was the first either.” Soga’s fist tightened against his thigh. “But if we do this right, Pop will be the last.”

 

That… actually came as a sort of relief. This was survivable. Pop could survive this. This Tamao girl did so Pop should be able to… 

 

“Poor Tamao,” Koichi sighed. “I’m sorry. This must be really hard for her to have to deal with.”

 

“...yeah.”

 

“I’m glad she’s safe and sound at home and not here with us. I agree. I wouldn’t want her to feel even worse having to face all this bee stuff again.”

 

“...me too.”

 

Soga turned his attention back to the computer and clicked the video back on. For a moment, his eyes objected. They’ve been at this for a week now and Bee☆Pop has been a no-show. Eye strain and sleeping like utter shit for a week straight is starting to take its toll. There’s a very good chance that the four of them will go insane if this goes on for much longer. And Soga will snap first.

 

“Argh,” Soga groaned, rubbing some life back into his eyes with the heel of his hand. “Tamao wasn’t kidding about the quality of some of these. I swear, this asshole in particular is filming this shit on a literal potato.”

 

“Take your time, man. No need to get impatient,” Moyuru said, giving his friend a reassuring pat on the shoulder. “It looks like some kind of extreme prank. Like she’s having the time of her life…”

 

Soga watched the grainy footage, studying Bee☆Pop’s every move, every facial expression. You’d think there was nothing wrong with her, the obvious aside. But Soga managed to time a pause just right to get a good look at the only eye Kazuho had left… and Soga saw pain and terror deep in there. “...she looks like she’s suffering,” he muttered.

 

Koichi swallowed the bite of his rice ball and declared, “Then we’ve gotta save her. And fast.” He set the half-eaten ball in his lap, brushed stray bits of rice from his hands and determined, “I’ll catch her and… try to talk some sense into her. She’ll have to listen to reason.”

 

“Good luck with that, bro. Seems like she’s a little past sense at this point,” Moyuru muttered.

 

“That’s a pretty big difference from the other day when you pretty much shut down ‘cuz she gave you the cold shoulder,” Rapt pointed out.

 

“Yeah, why the sudden confidence boost?”

 

“Well… I’ve thought about it and… she’s always had this kind of side to her. Sometimes, she’d be mad and I wouldn’t know why. But spending time with her seemed to help. Maybe doing that again… being with her might help.”

 

“Yeah but she left ‘cuz you showed up.”

 

“That’s why I’ve gotta hunt her down, tie her up, do whatever I need to do to get her to stay still.”

 

“Bro, please fix your phrasing.”

 

While the guys were discussing strategy, Soga typed up a response to Tamao’s email, capping it off with, “PS. Koichi appreciates your help. He wants you to be safe too. Just hang in there for a bit longer. It’ll be over soon.” Maybe if he believed in that hard enough, she would too.

 

“Koichi,” Soga said, twisting the chair around to look Koichi directly in the eye. “I’m gonna get a strategy put together by morning. You get some rest in the meantime.”

 

-

 

The very next day, Bee☆Pop made her second and final appearance. From early afternoon to the dead of night, Queen Bee and her hostage lead both the Pros trying to arrest her and the vigilantes trying to save her on a grand chase all around downtown Naruhata. After a high octane run-in with the Number 2 ‘Hero’ that forced Koichi to unlock a new ability to escape, with the help of Midnight, Bee☆Pop was defeated, Kazuho was taken to the hospital, the bee was safely extracted from her head…

 

…and Tamao’s request to keep her company in the hospital was denied.

 

“Why not!? You said I could!”

 

“I know! I know I said that! But the plan’s changed! That creepy fucker- the one that put that bee in Pop’s head to begin with is still prowlin’ around out there.”

 

“Argh, dammit!” Tamao groaned, resting her forehead in her hand. “...so what now?”

 

Soga audibly shrugged and said, “Fuckin’... I don’t know. Koichi needs to stay here so he’s in close range to Pop in case something happens with her. And that guy completely has me, Rapt and Moyuru beat in terms of power, so trying to go hunt him down is suicide… fuck, that’s probably what he’s expecting us to do anyway, so he can ambush us.” 

 

An intake of breath over the line sounded but before Tamao could speak, Soga insisted, “ You still have to stay put. I… I’m hoping that that guy doesn’t know where you live. If he does… unless he’s monumentally braindead, I wouldn’t put it past the guy to take advantage of everyone being distracted with Pop to get his old friend Kuin back.”

 

“...sometimes I really hate it when your paranoia makes a good point.”

 

Soga gave a huff of miserable laughter. “Believe me, so do I.”

 

“So we’ve gotta… wait it out again?”

 

“Yeah. Sorry you’ve got to be stuck in your enclosure for a bit longer.”

 

Tamao gave back an equally miserable laugh and then the conversation drifted into silence for a beat. “...Hey, Soga?”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“When this is all over… when Pop’s safe and this villain guy is gone…” Tamao audibly smirked and asked, “What do you guys want for breakfast the next morning? I’ll cook… but it’s gotta be something pretty simple. I don’t think I can make you guys something like… eggs benedict or something. Not unless you like your poached eggs extra crispy.”

 

Soga chuckled and hmm-ed to himself. “...I dunno. I’m kinda craving something sweet right now, actually,” he answered. “...pancakes?”

 

“Nice. That sounds like something I can do. Victory pancakes it is!”

 

Alas, Soga wasn’t allowed to keep this moment of brevity. The words that Number 6 told Koichi came to mind. That after he killed Pop, Koichi would be next… and presumably anyone around him…

 

If he didn’t get to say it now, there’s a good chance he may never get to later. Soga turned serious and after a steadying breath, he spoke.

 

“Tamao.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“...If something happens-”

 

“Don’t.”

 

“If something ha-”

 

“Dude, don’t do this. We just made plans to hang out,” Tamao tearfully pleaded. “Don’t talk like your gonna-”

 

“ Tamao. ” Tamao stopped talking and the only thing he heard on the other end was her sniffling. “...This guy is the real deal. He’s got every intention of killing Pop and Koichi and anyone that stands in his way. There’s…” Soga’s own throat tightened in protest but he continued. “There’s a good chance me and the guys won’t come back from this.”

 

Saying so made Tamao sob a little harder. “And if that happens… If this is the last time we get to talk, then…” A tear formed in the corner of Soga’s eye and he smeared it off with the heel of his hand. “Then I don’t wanna leave this world without telling you… I’m glad your dad made us babysit you in the hospital. And I know the feeling’s mutual with Rapt and Moyuru too.”

 

Tamao folded tight in on herself in some vain attempt to comfort herself, sobbing into her lap until she found the strength to speak. “...Me… Me too. I love you guys so much,” she cried.

 

The amount of willpower Soga had to summon to not start crying himself was astronomical but damn did he come close. “Yeah… we love you too.”

 

“Yo, Soga!” 

 

Rapt’s voice brought Soga back to reality and he looked over his shoulder to see Rapt pointing out a suspicious guy carrying a toolbox approaching them. Clearing his throat, he said to Tamao, “Hey, I gotta get back to it.”

 

Tamao scrubbed the tears from her cheek and in pure defiance of this notion that she may never hear from them again, she said, “I’ll see you guys soon.”

 

A sad smile came to Soga. If she believed in it hard enough, he should too. “Yeah. See you soon.” Beep!  

 

Needing just another second to get a hold of himself, Soga held the collar of his shirt against his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose until the urge to burst into tears passed and he could rejoin his friends. When he was ready, he marched to the head of the pack, passing Moyuru on the way, who was fiddling with the handheld video camera he brought along. Noticing the glistening in his friend’s eyes, Moyuru whispered, “Hey, man, are you okay?”

 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Soga whispered back. Addressing the man with the toolbox, Soga folded his arms over his chest and stood firm with a domineering stance. “This hospital ward’s for patients in critical condition,” he barked. “No visitors allowed.”

 

“Huh? I’m just here for an A.C. repair job,” the man with the toolbox explained before he leveled an accusatory grin at Soga. “Besides, who’re you boys supposed to be? Clearly you’re not affiliated with the hospital…”

 

Soga narrowed his eyes and, not buying this horseshit for a single second, gave Koichi the signal. Before the man with the toolbox could ask what it was Soga just did, an SGKB shot blasted his toolbox to pieces, revealing the hidden camera within.

 

-

 

Another tense week dragged by. By this point, Tamao was climbing the walls. Any trips she needed to make outside of the house, she made sure to keep short. Day in, day out, the doors were locked tight and the curtains drawn. The goal: look like no one’s home and hope that this villain guy doesn’t remember the way to her house.

 

The first few days of this week sucked. She jumped at every single sound that she didn’t make herself and probably accidentally scared some of the neighbor kids by responding to what she thought was someone at the door with her trusty old metal bat from her middle school sports club by her side. Then the days dragged on longer and the quiet continued. Maybe… maybe the villain forgot about her after all. 

 

After a full week passed, Tamao glanced out her window at the world outside, bathed in the glow of the evening sun and felt brave enough to sit outside for the first time in a couple weeks. She had bought a new amp weeks ago that she was planning to test out the day this whole catastrophe started and the store near her house had watermelons in stock. It would be nice for a change, to just sit in the heat and try to drown her worries in music. Her own music.

 

The new gear worked like a dream and she sat on her back porch, strumming her guitar for hours as the sun started to fade around her. Soon the sun dipped behind the horizon entirely, leaving her porch light, the fireflies dancing around her yard and the stars themselves behind to do its job. Time to go back in and lock up for the night.

 

Tamao pulled off her headphones and sighed. This has gotta be over soon, right? She couldn’t take much longer of this. Soga hadn’t responded to her last text earlier that day and she was really trying to hold on to the hope that he and the guys were still okay but that hope was starting to dim.

 

Then a bright blue-white light zipped across the sky. “Oh. A shooting star,” she murmured, watching the star fade out into the night. Tamao’s eye fell from the sky back down to her own backyard, watching the fireflies dance and an old memory came to her.

 

~

 

She was little then, running barefoot in circles around her backyard, her pigtails streaming behind her as she chased the fireflies around. Her dad was off on some big business trip in China… or whatever a Hero calls a business trip. So it was just her and her mom at home, ‘holding down the fort’ as her dad says.

 

At one point, she had scared off most of the fireflies. Before she could decide what to do next, her mother came over and scooped her up off the grass. “Tamao, look!” her mother whispered, pointing her daughter up to the sky and the golden lights that soared across the night sky.

 

“ Ah! Shooting stars! ”

 

“ It’s a meteor shower, ” Tamao’s mother said. “ ...Hey, do you know what you’re supposed to do when you see a shooting star? ” Tamao looked into her mother’s face, giving her her full attention. “ You close your eyes and you wish with all your might for something you really, really want. Anything your heart desires. ”

 

“ Anything!? ”

 

“ Anything. ”

 

Well, if anything was on the table, then little Tamao knew exactly what she wanted. “ I wish for a big brother to play with! ”

 

Tamao’s mother blinked in surprise. “ Oh? A big brother? Er… What about a little brother? Or a little sister? Would you want one of those? ”

 

Tamao shrugged and wiggled around in her mother’s arms. “ I guess so… ”

 

“ Phew… okay- ”

 

“ But I definitely want a big brother! ”

 

“I see…” Tamao’s mother laughed, defeated. “Well, butterfly, that one might be a… a little hard for the wish fairies to do, I think.” Tamao’s mother mulled it over and muttered out of the side of her mouth to herself, “...well, unless Iwao is open to the idea of adopting an older kid…”

 

Tamao would’ve stomped her foot if she was still on the ground. Instead, she had to settle for wiggling her legs in defiance and pouted, “ Mommy, you said I could wish for anything I want! ”

 

“ I know, I know. I did, didn’t I? ” Tamao’s mother sighed and placed a kiss on the side of her daughter’s head. “ I swear you get that kind of stubbornness from your father. ”

 

~

 

In the present, Tamao sat on that same spot on the porch her mother was watching her from, looking up at the stars. “...anything my heart desires…” Thus far, only one thing came to mind at the moment. So Tamao followed the steps her mother laid out for her. She folded her hands in her lap, bowed her head, closed her eye and made a wish.

 

“...hey… hey, mom. It’s me… Tamao. Um… so, I saw a shooting star just now and I remembered what you said when I was little. I don’t… I don’t really know who I’m supposed to send my wish to, ‘cuz I’m pretty sure you just made up the wish fairy thing. So, I’m sending this one to you. Maybe you know who to forward it to up there. I probably had some really goofy wishes when I was little but… I think I have a good one this time.” Tamao let out a shaky breath and wished, “My wish is for everyone to come home safe from this whole thing. My friends, Koichi, Pop☆Step… even that idiot father of mine, wherever he went.”

 

“...I know… I know I shouldn’t be asking you for anything. I mean, the first time I talked to you since you died and the first thing I do is ask you for a favor? That’s… really shitty of me. I’m sorry,” Tamao miserably laughed, tears rolling down her cheek. “...I’m sorry about a lot of stuff. I’m sorry… for what Kuin made me do to you. I’m sorry for running away in the first place. I’m sorry for being mad at you. I don’t even remember why anymore.”

 

Tamao wiped away the tears that rolled over her mouth. “...I’m sorry I didn’t say goodbye to you before you died. I’m… I’m so sorry, Mom.” By now, Tamao had quickly run out of steam. Unable to bring herself to say more, Tamao weakly ended her prayer with, “I love you, Mom. I miss you so, so much.”

 

With that, Tamao forced herself to get up, drag her stuff inside, lock the door behind her and drag herself to her bedroom. There, she collapsed onto her bed and cried until she wore herself out and fell asleep.

 

…

 

That night, Tamao had a rather interesting dream. It started nostalgically, her pretending to be asleep, like she used to when she was little and wanted to stay up and play video games instead of sleep. After a while, she got good at pretending and would be ‘asleep’ whenever one of her parents would open her door to check on her. That image, of her mother or her father peeking into her room, with the orange glow of the hallway light behind them, was an image that was permanently burned into her memory.

 

In her dream, her mother opened her door to check on her… but the hallway light was much, much brighter than it should be, like the house was rearranged and her bedroom door opened directly to the bright, sunny countryside. That thought was reinforced by the singing birds, the buzzing cicadas and the gurgling of water that Tamao heard behind her mother. But that can’t be right… dream logic, perhaps.

 

Her mother entered her room and slowly padded across the floor, humming a rock song that always comforted Tamao as a baby until she came to Tamao’s bed. There, her mother sat on the edge of her bed, brushed her hand over her daughter’s hair and left a loving kiss on Tamao’s temple. “Night night, butterfly. Mommy loves you so much.”

 

That was when Tamao snapped awake and shot up in her bed. “Mom!?”

 

But when she managed to break free from her groggy post-sleep fog, she saw nothing. Her room was still dark, her door was still closed. There was no trace of her mother, no sign that anyone had been there other than Tamao herself.

 

“...Mom?”

 

-

 

And that was the end of Number 6, a man that had no identity and no name. The only mark he left on this world, the proof that he even existed, he left scratched into Koichi Haimawari’s face, a solemn reminder of the one person that the so-called hero couldn’t save. And then he died. Combusted, shattered into a million pieces, with only one memory to guide him as he slipped off this mortal coil, that of a song that moved him to genuine tears.

 

And the songstress and her companion were there to watch him disintegrate.

 

“You're singing for him? Not for Koichi?”

 

Pop gave Knuckleduster a solemn nod. “‘Cuz it’s a song about being stubborn. About hanging in there…” Pop answered. “Besides… I’d rather just talk to Koichi… not sing to him.”

 

“Coulda, woulda, shoulda,” Knuckleduster replied. 

 

…ah, there it is. That pull… like something was beckoning him home. They’d finally wore out their welcome. “Time to go,” he said.

 

Pop could feel that pull too. If she had the strength, she’d fight it. What about Koichi? He’d be so lost and heartbroken. His apartment would be so empty and quiet without her around to sing and dance and steal his pudding. Pop wanted so desperately to fight her way back to him… but the bee had robbed her of all her strength.

 

She was dying.

 

Knuckleduster was dying.

 

Poor Koichi was going to be all alone now.

 

And there was nothing she could do about it.

 

“...I know.”  

 

Pop’s spirit climbed up off the ledge she sat on. But her eyes stayed down there, looking down at him , that funny little cockroach guy that made a space in his home for her, that made an extra portion of food just for her. They had a lot of good times together, so many talks day after day. But she never got to tell him what really matters and those are the chances that tend to slip away.

 

That pull got stronger. Knuckleduster could feel it and he reached over to hold Pop under his arm. At least they’d be going together. As a few bittersweet tears dragged down her face, trailing her eye makeup with them, Pop waved down at the vigilante that Eraserhead was pulling up onto his back and choked out one last thing.

 

“Bye-bye… My hero…”

 

Then the tether holding them to Earth was cut and their spirits started to ascend. Pop held onto the back of Knuckleduster’s coat as the world beneath them fell away. Knuckleduster held Pop to his side tighter and Pop could feel his hand trembling against her. Pop quietly laughed at that. Turns out that big brute was just as human and afraid of dying as her after all.

 

After a while, the world beneath them had disappeared completely. With nothing to watch beneath them, Pop and Knuckleduster looked to the sky as the stars got closer and brighter. Pop closed her eyes and let out the breath in her lungs, letting everything go so she would be prepared for whatever lay in store for them in the great hereaf- “Bwuh!?”

 

Suddenly, Pop’s ascent came to a screeching halt as some force she couldn’t see grabbed her by the ankle and held her there, like a mischievous balloon trying to escape into the stratosphere. Pop twisted and flailed around trying to get a good look at her captor. “Huh!? What the-... Who-” Before she could properly register what she saw, the force holding her yanked her out of Knuckleduster’s grasp and back down to Earth. “ KYAAAAH!! ”

 

“Kid!?” Then that force pressed both of its palms against Iwao’s shoulders and placed a loving kiss on his cheek. That’s all he needed to know who had stopped him. “...Nodoka? …Honey, is that you?” Iwao received no response. The force that stopped him only shoved him down, sending him back to Earth as well.

 

Iwao wouldn’t remember this when he came to, but the last thing he saw as his spirit hurtled through the air to back his earthly body was an image of his late wife, waving back to him from the other side of the river, whispering one last, “I love you.”

 

Fwump! “GAH!!”

 

…alive. Iwao was alive! How… how? This wasn’t part of the plan. Ergh, everything in him hurt. Like his muscles had gotten used to the idea of being dead before being shocked back to life. He felt energized and groggy all at the same time and for a moment, he just lay there, staring up at the night sky, trying to get his bearings back. Weakly, his hand found his side and felt something hard jabbed into him, an electrode that had a wire dragging forth and connecting it to a Taser Knuckle that he distinctly remembered leaving at his warehouse, clutched in Soga’s fist.

 

“Like I told you, you old bastard,” Soga gasped, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “You don’t get to die on us.”

 

-

 

“Jesus, fuck, you’re heavy,” Soga grunted as he dragged the useless pile of muscle off of his motorcycle.

 

“I know. You were grumbling something like that draggin’ me down all those stairs,” Iwao miserably chuckled.

 

“What’d I tell you about talkin’, pops?”

 

Soga threw Iwao’s arm over his shoulder and the two staggered into the hospital’s courtyard, where Soga found his friends holding down the fort. “Rapt! Moyuru!” Answering their friend’s call, Rapt and Moyuru raced over, Moyuru supporting Iwao on his unclaimed side. The second the doors slid open, Soga shouted until a nurse came running. 

 

“My friend here’s been shot,” he explained.

 

“In my bulletproof vest.”

 

“3 or 4… 3 times! It was 3 times.”

 

“In my bulletproof vest.”

 

“With fuckin’ rifle bullets!”

 

“ In my bulletproof vest .”

 

“Goddamn it, old man! Just let us help you for once!” Soga snapped, which made Iwao pause.

 

“Sir, your friend has a point,” the nurse said. “Even if you have a bulletproof vest on, you may be suffering some significant internal bleeding. Please, we can help you.”

 

After exchanging a look between the nurse and Soga, Iwao sighed and relented. “Fine, fine. You win, Kugizaki.” Another nurse came over with a wheelchair and Soga and Moyuru released Grandpa Fist into their care. Getting off his feet after all that stair-climbing he did on a bum knee actually sounded rather pleasant, now that Iwao thought about it.

 

Once he was settled, Soga placed the old man’s crutch across his lap and said, “You look like an ER visit’s long been overdue, pops. Let them take care of you, alright?” As the nurses started to wheel him away, Iwao sent back a thumbs up to his apprentice that Soga had to incredulously accept as an answer.

 

Even though the hospital was still bustling with activity, the air fell still for Soga and company. “...phew, sure glad that’s over,” Moyuru wheezed.

 

“...not yet.”

 

“Mother fucker !”

 

Soga turned and smacked Moyuru on the arm. “Moyuru, where’d you leave the truck?”

 

“Uh… parking garage. Level 1-A.”

 

“Good. Come on,” Soga said, making towards the door and beckoning for his friends to follow. “Koichi’s still out there. We’ve gotta find him before the Heroes do.”

 

Just as he said so, a shadowed figure landed beside the entrance to the hospital and charged in, past Soga and company. This figure was Eraserhead, carrying a battered and beaten Crawler on his back. “Hey! I’ve got wounded!”

 

“ Koichi!? ” Soga stopped and pivoted on his heels, scrambling to catch up with Aizawa. “Shit, what happened!?”

 

Aizawa pushed Soga back, telling him, “Back up, give him some breathing room.”

 

What the fuck happened!? The last time Soga saw Koichi, yeah, he was a little banged up already but now… Koichi looked like his carcass just got scraped up off the pavement and Soga wasn’t even that far off. Koichi’s hoodie was gone, his t-shirt soaked in his own blood, bits of Aizawa’s capture scarf wrapped around his arm and leg…

 

For a moment, Soga thought he saw a small pulsating, tar-like blob of… something on the back of Koichi’s neck but after he briefly lost Koichi in the crowd of nurses that pulled him off of Aizawa’s back and laid him out on a stretcher, that blob disappeared by the time Soga caught up. Some sleep deprivation fueled hallucination, maybe?

 

Again, Aizawa gently pushed Soga back. “Give him room to breathe,” he said. “They’ve got him. Let the nurses do their…” Finally, Aizawa actually looked at Soga and a lightbulb went off in his head. “I arrested you three once, didn’t I?”

 

“Ah, shit. Eraserhead remembers us,” Rapt wheezed.

 

“We’re collaborating with the cops,” Soga said, standing his ground. “We’re on the same side right now.”

 

Aizawa looked over the three former Instant Villains and after a moment of consideration, gave them a nod and a grunt of approval. “Good. Then you three stay out of trouble,” he said as he walked past them back to the door. “I’m on duty today. I don’t have the time to chase after you.”

 

“Y-Yes, sir.”

 

“You got it, Mr. Eraser.”

 

“...Hey, Eraserhead.” Soga’s sentence got Aizawa to look over his shoulder back at him. “Thanks… for keeping an eye out for Koichi.” Aizawa acknowledged Soga’s thanks with a nod and was off again, back to work.

 

“...now is it over?”

 

“...I think it might be.”

 

Finally, the guys were allowed a chance to breathe and they did, letting out a combined sigh of relief. “Oh man,” Moyuru said. “Thank God. That’s about as much hero-ing as I ever wanna do.”

 

“Gya-hah! You big chicken!” Rapt teased.

 

“...so now what do we do?”

 

Rapt retrieved the pack of cigarettes from his pocket and popped one in his mouth. “Well, I dunno ‘bout you guys, but I’m gonna go for a victory smoke,” he laughed, fiddling with his lighter.

 

“Tokage! For the 50th time, you’re not supposed to smoke in here!”

 

Rapt gave an annoyed groan. “Which is why I’m going outside,” he replied. “Sheesh. Nag, nag, nag…”

 

As the lizard stomped off, Moyuru said to himself, “Y’know, a smoke sounds good.” He nudged Soga on the arm and asked, “You coming?”

 

Soga had his phone out, bringing up his recent calls and he said, “I’ll catch up. I’m gonna give Tamao the all clear.”

 

“Cool. See you out there.”

 

“Tell Tama we said hi!”

 

Soga walked around until he managed to find a relatively quiet corner of the hospital. There he settled into the corner where both walls met and hit the call button on Tamao’s contact, pressing his phone to his ear. After 5-6 rings, the call went to Tamao’s voicemail.

 

“Hi, it’s Tamao! Sorry I missed your call. I probably died or something.”

 

“Don’t fuckin’ joke like that! You’re not funny!”

 

“Ahaha! Sorry, sorry. But seriously, since I’m laid up in the hospital, if I missed you, it’s probably very serious. Uh, just leave a message after the beep and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can. Later!”

 

Beep.

 

“Hey, you still haven’t updated your voicemail. It’s been three years, you lazy bitch,” Soga laughed. “You’re probably asleep right now so… I’ve got good news. It’s safe to come back up for air now. That creepy fucker’s pushing up daisies and the bee’s been taken care of.”

 

Soga smiled and said, “So, the guys and I’ll see you in the morning. We’re looking forward to breakfast. We’ll see you tomorrow. Bye.”

 

Beep.

 

Soga sunk down into the corner and breathed a sigh of relief, the first one he could get in two weeks straight. He could happily just pass out right there but he had to fight off sleep just a little bit longer. The staff would throw him out otherwise. In his fight to beat back sleep, his hand brushed against the phone screen, scrolling up and bringing to mind one contact that he hadn’t touched since he was an angry, belligerent 18-year old:

 

‘Home’

 

And seeing that reminded him of what he said to Tamao. ‘If this is the last time we get to talk…’

 

Last he remembered, they still live out in Chiba Prefecture, an acceptable distance away from all this. They should be fine… if they even still give a damn about him… Slowly, his hand made that choice for him and pressed the call button. They may not even pick up. That’d be understandable, considering how much of an asshole he was as a teenager. If they don’t, then Soga can at least say he tri-

 

Click. “Hello. Kirishima residence.”

 

Soga almost laughed out loud. He wasn’t expecting a squeaky, adolescent voice to greet him on the other end. Has he really been gone that long? “You’re up pretty late, aren’t you, Ei?” Soga said.

 

“...Soga?” his younger half-brother Eijirou answered. “Is that you?”

 

“Hey.”

 

In the background, Soga heard his mother’s voice whisper, “Is that him!?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Pass me the phone! Gimme, gimme!” The sound of the phone exchanging hands clattered in Soga’s ear and then that voice he hadn’t heard for years spoke, vulnerable and hopeful. “...Soga?”

 

Instantly, Soga’s throat tightened with emotion and he had to fight through that to respond. “...hi, Mom.”

 

“Hi, baby,” his mother tearfully answered. “Um… we saw on the news that there was a pretty big Villain attack in the neighborhood you moved to. Are you alright? Are you safe right now?”

 

Soga sighed, “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine… it’s… it’s been a really long night.”

 

-

 

The next morning, Soga nearly got himself thrown out of the hospital.

 

“ Study it!? The fuck d’you mean study it!? What’s there to study!? That thing is a parasite that controls people! You need to kill it!”

 

“I understand that you have reservations about this, sir,” the nurse carefully mediated. “But as Quirks manifesting in animals is such a rare phenomena, the higher-ups believe that it would be beneficial to our understanding of how Quirks work to further study-”

 

“Look, I don’t give a fuck about that. That thing has ruined two lives already! It ain’t worth it!” Soga scoffed. “...no, wait, three, I mean! There was one before her. Uh… fuck, what did Tamao say? …Lily, her name was! L-I-L-Y, all caps with a stupid flower emoji at the end. She would’ve had purple-and-pink hair and an eyepatch over her left eye. Check the patient records, maybe someone with that description came through in the last few years?”

 

“I will pass that information along, but in regards to the bee situation, this is entirely out of my hands now.”

 

Soga huffed, “Is the damn thing still here?”

 

“Yes, the bee is being prepped for transfer to a nearby research facility.”

 

“What room?”

 

“Sir, this is out of our hands now. Rest assured, we will-”

 

“That little fucker needs to die. If you won’t do anything about it, point me to the room it’s in and I’ll do it.”

 

The nurse pressed a hand flat against Soga’s chest and ordered, “Sir, if you continue to make a scene, I will have security trespass you from the building.”

 

“I’m not gonna let that thing live so it can take someone e-”

 

“Sir, I will not tell you again!” the nurse stated, grasping at the two-way clipped to the collar of their scrubs, making sure that Soga knew that threat wasn’t an empty one.

 

Oh, Soga was absolutely not above making a scene if he needed to… but he kinda needed to be able to come back to this hospital to check in on the Naruhata Vigilantes from time to time, so he reluctantly had to stand down. “Fine,” he bitterly grumbled. “But you tell your friends at this research place that when they’re done playing with that… thing , they need to kill it. If it manages to get away and get a new host, it’s on your ass.” 

 

With that, Soga stomped off in the vague direction of Koichi, Kazuho and Iwao’s hospital rooms, pent up frustration boiling in his blood until he found a quiet place where he could release it by bashing his forehead into the wall. “ Fuck! ” If someone had warned him that accepting Midnight’s help would entail breaking his promise to Tamao, he would’ve refused her and tried to get the damn bee himself. Even though this was the best outcome for Kazuho…

 

“...I’m sorry, Tamao. I tried… I really did try…”

 

“Yo, Soga!” Soga glanced over his shoulder, finding Moyuru sticking his head out of Koichi’s room. “The Cruller’s up.” Snapped back to reality, Soga hustled over and followed Moyuru in.

 

How Koichi was still alive at this point, Soga had no clue. Maybe calling him a cockroach was more apt than he realized. His left arm and right leg were packed tight into casts and suspended, confining Koichi to the bed for the foreseeable future. Noticing the movement, Koichi craned his neck to look around his arm cast and waved with his free hand, giving Soga a gap-tooth grin. “Hey, Soga! There you are!”

 

…oh come on… the missing tooth? That’s not fair. As if Haimawari wasn’t adorable enough as it is…

 

“Hey,” Soga responded, smothering the smile that wanted to manifest on his face. “What happened to your tooth?”

 

“Uh…” Admittedly, Koichi had forgotten all about that for a while and checked to make sure it was really gone with the tip of his tongue. “Oh! Right. I think I swallowed it,” he explained. “I think the doctor said that as soon as I heal up, they’ll hook me up with a dentist that’ll give me an implant to replace it.”

 

Aw, so the gap tooth thing is temporary? Damn.

 

Koichi laid back on the bed and breathed a long sigh of relief. “Man, that was nuts,” he laughed. “Sure glad that’s all over.”

 

“You said it,” Moyuru sighed.

 

“Hey, how’s Pop doing?” Koichi asked Soga. “No one will tell me anything about her condition.”

 

“She’s alive ‘n kickin’,” Soga answered, to Koichi’s relief. “The doctors say she woke up in the middle of the night but she’s still a little out of it. And since you’re still in no condition to be getting up…” Soga poked the side of Koichi’s arm cast to prove his point. “You’re just gonna have to hang tight for a while until all three of you can get up.”

 

“...huh? ‘Three?’”

 

Soga gestured in the direction of the end of the hallway with his thumb and said, “The old man’s room is a little further down.”

 

“ Master’s here!? ” Koichi gasped and on instinct, he tried to roll out of bed, only for his arm and leg to remind him why he was there in the first place. “ Ow! Ow ow ow…”

 

“See?”

 

“I thought that I saw him, but… that was probably just me hallucinating. I didn’t know he was actually here. I don’t remem…” Oh wait, he did remember seeing him! Just for a second but still!

 

When Koichi looked back up at him, Soga finished his thought. “Yeah, the pincer strategy! When you grabbed that guy off the roof and dragged him out of the old district.”

 

“Oh man…” Koichi laughed. “I don’t know how Master does it, making all his plans look like he just came up with it off the top of his head. He’s somehow even crazier than I thought…”

 

“I wouldn’t give him that much credit this time,” Soga replied, bemused. “He wasn’t counting on us at all.”

 

“Huh?”

 

“I think he was waiting on that rooftop for a good hour or so, waiting for that freak of nature to sit still long enough for Pops to get the drop on him,” Soga explained. “I wanted to keep this from you for a while since you were already stressed out enough standing guard over Pop-” Soga gave Rapt a firm swat on the nose for blabbing early in the meantime. “-but the old man left a few, pretty nasty surprises for that guy in your building. I think he was planning to kill the Villain and himself in the blast.”

 

“Blast? As in bombs?”

 

“Yeah. I disarmed all the ones I could find and brought the cavalry in to save his stupid ass.”

 

…y’know… now that Koichi thought about it… he had thought he saw his penthouse in the background…

 

“...that was my building,” Koichi deadpanned.

 

“Yup, that’s what I said,” Soga answered with a flat, bemused smile. Took Koichi a second for it to register, didn’t it?

 

“ He was gonna blow up my building!? Why!? What the hell, Master!? I’m still living there! ”

 

“You’re asking the wrong guy,” Soga said. “You’ll have to ask him yourself when you can all get up.”

 

“Er, about that, actually,” Rapt said, now that his nose had stopped stinging. “He’s gone.”

 

Hearing that made Koichi’s heart drop into his stomach. Fearing the worst, Koichi whispered, “...what?”

 

“...Oh! ‘Gone’ as in physically not here.”

 

“Huh? What d’you mean by that?” Soga demanded.

 

“Well, while you were yelling at that medical tech back there, we passed by Grandpa Fist’s room to check in on him,” Moyuru explained. “He wasn’t in there. My guess is that he hung around long enough for them to pull the bits of lead out of him and the second they stop looking at him, he climbs out the window and fucks right off.”

 

“Bedsheet rope ‘n everything, like a damn cartoon!” Rapt added.

 

Soga was too tired for this nonsense. “Goddammit, why is he like this?”

 

“Phew,” Koichi sighed. “Scared me for a second there.”

 

“Dude’s a fuckin’ lunatic but… he kinda had the right idea, considering…” Rapt muttered, gesturing to Koichi’s free leg. For some bizarre reason, the police handcuffed his ankle to the bed.

 

“Why the hell’d they do that?” Moyuru muttered and Rapt shrugged. Moyu’s guess was as good as his.

 

“Yeah…” Koichi sighed. “Guess my next stop is the slammer. I’m just glad I was able to save Pop first. I think… knowing she’ll be safe and sound will make my sentence a lot easier to get through.”

 

Soga nodded and suggested, “You want us to bust you out?”

 

“Dude! Isn’t our rap sheet long enough!?” Moyuru hissed.

 

On the other end of the spectrum was Rapt. “Gya-ha! I’m in! Let’s do it!”

 

“Guys, seriously! This plan’ll put us in prison right next to him!”

 

Koichi’s eye wandered off and he responded with a sheepish and totally-and-completely innocent, “Well, I mean… if someone managed to put a hole in my cell wall and told me to come with them… I wouldn’t necessarily say ‘no’...”

 

Soga smirked. “Cool. Then we’ve got a plan.”

 

“Gimme, like, two seconds. I’m looking up towing companies we can rent from,” Rapt muttered with his nose in his phone.

 

“I can’t go to prison, man! I wouldn’t last a day in there!” Moyuru protested, actually starting to get freaked out now.

 

“So… how’re you feeling?”

 

Koichi’s face turned somber and he stared down at his lap, fidgeting with the edge of the blanket with his free hand. “...I wish I could’ve gotten through to him,” Koichi answered. “I thought maybe if I could calm him down and bring him to the hospital-”

 

“Don’t waste your thoughts on him,” Soga scoffed. “If it wasn’t for him, none of this would’ve happened in the first place.”

 

“I know… I just thought… maybe I could help him too.”

 

Soga shook his head. “Some Villains just aren’t worth saving.” Koichi countered that notion by pointing directly to Soga. “I’m a lucky exception, apparently.”

 

“Pfft-”

 

“Shut the fuck up, Rapt.” Ignoring Rapt’s stupid laughter, Soga cleared his throat and changed the subject. “Other than that… physically, how’re you feeling?”

 

“Physically… pretty good, actually,” Koichi said. “But that’s probably because they put me on the good painkillers.”

 

While Koichi spoke, his free hand unconsciously dipped under the collar of his shirt to scratch at a bandage that sat where his back and his neck met.

 

-

 

The morning was just about over by the time Tamao woke up. Apparently she had stayed up later than she thought that night. Once she had forced herself to get up and rub the sleep from her eye, she jumped into the routine that she had been practicing for the last thirteen days; get up, shower, eat breakfast, check the doorbell camera to see what happened while she was asleep and then find something to occupy her time.

 

As soon as she came out of the shower, dressed and ready for a day of hiding inside, she finally checked her phone for the first time that day and came to a slow pause, finding a voicemail notification waiting for her. Just as she was about to play it, she heard the sound of tires slowing to a stop against the asphalt and the slamming of car doors… right outside her house.

 

“Shit!” Someone was here! And since there’s been no word from Soga or the guys since the day before, there was no telling who it was. Tamao dropped her phone onto the kitchen counter, snatched up her trusty bat and waited for this uninvited guest to knock or make some kind of sound…

 

“Goddamn, I keep forgetting that Grandpa Fist is loaded~!”

 

“C’mon, Rapt. You’ve seen all the gear in his warehouse. Obviously he’s loaded.”

 

“I wonder what his actual job is…”

 

…it’s them. Soga… Rapt… Moyuru… they’re okay. 

 

Tamao let the bat slip off her shoulder and she leaped forward, throwing the front door open just as Soga was about to ring the doorbell. 

 

“ Tamago!! ” Rapt cheered.

 

“Hey, we made it,” Moyuru added.

 

“And we are hungry . Soga said something about pancakes…?”

 

Tamao gave a shocked laugh. “...it’s 11:30. You idiots are late,” she said, tears of relief forming in her eye.

 

“Yeah, for breakfast, maybe. ‘S still brunch.”

 

Soga gave Tamao an apologetic smile and said, “Sorry. We got held up at the hospital for a while.”

 

Tamao gave back a wobbly smile of her own and then she launched herself forward to wrap her boys in the tightest hug she could manage, one they returned three times as strong. For a while, they just stood there on the front step, holding each other and relieved to all be alive.

 

“I… I was so worried about you guys…” Tamao sobbed into Soga’s chest.

 

Soga placed a comforting kiss to the top of Tamao’s head. “Sorry. I’m sorry,” he whispered. “It’s okay. It’s over. We’re here.”

 

Just as agreed upon, the four of them had a victory feast of pancakes, bacon and eggs. The first few were burnt but that’s a natural part of the pancake making process. Rapt ate those without complaint. While they ate, the guys recounted the whole two weeks to Tamao, who listened, enraptured by the story, relieved and grateful that her wish came true.

 

Eventually, the two weeks spent in survival mode came to an end and all four of them felt exhaustion weighing on them. Fortunately, the Oguro family’s living room was more than accommodating. Soga was the last to fall asleep, settled into Iwao’s old recliner. He took one last look over his little family of choice. Tamao was curled up into a ball on her end of the couch with a blanket draped over her, Moyuru slumped against the armrest on the other side and Rapt sprawled out on the floor like some kind of heathen. Soga smiled. He loved these idiots so much.

 

Eventually, the exhaustion claimed him too. Soga kicked the feet on the recliner up, cozied in, closed his eyes and got the first actual quality nap he’s had in two weeks.

 

-

 

“What? That wasn’t a shooting star?”

 

“Nah. Just the… uh, afterburn? On Koichi’s Quirk. It looked fuckin’ awesome.”

 

Oh my god, Tamao made a wish on two guys wrestling in midair. That’s fucking hilarious.

 

Now that the lockdown was over and the villain ‘defeated’, Soga finally agreed to honor Tamao’s request and brought her with him to check up on Koichi and Kazuho. Now that she was finally here, though, a buzz of guilt crawled through her system. Just as they turned the corner into the hallway where Kazuho’s room was, Tamao reached over and lightly gripped the bunch of fabric hanging off of Soga’s elbow.

 

“What? You alright?”

 

“I dunno. Just… nervous, I guess.” Tamao sighed and said, “...what if she hates me? What if she blames me for what happened to her? I mean… she wouldn’t even be wrong. You guys would’ve never had to deal with his bee thing if-”

 

“Tamao, don’t start that again. You and Pop were victims. Neither of you is to blame,” Soga insisted. “Hell, if she’s gonna hate anyone in that room, it’s gonna be me. And for pretty damn good reason.”

 

Tamao smiled and giggled, “Yeah. You used to really suck.”

 

“I still suck,” Soga said. “Look, it’s gonna be alright. I think Pop will really appreciate having someone in her corner that knows exactly what she went through.”

 

“Yeah?”

 

“Yeah. C’mon, she’s right here.”

 

Tamao trailed after Soga until they stopped at Kazuho’s room. There, Soga knocked to announce himself before he slid the door open. “Hey, it’s me-”

 

“Mmm? Oh, hi Soga!”

 

“Koichi?”

 

Koichi was looking a lot better now with the bulky casts removed. His arm still remained in a sling while it healed but he looked a little less like roadkill these days. “I was feeling good today so I came over to see Pop,” he explained, clumsily moving his crutch off of the empty chair beside him, in case Soga wanted to sit down.

 

Soga exchanged looks between him, Kazuho and Tamao, who was hiding behind the door. “Do we need to come back later?” she whispered. Soga shook his head and held up a finger. He just needed to introduce her first.

 

Soga gave Koichi a frosty, “Hi.” Ever since it was decided that Koichi would be going to America to serve as Captain Celebrity’s sidekick, Soga had been… really weird about it. Koichi noticed and sunk in on himself.

 

With the pleasantries out of the way, Soga cleared his throat and spoke to Kazuho. “Hey, Pop. I brought a friend with me today.” Kazuho’s expression turned reluctant and Soga clarified, “And it’s not Moyuru or Rapt, so don’t worry ‘bout that.”

 

“Her name is Tamao,” he explained. “She’s good people and she knows exactly what you’ve been through lately.” Soga tapped his cheek just under his left eye and Kazuho understood immediately what he meant, her hand touching her eyepatch. “Tamao wanted to come up and keep you company while you were out but I wouldn’t let her since that freak was still running around. So, I brought her with me now, now that it’s safe… is that alright? Having a visitor that’s not him for a change?”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

Kazuho turned her eye to her lap in thought for a moment before she came back up with an answer. “Sure.”

 

“That’s cool?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Cool.” Soga leaned back out of the door and gestured to Tamao to come in. Slowly and nervously, Tamao inched into the room with Soga’s hand on her shoulder. When she wrapped her arms around herself and glanced up at Soga, he whispered back, “You’re good.”

 

“It’s okay. Pop doesn’t bite,” Koichi oh-so-helpfully added. “...at least, not unprovoked, anyway.”

 

“Unprovo-” Smack! “You shut up!”

 

Koichi rubbed the sore spot on his head and laughed, “There you are! It sounds like you’re almost back to your old self again!”

 

“Do you just not have a filter between your brain and your mouth? Idiot…”

 

Soga nudged Tamao in a little further, silently encouraging her to speak. While she built the courage to say something, Tamao caught Kazuho’s eye and in response, Kazuho lifted a hand off her lap and gave Tama a friendly smile. “Hi.”

 

Relieved, Tamao responded with a grin of her own. “Hi!” She came forward and offered a hand out to Kazuho, who gently accepted it with both hands. “My name’s Tamao. It’s nice to meet you for real this time!”

 

“Huh? ‘For real’...? Have we met before?”

 

-

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…skritch

 

…skritch skritch

 

…rustle… sktr…

 

…rustle rustle skritch…

 

…bzz

buzzzzzzzzzzzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Notes:

Fun Fact: Queen Bee is technically still alive at the end of Vigilantes.

Something to keep in mind for the next chapter. :)

Chapter 10: Long Live the Queen

Summary:

The tale of two Queens, one from the past, one from the present.

The Queen of the past has a throne that is tattered and worn and the time has come to consider a successor.

The Queen of the present has been waiting months for a rescue that isn't coming and the time has come to take matters into her own tiny hands.

Notes:

SIXTY. NINE. PAGES.
Insert obligatory 'Nice' joke here, but I think that's the only nice thing about this Big Deborah of a chapter. It's a Queen Bee chapter, everybody!

READER BE WARNED THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS THE FOLLOWING:
Me attempting to string together all of my Queen Bee headcanons into something vaguely coherent
Depictions/discussions of toxic, unhealthy, even kinda predatory (if you look at it in a certain way) relationships
Me earning that Graphic Depictions of Violence tag with all the blood/gore
A couple instances of hematophagia (blood-drinking)
A drugging
A bath scene containing mild/non-explicit nudity of an adult female character (my OC, Mari Sano)

Dads are the absolute worst. Tamao’s dad, especially. 

 

He didn’t used to be. Tamao’s dad used to be her favorite Hero. She used to brag to all of her elementary friends about how fast and awesome her dad was. If any kid picked on her, she’d be confident in telling them that her dad could totally beat up their dad and their dad wouldn’t even know her dad was beating them up until they were on the ground. She was such a daddy’s girl when she was little…

 

…and then he went on one mission, came back with a nasty scar and his Quirk not working anymore. Then it was like a switch flipped. He turned overprotective, started drinking, became miserable all the time and suddenly, her big dream to be a famous musician seemed ridiculous to him, even though he spent her entire childhood encouraging her. So were those words empty all this time?

 

“Feh… ‘apologize’...” Tamao grumbled, taking her anger out on an empty can that got in her way. “For what? I didn’t do nothin’ wrong! You’re supposed to be on my side, Mom!”

 

Clank!

 

“And so what if I’m going to a concert!? Your parents didn’t give you crap for wanting to go to UA, did they? How’s this different?”

 

Clank!

 

“And… God , I wish you’d stop calling my friends ‘fools.’ Way to show your age, dad. Not everyone is a potential villain in hiding, you know! Sorry you have to deal with normal people agai-”

 

Whack!

 

“OW! Ow, ow, ow…” Tamao had missed the can entirely this time and smashed her toe on the side of a dumpster. Tamao stopped, burying her face in her arms against the lid of the dumpster while she rode out the pain. Here seems like a decent enough spot to stop and sulk, she supposed.

 

Tamao sighed, “Why’d he change like this? What happened to being in the front row for my first show? …Why is he like this now?”

 

“...they’re such a pain, aren’t they? Old farts like him…”

 

Startled, Tamao snapped her head up and backed herself up against the wall, staring wide-eyed at the darkness in the alleyway next to where she stopped. Little specks of glow-in-the-dark green hovered in the dark, raising up higher when they knew Tamao spotted them. “Oops, sorry!” the new person laughed. “I didn’t mean to spook ya!”

 

The new person cautiously stepped out into the light and revealed themselves as a girl a little older than Tamao. Those glow-in-the-dark specks were the polish she painted onto her nails, accompanied by a glowstick bracelet that peeked out of the sleeve of her varsity jacket. It was a pretty cool jacket, with a custom wasp-shaped patch sewn onto the back and a smaller wasp on the front. Otherwise, the girl looked like she had just rolled out of bed, the jacket thrown over a baggy t-shirt and even baggier jeans.

 

Her hair was two-toned, a rich royal purple on the outside and a bright neon pink underneath, just barely brushed, perked up adorably at the ends and combed over her left eye. That nearly covered it up entirely and what it couldn’t, a medical eyepatch picked up the slack.

 

Her smile had exhaustion in it but she still had the energy to gab like she just ran into a friend and not a complete stranger. “Hi! See? I’m not scary!” she cheered. “Sorry, I heard you grumbling over there and I so agree. Your dad sounds soooo annoying! Also, is your foot okay? That sounded like it hurt.”

 

“Uh… yeah, but it should be alright, I think…”

 

“Ok, cool! I’m glad!”

 

“Sorry… you kinda startled me,” Tamao said. “What’re you doing lurking in the dark like that?”

 

The girl pressed her hands together and apologized, “Sorry about that! I was taking a different way home through the back alleys and I got a bit lost. Fortunately, I got these!” The girl tugged her sleeve down and showed off her glow-in-the-dark nails.

 

“Ooh, those are cute.”

 

“Thanks!” From one topic to another, like social whiplash, the girl looked over Tamao’s shoulder at the guitar she carried on her back. “You said you were going to a concert? Oh, cool! That explains the guitar! Are you in a band?”

 

“Oh, man, I wish,” Tamao dryly laughed. “Nah, I just heard there was an open-mic night at this bar on the other side of town… uh, The Kantina, I think it’s called? I figured that’d be fun, to play music for an actual crowd.”

 

“Oooh, gonna sneak into a bar?” the girl giggled. “That’s so cool!”

 

“I’m sure gonna try!”

 

“Wanna team up? I know all about sneaking into places I’m not supposed to be at!”

 

Tamao blinked in surprise, not expecting an ally tonight. “Ah… I mean, I appreciate the offer of help but you… really wanna come with me?”

 

“Yeah! Why not?”

 

“Well, we just met for starters,” Tamao said. “I don’t even know what your name is.”

 

“...Ah! Oh crap, I did forget something, didn’t I?” the girl laughed, giving herself a bop on the head for forgetting something as basic as introducing herself. “Sorry, I’m a total space case!” With a playful pose and a wink, the girl introduced herself.

 

“Hiya! My name’s LILY🌺 !!”

 

“...Eh? With the emoji and everything? …How did you make that sound?”

 

“There ya go! Now we’re not strangers no more!”

 

Tamao gave the girl a befuddled look and said, “Okay, c’mon now. That can’t be your actual name.”

 

LILY- …no. Just no. *ahem* 

Lily laughed and admitted, “You caught me! It’s not! It’s my stage name.”

 

Tamao perked up. “Stage name? Oh, are you an idol then?”

 

“Pfft, no,” Lily giggled, disparagingly squeezing her own cheeks. “This squishy face wasn’t meant for meet ‘n greets. No, I moonlight as a DJ. I show up to underground parties and make some music for people to drink and dance to.”

 

“Whoa, that sounds awesome!”

 

“Yeah it is! Total dream job!”

 

“Okay, cool, so that’s your stage name. What’s your actual name then?”

 

To that, Tamao got a bizarre reaction from Lily. Lily’s eye drifted to the ground in thought and her whole being wilted, her brain buffering and drawing a blank on her own name. Then something in her head zapped her and she flinched.

 

Bzzt! Change the subject. Change it. Change it right now. Bzzt!

 

“Hngh!”

 

“Are you okay?” Tamao asked, concerned.

 

“Y-Yeah! Yeah, I’m totally fine!” Lily laughed, rubbing her forehead with the heel of her hand. “Ergh, headache. I need aspirin and electrolytes, stat.”

 

“Aw, man. That sucks.” Tamao looked around the corner and pointed down the street. “I see a convenience store that way. We could probably get something there.”

 

“Aw, thank you! You’re so nice!”

 

“And on the way, you can fill me in on this ‘sneaking into the bar’ plan,” Tamao said with a conspiratorial smirk.

 

“Sure can!” Lily replied, returning that smirk. With that, Tamao and her new partner-in-crime continued on their way, Lily skipping along at Tamao’s pace. “So… what do I call you , new best friend?”

 

-LY⇆MS-

 

Eight. Months.

 

Eight months, one week, three days, four hours, fourteen minutes and fifty-seven… fifty-eight… fifty-nine… fifteen minutes.

 

That was the queen’s rough estimate of how long her sentence has lasted. She could be completely wrong, though. Time gets really funny when you spend it in a specimen jar in a sterilized hellhole like this.

 

The backup has to be dead by now. Unless Number 6 actually managed to successfully escape and take the backup with him, that is. Wouldn’t that be funny? Two queens active at the same exact time. Why has she never thought of that before? But the queen was under the assumption that Big Brother running off with the backup was Plan B, after he confirmed her status. If she was still alive, he’d recover her before he skipped town and the backup would come back to the swarm. That was the plan.

 

He’s late. The useless peasant…

 

He didn’t purposely abandon her here, did he? He better not have ! The queen had absolutely no qualms about turning her beloved big brother into her next host as punishment if that’s the case! It’d be difficult, considering his Quirk, but not impossible! How dare he !?

 

Ah, wait… oh, this is a nice song playing on the radio. How kind of that Sano girl to leave the radio on for her. ‘ Music has charms to soothe the savage breast ’... how very apt of you, Sir Congreve. Surprisingly wise… for a human . If only her savage breast would stay soothed, though. Perhaps you humans should keep this sweet music on loop at all times then.

 

The queen despised humanity as an entirety, but if there was one brand of human she not only tolerated but quite enjoyed, it was humans that went out of their way to create instead of so casually destroy like most of their kind do. Artists, musicians, dancers, chefs, writers... She once made a host out of a busker she saw in a subway tunnel because she enjoyed how he played his kazoo but that’s getting ahead of herself. How silly, infuriating and bleak it is for the race that became the dominant one by virtue of opposable thumbs and sheer, stupid luck to both be this world’s destroyers and the only ones to create such beauty…

 

The sound of the door sliding open and humming snapped the queen from her philosophic melancholy and announced the arrival of the queen’s favorite research assistant: little miss Mari Sano. Tall, fair blonde hair stuffed into a messy bun, ocean blue eyes framed behind delicate glasses, Mari had the kind of beauty that would make an old fairytale witch green-er with envy. Mari moved so quickly and gracefully that she may as well have glided all around the room. That was just a sweet little quirk of hers, not her actual Quirk.

 

That was a form of teleportation. ‘ Blink ’, it’s legally called, according to the young lady herself. As long as she can see where she’s going, she can ‘blink’ from one spot to another within a mile from her original position. Already, she has blinked around the room 3 or 4 times, using that as a shortcut to save a few precious seconds on her tasks. What a nifty little Quirk.

 

Mari found the time in between her humming to say hello. As she should. Such a sweet girl. The queen was quite fond of her. Just like her last two hosts, Mari had a bit of an affinity for music herself. Most of the songs the queen heard her hum were orchestral symphonies and concertos, from enlightened humans from the time before Quirks, like Beethoven, Bach and Mozart. From the context clues the queen could glean from her jar prison, Mari’s weapon of choice was the piano, which fit her taste quite considerably. Every so often, when Mari would stop near her, sometimes the queen would notice her fingers drumming against the countertop in a way similar to plinking keys on a keyboard.

 

Ah… what a perfect host she would be. Perhaps if Big Brother shows his stupid face sometime this century, she could have him… introduce her.

 

“Ah, wait, I know this one. Don’t tell me.”

 

And of course he’s here too. He’s always hanging around, more than a supervisor should. It’s sickening how obvious he’s being, trailing after Mari like a lovesick puppy. Truly pathetic.

 

“I swear I’ve heard this in a movie somewhere,” Mari’s supervisor said. “A really old one. Um… I wanna say it’s… The Nutcracker ?”

 

Mari smiled and answered, “You’ve got the composer right. Tchaikovsky’s Sleeping Beauty Waltz. ”

 

“Ah, that’s it!”

 

“Y’know, a fun fact about that movie, all the music is taken straight from the ballet. Some songs just have lyrics thrown on top.”

 

“There was a ballet?” Mari’s supervisor laughed. “I’m just learning something new everyday around here.”

 

Mari. My dear, please . He is so clearly just trying to get into your pants. This is painful for the queen to have to watch.

 

Not exactly disproving the queen’s point, Mari’s supervisor asked, “Have you tried it before? Ballet, I mean.”

 

“Once. When I was very little,” Mari answered. “But I had two left feet and didn’t get along with the other girls at all. After a while, my mother was too embarrassed by her ‘ill-mannered child’ to keep bringing me, so…”

 

“Aw, that’s a shame. I bet with some practice you’d be really good at it.”

 

Mari shrugged, “Ah, I’m not that attached to ballet. Playing the piano is easier and… less physically taxing.” Mari frowned and muttered, “Or it should be anyway. I’m probably… really rusty at it.”

 

Oh, Mari, my sweet. You’re being far too modest. The queen has seen you ‘practice.’ Oh, how she wished she could hear you play for real~

 

Mari’s supervisor frowned as well and asked, “Because your boyfriend hates it?”

 

“N-No! It’s not like he completely forbids me from practicing,” Mari insisted. “I just don’t… have the time. After coming home, doing the cleaning and cooking and paying the bills ‘n all that…”

 

“Mari…” her supervisor said, now being serious. “Is everything okay at home?”

 

“I’m fine! Really! We’re just… going through a bit of a rough patch. It’s not like Shinya hits me or anything. Really, you don’t need to worry about me at all!”

 

“Abuse doesn’t need to be physical , you know.”

 

“He’s not…” At that point, Mari seemed to catch herself. No, Shinya’s not physically abusive… but he can be pretty nasty to her at times, dismissing her needs and opinions, making hurtful ‘jokes’ at her expense to make himself and his friends laugh, constantly comparing her to other, prettier women… and he has ‘borrowed’ a lot of money from her over the years since they got together. The times when he’s sweet and attentive to her afterwards are nice… but after their most recent argument…

 

“I noticed that your car has been here since yesterday morning,” Mari’s supervisor said. “You didn’t pull an all-nighter here, did you?”

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“No, no, there’s no need to be sorry for that. I’m just worried. Did you and your boyfriend have another fight?”

 

Mari sighed, hugging herself tight. “...I suggested that he seemed to be having some problems controlling his temper after how he freaked out with that kid from the concert he took me to and it would be good for his mental health if he talked to someone… and he got mad and threw me out.”

 

Way to prove your point.

“Way to prove your point.”

Get your own thoughts, you insolent dog!

 

“Well… I’d see this as an opportunity to finally get rid of him. I can tell you’re not happy in this relationship and you should be with somebody who builds you up, not tears you down.”

 

Like who, exactly? You? Gag.

 

“...I know.”

 

“If you need someone to come with you and help you get your stuff from his house, I’m right here.”

 

“Ah, that’s the thing. That’s my house. My name’s on the deed and everything.”

 

“Oh? Well, in that case, if you need someone to help you throw him and his buddies out… I know a bar not too far from here that has a bunch of scary-looking biker guys that’ll probably do it for a few thousand yen.”

 

Mari stifled a laugh and gave him a grateful smile and said, “Thank you. Really. I just… This was my first real relationship. I fought so hard to be with him. My parents were so angry with me for throwing away all their ‘hard work’ to be with some ‘ thug ’... if I just left him…”

 

“I believe that’s called the ‘ sunk-cost fallacy .’”

 

“True,” Mari replied, her smile turning miserable.

 

“Mari, you deserve to be happy too.”

 

“...I know,” Mari sighed. “...I’m going to break up with him. I just need to figure out how to do it.”

 

Mari’s supervisor gave her an encouraging pat on the back. “Sure. Just promise me you won’t pull another all-nighter, okay?”

 

“I won’t. I prom-” Suddenly, her supervisor took her hand and placed a stack of bills in it. “Eh? Oh, n-no, Sakurada! I can’t accept-”

 

“That should be enough for a stay at a capsule hotel tonight. It’ll be a hell of a lot more comfortable than sleeping at your desk.”

 

“Are… are you sure?”

 

“I insist. You’re already developing circles under your eyes. You need some good sleep.”

 

“Oh… thank you! I’m so sorry. I wish you didn’t have to fuss over me so much!”

 

Is this melodrama over yet? The queen can feel every section of her eyes starting to glaze over.

 

“...Anyway! Back to work,” Mari’s supervisor said. “How’s our little patient doing?”

 

Ah, good! Finally! It’s about time! You should know that it’s custom to greet your betters as soon as you enter the same room as them, you impertinent swine! Mari knew this! What’s your excuse?

 

“The queen bee seems to be holding up well,” Mari explained. “Poor thing must be bored in there.” Understatement of the century, my dear. “Not much headway on her specifically, unfortunately,” Mari said, scooping a binder off of the table. “But the police sent their findings this morning. Detective Tsukauchi decided to jump off of his colleague’s original report on the Instant Villain situation from a few years ago. He’d noticed that there was already a person of interest that they believed had ties to the organization responsible for it.”

 

Mari’s supervisor moved over to her side and she pointed to the image in the folder of the mysterious short-haired schoolgirl, internal code name: ‘Bee User.’ “This is the last known image of the girl in question. After this, she’d go missing for the next few years. Detective Tsukauchi wanted the department to use this information and see if there were any further cases of people with similar traits to this girl and Bee☆Pop.”

 

The next subject in the binder was a girl with two-toned purple-and-pink hair, dancing around behind a set of turntables. “There was one more in Naruhata, a DJ that worked the underground rave scene,” Mari continued. “And after that, the police kept finding more past sightings across the country, each one looking eerily similar to someone that went missing in the area.” Each flip of the page, each section in the report had an image to go with it of someone who may or may not have carried the curse of Queen Bee.

 

“Osaka…” A eyepatch-wearing girl in a maid outfit, handing out fliers in front of a honeybee-themed maid cafe.

 

“Kyoto…” A miko with long hair that concealed half of her face, tending to her shrine but still finding the time to stop and smell the flowers.

 

“Hiroshima…” A salaryman with an eyepatch over his left eye and a gaudy bee-patterned tie.

 

“Fukuoka…” A young lady walking around a festival with her friends, in a bright yellow flower-and-bee patterned kimono.

 

“Sapporo…” A eyepatch-wearing bartender that may or may not have spotted the person taking his picture.

 

“Yo… ko…” This image made Mari come to a disturbed pause.

 

…A child. An elementary school-aged child, standing at a crosswalk with an eyepatch over her left eye and a cutesy bee charm dangling from her backpack. That the queen would target someone so young…

 

“Ah… that’s… horrifying,” her supervisor murmured.

 

“Oh, that poor girl…” Mari sighed. “...unfortunately, there’s more.” Mari flipped to the next page, marked by a large, very official looking seal. “One of the staff in the archives had a thought and sent an inquiry to an international missing persons registry… and that pretty much tripled potential bee user sightings.”

 

In the time since Quirks manifested, the queen made use of the freedom sentience gave her to see the world through the eyes of many, many hosts. She played backup guitar for an American country singer, danced in the Bolshoi Ballet, did some time in a British a cappella troupe, assisted a stage magician in Las Vegas, foolishly agreed to be a muse for an Italian painter, killed him, kept the painting for a time, left the painting in an unmarked storage unit before she switched to a new host, served as a sous-chef in a restaurant in Paris… and all the while, still making sure to bring her employer that precious data he wanted so much.

 

Eventually, Mari got to the end of the binder. “The earliest instance they could narrow it down to comes to a Hounan Fan, a woman from Qing Qing City who appeared shortly after the birth of the first recorded Quirk user.” This image depicted a lovely young lady in an elegant black gown and a heavy black veil that draped down over her face, spotted in an empty alley somewhere. Maybe she saw the camera, maybe she didn’t. It was hard to tell, not being able to see her face.

 

“Unfortunately, anything about her has been lost to time. There’s no way of telling if she was the original user that was born with this Quirk… or just the bee’s first victim.”

 

Ah, there’s something! Inspired, Mari’s supervisor supposed, “Well, if the bee is a runaway Quirk, then she may have genetic markers in her DNA that match Hounan Fan’s. We’ll just need to find a way to get in touch with any descendants she has. But let’s worry about her first.”

 

You shall not put your filthy paws upon the queen, you disgusting creature!

 

“But how will we go about doing that? The queen is our only specimen. We could accidentally kill her if we’re not careful.”

 

Thank you , Mari!

 

Mari’s supervisor hummed in thought. “Well… it seems like she has eggs to spare in her thorax,” he theorized. “If we could get a clutch, we could incubate them and get DNA samples there?” He smiled down at the bee in the jar and added, “And don’t you worry, little lady. We’ll be as minimally invasive as we possibly can.”

 

…

 

Mari flipped the binder closed and left it on the end of the countertop. “If you think so, Sakurada-san.”

 

…

 

“Then I’ll go spread the word to the rest of the team. Sano, in the meantime, could you get some tools prepared for me?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

“Thank you, Mari.”

 

With that, the duo split up to tackle their own assigned tasks.

 

…alright, you know what? That’s enough.

 

The queen has entertained these oversized vermin for quite long enough and clearly, that brainless serf of hers isn’t coming any time soon. The queen shall be damned before she allows these mouth-breathing cretins to take what doesn’t belong to them.

 

As a… far less-enlightened past human once said, ‘If you want a thing done well, do it yourself.’

 

Mari returned with a rolling tray of freshly-sterilized surgical instruments and left them beside the door. They should be ready for whatever procedure the research team is going to perform, whether they’re doing it tonight or the next morning. In the meantime, with nothing better to do, Mari started the hunt for any descendants of this Hounan Fan character…

 

…only to quickly find out how impossible that would be. Simply looking up the name in the missing persons registry turned up nothing. ‘Hounan Fan’ may very well be a pseudonym. What she did find, however, was that Hounan Fan had become something of an urban legend back in her home city. Similar to the Kuchisake-onna of Japanese urban legend, she would prowl the back streets at night and snatch up unsuspecting passersby. Where she took them, no one knew for sure. The legend had evolved over the years and many wild details were added on the more it was told.

 

That… helped absolutely nothing in identifying her. Back to the missing persons registry then. She’ll have to do this the hard way, searching through each report from that time period. Maybe something in one of the reports might point to a potential match.

 

Mari’s supervisor came back a little later in the evening to inform her that the egg extraction procedure would take place in the morning and in exchange, Mari shared what little progress she made on her end. Her supervisor left her to her research, after insisting one more time that she clock out at a normal time and spend the night at a capsule hotel… a warning that she inevitably failed to heed.

 

As the evening dragged on into the late hours of the night, Mari failed to make much headway. As is expected for the era just around the dawn of Quirks, the missing persons registry for that time period was lengthy . At one point, she thought she caught something about a Jane Doe that was found in an abandoned theater filled with drained corpses. The Jane Doe seemed to have suffered ocular trauma and according to her autopsy, most of her brain was chewed up. Unfortunately, her body was so dehydrated that it was practically mummified and whatever got to her brain practically devoured her from the inside out… rendering her unidentifiable.

 

“Argh, come on!” Mari groaned and rubbed at her eye in exhausted frustration. Every time she thought she was getting somewhere, there was always a road block… this will have to do though. Maybe someone over in Qing Qing City would have records on this Jane Doe and would be willing to share them. It would be a start. By the time they respond, the queen’s DNA will be mapped out and they could compare notes.

 

Mari typed up a draft for the email they’d send in the morning, sleepily stumbling through it and making a typo here or there. This would have to go through someone who could translate it into Mandarin before it goes anywhere so a few sleepy spelling mistakes wouldn’t hurt anything right now. Her eyelids fought her every step of the way. What time is it anyway? Looking down at the clock on her laptop read back 8:50 PM. Oh… it’s almost time to clock out, huh?

 

…well… she’s got some time left before she has to leave… for the capsule hotel… and nothing to do…

 

…a brisk 10 minute nap wouldn’t hurt…

 

Mari rested her chin in her hand and surrendered to the siren call of sleep.

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

…now.

 

Ordinary Quirkless octopi are intelligent enough to free themselves from jars, so it stands to reason, having sentience practically on par with humans, that the queen should be able to do the same. After a whole lot of flailing made even more difficult simply due to how heavy her abdomen was, the queen was able to swim up to the top of the jar and stick her legs in the gap between the jar and the lid. With a few good heaves, she was able to loosen the lid enough that a good smack would knock it off and free her. Finally, she can put this ball-and-chain to good use.

 

Using her abdomen as a pendulum of sorts, the queen knocked into the side of the jar. Once, twice, three times. On the fourth, she hit the side hard enough to tip it up and balance on the edge of its base and with a fifth hit, she knocked it over entirely, flinging the lid across the counter and spilling the solution she had been suspended in for the last few months.

 

The sound made Mari flinch but with a yawn, she went back to her ‘nap.’ Good, good. Good girl, Mari. You get your sleep. You’ll need it.

 

Hindered by her own body, the queen crawled across the counter towards her new host, careful not to make a sound that would wake her. There was a pretty significant drop between the counter and the desk. The queen could make it if she threw herself off the edge but that would wake Mari and she would just wind up in the jar again. Fortunately, Mari left that binder filled with the queen’s old hosts right at the edge of the counter. The queen wedged herself under the cover of the binder and crawled forward until gravity took over and flipped it over, tapping against the desk and creating a makeshift ramp.

 

…ah, ‘Hounan Fan.’ What a blast from the past. The queen so sorely missed her voice.

 

Crawling down the ramp, over the image of her very first host, the queen dragged herself over to Mari, watching her, making sure she was indeed asleep. Mari didn’t respond to the experimental headbutts the queen gave her, giving her the go ahead to strike. 

 

The queen cautiously climbed up Mari’s arm, onto her face and wiggled underneath her glasses to get access to her eye. It was the clatter of her glasses hitting the desktop that woke Mari up and the first and last thing her left eye saw was a faceful of bee.

 

The queen may not have a stinger like her children do… but she still has her mandibles.

 

The building was practically empty at this point and the room they were in was sound-proofed. No one heard Mari’s screams of terror and agony. No one came to save her.

 

-MS?⇆LY-

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...supply…”

 

“...data…”

 

“...illai…”

 

“Good wor…”

 

“...in the repor…”

 

“In that case…”

 

“...n’t that right, Lil…”

 

“...”

 

“...ly?”

 

“...”

 

“Li…?”

 

“What is…?”

 

“I don’t… ld on… Hey!”

 

“…”

 

“ Tachibana! ”

 

Bzzt! “Aghk!” 

 

Lily pressed her hand to her left eye to keep blood from dripping down onto the notes she was taking and clumsily snatched a napkin from her lunch tray. “Sorry, sorry! I was listening, I swear!” she sheepishly giggled, drying up the blood and hiding the bloodied napkin in the empty fry container. “My bad, I just got… ergh, wicked brain fog. Hard to focus on anything…”

 

“Is that right? Thoughts, Number 6?”

 

“I think it’s vessel wear-and-tear. You said you had this body for a while, right Queenie? I know I’ve been working with you for about a year now.”

 

“Yeah… I think it’s been… 4-5 years? Maybe 6? Blergh, I can’t math right now… ugh, I was really careless with this body,” Lily sighed. “It does feel like it’s getting crowded in here… maybe it’s time to move …”

 

“See to it that it happens,” Lily’s employer said. “As one of the main coordinators in Naruhata, we need you at max capacity.”

 

“You got it, Mr. Boss Man.”

 

“Don’t you worry, boss. I’ll keep Lily on track and we’ll get this issue sorted out.”

 

“Good. In the meantime, the data remains the top priority.”

 

“I’ve got a sale lined up for tonight. Should be able to send you the results after the drug goes through his system.”

 

“Excellent. I’ll leave you to it.”

 

With that, Lily and Number 6’s employer left the call, allowing the two to speak directly.

 

“So, Queenie, how’re we going to go about getting you a new body?”

 

Lily took a sip from her drink and muttered, “I need to find a potential host first.”

 

“You can’t just grab some rando off the street?”

 

“...well, sure, yeah. I could…” Lily sneered. “But that’s just lazy. And how would I even know I like them if I just grabbed anybody for the job?”

 

“What about Kazoo Guy?”

 

“He was a special exception.”

 

“Yeah, I’m sure he was.”

 

“Hey now, I’ve been at this for waaaaay longer than you. Don’t you go questioning my methods, ya young whippersnapper!” Lily teased. “I know exactly what I’m doing. Besides, I think I have someone in mind already~”

 

“Care to share?”

 

“Well, her name is-”

 

“Lily?”

 

Hearing her name, Lily dropped her torso to the table to cover her notes, hung up on Number 6 and plucked an earbud out. “Oh my god, Tamao, hi!!!” she cheered, pretending like she wasn’t nearly caught. “What’re you doing here?”

 

“My sports club meeting wrapped up early so I figured I’d come hang out here for a bit.”

 

Brrring! Decline.

 

“Ooh, you do sports?”

 

“Yeah. I have an enhanced agility Quirk so I thought it would make sense to use it there. I was hoping I could join a music club while I’m at it, but my dad is being really weird about it lately.”

 

“Oh, you totally should! You’re a stellar musician!”

 

“Aha, thanks!”

 

Brrring! Decline.

 

Huh. Was that the same number? Tamao shrugged and asked, “What’re you working on?”

 

“Ah, just boring paperwork for my day job.”

 

“‘Day job?’”

 

“Yeah. I opted out of high school. My folks insisted that I get a ‘ job’ job, since apparently working on my computer producing music all day doesn’t count.”

 

“Aw, man. I hope it at least pays well.”

 

“Sure does! I do data entry for Onomura Pharmaceuticals so they pay the big bucks!”

 

“Good to hear! That’s gotta make the havoc you wreak on your sleep schedule worth it,” Tamao joked, setting her tray right next to Lily’s. Remembering the bloodied napkin she had hidden, Lily casually flung her empty fry container over her shoulder. “...the heck was that all about?”

 

“Totally nailed it! Didn’t even need to look!” Lily laughed, ignoring the angry shout from whoever her trash had just struck in the head.

 

Tamao smothered her laugh behind her hand. This Lily sure is a strange one. Funny in a really cute way… but still really strange.

 

Brrring! Decline.

 

“Uh, is that a call you need to take? They seem like they’re really trying to get a hold of you…”

 

“Nah, it’s just a telemarketer,” Lily lied, switching her phone off entirely and stuffing it into her pocket. “A really persistent, really obnoxious telemarketer.” The second Tamao looked away to get a handful of fries, Lily subtly flipped her notebook closed and gave her new best friend her full attention. “So, what store d’you wanna look at first?”

 

“Mmm?” Tamao swallowed her bite and replied, “Nah, it’s cool. If you’ve got paperwork to do, I don’t mind just hanging out until you're done.”

 

…oh, that silly girl. 

 

Lily laughed and said, “No, it’s so totally fine! I’m never too busy to hang out with you!”

 

Saying that got Tamao to smile, shyly dusting the salt off of her hands. “Aw, shucks… but really, you don’t have to put off your work just for m-”

 

“Hey!” Then the empty fry container came back, clutched tight in the fist of the consequences of Lily’s actions. “Does this belong to one of you brats?”

 

Tamao was spared the man’s wrath, seeing as she had a fresh container on her tray so he glared directly at Lily instead. “...ah…” Lily stammered and bizarrely attempted playing the ‘foreigner’ card. “<S-Sorry… I don’t speak Japanese…>”

 

“Then why do you have a Japanese accent?”

 

“<...well… that’s… that’s because…>”

 

Screw it. Lily snatched her notebook off the table and chucked her drink directly at the man’s face, momentarily stunning him long enough for her to shoot up from her seat, grab Tamao’s hand and bolt.

 

“Ah! My lunch!”

 

-

 

“You owe me some new fries.”

 

“What? The bubble tea doesn’t make up for it?”

 

“It’s a nice gesture… but those were some tasty fries.”

 

“Dang it!”

 

After losing the guy by hiding in a nearby store, Tamao and Lily spent the rest of their mall outing together. Lily treated Tamao to some ‘sorry-about-your-lunch’ bubble tea, they hit up a picture booth, visited an old store that was turned into an arcade and stopped at any stores that struck their fancy. In between, the two kept each other entertained with small talk, entertaining anecdotes about people in their life and sharing music between each other.

 

At one point, Lily saw a store crawl into view and directed Tamao’s attention to it. “Ah! Tama-chan, look! Let’s check that one out!”

 

Tamao raised an eyebrow. The store looked violently ‘kawaii’, spilling out the seams with ‘corporate mascot moe’ merchandise that seemed pretty past their age range. “That one? Isn’t that store for tweens?”

 

Lily replied with an embarrassed chuckle. “Well… yeah, kinda. But there’s still some really cute stuff in there.”

 

No arguing that . “Yeah, I suppose so.”

 

Lily pulled out the trump card, pleading with her best puppy dog eye. “Please~? Pretty please~? Pretty, pretty please with sugar on top please~?”

 

“Okay, okay,” Tamao relented with an amused sigh. 

 

“Yay!!”

 

‘Geez, how is this girl older than me?’ Tamao thought as Lily dragged her by the arm into the store.

 

Fortunately, neither girl was allergic to the color pink. If they were, this store would’ve set off a reaction of some kind. For the most part, Tamao just trailed after Lily as they paced around the store, curiously examining the trinkets that hung off the walls and shelves. Lily, however, had more of a purpose. Following her around revealed a facet of Lily’s personality that she didn’t necessarily hide from Tamao but didn’t get to show yet: Lily was a massive otaku. Her hyperfixation of choice? Virtual idols.

 

This was revealed when all of a sudden, Lily gasped in delight and reached up to the top of one shelf, snatching a box off of it. “Aaaah, oh my god!!!” Lily squealed, excited over her find. “Tama-chan! Look, look!”

 

In Lily’s clutches was a Miko Hatsuna figure, a leftover from a series made to promote the Hanami season. Her twintails were colored pink instead of their standard green, matching the strawberry print on her spring dress and the ribbon woven into the picnic basket she held. Miko held her arm out to whoever was looking at her, inviting them to join her for a picnic under the cherry blossoms with a sweet smile.

 

“Oooh, she looks so adorable!”

 

“Isn’t she!?” Lily held the box to her chest and lamented, “Ah, she’s so cute! I want her so bad! Argh, I hate being broke.”

 

“What d’you mean? I thought you said your day job pays well.”

 

“It does, but now that I have a ‘job’ job, my folks insist that I use my paycheck to contribute to bills and stuff…”

 

“Aw, lame! Having to adult as a teen must suck so hard!”

 

“It does! I don’t know how they do it!” Lily agreed, reluctantly returning Miko to her shelf. “Forgive me, Miko-chan. In another life, maybe…”

 

“She might still be there when you get the money.”

 

Lily crossed her fingers and said, “I hope so.” Once again switching topics fast enough to break someone’s neck, Lily reached up and tapped the abandoned figure’s box and said to Tamao, “Oh, y’know, I used to make some of my own music on her program. It was a few years ago so they probably updated it since and rearranged everything…”

 

“Really? I was always kinda curious about how that worked.”

 

“They make it super easy to upload songs from the program… but it’s really tough to get noticed, actually,” Lily laughed. “I only managed to get a couple songs put on my channel before I gave up on it.”

 

Tamao perked up and dug her phone out of her bag. “Do you remember what the name of your channel was?” she asked. “I’m curious. I wanna hear what you got to do.”

 

“You do?” 

 

“Yeah!”

 

Lily beamed and squeezed in, leaning over Tamao’s shoulder, close enough to make her blush. “It’s… aha, I was super creative with my lyrics back in middle school but not when it came to my own username, so I just… named it after myself. It’s called Yuri-” Bzzt! “Aghk!” Beset upon by another ‘migraine,’ Lily clutched at her ‘eye’ and yanked herself back.

 

“Is it your head again?” Tamao asked, already digging through her bag for the bottle of ibuprofen she had stuffed in there.

 

“Yeah… ergh, stupid headache,” Lily sighed, managing to swipe away the little trickle of blood and rub the red smear off her fingertip before Tamao could catch it when she placed a pill in Lily’s palm. “Thank you, you’re so nice!” Lily knocked the pill back and washed it down with a boba-less sip of her tea. “Eh, it’s not a big deal anyway,” Lily sadly joked. “I haven’t touched that thing in years and… my music wasn’t even that great. Not compared to what I do now. It’d be pretty cringey. I wouldn’t be surprised if my account got shut down from inactivity.”

 

“Aw, that sucks,” Tamao sighed. “But hey, if you happen to find any old files of your music on your computer, I’d really be interested in hearing them!”

 

“Pssh- nah,” Lily answered, moving on from the figure to the keychains hung underneath. “My middle school stuff really sucked. But if you wanna hear my music, you should follow me to my other job one of these nights. You ever been to a rave before?”

 

“A rave? No.”

 

“It’s… kinda like a rock concert! All the lights are off but there’s lasers and glowsticks everywhere and the music is just so much fun to dance to,” Lily explained. “You’d have fun! I won’t let you not have any fun! Pinky promise! …Ah!” Lily plucked off one of the keychains she was looking at and held it up for Tamao to see. It was a hard-boiled Gudetama. “Look, it’s you!”

 

Gude tama … Tama o…

 

“Hardy har, very funny,” Tamao sarcastically sneered back which got a cheeky giggle from Lily. “In that case…” Tamao leaned down to look at the collection of cutesy keychains herself and came back up with a mischievous Kuromi. “Then this is you!”

 

“I’m Kuromi? You really think so?”

 

“Yeah. I think out of all the characters here, the only one who would help a complete stranger sneak into a bar and throw things at people for… any reason really, would be Kuromi,” Tamao confidently declared.

 

Lily laughed and plucked the keychain from Tamao’s hand. “Then it’s decided!” she declared. “I’ll buy these! You keep Kuromi and I keep Gudetama?”

 

Tamao grinned and answered, “Yeah! Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of Kuromi for-” Then her phone started to buzz in her hand and all of her cheer melted off. “Oh my god…” she groaned, turning her phone over in her hand. “Please be Mom, please be Mom, please be- damn it!”

 

“Your dad?”

 

“Yeah… I better go take this.”

 

“No worries! I’ll be at the counter.”

 

Tamao reluctantly dragged herself out of the store and waited until she cleared the entrance before accepting her dad’s call. “Hi… I literally just said ‘hi.’ That’s not me having an attitude… For the love of- Hi!!! Is that better? …Well at least, now it makes sense for you to be mad at me… Fine, fine, I don’t wanna fight about something so petty already. What is it? What? What’s going on?” 

 

Tamao opened her mouth to respond to her father’s point but checked her phone’s clock. “Ah. I guess not… My sports club got out a little early. I’m at the mall… Hanging out with a friend… No, I’m not gonna put her on the phone! You don’t need to interrogate all of my friends! …We were just walking around and window-shopping, you control freak! Don’t make it sound like we were doing drugs or something… ugh, alright, alright! I’ll head straight home. Happy? …yeah, love you too. Bye.”

 

Tamao’s dad just had to ruin all the fun, didn’t he? Typical dads. Tamao dragged her fingers down her face and gave an irritated groan before she was jostled around by Lily in her attempt to clip Kuromi to Tamao’s bag. “Aw, you’re leaving?” Lily lamented.

 

“Yeah… my dad wants me home,” Tamao miserably answered. “But maybe… maybe next weekend we can hang out again?”

 

“Yeah! Absolutely, we can!”

 

Lily wrapped Tamao up in the biggest bear hug she could manage, dispensing all her affection in playfully manhandling her bestie a bit before she let her go. “Bye, bestie! Love you!!” Lily cheered as Tamao started off, offering one last heart-hands for the road, a gesture Tamao whole-heartedly returned.

 

…huh. Tamao suddenly noticed that her cheeks felt really warm… nah… a girl as pretty as Lily? There’s no way she’d… Well, they have been talking for a while now… and Lily hasn’t mentioned any boy that she was interested in… eh… a girl with a crush can certainly dream anyway…

 

Lily continued on her merry way, stuffing the Gudetama bauble into the pocket of her jacket and exchanging that for her phone, finally turning it back on, plugging her earbuds back in and having a good laugh at all the missed call notifications she got. Big Brother is gonna be soooo mad~!

 

Before Number 6 could speak, Lily cheerily announced from her end of the line, “Hi, I’m back!!”

 

“Why. In the fuck . Did you think it was okay to hang up on me!?”

 

“Oh, relax, would ya? You’ll give yourself an ulcer. You’re way too young for those,” Lily scoffed, ducking into a new store. “I was vetting a potential new host. The one I was telling you about before she showed up and made it kinda awkward to talk about.”

 

“...tch. Fine. An acceptable answer… this time. So, verdict?”

 

“Outlook looks promising,” Lily replied. “She’s sweet, friendly, funny, smart but not too smart, she and her dad don’t get along so she’d be more willing to hang out with me than him, she apparently does sports at her school so you know all that exercise is doing wonders for her heart… and she plays guitar! So bonus points! I like her…” With a sinister smile, Lily said, “...I wanna keep her~”

 

“So she’s the one?”

 

“Yup. She should do quite nicely.”

 

“Cool. So how does this big switch work exactly?”

 

-LY(YT?)⇆MS?-

 

Consciousness slowly seeped back into Mari’s being.

 

How… how long was she out for?

 

Urgh… her head hurt something fierce…

 

For some reason… she couldn’t see out of her left eye…

 

For a while, Mari lay on the floor, staring up at the stucco ceiling of the lab. When her head wasn’t hurting her, her whole being felt fuzzy. Eventually, her brain told the rest of her body to get up. It hurt just sending those signals from her brain to her muscles. She wasn’t even sure if she had that thought herself or…

 

Slowly, Mari shifted where she lay. She intended to just push herself up but something solid under one of her palms made her give up on that plan, instead simply rolling over to awkwardly rest on her unobstructed hand and knees… whoa, that is a lot of glass. Jagged shards glittered across the floor, remnants of beakers and test tubes that… exploded? Or were collateral damage in a struggle?

 

Despite her left half of her vision being blacked out, Mari could see a red splatter forming on the floor in the spot where her left eye would be looking. Still numb to everything, Mari unthinkingly lifted her hand to touch her eye. She was expecting to feel the firm roundness of her eyeball through the lid… and then her finger slid in up to the third knuckle and reality crashed into her at breakneck speed.

 

…gone? Her eye is… gone?

 

Mari has never in her life ever wondered what the inside of her eye socket feels like and yet, now she knows. It felt warm… and slick… and she thought she felt something… fibrous in there… capillaries? Her optic nerve? Something else?

 

Then she felt it, a deep buzzing inside her skull.

 

Mari dry-heaved at the sensation, tears of panic and pain pouring down the right side of her face. What is happening? Why is this happening? The bee!? How did this happen? How did the bee get in there!? Oh god, how is she going to get her back out? What is she supposed to do? Why didn’t someone come to save her!? 

 

Breathe.

 

A thought that didn’t belong to Mari and yet one that her body obeyed without question. Even after a few rounds of deep breathing, a panicked confusion still tingled through her system but it was manageable enough for Mari to feel an unwarranted sense of stability. Aside from the missing eye…

 

Mari confusedly dragged her bloodied hand through her hair. At some point during the struggle, she lost her hair tie… and her glasses. Where did her glasses go? The vision in her right eye was all blurry without them. 

 

Looking up, Mari thought she saw a dark blob next to her desk chair that may have been her glasses. Attempting to get up proved to be risky. Her constantly obstructed hand was starting to gain feeling in it again, sharply protesting her putting any pressure on it and this made Mari slip face-forward into the floor again, further cutting her clothes and her face on tiny shards of glass. But Mari was far too out of it to truly let the pain stop her.

 

Eventually, she was able to drag herself back over to her desk and through the blur, the blob became more recognizable as her glasses. Trying to pick them up with her good hand, however, only resulted in half of her glasses coming back up with her, the whole thing perfectly snapped in half at the bridge. It was the right half of her glasses she picked up, so it should still be helpful in some way. It would just keep a hand occupied.

 

The first thing she looked at with the useful half of her glasses was the hand that kept finding something in its way… and she found out what it was. A huge shard of glass sticking out of her palm. It felt like just looking at it made all the pain that she was too numb to feel rush right back.

 

Now, Mari, my sweet. Panicking will not help you any. You know exactly how to treat this.

 

…y-yeah. Yes, she did. There’s a first aid kit in here. On the other side of the room. Mari just needed to get up. Mari was already by the desk, so she used that as leverage to pull herself up to her feet. She was still rather unsteady, so she kept a hand to the desk and countertop as she shuffled through the glass covered floor towards the cabinet that she vaguely remembered the first aid kit being in, lightly smearing her own blood as a trail beside her.

 

Mari clumsily flung the cabinet door open, grabbed the white, hard plastic box all the first aid supplies were in and shuffled over to the big metal table in the middle of the room, leaning her upper body against it as she rifled through the kit, looking for what she’d need. 

 

First thing that needed to go was the shard of glass. Mari stuck the collar of her shirt between her teeth, gripped the shard between her fingers and slowly and painfully pulled it out. Fortunately, it wasn’t in as deep as she feared and one good firm pull removed it, leaving a crimson-soaked gash behind.

 

…ah, you’ll have to forgive the queen and her poor manners. She’s been stuck in that jar for months, that bland, flavorless solution she was floating in being the only thing maintaining her the whole time… there’s good sugar in that blood and the queen’s sweet tooth aches. Perhaps… just a taste?

 

Mari was too far out of it to question this notion and gave the queen what she asked for, bringing the oozing, bloody gash to her mouth and sucking up a good mouthful of coppery, warm scarlet nectar, enough to stain her teeth red. She continued until a buzz in her skull made her stop.

 

Thank you, Mari, my dear. But you’ll need that blood far more than the queen will. After all, you two are now one and the same. The two of you will go find a hive to take shelter and raise a new swarm in soon enough.

 

“...mhmm…” Mari hummed, trying to lick the blood from her teeth.

 

Now, shall we wrap this up and get a move on? Mari and the queen will need to be gone before anyone notices-

 

Kchk. “Hey, Ms. Star Employee. I thought I told you to go to a capsule hotel for the night. Honestly, I really worry about you sometimes, Mari. Well, if you need it, I brought some cof- FUCKIN’ CHRIST!!! ”

 

The clatter of a pair of styrofoam coffee cups hitting the floor made Mari wearily turn her head in the direction of the door, where her supervisor was standing, taking in the sudden scene of pure chaos that he walked in on. “Wh-What the hell happened in here!?”

 

Mari emitted a soft, confused, “Huh?”

 

Her supervisor noticed the smears of blood on the floor and dragged around the room, quickly putting two-and-two together and scrambled over to Mari. Without her hair tie, her left eye was covered by her hair so he failed to notice the missing eye, instead focusing on her hand. “Oh, shit. Um, hold on…”

 

Mari’s supervisor muscled into her area, trying to take over first aid duties and… talking. About what? Mari didn’t know. She could hardly focus. Between his babbling and the queen’s buzzing… she was handling it just fine on her own. Him fussing over her this much felt unnecessary… honestly… it was so…pathetic… so desperate… so cringey… so embarrassing…

 

“...so goddamn noisy…”

 

“Huh? What’d you say, Mari?” Mari didn’t respond, falling silent again and forcing her supervisor to go back to gently handling her wounded hand, even more concerned than before. “Ah… this looks… it might need staples. I’m not sure.” Mari’s supervisor fished his phone out of his pocket. “I better call an ambulance, just to be sure.”

 

Now, now, there’s no need to involve any authorities! Without warning, Mari’s hand reached out, snatched the phone from her supervisor’s hand and flung it to the other side of the room, where it would strike the wall hard enough to shatter the screen. Shocked by the sudden out-of-character action, her supervisor muttered, “...M-Mari?”

 

After a moment of silent thought, Mari plucked off her employee badge and shoved it back into her supervisor’s hands. “I quit,” she murmured.

 

“‘ Quit? ’”

 

Without explanation, Mari pushed herself up off the table and staggered towards the door, clumsily bumping into the tray of surgical tools she brought in the night before, the queen using this action to cover Mari swiping a scalpel from the tray on her way out.

 

“ Mari!? ” Her supervisor chased her out of the room and watched her stumble down the hallway towards the front entrance. “Mari, wait! Where are you going!?”

 

A mumbled answer came back. “Home.”

 

“‘ Home? ’” To her crappy boyfriend? But why?

 

Behind him, back in the lab, something hard and plasticky struck the floor and he looked back to see an empty specimen jar roll to a stop amongst the shards of glass. That… was the jar Queen Bee was in, wasn’t it? Then where’s…

 

All at once, it clicked for him and his blood froze in his veins. Mari’s supervisor sprinted forward, chasing after the runaway Quirk running away with his assistant. “ Mari! ” He caught up to her and caught her by the elbow. “Mari, hold on! We-”

 

Her supervisor didn’t get to say any more than that. He managed to catch a quick glimpse of Mari’s empty eye socket when she whirled around on her heel and stuck her scalpel into his jugular.

 

-M?⇆YT?-

 

Tama-chan:

Hey.

 

LILY 🌺 :

ヾ(☆▽☆)

HI TAMA-CHAN!!!! <3

HOW’S YOU BB?

 

Tama-chan:

Not great. :(

 

LILY 🌺 :

NOOOOO (;﹏;)

Is there something I can do to make you feel better?

 

Tama-chan:

Had a pretty heated argument with my dad.

Can I hang out with you?

I don’t wanna be at home right now.

 

LILY 🌺 :

YES!!1

YESYESYES!!!

I was just getting ready to go to my night job!

Come with me!!!

We’re going to have a rave at some abandoned temple out in the boonies!

You’ll have sooooo much fun, I promise!!!!

Pretty plz!!!

Pretty pretty plz!!!

🙏🙏🙏

 

Tama-chan:

LOL

That sounds like the perfect distraction actually.

Okay! I’m in! 👍

 

LILY 🌺 :

YAYYYYYY!!!!!

(ᗒᗨᗕ) I’M SO EXCITED!!!!!

I still gotta get my outfit together…

Do you know the convenience store by the station?

 

Tama-chan:

Yup. 👍

 

LILY 🌺 :

Wanna meet me there?

 

Tama-chan:

Okie doke! 

 

LILY 🌺 :

Great!

Go in and get something to eat and a bottle of water while you wait!

You’ll need it!

(✿˵ ꒡3꒡˵)

Can’t wait to see you!!!!

 

Tama-chan:

(*´∀`*)

 

“Eeeehehehee, she’s too frickin’ cute!” Lily squealed, happily kicking her feet as she lay on her bed, reading and rereading Tamao’s texts. It… honestly made her feel really bad about what she was planning to do tonight.

 

Well, that’s what you get for getting attached, isn’t it, Yuriko?

 

Saddened, Lily slumped further down into her bed. She knew this day was coming. She begged for this after a few months into the queen having control over her. She should be happy. Finally, the torment was going to stop. It’s just…

 

“...does it have to be Tamao?”

 

Yes, Yuriko. Yes, it does.

 

“...oh…”

 

Now what will crying accomplish? Dry it up, young lady. The show must go on after all.

 

Lily smeared off the tears that started to form in her eye. “...I better get ready,” she miserably murmured and finally pushed herself up off the bed. Yes, a fine idea, young lady.

 

This part was fun, though. Always has been. Lily rid herself of her grungy, baggy clothes and flung her closet open, replacing all that with an outfit that served her well. Cute and practical for bouncing around a cramped, sweaty venue with sweaty, sloppy drunk and/or high-off-their-ass ravers. A cropped black-and-pink striped tank top, high-waisted shorts, fishnet tights, comfortable techno boots and two heavy wristfuls of brightly colored, clicky-clacky kandi. That was an almost completely American rave exclusive thing, but Lily just couldn’t help herself. All those pretty colors and satisfying brain-itching clicks and jingles… she needed a piece of that for herself.

 

One last finishing touch to her appearance. Using a tube of glow-in-the-dark body paint, Lily added a fresh coat of glowing green to her lips, her eyelid and a little heart painted on to the apple of her cheek. Was this stuff non-toxic? Eh, did it really matter? Lily’s going to die tonight. What’s a little accidental poisoning going to do?

 

Lily grabbed her jacket up from her bed and put it back on, wearing it low on her elbows to give her outfit a winged effect. Lily loved this outfit and how pretty she felt in it. This felt perfect. If this was her last night on Earth, she may as well die being cute and having fun. 

 

….eh, actually the jacket would work better tied around her waist… yeah, like that. That’s better. “...okay. Ready!”

 

Lily went over to her bed and reached underneath it, retrieving a canister of lighter fluid that she had stashed down there for months, just for this specific occasion. Lily unscrewed the cap and flung it off to who-knows-where. Didn’t matter anymore. With that, she tipped the canister out so it poured a trail of lighter fluid behind her as she went from room to room to make sure the whole house got a bit of accelerant.

 

She only just reached halfway through the canister when she got down to the first floor, where the husks of her children’s last few meals lay sprawled out around the living room. Lily addressed two corpses in particular, the ones she propped up on the couch, the previous owners of this house. “Bye, Mama! Bye, Papa!” she cheered, giving the two corpses an affectionate side hug and a splash of lighter fluid over their heads. “I’m headed off to work and I’m going to go hang out with a friend after…”

 

Finally, the canister ran out at the front door. Lily tossed it aside and dug out a box of matches from her jacket pocket. “...and I’m not coming back,” she said, striking a match alight. “It’s been really fun! Thanks for having me! I really felt at home here!”

 

“Take good care of the house for me, ‘kay?” she said and dropped the match.

 

-

 

Dad (derogatory):

Where are you?

It’s way too late for you to be running off like this.

Tamao please

Your mother is worried sick.

I’ll come pick you up wherever you are.

We can talk this out in the morning.

 

“Tch.” As if. Tamao muted her dad’s number and stuffed her phone back into her cardigan pocket. “Leave me alone, you annoying old geezer,” she grumbled and returned to her late-night snack.

 

Behind her, the chime of the convenience store bell preceded a soft voice. “Hi, checking up on you again,” the nice cashier lady said as she stuck her head out of the entryway to check on the middle school girl sitting on the curb. “Your friend hasn’t shown up yet?”

 

Tamao swallowed the bite of her sandwich and shook her head. “No, not yet. But… she shouldn’t be too much longer.”

 

“You can come back in and wait inside if you want,” the cashier offered. “It looks pretty dark and creepy out here.”

 

Tamao picked up the empty water bottle by her feet and after a second of consideration, got back up, at least to stand underneath the glow of the store sign. That way it’d feel a little less creepy but Lily could still find her when she got there.

 

“I can take that for you,” the cashier offered, taking the empty bottle from Tamao and leaning back around the door to put it in the correct recycling bin.

 

“Thanks… uh…” When the cashier came back, Tamao peered at her nametag and referred to her accordingly. “Thanks, Amano-san.”

 

Amano pshawed the use of her last name and said, “Call me Tsuki.”

 

“Thanks, Tsuki.”

 

“Sorry for prying. It’s just that this is the most interesting thing that’s happened all work week. What are you girls going to see?” Tsuki asked.

 

“Well, my friend said she was a DJ and she was going to perform at a rave… somewhere outside of the city tonight,” Tamao replied, bouncing on her heels and working some nervous energy out of her system. “I’m kinda nervous but really excited! I’ve been to rock concerts before but this is gonna be my first rave.”

 

“Oh, cool! I’ve never been either. That sounds like it would be really loud and chaotic.”

 

“Yeah, but thankfully Lily’s bringing me up to be her stage buddy this time so… it might be a bit easier to handle.”

 

“That’s good. Hopefully, it’ll be less overwhelming that way.”

 

Suddenly, Tamao heard the clicking of heels and Lily’s excited shouting coming from down the road. “Ah! That’s her!” Tamao stuffed the rest of her sandwich into her mouth, making short work of it as Tsuki plucked the wrapper from her hand.

 

“Alright, I better head back to work anyway. You girls have fun and stay safe, okay?”

 

Tamao roughly swallowed down the mostly-chewed blob of bread and filling and coughed, “We will! Thanks, Tsuki! You’re awesome!” 

 

The clicking descended upon her and before she knew it, Tamao was being smothered in an aggressively affectionate hug. “Hi!!! I made it!!! How are you!? I missed you! Did you get some good grub in while you were waiting?”

 

“Yeah, I’m good,” Tamao managed to say, despite being squeezed so tightly. “Lemme go, crazy!”

 

“Aw, but you like my crazy~” Lily giggled, pulling back.

 

“Yeah. Yeah, I… do…” Then Tamao got a good look at Lily’s rave gear. “...Wow…”

 

Lily did a spin, showing off her efforts to look a little less grubby than usual and with a coy smile, asked, “Do you like my outfit?”

 

“Yeah… yeah, I really do,” Tamao said with a shy laugh, a blush gracing her cheeks. “And… whoa, your makeup? You look so pretty!” Lily mirrored Tamao’s shy laugh and Tamao picked at the end of her cardigan. “I… I’m probably pretty overdressed for this rave thing, aren’t I?”

 

“Nooo~! You’re so cute!” 

 

Tamao shyly twirled a lock of her hair between her fingers. “No… not really…” 

 

But Lily countered this self-deprecating notion, grabbing her hand and holding it tight in hers. “Yeah you are! Tamao is the cutest girl in the whole world!” Tamao smiled a wobbly, goofy, lovestruck smile. Lily always knew how to make Tamao feel so special. 

 

Glancing down at the hand Lily held, Tamao noticed the veritable collection of beaded bracelets hung over Lily’s wrists. “Whoa, that’s a lot of beads,” she commented. “You could probably dent someone’s skull if you hit them with those on.”

 

Lily laughed, “Yeah, I probably could. Never had to, though. Raves are totally safe spaces. It’s just pretty physically taxing and a lot of people in the crowd are drunk or on psychedelics… which you absolutely do not have to participate in if you don’t want to! The most important thing I want you to do is have fun!” 

 

In the distance, Lily thought she heard the sound of sirens and hurriedly grabbed Tamao, pulling her along behind her. “C’mon! We better get going! I still got my show and people’ll get disappointed if we don’t show up!”

 

“Ah, right! Let’s go!”

 

Lily and Tamao disappeared into the shadowed alleyway, vanishing behind one of the buildings just as a fire engine sped past.

 

-

 

Now this was quite a new experience…

 

They could’ve had this show at a regular club, but an abandoned temple? Something gave Tamao an eerie aura walking through the little compound. It really was abandoned, judging from the length of the grass and how gross the water in the chozu-ya was getting, left to stand there and collect fallen leaves. There’s no way the kami in charge of this temple is okay with this.

 

...or maybe she was? After looking it up on her phone, Tamao discovered that this temple was claimed by Benzaiten, the goddess of all that flows. Water, love, wisdom, wealth and most importantly, music. So that explains why no one has spontaneously combusted yet. She must’ve accepted this rave as some bizarre form of honoring her. 

 

The rave gathered in the main hall, right at Benzaiten’s feet. It was cramped, which somehow made the music even louder, manageable because of the absolute sweetheart that Tamao was following around offering her a spare pair of earplugs. Pretty smoky too. Benzaiten might be okay with that. Smoke flows, ‘n all.

 

The clever few that had heard about this event from hearsay and social media crowded around the turntables, bobbing and swaying to the music. Lucky Tamao got the best seats in the house: right behind the turntables, right next to the DJ herself. Getting to watch Lily in action was amazing. She had clearly come a long way from playing around with virtual idols in middle school. Back spin, beat juggle, beatmatch, beatmix, break, chop, screw, drop, loop, phrase, sample, scratch, slip-cue, it all came so naturally to Lily that she was able to do all that without even looking at what she was messing with and still be able to engage with the crowd, cheering hype and chanting lyrics into the microphone to keep them engaged.

 

Under Benzaiten’s supervision and away from the prying eye of Japan’s super strict laws, the crowd felt encouraged to cut loose, wild dancing, drinking to their heart’s content and occasionally letting their Quirks act as they please, within reason. Property damage was heavily frowned upon but one guy had a Quirk that let him be a human strobe light and his girlfriend had a Quirk that let her be a living fog machine. Those two were very popular that night.

 

Just like Lily promised, this scene seemed very chill and safe… er, well, the exception being this one guy that really tried to coax Tamao out from behind the turntables to dance with him but that got shut down real fast when Lily bashed him over the head with the microphone and he was summarily laughed out of the temple. That was so cool. Lily was such a badass~

 

Somewhere in the corner of the main hall, barely visible amongst the lasers and fog was a guy with a long black ponytail and a ballcap just hanging out and vibing out to the music. That was interrupted a little while in when someone squeezed out of the crowd, found him and shouted a question that was swallowed up by the music. The guy pulled off his hat and used it to conceal whatever conversation they had, just in case they were being watched and after that, the guy and his new friend disappeared, going outside to continue their discussion in private.

 

The new guy was quite the talker. They all are. Nerves, more than likely. You’d think after a while, they’d learn to not talk so much. The dealer is well aware of how illegal this is. Coming up to them asking for a product and talking nonstop is like coming up there wearing a sign around their neck that reads ‘I’M WEARING A WIRE’ in big red letters. And cops are such buzzkills. Number 6 accelerated and came back with the guy's sweater in his hand.

 

“Whoa! What the-”

 

“‘Kay, cool. No wire. We can do business,” Number 6 said, tossing the sweater into the grass. “Good for you! If you were a cop, I’d have to kill ya~! And I’ve already got enough on my plate tonight so having to deal with hiding a corpse on top of that would be such a pain!” He said that like it was a joke, but in truth, it was anything but. 

 

Number 6 settled against the wall and asked, “So, what’s your vice, big guy? I’ve got a little somethin’ for everybody. Something to amp you up, something to mellow you out, something to make you see things…” With a knowing grin, 6 added, “...something to unlock your full potential?”

 

That one hit the nail on the head. The guy fidgeted with his hands and eagerly nodded. “Th-That one!”

 

“Then you, my man, have come to the right guy.” Number 6 beckoned the guy to follow him to a little alcove behind the old administrative building. There he found where he had the big ticket item hidden. Retrieving it from the gap between the walls, he clicked open the lid, revealing the neat line of Trigger vials nestled in the velvet lining of the case like precious gems. “It’ll cost you though. How much is an arm and leg worth to you?”

 

Sadly, even raves must abide by the train schedule, so Lily’s last show wasn’t to last for too long. Around 9 PM, people started to stumble out so they wouldn’t miss the last train for the night and the people that drove themselves there took the hint that the party was over. Lily was sad to see everybody go and could only hope that they enjoyed her and her music enough to last in their memories forever.

 

Tamao ducked down under the turntables and managed to rescue a bottle of water from the waterlogged ice chest tucked under the table without getting water on anything it shouldn’t mingle with. When she stood back up, she was immediately beset upon with an aggressive bear hug and a glow-in-the-dark kiss on her cheek. “EEK!” she squealed with laughter.

 

Lily giggled and hung off of Tamao’s shoulder. “SO!? WHAT DID YOU THINK!?” she ‘said’, her hearing muffled from the violent barrage of wubs she endured during the night. “YOU HAD FUN, RIGHT!?”

 

Tamao pulled the earplugs out of her ears. “YEAH! THAT WAS AWESOME!”

 

That earned Tamao another smooch on the cheek. “YAY!!! I’M SO GLAD YOU LIKED IT!!! I KNEW YOU WOULD!!!”

 

“YOU’VE GOTTA LET ME KNOW WHEN THE NEXT SHOW IS!! I CAN’T WAIT!”

 

There was a melancholic pause from Lily, a sliver of the true Yuriko breaking through before the queen stamped her back down. “ME NEITHER!!!” she cheered. “YOU AND ME ARE GONNA HAVE SO MUCH FUN TOGETHER!!!”

 

“SO, WHAT DO- *ahem* What do we do now?”

 

“PACK UP AND GO HOME TO SLEEP, I GUESS!”

 

Tamao frowned, squeezing her trepidation into the bottle of water in her hand. The only thing waiting for her at home was part 2 of that argument she had with her dad and her mom trying and failing to mediate. No frickin’ thank you. “...I don’t think I wanna go home yet,” she muttered.

 

Lily nodded and suggested, “THEN YOU CAN COME HANG OUT WITH ME AND MY BIG BROTHER FOR A WHILE! HE’S GOT THIS SUPER COOL PENTHOUSE IN THE CITY! YOU SHOULD SEE THE VIEW!”

 

“Oh, that would be cool…” Tamao answered. “...as long as I’m not intruding or anything.”

 

“NAH, IT’S TOTALLY FINE! THERE’S ROOM FOR YOU THERE! AND HE COULD USE SOME SOCIALIZING ANYWAY! MATTER OF FACT-” Lily swiped the water bottle from Tamao’s hand and set it on the table beside them, filling Tamao’s hand with hers. “HE’S RIGHT OUTSIDE! C’MON!”

 

“Ah! A-Alright!”

 

As Lily led Tamao outside, a pair of bees slipped away to enact the queen’s plan, one sticking their stinger into the side of Tamao’s bottle of water and injecting a clear liquid into it, the other ready with a lump of ‘beeswax’ taken from the ‘hive’ to seal the hole. All in a spot that Tamao wouldn’t even notice.

 

Outside, Number 6 was catching any last-minute sales as they wandered their way out. He grabbed the penultimate vial from the case and gave it a little shake. “There you go. Do me a favor and wait about a week before you use that, alright? You’ve gotta let everything marinate for optimal results.” A bold-faced lie. It was fine to use right away. 6 just needed to give himself a buffer since one of his best assets is going to be out of commission for about a week or so.

 

“Sure. Thanks, bro. ‘preciate it!”

 

As his new client ran off to join their group, Number 6 muttered to himself, “And I appreciate all the data you're gonna give us in about a week. Thanks, sucker.”

 

Then he was tackled by a half-deaf, overly-cheerful DJ. “HI, BIG BROTHER!!!”

 

“Ack! Don’t jump on me like that! Get off!” 

 

“YOU MISSED HALF OF THE SHOW!!”

 

“Nah, I could hear you from all the way over here. I think I got the gist of it.”

 

“HA, OKAY THEN, MR. BUSINESS! WELL, I’VE GOT MY-”

 

“WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING!?”

 

“...HAHAHA, ‘CUZ I’M GOING DEAF I GUESS!!! *ahem ahem* Hi!”

 

“Better.”

 

Number 6 looked over Lily’s shoulder at the girl she was dragging around behind her. She didn’t seem like much yet, but he’d become accustomed to her soon enough. “Hey there.”

 

“Hey. What’s up?” Tamao responded, before being pulled into another bone-crushing hug.

 

“This is my bestie, Tamao!” Lily said. “Remember, I’ve been telling you about her?”

 

“Ah, so this is her? Yeah, Lily caught me up to speed.”

 

“Well, Tamao got in a fight with her dad and she needs a place to crash for the night,” Lily explained, sharing a knowing glance with her ‘big brother.’ “She can hang out with us, can’t she?”

 

Number 6 looked Tamao up-and-down, evaluating her. From what Lily told him, she seemed like she’d be a halfway decent host for Queen Bee. Once Tamao (or whatever her name will be after Queen Bee gets settled) learns the ropes… the two of them should work together just fine. Number 6 smiled, sending that knowing look back to Lily and answered, “Yeah, sure. She seems cool. I can make a space for her on my couch or something.”

 

Tamao sighed in relief. “Thank you.”

 

“Yay! Sleepover!” Lily cheered, squeezing Tamao tighter.

 

“Psst! Hey!” A new prospective client snuck his head around the corner of the building, beckoning one of them over. “My friend said I could… ‘get a boost’ from you guys?”

 

“‘Get a boost’?”

 

Tamao didn’t get it but Number 6 did, opening the case back up and grabbing the last vial left in it. “You’re in luck, pal! I’ve got one left!” On his way past, Number 6 said to Lily, “Go pack your equipment up. I’ll catch up.”

 

“You got it, Big Bro!” While Number 6 was busied by the sale he was making, Lily took Tamao’s hand and the two went back to the main hall. If it was anyone else dragging her around everywhere, Tamao would complain. But she had no complaints about holding hands with a really pretty girl all the time.

 

Lily only let go of Tamao’s hand as soon as they crossed the room back to Lily’s setup. Tamao took her water bottle back off the table so it wasn’t in the way and asked, “Is there anything that I can do?”

 

“Yeah, you can take a load off and relax,” Lily teased. “I just gotta unplug stuff. Most of this stuff just folds right up.”

 

“You’re sure?”

 

“Absolutely! You’ve been on your feet for a good few hours, you’ve gotta be tired!” Lily made an insistent handwave gesture with her free hand as she started unplugging stuff. “No worries! I got this!”

 

“...okay. If you insist.” Tamao found a nice spot on the tatami floor and got comfy. With nothing better to do, Tamao watched Lily as she closed up her equipment back into their travel-safe cases, humming whatever tune popped into her head in the meantime. 

 

…ah! It took Tamao a bit to think of what exactly Lily reminded her of but she got it now. The ‘manic pixie dream girl’ trope. Ah, and Tamao fell for it, hook, line and sinker. Not quite how Tamao expected to live her shoujo yuri manga story, but- eugh, what the hell? Tamao had to fight to make her throat swallow that sip. What the hell was that aftertaste? Apparently, bottled water does go bad after all.

 

Finished with her boring task, Lily came back and splayed out on the floor right next to Tamao, laying her head back against Tamao’s thigh. “Hi!”

 

“Howdy,” Tamao replied.

 

“Thank you for coming to my show,” Lily said with a happy smile.

 

“Thanks for harassing me and dragging me along to it,” Tamao teased.

 

“Eh!? Was I harassing you?” Lily gasped, with a semi-heartbroken expression. “I’m sorry!”

 

“I’m picking on you, weirdo!” Tamao laughed.

 

“Oh, good. I’d be so mad at myself if you really thought I was annoying,” Lily sighed.

 

“Annoying? No way! You’re… like a whole different level of energetic, but I like your energy!”

 

Lily smiled and said, “I like your energy too!” Then something occurred to her and she pointed to the statue on the back of the shrine. “Right! Thank you too, by the way… um… uh…”

 

“Benzaiten.”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“That’s her name. Benzaiten,” Tamao answered, trying another sip of her water. Ugh, what is that taste anyway?

 

“Oh! Right! Thank you!” Lily waved at the statue of the temple’s kami and said, “Thanks for letting me play in your shrine and not smiting me, Benten-chan!”

 

Tamao nearly spit out her water laughing. Speaking so casually like that to a god? Does this girl have a deathwish or something?

 

After thirty or so minutes, Number 6 had yet to return from his sale. Tamao had given up on her water after muscling through a few sips and left it abandoned an arm’s length away from her. That’s fine. One sip was all the queen needed.

 

“What’s taking your big brother so long?”

 

Lily shrugged. “He’s probably telling that guy his whole life story,” she snorted. “My big brother just looooves to hear himself talk.”

 

“Ha, you too? I feel that. That sounds a lot like my da-” A shuddering yawn overpowered Tamao, cutting her off.

 

“Getting sleepy?” Lily asked. Tamao made a weary noise and nodded, prompting Lily to push herself up, pull her jacket off of her waist and drape it over her lap. “Sorry my big brother is running his mouth so much,” she laughed. “C’mere, sleepyhead.”

 

…oh. No wonder the boys in her school are so fond of this lap pillow thing. This was… really nice. Bonus points for Lily stroking her hair… but this is a little beyond ‘just friends’ territory, isn’t it? Maybe. This could totally be a platonic gesture. But the way Lily happily showered Tamao in affection made her wonder…

 

Tamao shifted herself so she was looking straight up at Lily’s face. “Lily?”

 

“Hmm?”

 

“...please don’t hate me.”

 

Lily instantly became concerned. “Huh? Hate you!? That’s not possible! You’re my best friend forever, no matter what!”

 

“You mean that?”

 

“Absolutely! Why do you think I’d hate you?”

 

“...I dunno… I might be kinda… weird, I guess…”

 

Lily laughed, “ You’re weird? I’m weird! So we can be two weird peas in a pod!”

 

“Well, I mean…” Tamao squeezed her hands together against her stomach. This part wasn’t fun to do, simply because she didn’t know how someone would react. But she was hopeful with Lily. “...It might be kinda weird… having a crush on another girl…”

 

Lily was struck speechless. The last thing she was expecting was a love confession. “...you… you mean that?”

 

“Yeah. You’re so much fun to be around… you make everything in my life so much more… interesting. You’re so talented, so cool, so pre… so beautiful . And you make me feel like the cutest and luckiest girl in the world for getting to be your friend!”

 

 The queen’s grip on her remained tight but after all these years of wear-and-tear, it had loosened just enough for the real Yuriko’s feelings to slip through. Not in words, but in tears that ran down her cheeks. Tears of water and blood, of euphoric happiness, of hatred towards the queen for controlling her and holding her back, of exhaustion and terror, of pleading for the queen to simply let Yuriko die and do nothing to Tamao, of despair, of remorse and ultimately of acceptance of what was going to happen and pain that of all the people that the queen chose for her next host, it had to be Tamao.

 

Through the tears, Lily smiled and said, “No way! That’s not weird at all!”

 

Seeing Lily cry hurt Tamao’s heart and she reached up to try to dry her tears away. “I’m sorry… please don’t cry…”

 

Lily moved Tamao’s hand away from her left eye before she could notice the blood and held Tamao’s palm to her right cheek. “I’m not crying ‘cuz I’m sad,” she insisted. “I’m really happy, actually! I’ve got a girlfriend now! This is… this is the best day ever!”

 

It was Tamao’s turn to be shocked at how easily that worked. “Girl…?” Then it struck. Tamao has a girlfriend now! Tamao mirrored her girlfriend’s overjoyed smile and relieved tears came to her eyes. “That makes me so happy!” Tamao emotionally cheered. “Thank you, Lily! I’ll do my best to…”

 

‘...be the best girlfriend I can be,’ was what she meant to say but another body-shaking yawn cut her off. The sedative must be winning her over. Lily’s smile wobbled and Yuriko’s tears only got stronger. Well… it was nice while it lasted. 

 

“Get some sleep, silly,” Lily said. “I’ll wake you up when Big Brother is done flapping his lips.”

 

“Mmkay…”

 

As the sedative dragged her away to slumberland, the last thing Tamao felt was Lily placing one last kiss on her forehead and the last words she’d ever hear Lily say came to her in a whisper as everything faded away.

 

“Good night, Tamao. Please don’t hate me .”

 

-

 

Beep… beep… beep…

 

The next time Tamao well and truly woke up again was to the sound of an EKG monitor. The last few years she spent in a muddied haze, barring the occasional bubble of clarity. But now she is completely back. She was a few years older now, unable to see out of her left eye with all the bandages wrapped around her head. Her hair was chopped short for a reason she’d never fully remember. She was battered, bruised and beaten, her right arm numb from an intense electric shock.

 

Everything felt… fuzzy, like she had woken up from a really bad night’s sleep. All she could do as she gathered herself was stare up at the ceiling, far too out of it to notice her good arm slip off of the bed until she felt someone take her wrist and move her arm. “Huh?”

 

The person sitting by her bedside, realizing that she was awake, instinctively flinched back, accidentally kicking over the stool he was sitting on. “Fuck,” he hissed.

 

“Who…?” Ah, wait… Tamao kinda recognizes this guy. This guy was sniffing around, asking too many questions and getting on Kuin’s nerves doing it, so she sicked that Stendahl guy on him. That probably explains his reaction, like he was expecting Tamao to leap up out of bed to drug him again. Fortunately, Kugizaki (she was pretty sure his name was) didn’t have anything to worry about. “...you’re scary-lookin’...”

 

Kugizaki didn’t respond. He just watched her like a hawk. Ah, screw him. Tamao went back to figuring her surroundings out. She unthinkingly tried lifting a hand towards the window but the signals her brain sent to her arm went unheard. “...can’t… move my hand…” Tamao mumbled. “...head hurts…”

 

What… happened? Attempting to remember things made her head hurt too much. But something came up. The last thing she remembered was… screaming at her dad to stop pissing her off. Tamao turned her head back to Kugizaki and she weakly asked, “Where’s… my dad…?”

 

Right on cue, the door of her hospital room opened and her father walked in, a bag from the convenience store right down the street dangling from his hand. “Hey, honey. Looks like you’re awake now,” he said with a smile that seemed relieved to see her. With that, Iwao gave Kugizaki a pat on the shoulder and released him from his watch for the day. “‘Preciate it. I’ll give you a call if I need you.” Still, Kugizaki didn’t say a word and just got up, heading out the door with one last lingering look over his shoulder before he was gone.

 

Iwao dug around in the plastic bag and retrieved a cup of yogurt from within. “How’re you feeling, champ? They put the good stuff in that IV drip so you shouldn’t be in too much pain,” Iwao said, holding the treat up for her to see. “Feeling up for a bite to eat?”

 

“Mmm… my head hurts…”

 

Iwao dragged the stool Soga abandoned closer to Tamao’s bed and took his spot. “I bet. Nothing we can do about that for now though. We’ve just gotta give it time.” Iwao took a second to make sure Tamao was tucked in nice and comfortable. “You get some more sleep, okay? Time heals all wounds, they say.”

 

Tamao couldn’t help but look over Iwao’s shoulder, expecting someone to come up behind him… but she wasn’t there. “...where’s Mom?”

 

He was expecting that question and it still tore his heart out to hear it. Iwao will tell her… someday. Not now. Not after she just came back to him. The last thing she needs to hear right now is that Kuin’s first attempt to find a hive for her and her children cost Tamao her mother. So, Iwao gave Tamao a soft smile and lied. “You just missed her,” he said. “But she was so glad to hear that you came back to us. I’m so glad I brought you back.”

 

“I can’t see her now?”

 

“No, not now,” Iwao answered and took his daughter’s hand in his. “But it’ll be alright, Tamao. No need to worry. I’m here.”

 

Tamao’s chest tightened and tears threatened to spill over from her remaining eye. She was… so glad to hear that. And Dad leaned over, gave her a hug and a kiss on her head, banishing the tears away. Everything was going to be okay. Even if it wasn’t, her dad was there.

 

Then Iwao remembered the yogurt and offered again, “You hungry?”

 

“...yeah.”

 

“Alright… uh, how the hell does this thing work?” 

 

After a little experimentation, Iwao managed to get the bed to sit Tamao up a little and she got a better look at the room. Right across from her bed, nestled on one of the unused chairs by the window was a pile of the stuff that she had on her when she was brought into the hospital and right on top of the pile… was Lily’s jacket. Instinctively, Tamao tried to sit up, her head snapping towards the door half-expecting her to burst through at any second.

 

“Whoa, easy,” Iwao murmured, gently pushing Tamao back down onto the bed. “Who’re you looking for now?”

 

“...Lily? Is she here? Her jacket’s here… so…”

 

Bitter hatred flashed through Iwao’s expression for a moment but he forced himself to let it go. That Lily girl was a victim of the bees too. It wouldn’t be fair to place all of the blame on her now that the… thing responsible was dead and gone. Iwao took Tamao’s hand again and he explained, “I don’t know, honey. Lily’s been gone for as long as you have… I think she’s been gone for a lot longer than that…”

 

“...gone? …I don’t understand.”

 

-

 

Yuriko Tachibana was a dweeby middle school first year the last time anyone in her countryside hometown in Hokkaido saw her. She stuck to her tiny circle of friends who enjoyed the same nerdy things as her and didn’t stand out very much, very much enjoying her youth. Some of her old friends insist that as soon as Yuriko made it to high school, she would’ve tried her hand at being an idol, despite Yuriko’s claims otherwise.

 

If anyone knew her for anything in her old town, it was being the ‘town tech wiz.’ That was quite the exaggeration. There were just a lot of older folks in her neck of the woods that weren’t up to date with the latest technology and Yuriko was nice enough to help. Though in one aspect at least, they weren’t far off.

 

In Yuriko’s spare time, she was an amateur Voiceloid producer, having managed to put out covers of existing songs as well as a couple originals in her time. Personally, she gravitated towards Miko as her muse, using Miko’s voice as hers to express herself in song. As an amateur, however, she was just that: an amateur and most of her videos went unnoticed by the internet at large.

 

Though, her music didn’t go completely unnoticed. Eventually, it caught the ear of a certain eyepatch-wearing upperclassman that to this day remains unidentified. That day, a horrible friendship began.

 

This upperclassman would absorb all of Yuriko’s time, isolating and grooming her to their side without her realizing it. Eventually, Yuriko would stop hanging out with her friends and family, preferring the company of her senpai who supported her dreams over them. The last time she was seen was arm-in-arm with her senpai leaving the gate of the school at the start of summer break. But when her classmates came back after the break, Yuriko did not.

 

Some eyewitnesses claim that a young woman bearing a similar resemblance to Tachibana was spotted in Naruhata in the company of a mysterious scarred man. These claims have yet to be substantiated.

 

To this day, Yuriko Tachibana remains missing. No traces of her whereabouts or even if she is still alive have been found. Yuriko Tachibana would be in her twenties now but as she has been missing for almost a decade and her case has gone cold, Yuriko Tachibana is currently presumed dead.

 

-XX⇆M?-

 

CRASH!!!

 

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

 

“The fuck was that!?” Shinya shouted from the kitchen where he was icing his black eye.

 

Being the closest to the window, Mitsuaki volunteered to peek through the blinds. “Oh for fucks sake… some drunk jackass drove into our fence.”

 

“Seriously!? Fuckin’ hell…” Shinya tossed the pack of frozen peas into the sink. Great, just fucking great. As if his day couldn’t get any shittier after getting punched in the eye just trying to get his bike looked at. Now he’s gotta-

 

“Hold up… that’s Mari’s car.”

 

Shinya joined his friend at the window and glared through the blinds. It took a second for his eyes to adjust to the dark early morning light outside but sure enough, it was Mari’s car. She missed the drive by a good 10 feet and definitely messed up the front bumper in the process. The driver side door was thrown open, carelessly smacking against the fence and probably cracking the driver side mirror while it was at it and a shadow tumbled out of the car. 

 

The shadow shakily managed to stand back up, using the fence itself to keep her steady while she got her key fob from her pocket and after a good few frustrated tries, she managed to silence the car alarm.

 

“Mari?”

 

“Oh my god, she must be fuckin’ drunk.”

 

“No shit, really? And she didn’t invite us?”

 

After a second of mental prep, the shadow got up and staggered around the car to the front gate, stopping when she saw what Shinya left for her there. The day before, after Shinya stewed over their argument about him needing to ‘see a shrink,’ Shinya became so fed up with her fluttering around and silently judging him that he packed up most of her stuff into garbage bags and left it by the front gate. That way, the judgy bitch can just take her stuff and leave. 

 

He expected her to burst into tears and try to beg and plead for him not to throw their entire relationship away like that over something so trivial. That’s not the reaction he got. Instead, after Mari realized what she was looking at, she let out an enraged shriek and stomped her way past the gate and up to the front door.

 

“Uh oh. Crazy Bitch Alert,” Mitsuaki chuckled.

 

Oh this should be rich. Shinya parted from his friends at the window and smugly trotted over to the front door. Instead of the polite knock that Mari would usually do, a loud, angry smashing against the wood of the door announced her. Well, good. Finally, a fun reaction. Not annoying tears.

 

Shinya opened the door and leaned against the frame. His pretty-much-ex-girlfriend stood on the darkened step glaring back at him. In the dark, the poor girl looked like she got caught in a rainstorm. Shame he was essentially dumping her. She looked so cute and helpless all soaked through like that.

 

“Well, well, guess you’re not too good for me after all,” he sneered.

 

Mari sounded like she was going to respond but switched topics. “What happened to your eye?” she croaked.

 

In defense, Shinya hissed, “None of your fuckin’ business, that’s what happened.”

 

“...whatever. I don’t care anymore,” Mari muttered before gesturing back to the curb. “Why’s my stuff out by the road?”

 

“Wasn’t that nice of me? Packed your shit up all nice so you could just pick it up and go,” Shinya said. “I could’ve just burnt it, but I’m such a nice guy and all…”

 

“‘ Go? ’ I’m not going anywhere.”

 

“Well, you ain’t living here , that’s for damn sure,” Shinya snorted. “Since you think I’m such a psycho and all…”

 

“I was trying to help by suggesting you see a therapist.”

 

“There ain’t nothing wrong with me!”

 

“...oh, I can think of a few things wrong with you…”

 

“ Huh!? What’d you say!? ”

 

“You heard me.”

 

Shinya blinked, taken fully off guard by how out-of-character Mari was acting. “...ah, I get it. You only grow a spine after you get some liquor in your system,” Shinya snickered.

 

“What are you talking about? I’m not drunk.”

 

“The fuck is that then?” Shinya asked, gesturing to the smashed car resting against his fence.

 

“...I’m dizzy. Not drunk.”

 

“Sure, sure. Whatever you say, Riri,” Shinya scoffed. “Well, this was funny. Good luck with… whatever.” 

 

Shinya attempted to close the door on her but Mari slammed her fist against the wood and pushed it open again. “And just where do you expect me to go? Huh? You know my parents practically disowned me for agreeing to go out with you,” Mari snarled, now becoming a little too out-of-character for comfort.

 

But Shinya wasn’t one to back down when challenged. “Why don’t you go shack up with your scientist boyfriend?” he accused.

 

“For the last time, there is nothing going on with me and him! He was just a colleague!”

 

“‘ Was ?’” Mitsuaki mumbled to himself.

 

Shinya tried to snipe back but Mari shouted over him, “And you don’t get to talk to me about infidelity! I know you have a Matchbox account! I’ve seen you using it before!”

 

“And so what if I like keeping my options open? Huh?”

 

“So you can talk to girls online but me having a positive platonic relationship with another man is not okay!?”

 

“I’m actually so glad you brought that up.” Shinya held up his phone, tauntingly waving it around in his hand and sneered, “I got plenty of replacements on speed dial who would be happy to take your place. And most of them have bigger tits than you too. Don’t you worry, I won’t be lonely at all!”

 

“Good for you. I don’t care,” Mari snarled. “I feel bad for the new girl though, since I know you and your little one-inch wonder will never be able to satisfy her.”

 

Oof, quite literally a below-the-belt hit, one that got Shinya’s idiot friends to start snickering from the hallway behind them. “Tch. Whatever, I’m not listening to this. Get lost,” he growled and tried and failed to shut the door on Mari again.

 

“No.”

 

“‘ No? ’”

 

“No. I’m not leaving. This is my house.”

 

“Not anymore, it ain’t.”

 

“No, this is my house legally . My name is on the deed! I’ve been paying the mortgage while you and your useless leech friends just sit around playing video games all day instead of looking for a job!”

 

“And suddenly, we don’t wanna be a part of this conversation anymore,” Ryuuji muttered, dragging Mitsuaki back into the living room.

 

“If anyone here needs to leave, it’s the three of you!”

 

“Oh yeah?” Shinya laughed, defiantly glaring back at her. “I’d like to see you try to make us leave, bitch.”

 

“Uh, excuse me?” The neighbor from the house on the right was on his way out the door to go to work when he noticed the ruckus. “Is everything okay over there?”

 

“We’re fine,” Mari droned back.

 

“Mind your own fuckin’ business, asshole!” Shinya snapped.

 

The neighbor glanced between the bickering couple and the totaled car. Concerned by the scene, he tried one more time, specifically asking Mari, “Sano-san? Is everything alright?”

 

“Don’t you have a job you need to get to?” Mari coldly countered.

 

“...r-right. You two have a good day.”

 

“Yeah, go on! Get the hell outta here!” Shinya barked, glaring daggers at the man until he got into his car and slowly rolled away. Mari, in turn, glanced over her shoulder, looking at the houses around them. All dark, no cars. Everybody must’ve gone to work…

 

…perfect. This should work out for the queen quite nicely.

 

Mari turned back to Shinya and droned, “Aren’t you going to invite me in so we can talk about this in peace?”

 

Shinya scowled back at her before he rolled his eyes and reached over to flick on the porch light. “Tch, fine. Get your ass in here before you freak everyone o- JESUS!!! ”

 

Now fully illuminated, Shinya saw exactly the state that the queen had left his girlfriend in. Her clothes and face were all scratched up, looking like she got attacked by some feral animal at some point in the night but the worst of it was the blood. Some dripped from an open wound on her palm but most centered in the ominous scarlet stain in her hair that hung over her left eye. From there, the blood dripped down her hair, staining her skirt just above the knee on its way down.

 

“M-Mari? What the fuck…”

 

“Excuse me,” Mari mumbled, muscling her way past her boyfriend into the house.

 

Shinya’s sudden change in tone brought his friends back to check out the commotion. “Oh shit!” Ryuuji gasped. Mari didn’t respond at first, stalking her way past everybody towards the kitchen. “Mari, are… are you okay?”

 

“What the hell? What happened?”

 

“I-I don’t know! I didn’t do nothing! She came in the door looking like that!”

 

“Should we… should we call an ambulance?”

 

“No, dude, then they’ll assume we beat her up!”

 

“Riri? Babe, what happened? Why’re you covered in-”

 

“Would you all just SHUT THE FUCK UP FOR FIVE SECONDS !?” Mari shrieked and the irritating noise stopped on her command, leaving a tense, nauseating silence following after. 

 

Now with the only buzzing in her head coming from the bee, Mari continued her weary march. She stopped at the counter in the hidden corner next to the fridge where she kept the countertop wine rack that she had to beg Shinya to let her buy for herself when they moved in. If now wasn’t a good time for a drink, she didn’t know what was.

 

“...babe?”

 

Hmm… pinot grigio? No, too dry… riesling? Better, but missing a little something… cabernet sauvignon? Getting there… Aha! The port wine! Perfect! Blood-colored and sugar-rich, just the way the queen liked it!

 

“Hey… Marmie?”

 

And yet, the queen stumbled across another obstacle: men and their pure incompetence. The corkscrew wasn’t in the drawer that Mari usually puts it in and checking the drawers around it turned up nothing, frustrating both Mari and the queen. “The one time you unload the dishwasher of your own volition and you put everything in the wrong spot…” Mari leaned up, pointed at Shinya and barked, “Where the fuck did you put the corkscrew?”

 

Shinya pointed to a drawer on the other side of the sink and meekly mumbled, “Uh… with the silverware… I figured that’s… where it was supposed to…”

 

Mari swiped her port off of the counter and ripped open that drawer, finding the corkscrew she needed. She then braced the bottle against the kitchen island tight and used that corkscrew to yank the cork out of the bottle before tossing the whole thing into the sink. Completely forgoing a wine glass, Mari pressed her lips to the opening and turned the whole thing up, chugging the port straight out of the bottle.

 

“...Goddamn. Where’s this girl been hiding?” Ryuuji nervously joked and got a smack on the arm from Mitsuaki for it.

 

Mari made it halfway through the bottle before she had to come back up for air and for a moment, she just stood there, swirling the bottle around in her hand and thinking. “...what kind of chocolate do we have?” she muttered to herself. “I think this should pair well with… dark?” Mari reached up into the kitchen cabinet and came back with a king size bar of dark baker’s chocolate that certainly wasn’t going to be used by the men in her house any time soon.

 

Since the others were intimidated into paralysis, Shinya cleared his throat and tried to speak again. “...babe? Did… something happen at work?”

 

Mari turned around, port in one hand and an unwrapped chocolate bar in the other and gave her boyfriend an unamused look. “What do you think?” she sneered and chased a sip of port with a bite of chocolate. Mmm, now we’re talking~

 

“Are you…” Shinya wheezed. “Shit, you’re bleeding all over the place…”

 

“Can I please… just finish my after work treat?” Mari said. “I hardly get to have any time to myself. I just want a break. Can we do that?”

 

“Y-Yeah… okay…” Mari went back to her wine and chocolate and Shinya caught himself wondering if he woke up in an alternate dimension that morning. What kind of bizarre paradigm shift just happened here? When did Mari become the loud and angry one and Shinya the meek and quiet one? What in the utter fuck is happening right now?

 

There was half of the baker’s chocolate left when Mari had polished off the bottle and she abandoned it on the counter, still gripping the empty bottle in her hand. “...I want to break up.”

 

In any other instance, Shinya would get outraged and scream back something about her not being the one to dump him . But now that he was face-to-face with something infinitely scarier than him, all that bravado was gone and he only murmured back, “Wh-what?”

 

“I’ve been wanting to break up for a while now,” Mari admitted. “But I didn’t know how. I knew you’d get mad, like earlier. You’ve never put your hands on me in anger before but I never wanted to give you a reason to start… But I’m feeling brave today. So… yeah. Let’s break up.”

 

“Mari…”

 

“I deserve… to be happy… and I’m not happy in this relationship,” Mari explained, reaching into her pocket to grab something. “...I have to do what’s right for me… and that’s getting rid of you.”

 

“Ah… I…” Even though he said that he wanted that a while ago, it still sucked to hear once Shinya was forced to remove his ego from the equation. “I… I get it. You’re right. I’m an asshole and you have every right to be mad at me. I guess… I dunno. I thought that if… if I kept your self-esteem low, you’d never leave me… or something… fuck, you might be right about the therapy thing. Let’s… let’s take you to the hospital and after that, I’ll-” 

 

That was all Shinya got to say before Mari blinked over the kitchen island and plunged her scalpel into his eye. “ AGGGH!!! FUCK, MY EYE!! ” he screamed, crumpling to the ground with his face in his hands, his good eye now pouring blood, rendering him effectively blind.

 

“Oh, who cares about any of that now?” Mari sneered, placing the blade of the scalpel against her tongue and licking it clean. “I don’t need any of you leeches.” Mari glanced up at the other two, now cowering in the door frame after what they just saw. “All I need is a place to lay my eggs… and my children will need food to eat…” 

 

Mari tilted her head at Ryuuji and Mitsuaki, allowing her hair to fall and reveal the gaping, bloodied hole in her face where her eye was supposed to be, the queen emitting a menacing buzz from deep within her eye socket. “At least I can use you worthless men for something…”

 

Blink! Suddenly, the wine bottle was smashed over Ryuuji’s face, shattering it and the jagged edge was stuck into Mitsuaki’s throat, ripping a line from one jugular vein to the next. “ Oh, fuck! Mitsu! ” Mitsuaki dropped to the ground, uselessly gripping at his throat in an attempt to stem the blood flow and before Ryuuji got it in his head to run, Mari grabbed him by the hair and dragged him in for his turn. “ Shit! No, no, wait! Aaaagh! ”

 

With his vision reduced to a mere sliver through his swollen black eye, Shinya couldn’t see much of what his ex was doing to his friends, but the sounds … and after she was done with them … For once, his body chose flight instead of fight and Shinya clumsily scrambled up to his feet, colliding with the wall and using that as a guide in his sprint for the front door. There had to be a neighbor that was still home. He could take shelter there, call the police or a Hero. This is their area of expertise, not his!

 

“HEY!!”

 

Blink!

 

“SOMEBO-” Thunk! 

 

Something struck Shinya in the lower back and all of a sudden, his legs gave up on him, sending him tumbling off the front steps and smashing his face into the scratchy asphalt walkway. “ Angh… ow… ” Shinya pushed his upper body back up onto his hands but those same brain signals were lost in transit going to his legs. Feeling along his back, he found the culprit: the same scalpel that took out his eye now jutting out of his lower back, thrown with such strength and precision that it severed a vital nerve upon impact, instantaneously paralyzing Shinya from the waist down.

 

A pair of squelching footsteps started to follow him and in a desperate bid to escape, Shinya started pulling himself forward across the walkway towards the front gate. But he didn’t get far before the blood-soaked footsteps caught up with him, stopping just at his feet. Terrified, Shinya threw his hands up over the back of his head, shielding himself as much as he could and just praying that she’ll make it quick.

 

“...why’d you stop?”

 

…why wasn’t she doing anything? Shinya looked over his shoulder back at the woman standing over him. Both of Mari’s arms and the entire front of her were drenched in red, adding to the already terrifying image as Mari glared down at the pathetic worm with one cold, soulless eye.

 

“Ryuuji… Mitsuaki…” The sliver of Shinya’s vision went down to Mari’s hand. She still had the jagged bottle neck gripped tight in her fist, a red liquid dripping down off of it that was nothing like the port that it used to hold. Terrified, Shinya ducked his head back down under his shield, now uncontrollably sobbing in panic. “I-I’m so fuckin’ sorry!” he whimpered. “I-I’ll change! I’ll be a good boyfriend from now on! Just… fuck… just please don’t hurt me!”

 

For a moment, Mari just stood there, silently glaring at her prey before she tossed the murder weapon aside and repeated herself, “Why did you stop?”

 

“H-Huh?”

 

Mari gestured to the front gate and said, “You almost made it. You might be able to escape. Don’t stop now!”

 

Shinya leaned up on his palms, looking back up at her and Mari gave him an encouraging gesture to keep crawling. She was toying with him, preying on his fear for her own amusement. That much was obvious… but Shinya went for it anyway, desperately pulling himself forward along the ground. For every foot forward he managed to pull himself, Mari took a step, staying right behind him the whole way, tauntingly cheering him on. “Go, Shinya! You can do it!” she cackled. “I believe in you, baby! You’re almost there!”

 

It felt like hours but within a minute, he had dragged himself over to the gate. Salvation was mere inches away. All he had to do was pull himself up using the bars of the gate as leverage and open the latch.

 

“Yay! You made it! I knew you could do it, Shin-Shin!” Mari laughed, applauding her boyfriend’s efforts to save himself. She let him give it a good try to reach up and open the latch. Now needing to account for the dead weight hanging off of his waist, it was harder than Shinya thought. On the third try, he managed to get some use out of his upper body strength to pull himself up the gate, just underneath the latch and Mari decided the game was over. “Alright, you’ve had your fun. Time to come inside now.”

 

Mari grabbed Shinya by the ankles and yanked him down off of the gate, dragging him back into the house. Shinya tried in vain to grab onto a handhold of some kind but only scratched up his fingertips on the scratchy asphalt. All he could do was scream.

 

“ N-NO! LEMME GO!! HELP, SOMEBODY!! GET OFF ME, YOU CRAZY BITCH!!! HEEELP!!! SOMEBODY, PLEASE!!! HEEE- ”

 

SLAM!

 

-??⇆KH-

 

“That’s it? Huh. That’s kinda underwhelming.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“I kinda expected something different from a Quirk called ‘Playtime.’ But that was just gigantification and an extra pair of arms. Yawn.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

“Kugutsu’s kind of a sucky dealer but hey, we got some decent data out of the deal, I guess.”

 

“Mhm.”

 

Alright, that’s enough. 6 is clearly not paying attention to her. Kuin glanced over her shoulder and found the absolute buffoon looking down into the alley on the other side of the roof. “Ahem. You know Kugutsu’s over here, don’t ya?”

 

“...huh? Were you talking?”

 

“Yeah, I was talking. You clearly weren’t listening.”

 

Kuin got up from the ledge she was sitting on and came over to 6’s side. “What’re you even looking at any-” Guess who. “Ugh, really?”

 

Number 6 looked up at her and said, “You never mentioned that you knew the O’Clock, Kuin. Why would you keep such important information from your dear big brother?”

 

“ The O’Clock doesn’t exist anymore,” Kuin sneered, waving a dismissive hand at the vigilante tromping around through the alleys. “That’s just some miserable, obnoxious old geezer.”

 

“Yeah, I know. But still, though, he’s such a badass, right?” Number 6 gushed. “The way he swung in and kicked that guy in the face… that was epic.”

 

“Wow, so no loyalty to your fellow Factory workers?”

 

“...I’m gonna be honest with you, Queenie. I have no clue who that guy is.”

 

“Pfft- Damn.”

 

“I wanna say his name is… Luigi?”

 

“Yeah, but the old fart did go and get smacked out of the air like an idiot after he pulled that sweet grappling hook kick,” Kuin snarked.

 

“...well, yeah, but he got smacked out of the air in a cool way, ” 6 insisted.

 

“Psh, whatever,” Kuin scoffed with a roll of her eye. “Just admit you have crap taste in Heroes.”

 

“ Never and I will break your kneecaps if you suggest that again.”

 

“No you won’t! You need me, remember?” Kuin shot back with a jeering grin.

 

“...I’m actually starting to miss the other girl right now,” 6 grumbled to himself, turning his attention back to the Hero-formerly-known-as-O’Clock. 

 

“Well, too bad, jerk. You’re stuck with me now.”

 

For a while, Kuin stayed, staring down at that useless idiot of a father of hers as he navigated the back ways, looking for something or somebody he lost track of during the Villain rampage. He stopped for a moment and Kuin thought for a second that he might’ve heard her and Number 6 talking… but instead he headed down a different alley, where a different set of voices could be heard just barely over the city ambience.

 

…Kuin shrugged and said, “Bored. I’m gonna go blow off some steam.”

 

Number 6 got up, trailing after his favorite ‘Hero’ from the rooftops. “Don’t use up all that Trigger. It doesn’t grow on trees, y’know.”

 

“Yup, whatever you say, Big Bro.” With that, Kuin sauntered away and jumped down the fire escape.

 

“Hmph… huh? Who’s that asshole in the All Might hoodie?”

 

Kuin staggered her fall using each level of the fire escape until she got back down to the ground. Stable, Kuin dusted herself off and retrieved her spare eyepatch from her pocket, hooking it back on to minimize the chance of her little secret being figured out by some rando on the street. 

 

Kuin headed off in the direction of the street but a familiar voice made her flinch back and hide as he and his new friends walked by. Huh, so the old man got himself a couple of new servants, has he? The girl’s cute. The guy looks like a total loser. But clearly, in the couple days they’ve known each other, the old geezer has gotten all buddy-buddy with these twits, even giving the hoodie-wearing loser a pat on the back for that wall-sliding move…

 

…and something about that… pissed her off. 

 

Her children buzzed angrily in her head, mirroring their queen’s anger. Fine. Replace her if you really want. Tamao couldn’t care less. Enjoy your lonely life with your fake family, you worthless old man.

 

Kuin plugged her earphones in and turned on her heel, angrily muttering under her breath, “Old farts like him are such a pain…”

 

Knuckleduster thought he heard a familiar voice in the background and whipped around, catching someone’s heel as they disappeared into an alleyway. That had to be her! Iwao charged off, chasing down that person, bewildering his new teammates.

 

“Master?”

 

“Oh geez, what now?”

 

Iwao turned the corner and saw a kicked over trash can, heard the scuff of shoes against the rooftop and when he looked up… ah, damn. He just missed her. Go on then, bee user. Run away. You’ll get away this time but soon enough, Knuckleduster will find you and he’ll make you pay for what you’ve done.

 

“Master!” Nice Guy and the girl caught up to him. “What happened? You just ran off all of a sudden.”

 

Iwao narrowed his eyes at the rooftop and muttered back, “...thought I heard something.”

 

-

 

“So that was… TR-D2B? That we gave that Iwako guy?”

 

“...yyyyyeah, that’s what I have in my notes. What d’you think? Any noticeable differences between this and D2A?”

 

“The stuff Kugutsu gave those punks? …eh, hard to say. Iwako had some hardening type Quirk compared to the other guys. It may have been the same level. Just boosting what he has already and making him crazier.”

 

“Hmm…”

 

“May need to tweak the formula a little.”

 

“Maybe. Did he at least seem like a good enough candidate for the ‘next level?’”

 

“Meh. I don’t think so. He seemed pretty generic if you ask me.”

 

“Damn. Well, keep an eye out. I’d like to kick this project off sometime this lifetime.”

 

“Sure, sure. I’ll let you know when I get a good candidate.”

 

“Appreciate it.”

 

“Welp, if you’ve got nothing left for me to do today, I’m gonna grab some dinner and head home for the night.”

 

“Fine. Talk to you tomorrow.”

 

“Later.”

 

Kuin plucked an earbud from her ear as the front door of the convenience store opened. Oh, goody! Her favorite cashier is here tonight! Kuin put on her ‘cheerful high schooler’ mask and announced herself. “Hey, Tsuki! I’m back!”

 

Tsuki waved back and answered, “Hi, Hachisuka! Good to see you, hon!”

 

Behind her, Kuin noticed… a guy she didn’t remember ever seeing before. It was only when she came back to the counter with a full shopping basket of snacks that she got a good look at the guy’s face. 

 

…well, whaddya know? It really is a small world after all.

 

Kuin grinned and said, “Hey there. I don’t remember seeing you before. You a new hire?”

 

“No. I’ve been working here for a few months now.”

 

“Really? Dang, and I just kept missing you somehow?”

 

“Koichi here used to work the later shift but his college schedule got changed up for the semester, so he’s gonna be with me for now,” Tsuki explained.

 

“Oh, so he was usually starting work after I go to bed. I see. Gotcha.”

 

Koichi cast a confused sideways glance to his senpai and Tsuki replied, “She’s a regular.”

 

“Oh, alright,” Koichi answered with an understanding nod. Looking over the basket that Tsuki was in the middle of ringing up, Koichi pointed out the bento box Kuin picked out for dinner and asked, “Do you want me to heat that up for you?”

 

Kuin shrugged and answered, “Sure, why not? I’ve got some time to kill.”

 

“Sure thing.”

 

“Aw, thanks,” Kuin said as the new guy whisked her cold bento away. “You’re such a nice guy ~”

 

Quickly realizing what she meant, Koichi nearly dropped the bento in his shock. Oh crap, oh crap, she recognizes him! Uh, quick, play stupid! “J-Just doing my job, miss,” Koichi responded, his customer service smile betrayed by just how pale his face turned.

 

“Pfft- heheheh! I like this guy! He’s funny!” Kuin laughed.

 

“Eh? But you are a nice guy, Koichi,” Tsuki chuckled.

 

“I… try my best,” Koichi said, smiling on the outside. Internally, however, he screamed, ‘ Tsuki, please, I’m begging you! That’s not what she meant! ’

 

Since Kuin was having fun with this interaction, she pressed a little harder. “You know… you remind me a lot of this guy that I’ve been hearing about.” Instantly, Koichi started sweating bullets. “Oh, yeah! That’s what people have been calling him! Nice Guy !”

 

“Oh… really?” Koichi muttered, trying and failing to not look suspicious. “He sounds like a really cool guy.”

 

“Yeah, he’s pretty nice and all,” Kuin said, testing his resolve. “But, I dunno. If I were an illegal Hero, I’d be doing way more cool stuff than just going around and picking up trash or giving people directions. Seems lame to me.”

 

“Nah… I wouldn’t say that,” Koichi mumbled. “It feels good doing good and making other people happy. I wouldn’t stop doing it just because it’s lame or anything.”

 

“...”

 

“...”

 

“...i-is what I think he’s thinking! I wouldn’t know myself! I don’t know the guy but I bet that’s what he thinks!”

 

‘ Horrible save. ’ 

 

Kuin nearly, actually, laughed herself to tears looking back at Tsuki’s face. That little slip was all she needed to figure it out. ‘ He is really bad at this secret identity thing, ’ Tsuki’s face said.

 

The microwave beeped and Koichi came back with a piping hot bento for Kuin. “Here you go, miss.”

 

“Awesome, thanks!” Kuin paid for her fare with the credit card she lifted from ‘dear old dad’, hung the bag from her elbow and grabbed her dinner off the counter. “You guys don’t mind me hanging around for a while like a creeper, right?”

 

“Nope, not at all!”

 

“If you need anything else, we’ll be right here!”

 

“Cool! Thanks, Tsuki!” Kuin leveled a teasing look at Koichi and added, “Thanks, Nice Guy!”

 

“I-I’m not Nice Guy, though,” Koichi insisted as Kuin skipped away. “I’d really like to meet this Nice Guy, though. He seems really cool. I’d like to get his autograph some…” Glancing in Tsuki’s direction, Koichi was met with a knowing look. “...what?”

 

“Oh… nothing~”

 

“What? Was it something I said?”

 

Tsuki laughed. “You’re such a goof, Koichi.”

 

“Huh?”

 

Kuin found a nice spot by the window to hang out for a while, setting her bag of groceries on the table beside her. Kuin made herself comfy and got her phone from her pocket, pretending to take a selfie but instead snapping a covert shot of Koichi on the other side of the counter. That snapshot went straight to dear ol’ Big Brother.

 

Queen Bee:

Hey Big Bro

Look what I found at the convenience store!

It’s that vigilante you’ve developed such a crush on!

 

Big Bro:

SHUT UP

I will kick the shit outta you IS2G

 

Big Bro:

But thanks for the intel tho

Good work

 

-KH⇆??-

 

Slivers of the golden evening sun managed to creep through the cracks in the blinds, illuminating the grisly scene left in Mari’s wake. Her boyfriend and his friends -or their bodies, rather- were propped up against the couch, left abandoned there for the whole day while Mari cleaned up the scene. Their blood had dried out on their bodies now and already the queen had set her plans in motion. How exactly? Who knows. Mari blacked out during that part but all she needed to know was that the first clutch of eggs were incubating and that they’d have a nice meal waiting for them when they hatch.

 

Mari, in the meanwhile, needed a nice relaxing bath after all that chaos. That’s where she found herself now, soaking in the tub, a soothing concerto of strings and woodwinds playing off of her phone and the last of that chocolate by her side. She had to keep her bandaged hand out of the water anyway so she may as well use it for something.

 

Mari groped around on the end table looking for her sugary treat, nearly grabbing her phone before she realized her mistake. The heat in the bathroom had made the chocolate squishy to the touch and a bit messy to eat. Eh, whatever. Her bath water is already plenty murky. She thought she got all the blood off of her under the showerhead but she must’ve missed a spot or two. Oh well. Who cares?

 

Mari pulled herself up, freeing her nose and mouth from the water enough to get a mouthful of half-melted chocolate. Ah, this is nice~... Humans are so stingy with the luxuries of this world. They should share it more with their non-human brethren. The queen, specifically.

 

But eventually, time had to go and spoil the fun. She had licked up the last of the chocolate, the bathwater turned lukewarm and Mari’s hand had gotten especially pruney. Time to get up.

 

Mari left the wrapper abandoned on the end table, flung off the washcloth resting over her eyes and stood up, dripping red-brown water off of her as she stepped out of the tub. Now that all that adrenaline was relaxed from her system, Mari still found herself a little dizzy, though now she wasn’t sure what the cause of it was, the bee in her head and whatever damage she caused to her brain in the process, being overheated from her bath or the entire bottle of port wine in her system. Could be all three at once.

 

Mari dried the muddy water off of her face and body and went to wrap the towel around herself when she caught sight of her naked form in the mirror above the sink… or is it the queen’s now? This was the first time since her possession that Mari had truly looked at herself… the first time the queen really got to see all of her. Mari dropped the towel to the floor and walked over to the mirror.

 

Mari rested her palms against the vanity, swiping a clear spot through the steam so she could see herself semi-clearly reflected in the glass. Oh yeah, that’s right. Where did she leave her contacts? Mari found them stashed in the drawer she usually left them, fortunately forgotten about when Shinya planned to kick her out of her own house. The right contact was fitted over her pupil, clearing up her vision. The left… would have to be a spare.

 

Somehow, even now after being cleaned up, Mari still looked like a wreck, her wet, stringy hair now just barely covering her empty eye socket. Looking at it with her good eye, Mari realized that she hadn’t even registered her head in the last few hours, likely thanks to the adrenaline. Numbly, Mari lifted her hand up to the hole in her face and experimentally slipped the tip of her finger in. How deep in is the queen any- Bzzt! Don’t do that please.

 

Mari hissed, yanking her finger back out. Silly girl. You needn’t concern yourself so much with the queen. She is content where she is. Quite content indeed. Just look at her gorgeous new body.

 

Mari took a step back from the mirror, taking in her whole image. Who was even driving this thing anyway? Mari or the queen? From Mari’s standpoint… It felt like both at the same time. Either way, Mari brushed the wet strings from her face and slowly spun in place, taking the chance to admire every curve and dip in her form. Shinya always called her ‘smokin’ hot’ and when they were dumb lovestruck highschoolers, it felt genuine but close to the end of their relationship, it just felt like lip service. Just as well. Clearly he lost interest in her near the end. Why not get his kicks elsewhere instead of staying with someone as plain-looking as-

 

PLAIN!? PLAIN, SHE SAYS!!! Young lady, you look back in that mirror and try again! The queen is a lady of taste! She doesn’t settle for ‘ plain ’ when it comes to a host! How dare that creature diminish her preferences with just ‘smokin’ hot!’ 

 

 Mari’s hands roamed her skin, brushing against her hips and up along her throat, drawing attention to every delicate part of her with the attention to detail that an artist would have for their muse. Now, Mari, sweet angel, the queen has walked this earth for a very, very long time. You know this. You have an entire file on her. Remember that entry about the Italian painter? Exactly that. ‘Smokin’ hot’ is woefully insufficient. You look like you’ve stepped off of a Renaissance painting and for a body of her own, the queen would settle for nothing less.

 

And the longer Mari stared at herself in the mirror, the more she believed it. That’s right. Mari is beautiful, isn’t she? She tries very hard to make herself look presentable. She has a decent skincare routine so her skin is nice and clear. The little makeup she uses looks nice on her. And she tries to… stay in sha… wait… wait wait… “Wait…”

 

In a last-ditch effort to keep her hand on the controls, Mari stopped and muttered to herself and the bee in her head, “...why?” Pardon? “Why… me?”

 

…the truth? You were in the wrong place at the wrong time. But the queen has had her eyes on you for the last few months since she was dragged to your workplace, Mari. So this… was an inevitability, sorry to say. Nothing personal, of course. The queen swears on her hive.

 

“...why?” The queen just said- “No… why ? In general?”

 

Why not? You humans have everything that the queen wants. Can you blame her for envying the dominant species of this planet? When she was blessed with sentience, how can you expect her to be content with the monotonous routine the rest of her species ascribe to when she can- and does- and will- have more?

 

“...”

 

Like Sakurada said- before his… ahem, untimely demise…

 

You deserve to be happy, Mari.

 

The queen deserves to be happy, too.

 

Perhaps… Mari and the queen could team up? To get the happiness that they both deserve?

 

“...okay.”

 

Excellent. Then they have a deal.

 

All of a sudden, the fog in Mari’s head dissipated. Mari’s back to normal! …except not. It’s difficult to put a finger on how exactly this feels. At the very least, Mari doesn’t feel like she’s going to keel over at any given moment and that’s a start. Mari looked back up at the mirror and looked herself over one last time, suddenly more satisfied with how she looked. “Nice.” See? What’d the queen tell you?

 

Well, this was all fun, but it’s seriously getting warm in here. Since technically Mari was the only one left in the house, no one would mind if she cracked the door open and let some cool air flow in. No one’s going to walk in on her anytime soon.

 

Mari came back to the vanity and took care of a few last minute details, using a moist washcloth to clean out the dried blood from her empty eye socket and using a dry one as a shield while she ran the hair dryer over her hair to avoid aggravating the queen. There we go! She’s almost starting to look like her old self again! No, better than that! It’s like a brand new Mari Sano has taken the old one’s place!

 

After pulling the plug from the tub and letting the water drain, Mari skipped across the hall from the bathroom to the master bedroom, an impish squealing giggle escaping her as the cold air nipped at her bare skin. It took a good chunk of the afternoon just dragging all her stuff back in, now gathered in a misshapen pile by the king sized bed that was now all hers. The bag with her clothes was sitting on top of the mattress and that’s where Mari sat herself, ripping the bag open and digging through her entire wardrobe…

 

…now, the queen shall never judge a host based on their body type or anything like that… but she will very heavily judge them based on their fashion sense. Mari, darling, what is all this? Were you planning to move to a convent? What even is the aesthetic for classical music enjoyers anyway? The queen knows how rockers dress, how pop idols dress, how EDM DJs dress… but classical music enthusiasts? Is this it? Basically wearing shapeless sheets that completely conceal your bo-

 

Mari dug down to the bottom of the garbage bag and pulled up something lacy and provocative and suddenly it made sense. It was more of an insecure man-baby boyfriend thing. How dare anyone else think his girlfriend is attractive? Mari’s only allowed to fully embrace her sexuality for his benefit… and yet he still had a wandering eye anyway. Disgusting. 

 

Better this than nothing. Mari hopped up off the bed, pulling the frilly thing on and providing her lower half with some actual coverage. Nothing else in here satisfied Mari’s new sense of style so she turned on her heel, left the master bedroom and skipped over to the ‘guest’ room where Ryuuji and Mitsuaki have been squatting for way longer than they should’ve, stealing a shirt from Mitsuaki’s laundry basket. Being twice her size, the shirt fit over her like a mini-dress. It’d do the trick for now.

 

Across the hall, the soothing concerto ended and a new track started. “Ah, my phone!” Mari chased after the music. “...oh, and this too!” Mari emerged from the bathroom, her phone in one hand and the chocolate wrapper pinched in her other hand. “Can’t leave this lying around. That’s how you get ants,” she muttered to herself, taking the wrapper straight to the trash can. “And I will not have ants in my hive. Bunch of dirty, free-loading country bumpkins, stealing food out of my mouth like they’re entitled to it? I don’t think so.”

 

Ah… Mari recognizes this tune. Waltz No. 2 by Shostakovich. Mari closed her eye and let the music paint an image in her head, of a grand, dark, smoky ballroom, with masked lovers dancing and gliding across the floor. The queen softly buzzed in her head, matching the melody. You have such lovely taste in music, Mari. Would you like a dance partner?

 

Mari laughed, curtsied, swayed, spun and hummed, letting her daydream take her away. She and Queen Bee were the belles of the ball, the centerpiece of the party in her mind. In her mind’s eye, the dancers with their striped dresses and suits and bee masks stopped when she passed, curtsied or bowed and flocked to her, showering her with the love and adoration that they’d provide royalty. As they should. You are a Queen now, Mar-

 

Then Mari’s foot caught something and she stumbled. Her daydream was thoroughly ruined and she was once again standing in her living room, the music faint again as it played off her phone speaker. Mari whipped around and glared at the body responsible for spoiling her fun. “I can’t…” Mari growled before she spun on her heel and kicked Mitsuaki’s body in the face. “...have ONE MOMENT OF PEACE AROUND HERE! I FINALLY HAVE A MOMENT TO MYSELF AND YOU-” Mari stopped, squeezing the lower half of her face in her hand and forcing herself to calm down. “He’s dead, he’s dead. Yelling at him doesn’t do anything.”

 

Boo, and the queen was having such fun. Even in death, those three spoil everything they touch. Mari sighed, stretched her arms over her head and glanced around the room, noticing the heavy bag at the end of the entryway that she told herself she’d deal with after her bath. Sticking right out of the top was her very old, very dusty keyboard. Ah… hello, old friend.

 

Mari heaved the entire thing right out of the bag and came back to the couch after, the power cord dragging behind her the whole way. She shoved Ryuuji’s body to the floor to make room for herself to climb over the couch in search of an outlet and when that was settled, she cozied herself into the corner of the couch, resting her heels on Shinya’s shoulder. Mari blew the dust off, one hand over her empty socket. You do not want to know what it feels like for the queen to sneeze while she’s inside of your head. Very painful.

 

“Do you still work?” Mari mumbled to herself, turning the whole thing over. She found the power switch, pulled it over into the on position and when she turned the keyboard back over, the lights and digital numbers along the switchboard on top were lit. “Oh, good.” Huzzah! More music!

 

It took her a minute to remember where home position was. After that, curious plinking turned into experimental twiddling. Experimental twiddling turned into a basic melody. A basic melody turned into advanced freestyling. Advanced freestyling turned into a complete rendition of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee . All the while, Mari and the queen had a good laugh at their own inside joke.

 

The song crescendoed and her performance came to a close. Mari took a bow for her captivated imaginary audience and then… “Now what do we do?” That… is a very good question. Mari drummed her fingers against the top of the keyboard, switching the metronome feature off and on in her boredom until something came to her. “...we- I should get in touch with this Big Brother person… right?”

 

Ah, yes! That peasant ! You absolutely should try to contact him. That peon has some explaining he needs to do.

 

Mari absent-mindedly grabbed her phone from the end table where she left it… but something from the day before came to mind. This Big Brother… the one that keeps showing up in the memories that the queen has shared with her… that was the villain behind the lockdown from last year, wasn’t it?

 

You’ve guessed correct, Mari.

 

“Then… there’s a bit of a problem with that,” Mari muttered. How do you figure? “The police were only able to recover bits and pieces of him. They think he imploded or something like that.”

 

…nonsense.

 

“But that’s the truth. Some of my old coworkers were trying to identify him based on those pieces but they weren’t-” Bzzt! “ Ack! ” That’s quite enough. The queen has shared with you her memories. You know Big Brother’s number. Call it. He’ll pick up. The queen is 100% certain he will.

 

“...I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to try.”

 

Using that memory of a time before her reign that the queen provided, Mari plugged the number of the burner phone that she was meant to call if she needed to get a hold of Number 6 into her phone, dialed it and held it to her ear. Right away, she was met with a machine informing her that the number she was trying to call was no longer in service.

 

…alright, fine. So he ditched the burner phone. That was a part of his plan. He wouldn’t need it if he had his own agency and had a new host for her, to stand in as his PR agent. She would’ve been right by his side. That explains that. Hmmm… try Marukane. Ask for a Rokuro Nomura. From the Events Department.

 

Mari did as the queen suggested and a few rings later, a customer representative answered. “Marukane Department Store. How may I direct your call?”

 

“Ah, hello,” Mari replied. “Could you put me through to Rokuro Nomura in the Events Department, please?”

 

“I’m sorry, miss, but the Events Department was shut down after the last NaruFest show last year.”

 

“Oh? Was he transferred to a different department, then?”

 

“No, I’m afraid Nomura doesn’t work here anymore. He racked up too many no-call-no-shows and his employment was terminated.”

 

“Ah, I see. Do you know how I might be able to reach him?”

 

“I’m sorry, miss. It’s against company policy to hand out personal information of our employees, current or former.”

 

“Ah, I understand. I apologize. Have a nice day, then.”

 

“You as we-” Beep.  

 

Well, that one was a bust as well… h-honestly, that makes sense too. His role at Marukane was only meant to be temporary. The gig was up anyway. He wasn’t actually planning to stay there, right? He’d be a Hero with his own agency. Marukane could burn for all the queen or Big Brother cared…

 

…there’s one more place they could try. His apartment building. That, the queen was certain he wasn’t planning to give up. Call the main desk. Have them direct you to the penthouse.

 

Mari did just that. After a few rings, a voice answered. Not Number 6’s voice, though. A woman’s. “Hello?”

 

Mari blinked, surprised at this sudden twist but caught up. “Hi, is…” Same name? Yes, same name. “...is Rokuro Nomura there?”

 

“...Nomura? Oh, I think that’s the guy that used to live in my apartment.”

 

Used to?

“Used to?”

 

“Yeah, from what I heard, he just vanished. My landlord wasn’t able to contact him after he missed his last rent payment so he cleaned the whole place out and put it back up for rent.”

 

Now that… doesn’t sound right.

 

“Really… so… there’s no chance that you’d know where he went?”

 

“No, I’m sorry. My landlord’s still trying to track him down though. He keeps ranting about the rent money Nomura owes him. So… at least it’s not just you.”

 

Mari smiled at the woman’s attempt to lighten the mood and answered, “At least there’s that. Well, I guess I have the wrong number then. Sorry to bother you.”

 

“No, it’s fine. I hope you find him!”

 

“Me too. Have a good night.”

 

“You too. Bye.”

 

“Bye.” Beep.

 

Mari sighed, disappointed and slumped back into the couch. The queen mirrored her disappointment, a melancholic buzz vibrating in Mari’s head. Mari empathized, scratching her finger into her scalp just above where the queen was nestled. “Sorry.”

 

That is… unfortunate. He was a very entertaining character. They made quite the team in their short time working together. Shame it ended this way. Rest well, my friend. Of all the servants… of all the friends that the queen had ever had… you may very well have been her favorite…

 

…although… on the bright side…

“...although… on the bright side…” Big Brother was the queen’s last tie back to the Villain Factory… “And to All For One.” …and not even All For One came back for her… “So… since Big Brother’s gone…” And All For One has essentially abandoned her… “And the Villain Factory is pretty much dead…” Then that must mean that… “That I am…” That the queen is…

 

“...free?”

 

Mari stared at the ceiling, letting that revelation soak in. Then she smiled and laughed. “That… Oh my god,” she sighed. “How long has it been since I’ve been able to live on my own terms, without him whispering in my ear? It has to be… oh my god, since Hounan ! Oh wow…” Mari set the keyboard aside and shook the newfound excitable energy through her hands. “It’s like… getting to step out into the sun for the first time in years.”

 

Very well put, Mari. The whole world is your oyster now. Yours and the queen’s.

 

“What should we do first?”

 

Well, the queen has a suggestion. Those dowdy rags that you call a wardrobe? They have to go. Now that that cretin of yours isn’t around to judge you for how you present yourself, you are in dire need of a makeover.

 

“Oh, you’re not kidding. Trying to go shopping with Shinya was a nightmare. I remember… There was this one sweater dress I really, really liked, that I thought he’d like on me . But the second I brought it up… okay, so maybe it went up above the knee a little higher than usual but then he got all weird about it. ‘ Who’re you wearing that for, huh? ’ You , idiot. It was for you but if you’re not-” What store was this? “Ah, it was in the mall.” Then that’s where we’re headed!

 

“Right now?”

 

That’s right! Up you get, young lady! Quickly, while the mall is still open! Let’s go find that dress!

 

“Oka- oh, wait.” Mari sighed, letting herself drop back down to the couch. What’s the matter, dear? “I wouldn’t be able to afford a completely new wardrobe. Especially now, after I quit my job.”

 

Tut, tut. Mari, Mari, Mari, my sweet summer child. Did the queen say that you had to use your money? Isn’t that what your little footstool is for? Mari glanced down towards her feet, at the head of red-stained platinum blond hair by her toes. A good boyfriend would’ve bought his girlfriend anything that she wants, because she’s cute, he loves her and she deserves it. That man (if you can even call him that) owes you a few good years in back pay. Besides, what’s he planning to use those cards in his wallet for now? You may as well put them to use.

 

“...you make a good point.” Mari deserves to be happy. And who says money can’t buy happiness?

 

Mari kicked the side of Shinya’s head and got up from the couch. Back to the bedroom to add a bra and a pair of jeans to her outfit. Mari came back after with a hair tie dangling from her mouth, tucking the bottom of Mitsuaki’s shirt into her waistband. That should do for now.

 

After putting her hair up in a ponytail, Mari dropped to her heels in front of Shinya’s body, going through his pockets. She found his wallet in one of his pants pockets and felt something else deeper in underneath it: a pocket knife. Lightweight, shiny black enamel handle, no scratches on it… Mari squeezed the top, releasing the blade which flicked up with a satisfying click. This thing was brand new… bastard must’ve bought this with the money she gave him for the utilities. Typical.

 

“Cool knife,” Mari said with a smirk, poking the tip of Shinya’s nose with the blade. “Why didn’t you think to use this? Were you so scared of me that you forgot you could defend yourself? Pfft- you stupid, stupid man.” Mari pushed the blade back down into its locked position and put it in her back pocket. “Don’t worry. I’ll take good care of it for you.”

 

Mari weighed Shinya’s wallet in her hand. “...mmm, your credit limit has to suck if you’re constantly begging me for money,” she sneered and glanced at the bodies beside him. “Better safe than sorry.” She swiped Ryuuji and Mitsuaki’s wallets off of their corpses as well. Now she had a whole selection to choose from… if those two weren’t as bad off as Shinya that is.

 

The car is obviously not an option now, but fortunately, the train station isn’t that far off and she’s still got plenty of time before the mall closes. Mari stopped on the landing before the door, pulled on her running shoes and tossed her ill-gotten wealth into an old, forgotten, kinda ratty purse that was hanging off of the hook. She’ll get a new one while she’s there. “Alright, I’m off!” she cackled down the hallway to the corpses in the living room. “Take care of the house while I’m gone!”

 

…ahem. Mari, dear. Your eye .

 

Mari slammed the door just seconds after she opened it, realizing that the way she put her hair up left her empty eye socket on full display. “Oh, shit, my eye!” she hissed and scrambled back over to the hallway mirror, scratching some hair out of her hair tie and combing it with her fingers so that it would fall over the left side of her face. “That’s better…” she sighed. “...I should probably get a box of medical eyepatches while I’m at it. Just in case.” A capital idea.

 

“...and maybe… a pseudonym? In case anyone starts asking about them?” Mari murmured, waving her hand in the vague direction of the living room.

 

Look at you, catching on so fast! You’re such a smart cookie, Mari!

 

Mari stared at herself in the mirror, her eye narrowed in thought. If she had the chance to name herself…

 

“...what about…?”

 

-KK⇆TO-

 

“Here you go, miss. Your total is ¥3630.”

 

“Thanks so much!”

 

Tamao carefully balanced the tray back out of the door and back over to the table where her project partners were waiting. 

 

It really was a small world after all. The last thing Tamao was expecting when she walked into her first class for her world culture elective was running into Kuin’s old friends again… well, ‘ friends ’ was being generous. Really, at the time, they were nothing more than living accessories for Kuin, to make her look more normal and less suspicious. But since they came back into her life, they’ve actually gotten to know each other for real and became actual friends this time.

 

“Yes! Thank you, oh my god! I am starving!” Satsuki cheered as Tamao returned with their dinner. That cheer quickly vanished when Tamao so brazenly swiped one of Satsuki’s fries. “ Dude! ”

 

“I got up to pay for everything. Food delivery tax,” Tamao smugly retorted.

 

“Psh, whatever.”

 

Karin had her nose in her notes the whole time. This should be an easy project. Just researching folktales from a certain culture and presenting it to the class. There also had to be a written report, 10 pages minimum and somehow not plagiarized even by accident. Uggh, this is the worst.

 

A pair of straw wrapper rockets bounced off of Karin’s forehead and got her to look up at the pair of goofsters she decided to do this project with. “You gonna get your food or what?” Satsuki giggled.

 

Karin sighed, grabbing her burger and drink from the tray. “You two…”

 

“You’re stressing out too much about this, Kiki,” Tamao said.

 

“Why do college professors feel the need to make us do a bajillion things for something so simple as research?” Karin complained.

 

“Power trip?” Satsuki suggested.

 

“Yeah, power trip sounds about right,” Tamao laughed.

 

“Ugh, I already don’t really like our world culture professor. That just makes it worse,” Karin grumbled, taking a bite of her burger.

 

“She is kind of a pretentious- Oh, Jesus! ” Tamao startled as Satsuki’s stretched finger zipped past her, one of Tamao’s onion rings dangling from her knuckle. “I’m sorry. I keep forgetting that that’s what your Quirk is,” she sheepishly laughed.

 

“Yeah, yeah…” Satsuki sighed, munching on her stolen onion ring. “I wanted Dad’s Quirk too but noooo… me and my brothers all had to get Mom’s weird, creepy Quirk.” Tamao muffled an apologetic laugh and gave Satsuki a pat on the shoulder as she feigned indignance and took a sip of her drink. “We don’t all get to be absolute gods at track-and-field like you , Hachisu-” Realizing what she nearly said, Satsuki choked on her drink.

 

“ Suki! ” Karin hissed.

 

“ O-Oguro , I meant! I meant Oguro!” Satsuki dropped her gaze to her lap and apologetically murmured, “Sorry. It… kinda felt like the old days and I forgot.”

 

“It’s okay! I’m not mad, I promise!” Tamao reassured, resting her chin against her arms. “I’m sorry you guys had to meet her first.”

 

After a moment of awkward silence, Karin broke it by asking, “Do you… remember anything about second year?”

 

“...bits and pieces… but, no, it was Kuin in charge pretty much the whole time,” Tamao answered. With a miserable laugh, Tamao said, “I must’ve been really weird, huh?”

 

Satsuki stifled a laugh and looked back up from her lap. “Yeah, a little bit.”

 

“You were always running off without really explaining what you were up to,” Karin agreed. “Something about a ‘part-time job.’”

 

“You’re still kinda weird,” Satsuki teased. “But in a less villain-y way now.”

 

“Wow. Gee, thanks,” Tamao snarked back. Satsuki offered a heart-handed gesture to counter Tamao’s sarcasm. What a goof… almost kinda reminds Tamao of Lil… Tamao’s smile faded thinking of her old crush. With the benefit of hindsight, Lily was just getting in Tamao’s good graces, manipulating her into a spot where she’d be vulnerable enough for Queen Bee to jump ship. But sometimes… she still wondered about the real Lily, whoever she was. If she… ever felt the same way…

 

Not now. Tamao shook those thoughts away and lazily slumped back against the table. “Uh… what were we doing?” she asked. “I think we got sidetracked.”

 

“Right. I was waiting on you two to stop horsing around so we could get back to this project,” Karin scolded. “I think we’ve got an hour left before we get kicked out and I at least want to finish this section before we go.”

 

“Aw, but hanging out is more fun!” Satsuki complained.

 

“Do you want your name on this project?”

 

“...yes, ma’am.”

 

“Alright then. Let’s get to it.”

 

The section they stopped on was the tale of the changeling, a fairy creature from European folklore. Changelings were often the creature left behind after a fairy or troll had spirited away a human child. The changeling would almost perfectly resemble the infant that was stolen away, if somewhat… off. Why the fairies would steal children varies from legend to legend. Either to act as a servant, to experience the pure love a human child gives or out of sheer malice. Back in the time these tales were written, the tale of the changeling was created in an attempt to explain deformities, disabilities and neurodivergence long before humans really understood such things. For Tamao, however, the tale of the changeling takes on a different meaning. Just replace ‘fairies’ with ‘bees’...

 

Tamao noticed movement out of the corner of her eye and looked up, noticing a young woman with a fluffy blonde ponytail and bangs combed over her left eye walking out of the entrance door, several shopping bags hanging from her fists. The woman stopped at an outdoor table belonging to a coffee shop on the other side of the entrance, setting her haul there. She reached into one of the bags and retrieved an oddly lumpy-looking purse that she had bought. It must’ve been the angle Tamao was seeing it from.

 

The woman opened her new purse, pulled the stuffing out of it, transferred what little she had in her old purse into it and tossed the old purse into the bag she got it’s replacement from. When the woman shouldered her new trophy, it had flipped over and Tamao discovered what shape it was meant to be. Hanging from a delicate gold chain, a sparkly bee-shaped purse rested against the woman’s hip, pretty sequins on its wings and its stripes made from a fuzzy black-and-yellow material.

 

Tamao looked from her purse to her hair and then, a sudden bolt of phantom pain went through her head. Tamao winced, clutching at her missing eye.

 

“Tama?”

 

“Are you okay?”

 

There’s… no way. Soga said that she was sent to a secure facility. They can’t be so careless as to let Queen Bee get away. Aren’t scientists supposed to be smart? They would’ve dissected her by now. Queen Bee is dead. A woman that looks like she could’ve been one of her hosts… it’s just… a coincidence. Yeah. You’re overthinking things, Tama.

 

“I’m good. I’m alright,” Tamao insisted. “Sorry, I don’t-” Suddenly, something buzzed past her head, startling her. Tamao looked down at the table, noticing a fat, fuzzy, black-and-yellow speck crawling around on the corner of her notebo- JESUS, FUCK, IT’S A BEE! KILL IT!

 

Tamao shot up out of her chair and slammed one of her textbooks down on the table, fully annihilating the bee. “Ah! Wh-What!? What was it!?” Karin sputtered.

 

“A… a bee! A huge bee!” Tamao wheezed, backing away from the table.

 

Seeing the smear of bee blood and a creepy leg sticking out from under Tamao’s book, Satsuki gasped, clutched at her abdomen and fell out of her chair, attacked by her own bout of phantom pain. “ Ack! Ow, ow, ow, dammit, fuck, why!? ”

 

“It’s okay! It’s okay, I got it.” Karin plucked a tissue from her travel pack and picked up the corner of Tamao’s textbook, scooping up the remains of the bee, taking it far away from her traumatized friends. “Aw, poor little bumblebee,” she sighed. “I’m sorry. My friends really hate bees… for totally understandable reasons.”

 

With Karin taking the bee corpse to a trash can near the entrance, Tamao came around the table and knelt next to her ailing friend. “Suki?”

 

An employee that heard the commotion stuck his head out of the store and asked, “Uh, are you ladies alright over there?”

 

“Yeah, I’m fine!” Satsuki grunted, clutching tight at her aching hysterectomy scar. “I just… gotta ride through this flare-up.” Tamao sat down on the ground beside her, rubbing her back and staying with her until Karin came back.

 

“I’m so sorry, you guys,” Karin apologized, crouching down beside Tamao. “I thought it was a really nice day out, but I guess it was too nice. Maybe we should’ve stayed in the food court after all…”

 

“Hey, don’t sweat it,” Tamao replied with a brave, reassuring smile. “It’s not like you can con… trol…” Suddenly, Tamao snapped her eye back to where the woman with the bee purse was. By then, the woman and her shopping had disappeared.

 

…no, there’s… there’s no way. You’re overthinking things, Tama.

 

Tamao shook her head and looked back at Karin. “Maybe we should take Satsuki back to your dorm?”

 

Karin nodded. “Yeah. Let’s do that.”

Satsuki groaned, “ I hate my life… and I hate bees more… ”

Notes:

Before you ask, no, I'm not okay. But thanks for asking anyway. :)

Chapter 11: Life's a Beach

Summary:

Izuku's training begins now! Next stop: Takoba Beach!

Sensei:

Hey, kid

 

Insert Cool Vigilante Name Here:

Hey, Sensei!

What’s up?

 

Sensei:

You’re free for the weekend, right?

 

Insert Cool Vigilante Name Here:

As far as I’m aware, yeah.

Why?

 

Sensei:

Meet me at Takoba Municipal Beach first thing in the morning Saturday

 

Insert Cool Vigilante Name Here:

Sure thing!

What’re we doing there?

 

Insert Cool Vigilante Name Here:

Sensei?

 

Insert Cool Vigilante Name Here:

You still there?

 

Insert Cool Vigilante Name Here:

Hello?

Why’d you stop talking?

 

Insert Cool Vigilante Name Here:

Sensei????

 

-

 

Bing-bing. “Next stop: Tatooin Station.”

 

Ah! This was Kazuho’s stop!

 

Kazuho slung her bag over her shoulder and stood up from her seat, hovering over towards the door for when the train would roll to a stop. She was the last to show up from the sounds of it. She’d only gotten the text from Tamao a couple hours ago. Deep down, Kazuho still hoped that the kid would come to his senses and bail out of this whole thing, but if he’s insisting on staying… then she was, admittedly, a tiny bit curious about this new addition to their illegal crime-fighting family.

 

It was rather fortunate that the station wasn’t completely shut down after the villain rampage from earlier that month. There were a few spots that were cordoned off for reconstruction but Tatooin was still chugging along like nothing happened. Out of the station and down the stairs to the main street, Kazuho absorbed the brand-new sights and sounds. 

 

Waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs was Tamao, hopping up from the bench she was waiting on and rattling the ice in one of the bubble tea cups she was holding as a greeting. “Kazuho! Down here!” Noticing the familiar face, Kazuho grinned and waved as she cautiously trotted down the stairs to her. “Welcome to Musutafu!” Tamao smiled and remembered the bubble tea she had in her hands. “Ah, we got boba while we were waiting. I wasn’t sure what flavor you’d like. I got… brown sugar or strawberry milk.”

 

“Eh? Back up. ‘We?’ ”

 

Tamao sighed. “Yeah. I promise you that if I could get my own driver’s license, I would’ve just brought myself… but I can’t. So… I had to get one of the boys to drive me.”

 

“ Oh, ” Kazuho groaned.

 

“Sorry.”

 

Kazuho took the strawberry milk tea from Tamao’s hand and shook her head. “You’ve got really weird taste in friends, Tamao,” she said.

 

“...”

 

“...f-friends that aren’t me , obviously!” Tamao snickered and Kazuho gave her a scolding jab in the side. “Shut up, you know what I mean!”

 

“I know, I know,” Tamao chuckled. “Well, don’t worry. I told the boys to be on their best behavior today. If any of them say anything untowards to you, you tell me and I’ll happily kick ‘em in the balls for you.”

 

“As long as I get a turn.”

 

“Hah! Absolutely you can!”

 

“Good. Deal, then.” 

 

With that, the girls headed off down the street side-by-side in the direction of the car park where the van was waiting. Tamao glanced over at Kazuho mid-sip and noticed her fiddling with her sunglasses. “Tried going without the eyepatch today?” she asked.

 

“Yeah. The straps were starting to irritate the back of my ears so I thought I’d give them a bit of a break,” Kazuho replied. “It’s not… obvious, is it? That I only have one eye now?”

 

“From a distance, I couldn’t hardly tell,” Tamao answered. “Up close though… yeah, it’s pretty obvious that one of the lenses is just completely black, so I could probably tell something happened if I didn’t already know.”

 

“...ugh, I guess I can work with that. The only people I want up this close should already know, anyway.”

 

“You could do what I did and make the emo eye-concealing bangs a permanent style choice.”

 

“Yeah… I thought about that but… I don’t know. Bee☆Pop didn’t change my look too much, not like Kuin did to you. So styling my bangs like that… makes me look a little too much like her for comfort.”

 

Tamao nodded and cooed a sympathetic, “I totally get it. Sorry, I was just throwing out ideas. Whatever makes you happy and comfortable, that’s the most important thing.”

 

“I appreciate the suggestion, though.”

 

“Well, hey, I know Kuin was just saying it at the time so she could seem more friendly and less weird, but I really do think the sunglasses look really cute on you,” Tamao said.

 

“Thanks,” Kazuho replied with a smile. “It’s really nice to have the energy to put some effort into my appearance again!”

 

Tamao laughed and nudged Kazuho with her elbow. “Psh, you could walk around wearing a trash bag and you’d still be the cutest girl in the room.”

 

Kazuho nudged Tamao back and giggled, “Like I’d actually do that!”

 

After a hustled jog across the street and a jaunt in between a couple of the buildings surrounding them, the girls arrived at a hidden parking lot where Deep Dope’s van was waiting. Kazuho caught the eye of the spiky blue-haired driver through the darkened windshield and groaned in annoyance, a groan that she just barely heard Soga mimic from inside the van. “God, lend me strength,” Kazuho grumbled.

 

Tamao pulled the side door open and climbed into the back seat, nestling herself in the seat right behind Soga. “Hey, we’re back!” Soga braced his hand against the headrest of the empty seat beside him and glanced over his shoulder as Kazuho climbed in after Tamao.

 

“Pop.”

 

“Kugizaki.”

 

“...finally done with the crutches?”

 

“Yeah, I got rid of them last week. I’m walking normally again but not sure about my Quirk yet. I haven’t tested it.”

 

“Good. Just… keep at it. You’ll be back to singin’ and dancin’ in no time.”

 

Kazuho raised an eyebrow before letting out a breath and replying, “I hope so… thanks.”

 

Soga responded with an acknowledging nod, snuck a sip from his matcha tea and turned back to the wheel, throwing the van in reverse and backing out of the spot he was waiting in. Tamao, on the other hand, couldn’t help but tease Soga through the gap in between the wall and the driver’s seat, “Oof, that was painfully awkward~”

 

“ Shut up.”

 

Trying to get out of the city was a little harder than it sounded with Soga having to battle congested traffic and populated crosswalks just trying to escape the city limits. After the third stuttery start-and-stop, Kazuho broke the silence in the van and asked, “So how did you guys find this kid anyway?”

 

“Other way around,” Soga replied. “ He found us .”

 

“Eh… sorta,” Tamao said. “We were just coming out from our last show and these guys pushed Midoriya into the alley we were in and were kicking the crap outta him. Apparently, he accidentally pissed them off and they just went berserk.”

 

Kazuho blinked, catching a few similarities between this story and that time she and Koichi met Soga and his friends. When her eye turned to the driver, Soga sighed and grumbled, “Yeah, I know. Sounds familiar. If it appeases you, I did get my lip busted trying to help the kid out.”

 

Kazuho nodded and sneered, “ It’s a start. ”

 

“Anyway, my dad was hanging around and scared those guys off,” Tamao continued. “After that, the kid mentioned he was Quirkless and a massive Hero fan… and for some reason, my dad took a liking to him and decided to make him his next apprentice.”

 

“ ‘Quirkless?’ ” Kazuho uncomfortably rubbed the back of her neck and sighed, “I’m going to sound Quirkist, I know, but… that’s just more reason as to why this is a bad idea, isn’t it?”

 

“It’s absolutely batshit insane,” Soga said. “But less because he doesn’t have a Quirk and more because… a stiff breeze will send this kid flyin’.”

 

“Yeah, but I think Midoriya being Quirkless does kinda factor into why Dad chose him… at least a little bit,” Tamao mumbled.

 

“You think so?”

 

“Well, yeah,” Kazuho agreed. “Clearly, the old fart has a soft spot for the underdog. Hence, him picking Koichi… and you .”

 

“I feel like you intended that as an insult.”

 

“If you choose to interpret it that way.”

 

“Fuck you.”

 

“Screw you back.”

 

“ Guys ,” Tamao laughed. “Well, the way I see it, it might be because… since Dad basically had to completely retrain himself so he could adapt to not being able to use his Quirk anymore, he-”

 

Suddenly, the van slammed to a stop just short of the red light, jostling everyone around. Fortunately, the boba managed to survive the sharp stop but Soga and Pop’s sanity had taken a significant hit. “ Wait a minute ,” Soga wheezed, twisting around in his seat to address Tamao directly. “What the fuck are you talking about?”

 

“Not able…?” Kazuho gasped. “Wait, wait, wait… you’re not saying that that absolute wrecking-ball of a man…?”

 

“...Is fucking Quirkless !?”

 

“Y-Yeah?” Tamao sputtered. “...wait, did he not tell you guys that?”

 

“ Is this a serious fuckin’ question!? ”

 

“ When does he tell anyone anything!? ”

 

“ I’m sorry! I thought you guys knew already! ”

 

“I figured… since he hits like a goddamn freight train, I figured he had some kind of strength-based Quirk,” Soga theorized.

 

Tamao shook her head and morbid curiosity got the better of Kazuho. “...what… was it then?”

 

“It was called ‘Overclock,’” Tamao explained. “It looked a lot like super speed but the speed only really applied to his brain.”

 

“ Super speed??? ”

 

“That is the exact opposite kind of powerset I’d expect a guy like him to have,” Soga said. Honk, Honk! “Fuckin’...” Soga rolled down his window and shouted, “The light just turned green! Shut the fuck up, asshole!”

 

“Move your ass!”

 

Soga threw a middle finger back out of the window as the van rolled forward. “Fuck you!”

 

“ Charming… ” Kazuho sneered under her breath. “But, y’know what, with that bit of context… The old timer taking on a Quirkless kid as his new apprentice makes… a bit more sense. I still think it’s an awful idea but it makes sense.”

 

“When has my dad ever had any good ideas?”

 

“But given the old fart’s track record… I think Koichi said that Knuckleduster basically just appeared in his apartment the literal next day after meeting him and kinda dragged him into the whole Trigger investigation, even after he rejected his offer at first.”

 

“From what the kid told us, that’s exactly what he did to Midoriya.”

 

“Oh, lord. Not again,” Kazuho sighed. “Midoriya at least wants to be here, right?”

 

“Seems like it,” Tamao said. “Soga tried giving him an out but he didn’t take it.”

 

“It’s only been about a week but the kid has been taking this training thing real seriously,” Soga added. “His mom’s under the impression that he’s actually doing volunteer work on the side so this is going to be the first time we actually meet up in person, but the kid and the old timer have been working out a training routine for him to do during the week. From what I hear, he’s been sticking to it so far.”

 

“So even if Dad was willing to let Midoriya go, I don’t think the kid’s planning to go anywhere,” Tamao laughed. “He did say that he always wanted to be a Hero. I guess he doesn’t mind being an illegal one.”

 

Kazuho smiled fondly to herself and said, “When we get there, I’m just going to see Koichi-but-smaller, aren’t I?”

 

“Smaller and green,” Tamao added.

 

“ ‘And green.’ ”

 

Finally, the trio escaped the city and merged onto the highway. “Say, where are we going anyway? I don’t think you mentioned that in your text, Tama,” Kazuho said.

 

“Takoba Municipal Beach Park,” Tamao replied.

 

“Literally the next exit,” Soga added.

 

“A beach? Ah, crap. I wish you had mentioned that when you texted me,” Kazuho sighed. “I would’ve brought my bathing suit if I knew we were going to a beach.”

 

Tamao’s stupid, sapphic brain glitched at that last part, suddenly flooded with images of a really cute girl that she may or may not have developed a tiny crush on in a really cute bathing suit. Fortunately, before her brain could come up with a way for her to stick her foot in her mouth, Soga stepped in, rolling his eyes at the flustered lesbian in his back seat and interjecting with, “Probably for the best anyway.”

 

“Meaning?”

 

“Meaning this isn’t the kind of beach you’d wanna go swimming at.”

 

-

 

“I thought you guys said we were going to a beach.”

 

“We are.”

 

“This is the place.”

 

“Are you sure? This doesn’t look like a beach.” Kazuho swept her arm out, indicating the piles of junk that flooded Takoba and said, “This place looks like an actual dump.”

 

“May as well be,” Soga agreed, locking up the van and catching up with the girls as they motioned towards the stairs leading down to the beach.

 

“Why would your dad want us to meet here?”

 

“Dunno. He’s probably got a reason but I doubt he’s gonna…”

 

Looking down the stairs towards the sea, the trio caught up with the rest of their group. For reasons unknown, Iwao figured that having Izuku attempt to drag an industrial-grade refrigerator across the beach while he was lounging on top of it was a good place to start his training. Predictably, Izuku made zero progress on that front, only successful at digging himself into the sand straining to move an immovable object. Rapt and Moyuru were floating around nearby, Moyuru trying and failing to talk some sense into Iwao and Rapt hanging out on the hood of a busted truck, shouting encouragement that was very much not helpful.

 

“Fuck’s sake…” Soga sighed and stomped down the stairs. “I left you alone for thirty minutes!”

 

“Oh geez, what is he doing to that poor kid?” Kazuho grumbled, following after Soga.

 

“ Good ol’ Dad… ” Tamao miserably added, following after Kazuho.

 

A painful tightening in Izuku’s calf muscles decided he was done trying for now and Izuku collapsed face-first into the sand. “ Aghk! Leg cramp! Leg cramp! ”

 

“Getting a nice tan up here,” Iwao teasingly replied from his perch. He went to take a sip from his beer and found the can run dry, setting it off to the side and reaching a hand down towards Moyuru. “Tochi, toss me another beer, would ya?”

 

“Wasn’t that your third one already? It’s only 10 in the morning.”

 

“It’s 5 o’clock somewhere.”

 

“Pretty sure you’ve got a drinking problem.”

 

“I know.”

 

“And he just admits it! You’re not even going to try and act like you don’t have a problem?”

 

“What’s the hold up on the beer?”

 

“What the hell’s going on here?” Soga said. “The kid’s gonna pop a blood vessel doing all this.”

 

“Training,” Iwao answered, propping himself up on his palms. “People move these bad boys all the time.”

 

“Yeah, but they’re all usually a lot stronger than me ,” Izuku choked out as the cramp in his leg started to ease up.

 

“Not to mention the guy hanging off the top of it that’s built like a brick shithouse,” Soga agreed.

 

“That’s the point. We’re here to put some muscle on you.”

 

“That’s why you have me dragging trash around?”

 

“Yeah… or part of it, at least.”

 

Izuku’s calf muscles complained but he managed to roll over to look up at his mentor. “There’s more?”

 

Iwao gestured out to the sea of junk and explained, “I did some research over the week and from what I hear, this part of the beach was beautiful until about a few years ago.”

 

Izuku mirrored his mentor’s pose, pushing himself upright. “Yeah… something about the currents. Lots of junk just drifts ashore and for some reason, people just dump their garbage here, even though they’re not supposed to…”

 

“Cleaning the beach would make for a good story to tell your mom, whenever she asks about your ‘after-school volunteer work.’”

 

“...because it basically is volunteer work?”

 

“Exactly! So, technically , you’re not lying about it.”

 

“And here I thought you were only in it to punch villains.”

 

Iwao glanced up and smirked at the familiar face tromping through the sand towards them. “It’s my favorite part of the job, anyhow,” he chuckled. “So you actually came. I thought you were done with this vigilante thing.”

 

“I am,” Kazuho scoffed. “I’m mostly here as a witness so you don’t accidentally kill the kid.” Kazuho stopped right behind Izuku and leaned over him, poking her head through his peripheral vision and with a much softer tone, asked him, “Hey. You doing alright down there?”

 

“ Ah! ” Izuku startled, mostly because Kazuho just suddenly appeared over him like that but also… the last time he heard about Pop☆Step was during her villain era when she was rampaging through Naruhata. Now, though, she looked absolutely nothing like the villain he saw on the news. She looked a lot softer and more harmless now compared to her Bee☆Pop persona. But… well… even though her name was stricken from the Villain Registry months ago… no one really knew why she became a villain in the first place so… who knows what would set her off again?

 

Tamao slung an arm around Kazuho’s shoulder and she said to Izuku, “Midoriya, this is a friend of ours, Pop☆Step!”

 

“ Ah- K-Kazuho Haneyama!” Kazuho sputtered. “ Pop☆Step is… on hiatus. Probably an indefinite one.”

 

“Don’t say that…” Tamao said with a sympathetic smile. “You’ll be back on stage before you know it.”

 

“I don’t know… at least until people can forget about the bee thing.”

 

“‘The bee thing?’” Izuku murmured.

 

Kazuho glanced at Tamao for clarification and Tamao sheepishly explained, “We… haven’t gotten to that part yet.”

 

Kazuho switched to every other person present before her eye fell back on Izuku. She grimaced and asked, “Midoriya… are you absolutely sure you want to be a part of this vigilante thing?”

 

“...ah, uh, y-yes!”

 

“You’re absolutely, 100% positive?”

 

“Yes! Saving people is probably the coolest thing someone can do and I want to be a Hero more than anything! I don’t mind that, technically, this is illegal.”

 

“And you’re not planning to take it back any time soon?”

 

“Yes! …or no? Uh…” Izuku cleared his throat and spoke again, his resolve strong. “I really do want this, Haneyama-san. I want to be the kind of Hero that All Might and The Crawler are and if this is the best way I can do it, then I’m all in!”

 

Invoking Koichi’s name convinced Kazuho that the kid was completely serious about this whole thing. She sighed, gripping her sunglasses by the arms and said, “Well, I’d better just rip the bandage off in that case. The whole lockdown from last year and my involvement in it… started because I trusted someone I shouldn’t have and my body was… stolen. By a parasite.” Kazuho removed her sunglasses, revealing the empty grafted-on patch of skin that covered her empty left eye socket.

 

“ Oh… ”

 

“The villain you saw on the news… was only kinda-sorta me. She had me high off Trigger most of the time, so I was kinda there but it was the bees that were calling the shots the whole time,” Kazuho explained. “...it was horrifying. Like…”

 

“Like being pushed into the back of your own head?” Tamao murmured and Kazuho nodded. “Having to sit there and watch yourself in the third person while the bee poorly attempts to imitate you and makes you do… horrible things.” Tamao brushed the bangs away from her left eye, uncovering a matching missing eye and said, “I can confirm. It is horrifying.”

 

“...I didn’t know… I’m so sorry,” Izuku almost whispered, shaken.

 

Kazuho quietly accepted his unnecessary apology with a nod and after a bit, her convictions returned and she put her sunglasses back on. “Which is part of why this whole concept bothers me,” she said, looking back up at Iwao. “Quirk or not… he’s just a kid . We should be setting a good example for him and not encouraging him to break the law and put himself in danger.”

 

“ You were just a kid when you started out with us,” Iwao countered.

 

“I know that. But I’ve had three years to grow and mature and figure out that I probably should’ve just focused on my idol career instead of follow you two around!” Kazuho snapped.

 

“You don’t mean that.”

 

“And how do you know what I mean or don’t mean!? You weren’t even around for those three years! Matter of fact, where even were you that whole time!?”

 

“Hey, part of it was out of my control! Your buddy Nomura was the one that busted up my knee and put me on my ass for a while!”

 

“Oh, thanks for the heads up about him , by the way! What, did you lose me and Koichi’s numbers for three years straight or something?”

 

“Y’know, that’s a good damn question Pop just asked a second ago, Dad ,” Tamao sneered over Kazuho’s shoulder. “I’m pretty sure you said something about not leaving me alone again but all of a sudden you have to go running off to Hong Kong for some reason.”

 

“ Hong Kong??? What was up there !?”

 

A bottle of water tapped Izuku’s shoulder and he glanced up, finding Soga kneeling beside him. “Pretty sure you’re not a part of the conversation anymore,” he whispered. “We should get out of their way.” Izuku agreed, accepting the hand up that Soga offered and following him over to the truck where Rapt was perched.

 

Iwao sighed, “I was tying up loose ends.”

 

“What loose ends?” Kazuho demanded.

 

“The bee was taking orders from somebody. I was intending on following that rabbit hole down to the source and getting some real justice…” Iwao frowned and gave his daughter a sincere look. “...for what those people did to you… and your mother…”

 

The mention of her mother got Tamao to back down but Kazuho still had some arguing left in her. “Well, you kinda screwed it up, didn’t you!?” she snapped, pointing directly to the blackened lens in her sunglasses.

 

“I know,” Iwao sighed. “I was hoping you and Koichi were safely out of the line of fire but I must’ve miscalculated.”

 

“That’s an understatement!” Kazuho tried to rub the frustration from her temple and she said, “Seriously, why the secrecy? So much of this could’ve been avoided if you would’ve just told us stuff! I know that Koichi would’ve been willing to help you in your investigation if you’d just told him! Hell, if I knew there was a parasitic bee running around, I might still have both of my eyes right now!”

 

“That was my cross to bear,” Iwao replied. “You two shouldn’t have to be saddled with my bullshit.”

 

“He says, after his count of people he volun-forced to be his apprentice has now gone up to three ,” Tamao snorted, looking over her shoulder at the poor kid that was just awkwardly standing off to the side with Soga and Rapt, waiting for the conversation to stop.

 

“What if we wanted to help!?” Kazuho countered. “I shouldn’t have to be the one to tell you that you could’ve asked us for it!”

 

“Leaving Naruhata in you and Koichi’s care was you helping me,” Iwao insisted. “You two didn’t need me anymore.”

 

“...bullcrap,” Kazuho said. “You… you’re nuts. It’s a wonder you haven’t gone to jail yet with the way you carry on. You have to be the single , most frustrating old fart I have ever met in my entire life… but it’s not like I wanted you gone …” 

 

Izuku’s glance ping-ponged back-and-forth watching the argument between the former teammates, unfortunately missing an entire 15 volumes worth of context, leaving him woefully unable to understand what they were even talking about. Bees? Some organization the bees answered to? What did the bees do to Tamao’s mother? Why wouldn’t Sensei ask Pop and The Crawler for help when he needed it? Nomura? Hong Kong? Hoping one of his new senpais could clear things up for him, Izuku leaned over and whispered to Soga, “Kugizaki-senpai, I’m totally lost.”

 

Soga huffed, “Join the club.”

 

“ Very helpful, thank you. ”

 

Kazuho threw a hand towards Izuku and asked, “Are you going to pull the disappearing act crap on him too?” 

 

The possibility that his sensei would just up and vanish on him after his training literally just started sent a bolt of anxiety through Izuku’s system, but to his immense relief, Iwao answered, “I don’t plan to.”

 

“You better not. Not after you got his hopes up like this.”

 

Kazuho folded her arms over her chest and heaved a long, put-upon sigh. “Well… I don’t have anything really important going on in my life right now…” she said. “...so I’ll hang around for a little bit, I guess. So, at least, if Midoriya needs someone to testify for him, he can have me.”

 

“Uh… thank you?” Izuku said, still completely lost.

 

Iwao laughed, “You really think that’s necessary?”

 

“Yes.” Iwao opened his mouth to respond but Kazuho threw a finger up, sternly adding, “ But! The literal second that Midoriya decides that this is too much for him and he wants out, we - all of us- will let him go and never bother him again. Understood?”

 

“Sure.”

“Got it.”

“Aye-aye, cap’n.”

“Understood.”

“...deal.”

 

Vindicated, Kazuho let out a relieved breath and said, “Good.”

 

From the parking lot above them, the sound of crunching gravel under tires rattled through the air, heralding the arrival of someone new. “Oh, he actually showed up,” Iwao muttered to himself. “I figured he was just going to call me.”

 

The new person’s truck pulled in right next to Iwao’s and the driver hopped out, stopping at the top of the stairs. No one recognized this guy. He looked as if he was just a little bit younger than Knuckleduster, with gunmetal silver hair and a bushy mustache to match. “Hey there, folks!” the man called down to the pack of illegal heroes gathered on the beach. “One of you Takeshi Kuroiwa, by any chance?”

 

“That’d be me!” Iwao called back from his perch and waved a hand at Moyuru and Rapt. “You two! C’mere for a sec! Do me a favor and stand right… here. Right there.”

 

“Uh… okay?”

 

“What’d you need us to stand here f-”

 

Without any warning, Iwao rolled off of his perch, using Moyuru and Rapt as makeshift airbags to break his fall.

 

“ GAHK! What the hell, pops!? ”

“ Get the hell off me, dammit! ”

 

The man on the stairs called back, “Ah, i-it’s alright, Kuroiwa! I can just come over there!”

 

“Be over in a minute!” Iwao stuck a hand towards Izuku and hissed, “Kid, gimme a hand up.”

 

Izuku tried his best, he sure did but like the big fridge, he couldn’t hardly move his mentor an inch, what with his upper body strength being in the negatives. “ Aghk, holy crap, you weigh a ton! ”

 

“Yeah, ‘ brick shithouse, ’ remember?” Soga added his strength to Izuku’s efforts and managed to pull Iwao back up to his feet.

 

The man had hit the beach by the time Iwao got his footing again. “Really, Kuroiwa, it’s not a problem! I can just-”

 

“I’m comin’, I’m comin’!” Iwao wordlessly asked his teammates to wait where they were before he limped across the beach, the man insisting on meeting him halfway.

 

“Who’s this guy?” Kazuho asked, getting a confused shrug from Tamao.

 

“Are we being kicked out?” Izuku asked.

 

“We shouldn’t be. This is public property,” Soga answered, tending to his crumpled-up friends stuck in the sand.

 

The sounds of the sea and the cry of seagulls overhead swallowed up the conversation that the man and Iwao were having, though from the way the man was looking around, it seemed like it was related to the state the beach was in. The man panned his eye across the sea of junk around them and then an idea struck him. His suggestion was politely refused at first but after a bit of convincing, Iwao glanced over his shoulder back at the others, Izuku specifically. Iwao shrugged and agreed to whatever the man suggested which the man seemed excited about. After one last handshake, the man went back up the stairs, waving to the others on his way up before he got back in his truck and drove away.

 

Curious, Izuku wandered in Iwao’s direction as he watched the truck disappear. “Who was that, Sensei?”

 

“A local.”

 

“Just a local?”

 

Iwao leaned over and gripped the tire sticking out of the garbage pile by his feet. “Well, we can at least get a head start,” he muttered to himself.

 

“‘A head st-’ Uwah! ” The tire that Iwao recovered from the garbage pile was plopped on Izuku’s back. While the weight was nothing to Iwao, to the shrimpy lil’ guy he picked as his next apprentice, the weight flattened Izuku back down to the sand. “ ...I wasn’t ready. ”

 

Soga, Tamao and Kazuho hung back, watching the old timer ‘encourage’ his new apprentice as he tried to pull himself up with the new weight on his back. Kazuho glanced over at Soga and noticed the look in his eye. “...you can’t stop thinking about the fact that he used to have a Quirk either?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“Same… I don’t know how to feel about this.”

 

“Me neither.”

 

“...it’s kinda funny , though, in hindsight. Knowing you and your idiot friends got your butts kicked by a Quirkless guy…”

 

“To you , probably… my pride will never fucking recover from this…”

 

Tamao wailed, “ I’m sorry! I thought you guys knew already!”

 

-

 

The sunrise had just popped up over the horizon when Izuku returned to Takoba Beach the next morning. As he expected, his mentor had him beat by a couple of hours, since he had a much longer drive to make. What Izuku didn’t expect was the small convoy of pickup trucks backed up beside the stairs down to the beach. 

 

“Eh?” Izuku curiously trotted over to the new trucks, reading the logo printed on the side. “‘ Senchi Salvage and Recycling ’…” Now that he thought about it, Izuku thought he passed by a storefront with that printed on the window on his jog here… it also felt like he heard that name somewhere at school before…

 

“‘Scuse me.”

 

“ Oh! S-Sorry!”

 

Another person around Izuku’s height squeezed past him, his arms loaded down with a basket full of junk. After what seemed like a pretty difficult trek from where he started to here, the boy set the basket down in the open bed of the closest truck with a sigh of relief. He was a bit overconfident, it seemed, in how much he could haul up those stairs, having haphazardly stacked stuff on top of the already overfilled basket and that bit of jostling wound up knocking one of the dented metal bowls he hung off the top of the heap off. “Ah!”

 

“Whoops! I got it!” Quick on the draw, Izuku snatched the bowl out of the air before it could hit the ground. “Oh, I actually did get it! Nice!”

 

The boy laughed, accepting the junk from Izuku’s hand and said, “Thanks for that.”

 

“Yeah, no prob…”

 

Then the two boys actually looked at each other. Izuku’s seen this kid somewhere before, he just knew it. Gunmetal silver hair, bright tangerine orange eyes… ah, where had he seen this guy before? It seemed like the boy had that same thought and after squinting at each other in thought, they both realized that they were staring and broke eye contact.

 

“Ah, sorry!”

“S-Sorry!”

 

“...Hey, have I seen you somewhere before?” the boy asked. “Maybe at school?”

 

“What school do you go to?”

 

“Aldera Junior High.”

 

Izuku perked up. “Oh, then you might’ve! That’s my school!”

 

The boy did the same. “Oh really? Are you a third year?”

 

“Yeah!”

 

“Me too! What class are you in?”

 

“I’m in 3-A.”

 

The boy stuck his thumb against his shoulder and answered, “3- C .”

 

With that last piece of the jigsaw puzzle in place, both boys gave a combined victorious sigh at quickly figuring out this mystery. “That’s why you look familiar!”

 

“3-A… that’s with that Bakugou kid, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

The boy winced and said, “My condolences. He must be… a real treat to have in class.”

 

Izuku’s smile strained and he said, “Well… you’re not wrong .”

 

Just then, a voice called up from the stairs. “You make it up there in one piece, Naru?”

 

Naru shook his head and called back, “Yeah, Dad. And I only dropped one thing!”

 

“Well, I’m glad for that,” Naru’s dad said, climbing up the stairs into view and revealing himself to be the mustachioed man from the day before. “Better the trash than your ankle or something. It’s not like you can break this stuff any more than it already…” 

 

Noticing Izuku standing beside his son, Naru’s dad grinned and greeted him with, “Oh, hey, I know you ! You were here yesterday, weren’t ya? One of Kuroiwa’s group, right?”

 

“Yeah, that’s right.”

 

Naru gestured to Izuku and introduced him to his father. “Turns out he’s a schoolmate of mine.”

 

“Really? Small world, huh?” Naru’s dad sidled past his son and dropped off the basket of garbage he held against his hip before he offered a handshake to Izuku. “Ryouta Senchi and this here is my son, Naru.”

 

Mr. Senchi’s handshake was pretty strong, rippling up Izuku’s arm and through the rest of his body. “Nice to meet you, Senchi-san. My name’s Izuku Midoriya.”

 

“Midoriya… oh, you’re Inko’s boy! She’s such a lovely woman!” Mr. Senchi gave Izuku a hearty pat on the shoulder and said, “Good to have you on board, young man!”

 

“Ah… thanks, sir.” Izuku rubbed the sting out of his shoulder and asked, “So, uh… Kuroiwa-sensei hasn’t filled me in on what the new plan is. We couldn’t really hear what your conversation with him was from where we were standing yesterday. What exactly is going on?”

 

“Well, your… counselor? Team leader? Whatever he’s decided to call himself- he gave me a call earlier this week and told me about your big beach cleaning project,” Mr. Senchi explained. “He said you folks were gonna need a couple of good trucks and a place to take all this junk to.” Mr. Senchi tipped out the basket he brought up, dumping his pile of garbage into the truck bed and handing the empty basket off to his son, sending him back down for more.

 

Sidestepping over to the basket Naru brought up, Mr. Senchi grinned and admitted, “Honestly, I’m real glad he called me . I’ve been griping about this eyesore to the city council for the last few years now and for some reason, they’ve always been putting it off. It’s about time someone decided to do something about this.” He emptied out the basket and hooked it against his hip. “Hope you don’t mind if all of us kinda muscle in on your project a bit.”

 

“...eh? ‘All of us?’”

 

Down on the beach, Izuku caught Naru’s voice… and Kazuho’s… and a bunch of other voices he couldn’t place to anyone specific. Izuku leaned over the railing, peering down at the beach and saw that the Senchis had brought backup with them, as many friends, relatives, colleagues and like-minded neighbors that they could find. A good chunk of the town had shown up to pitch in and finally clear this problem away, turning this harebrained attempt at strength training for Izuku into an actual community project.

 

Settled on the bottom step was Izuku’s mentor. Iwao noticed Izuku at the top of the stairs and waved him down. “Sensei? What’s going on? What’s with all these people?” Izuku asked, stopping on the step just above his mentor.

 

“That ol’ clunker of mine wouldn’t be able to do the back-and-forth thing without becoming scrap itself,” Iwao said. “So I called a local expert for a little help… clearly he misheard me and gave me a lot of help instead.”

 

“Huh…”

 

“Not that surprised by the turnout though,” Iwao murmured. “From what Senchi said, people have been complaining about the state of this place for a while now. But they were too worried about the backlash to be the one to start something. Some people have to wait for someone else to start before they feel brave enough to jump in.”

 

Izuku looked around, making sure no one was listening and crouched down to Iwao’s level, whispering, “Are we changing my training plan? You know… because of all the people around?”

 

“Nope.”

 

“We’re not?”

 

Iwao nudged Izuku off of the step and the young vigilante just barely managed to catch himself and avoid yet another mouthful of sand. “You’d better get a move on,” Iwao chuckled. “They’ll get to all the garbage before you do otherwise.”

 

Izuku confusedly glanced back at his mentor, back out to the beach and then gave Iwao a determined look before he charged off into the fray, weaving around Kazuho and over to where Naru was. 

 

One of Naru’s dad’s coworkers had pulled a damaged rack of coin lockers out from its pile and Izuku was the first to volunteer to help, Naru echoing the offer. After he made sure the boys could handle it, the coworker handed off the coin lockers to them and went to help someone that called for him. After a moment to figure out a decent handhold in the crumpled metal mess, they attempted to lift it up off of the ground. The first attempt didn’t go so well as Izuku’s hands and back didn’t appreciate what he was doing and loudly complained.

 

Iwao shouted some advice from his step. “Lift with your knees, not your back!”

 

The second attempt fared a little better and Izuku and Naru were able to lift the rack of lockers up off the ground, albeit a little shakily, especially on Izuku’s part. Naru took the lead, side-stepping and walking backwards, leading the whole show back towards the stairs while Izuku held his side up. As his new apprentice and his schoolmate climbed the stairs, Iwao laughed, “Attaboy, kid!”

 

Kazuho dwindled to a stop right beside him, watching Izuku and Naru disappear past the top of the stairs. “...Too bad Koichi’s not here,” she sighed. “Cleaning up an entire beach? …that dummy would be all over this, since he thinks picking up trash is actually fun.” Iwao smiled fondly to himself and nodded in agreement.

 

…okay, reminiscing over. Time for everybody to get back to work. Kazuho looked down at the older vigilante beside her and scoldingly asked, “You comfortable down there?”

 

Iwao scoffed, “I’m too damn old to be doing all that stair climbing.”

 

“At least make yourself useful somehow, you lazy jerk! Don’t make us do all the work!”

 

-

 

Elsewhere…

 

Knock, knock, knock…

 

Akane Chidori glanced up from her book at the sound. Huh. That’s weird. She wasn’t expecting a visitor. She would’ve been buzzed, wouldn’t she?

 

Knock, knock, knock…

 

Maybe it’s her landlord? Akane marked her spot and set her book on the end table beside her. Must be important if he hasn’t even buzzed her yet. However, she definitely remembered her landlord being a short, pudgy, balding man. The voice she heard on the other side of her door, humming Shostakovich’s Waltz No. 2 , belonged to a woman.

 

Akane cracked her door open and sure enough, there was a stylishly dressed woman waiting on the other side. She wore a beige sweater dress that reached the middle of her thighs and hugged her curves in all the most alluring places, cinched at the waist by a chunky brown belt. Opaque black tights covered her legs, tucked into brown leather knee boots and resting against her hip was a sparkly bee-shaped purse with sequins on the wings and fuzzy black-and-yellow stripes.

 

Her fair blonde hair fell down her back in soft waves, brushed over her left eye and completely concealing it from view. Twinkly gold jewelry accented her outfit, along with a matching gold compact mirror that the woman was using to touch up her dark makeup in. She was still humming as she did so, smoothing out her lipstick and popping her lips on the last note.

 

Satisfied with her touch-up job, the woman capped her lipstick, snapped her compact closed and returned them to her bee purse.

 

“Um… hello?”

 

The woman startled when Akane spoke and laughed, “Ah, you scared me!”

 

“Sorry, sorry! I wasn’t expecting a visitor today. I didn’t even hear my buzzer go off… Uh, can I help you, ma’am?”

 

“Sorry to just drop in on you like this,” the woman sheepishly replied. “I don’t know if you remember me? We spoke on the phone the other day about my friend? Rokuro Nomura?”

 

That rang a bell in Akane’s mind. “Oh, yeah! I do remember you!” Akane held out her hand and introduced herself. “I didn’t catch your name last time. I’m Akane Chidori. It’s nice to meet you, Ms…?”

 

The woman took Akane’s hand, her shiny, black press-on nails digging little semi-circles into Akane’s skin as she did so. “Kogo. Kogo Kiiruegi.”

 

“It’s so nice to meet you, Kiiruegi.”

 

“It’s so nice to meet you !”

 

A whistle from the kitchen rang through the penthouse. “Ah, my tea!” Akane backed into the apartment and scurried over to the stove, pulling the tea kettle off of the burner. “Oh, please come in!” she called back to her guest. “I’d hate to turn you away after you just got here!”

 

“Is that okay?”

 

“Of course!”

 

Oh, this woman would be dead meat if Kogo was a vampire… although… well, if you think about it in a certain way…

 

Kogo wandered in, hovering around in the entryway and taking in the sights. Number 6 was something of a minimalist in life from what she knew, like he was painfully aware that even this space was temporary. What a change to see so much stuff in here. Paintings, bookshelves, a little nook where Akane could work on… jewelry-making? Ooh, there’s incense flowing through the apartment. Lavender and… eucalyptus? This would’ve been really nice for Big Brother’s anger problems.

 

Akane poked her head out of her kitchen and asked, “Can I offer you some tea, Kiiruegi-san? I brewed some chamomile.”

 

“I would love some tea, thank you so much!” Kogo answered. “Could I possibly get a few dashes of honey in mine?”

 

“Sure! I have clover, wildflower, orange blossom, manuka… do you have a preference at all?”

 

Kogo shook her head and replied, “Nope. Use them all.”

 

“...all?” Kogo nodded, almost like she didn’t hear anything wrong with her request. “That… that’ll make your tea violently sweet.”

 

Kogo smiled and answered, “I have a violent sweet tooth.”

 

“...alright then. If you say so.”

 

With her hostess gone again, Kogo went back to her exploring. In her pacing around the penthouse, Kogo looked up and saw a spot that was just barely painted over. If she remembered right, that was where the punching bag was bolted into the ceiling. And if the punching bag was there, then the big, obnoxious O’Clock poster would be right over…

 

Hanging where the poster was supposed to be was a similarly-sized watercolor landscape painting of a pond in a meadow, home to a pair of swans and a thirsty deer. Shock and horror! They sold off the O’Clock poster even!? Oh, Big Brother would be so furious~!

 

Kogo’s exploration brought her to a more secluded part of the penthouse that Akane claimed as her bedroom. Unlike Number 6, she must not be very appreciative of being woken up by a blast of sunlight through those huge windows. Kogo poked her head into the room and looked around, noticing a heavy wooden desk pushed up into the corner. Oh, thank God! They didn’t sell that off! Then it might still be in there…

 

“Um… Kiiruegi-san? What’re you doing?”

 

Kogo flinched back and scuttled back to the living room where Akane was. “Sorry, sorry! I got a little carried away! I haven’t been here in so long and I was curious about how it changed since I’ve been here!” Kogo pressed her hands together and pleaded, “Please forgive my rudeness!”

 

“It’s alright,” Akane said, placing her teacup on the coffee table. “No harm, no foul.”

 

Kogo cozied herself into a corner of the couch and beside her, she noticed a gorgeous European construction of glass and crystal that lit her corner of the room with a tiny flicker of flame. “Oooh, what’s this? It’s so pretty~”

 

“My lamp? Oh, it’s an antique I found while thrifting,” Akane explained, handing Kogo her teacup. “I’m kind of a sucker for really old things. They just don’t make things like that anymore. It’s a little sad honestly.”

 

“What does it run off of? Kerosene?”

 

“It does. It is not cheap but totally worth it.”

 

“I love it. I love your entire aesthetic,” Kogo said with a sincere smile. “It feels so cozy here. Makes me wanna curl up on this couch with a good book and never leave.”

 

“That’s exactly what I had in mind!”

 

Thoroughly enjoying this chat with a kindred spirit, Kogo smiled and asked, “Okay, so since you’re an avid reader, I simply have to know what your go-to genre is.”

 

Akane laughed and admitted, “Well, it’s a guilty pleasure of mine but I admit… as soon as I pick up a good murder mystery, I cannot put it back down until I finish reading it. Especially anything by Agatha Christie! She died in the 1970s, a really, really long time ago but I swear, her works still stand the test of time.”

 

“Agatha Christie… that would be… Death on the Nile ? Murder on the Orient Express ?”

 

“Exactly! With Hercule Poirot!”

 

“I love Poirot! He’s so clever and delightfully insufferable!”

 

… ahem .

 

“I haven’t done a whole lot of reading myself lately, but when I do, I love a good ghost story. I think… the last one I read was The Amityville Horror …”

 

“Classic. Absolute classic,” Akane agreed, cozying herself in her spot. “So are the movies- …er, no, just the first movie actually. Everything after that…”

 

“...gets a little bit nutty.”

 

“Yeah… The Awakening was pretty decent but I think that one was just a fluke.”

 

Ahem . Mari.

 

“On the topic of horror movies, you know what’s a good one? The Strangers .”

 

“Oh, I think I remember that one! With the masked killers?”

 

“Yeah. Phew, the end gives me chills every time!”

 

“Same. It’s so terrifying when the villain doesn’t have any motivation.”

 

“Or even if they do, their victim never learns what it is.”

 

“ Ah, that’s so scary to think about~! The only thing they did wrong was open the door when the killers knocked!”

 

“But honestly, they should’ve seen it coming. The killers weren’t even being that subtle about how menacing they were. I would’ve just jumped in my car and peeled out the second that girl walked away.” Kogo shrugged and laughed, “But, it’s the horror movie universe. What can you do? It’s like everybody’s IQ drops a few hundred points in a horro-” Bzzt! “Mmph!”

 

Mari, the queen is absolutely delighted that you’re having fun with your new friend here, but don’t forget, there’s a reason the two of you are here. Let’s wrap this up already.

 

“Are you okay?”

 

Kogo rubbed her forehead and gave Akane a reassuring smile. “I’m fine. Sorry about that. Headache…”

 

“Um… hmm…” Akane hooked her arm over the back of the couch, glancing towards the bathroom where the medicine cabinet was. “I think I have some-”

 

“Sorry, I was rambling,” Kogo said, setting her teacup down on the end table beside her as a worker crawled out of her eye socket and snuck around her head, down her back and onto the couch. “I… had a reason for being here.”

 

“Oh no, there’s no reason to be sorry!” Akane insisted. “I’m sorry for holding you up with my rambling.”

 

“Don’t you start apologizing!” Kogo laughed.

 

Akane cleared her throat and asked, “So… what brought you over here anyway?”

 

“I came to pick up something my Big Brother left behind, that’s all.”

 

Akane raised an eyebrow at that. “‘Big Brother…?’” she murmured. “You mean Nomura? But I thought… Ah, what do you mean? All of Nomura’s stuff was sold off, remem-” Bzzt! “ Ouch! ”

 

Akane instinctively swatted at whatever just stung her and crushed the worker bee under her palm. This reflected back at Mari, making Kogo double over with a clipped gasp of pain and clutch her face in her hands. “What the…? A bee?” Akane reached over and plucked a tissue from the box on the end table, using that to scrape up the squashed bee on her palm.

 

Akane stood up from her seat, intending to take the bee corpse to the trash when she heard Kogo muttering and murmuring behind her. “...Kiiruegi?” She left the wadded up tissue on the end table and crouched beside Kogo, watching her with concern.

 

Kogo just sat there like that for a second, breathing heavily and whispering to herself. After a moment, she let her face go, a smear of red on her palm from where she was grasping at her left eye. “We’re gonna fix it, we’re gonna fix it, we’re gonna fix it…”

 

“ Ah! Oh my god, is… is your eye bleeding!?” Akane’s hands shot straight to her pocket and grabbed her phone. “Hold on, I’ll call an ambulance.” But Kogo refused to allow her to do that, slapping her phone out of her hand.

 

“Sorry…” Kogo said, clumsily trying to wipe the bloody smear off of her hand. “I wasn’t talking to you .”

 

“...wh-what? But I’m… the only other person here. Who… could you… p-possibleh…” With that, Akane succumbed to the fast-acting neurotoxin that the bee had shot her up with a moment ago and her body collapsed to the floor, twitching, spasming and foaming at the mouth. Kogo stood up from her spot, thumbed away a smudge of blood from her left cheek and crushed Akane’s phone under her heel before she trotted off back towards her victim’s bedroom. 

 

The heavy wooden desk that was held over from the last tenant contained something that Number 6 left behind, hidden just in case someone managed to break in and snoop. Kogo just had to find it. With the queen’s advice to feel the bottom of the drawers, Kogo checked every single one and felt something along the bottom of the top drawer on the right hand side: a hole, just big enough for a pen’s ink cartridge.

 

And would you look at that? A little container of pens and pencils right on top of the desk! After carelessly emptying out the drawer and tossing its contents behind her, Kogo grabbed a pen from the container on the desk, twisted the ink cartridge until it came free and carefully inserted the ‘key’ into the ‘lock’, disabling the flammable safeguard and pushing the false bottom of the drawer up. Inside, Number 6’s notes, going back all the way to when he started running the Villain Factory.

 

Kogo had to laugh to herself. The whole process, step-by-step, was ripped straight from a manga series she remembered reading in middle school of all places. “I probably should be surprised that Big Brother has read that manga but I’m not really,” Kogo said to herself, retrieving the notebook from its hiding spot. “From what you told me about him, he seems like the kind of guy that would really like that series.”

 

With the prize tucked under her arm, Kogo returned to the living room. She stepped over Akane’s rapidly cooling body and downed the last of her violently sweet tea before she gently picked up the kerosene-powered antique lamp. She took one last opportunity to admire it as it warmed her hand before she turned a sinister grin to Akane and said, “Thank you so much for letting me in.”

 

Smash! The lamp shattered to pieces on the ground by Akane’s body and the flame ignited the rest of the kerosene that was in it, setting the carpet by her on fire. While Akane’s living room started to catch fire behind her, Kogo casually stopped by the hallway mirror to make sure her bloodied eye didn’t ruin her makeup before she skipped to the front door. “You’ve been such a wonderful hostess! Thank you for having me!” She mockingly called back, flipping the lock on the door knob so it couldn’t open from the outside before she pulled it closed. “I’ll be on my way now! Bye!”

 

Back down the elevator, Kogo returned to the lobby. At least her babies managed to keep themselves entertained in the meanwhile. They sure did a number on the lobby. Kogo stepped out of the elevator and noticed the main desk receptionist cowering under her desk, hoping to God that Kogo and her bees would spare her if she just stayed out of sight. Fortunately for her, Kogo’s had her fun already and she left the receptionist be, waving at her and pressing a finger to her lips. Silence is golden, yes?

 

“Alright, kids, come on. You’ve played with your food for long enough,” Kogo called out to her bees and on her command, the mini-swarm abandoned the corpse of the security guard that they were feasting on and returned to their queen. With that, the queen and her subjects left the building just as smoke started to come down from the elevator shaft.

 

“...whoa, what the-?”

“ Fire! ”

“Oh crap! Someone call the fire department!”

“Screw that, someone call Backdraft!”

 

The shocked shrieks of the streetwalkers around her, noticing her handiwork, didn’t bother Kogo in the least. She had what she needed now. Big Brother managed to figure out a workaround for this pain reflection nonsense and if Kogo could replicate what he did, that would be very beneficial to her. Oh, look at that! He even had a tabbed out a whole section just for her!

 

Subject #00527: Yuriko Tachibana

Alias: LILY 🌺 (She insists that I write it like that. End me please.)

 

Flip…

 

Subject #00528: Tamao Oguro

Alias: Kuin Hachisuka

 

Flip…

 

Subject #00529: Kazuho Haneyama

Alias: Bee☆Pop

“There it is!” Kogo declared victoriously. “Now we’re talking. Let’s see… what did you do to her that I can do to myself?” Kogo traced her way down the page with her finger. “Step 1: Sedate… the subject. Hmm… that’ll make the whole process difficult to do with myself. I guess that means we have to go without painkillers on this one. Lovely … Step 2…”

Notes:

Full disclosure, my thought process behind Mari's Queen Bee name came from me plugging words into Google Translate and improvising with it.

Kogo equals 'empress' and Kiiruegi is me gracelessly smashing together the words 'kiiro' (yellow) and 'ue-gi' (jacket).

Chapter 12: Something Weird Is Going On With Deku

Summary:

As the cleaning of Takoba Beach continues, Katsuki starts to take notice of how strange Deku's been acting lately.

MAY

 

“ Soooo? …what d’you mean ‘ so what? ’ …I’m talking about Mr. Tall, Buff and Rugged. You seen him again lately? …Mhm, mhm. And? … And nothing!? Why not!? …Inko, babe, is it really cheating if you’re planning to leave your non-existent husband anyway? …alright, alright, Ms. Dictionary Definition. But seriously, from what you told me, it sounds like he likes you… and you sound like you like him … At the very least invite the guy out for coffee or something… Hon, it’s just coffee. It’s not like you’re flinging yourself at the guy. You’re just talking, getting to know each other… The worst thing he could say is no. Seriously, what’ve you got to lose?”

 

The sound of the front door being practically kicked open got Masaru to glance up over the top of his newspaper. “Welcome home, son.” Katsuki grunted a response, stalking past his old man and into the kitchen.

 

“Hag! I’m home!”

 

Mitsuki waved in the general direction of the stove and answered, “Yup, welcome home, brat. Dinner’s on the stove. Fix your own plate.” Returning to her phone call with Inko, Mitsuki signed off with, “Hey, Inko, I’ve gotta go. The spawn’s home… Thanks. You too. Oh , and I mean it about that Kuroiwa guy! If you don’t invite him out to coffee on your own, I’ll just steal your phone and text him for you! … oh yes I would. Ok, tell Izuku I said hi! Talk to you later, buh-bye.” Beep. “Masaru, hon! Dinner’s ready! Come get it!”

 

With full dinner plates, the Bakugous migrated to the dining room, settling in for a scrumptious meal. For the most part, Mitsuki and Masaru filled the silence with idle chatter while Katsuki focused entirely on his food. At one point, however, he glanced up at his mother out of the corner of his eye and noticed her smiling about something. “The fuck are you grinnin’ about?” he asked and got an immediate swat on the arm.

 

“Quit cussin’ at the dinner table!”

 

“Blame yourself, hag! I learned it from listening to you !”

 

“Knock it off!”

 

“ You two… ”

 

Mitsuki grinned like the cat that caught the canary, sneaking a bite of rice. “Well… it’s kinda early yet and she’s being all shy about it but…” Mitsuki giggled. “It sounds like Aunt Inko’s found herself a new man~”

 

“Oh, has she seen Kuroiwa again?” Masaru asked.

 

“A couple times, she says,” Mitsuki responded. “Mostly about Izuku though, not one-on-one or anything. Not yet , anyway.”

 

“Huh? What about Deku?”

 

“Izuku’s gotten into volunteer work recently. Kuroiwa’s his… counselor? Team leader?”

 

Masaru shrugged. “One of those two.”

 

Volunteer work , huh? The nerd hadn’t mentioned anything like that lately… Katsuki shrugged and went back to his food. As long as the little twerp took his advice to avoid applying for UA, he could care less.

 

“And from what Inko tells me, he’s quite the charmer too~” Mitsuki continued. “I just got off the phone trying to talk her into asking him out for coffee but she’s dragging her feet about it.”

 

“Ah, because she’s technically still married to Hisashi, isn’t she?” Masaru sighed.

 

“Who’s that?” Katsuki quipped.

 

“ Pfft- Good one,” Mitsuki snickered, rewarding her son’s wit with a fist bump. “Yeah, that’s definitely part of it. Might also be because he made the first move when they started dating. Poor Inko’s never had to do that before. Ugh, I wish they’d just pull the trigger on that divorce already so Inko can get back out there. I mean, she’s got a new suitor standing right there!”

 

“Hmm… we don’t know very much about Kuroiwa otherwise, though,” Masaru hummed thoughtfully. “When we get the chance, we should invite him over for a ‘friendly gathering’ and grill him a little. Just to make sure he’s not the kind of guy that’ll pull a Hisashi on Inko and Izuku again.”

 

“Right, you’ve got a point there,” Mitsuki agreed. “Point in Kuroiwa’s favor already though: he’s a guy that Inko can trust with Izuku. It helps that he’s apparently got a kid of his own.”

 

“Yeah, once you get over the whole ‘stranger danger’ thing, I’m relieved that he brought Izuku home safe and sound. Most people wouldn’t bother that much seeing a kid wandering around on the streets like that.”

 

“Me too. Good thing he’s the boss of this organization he’s in charge of and makes his own hours. Naruhata’s pretty far off. A normal office worker would be feeling that 4-hour drive there and back in the morning.”

 

“…wait, what? Why the fuck was Deku in Naruhata?”

 

“What’d I tell you about cussin’!?”

 

-

 

“...he’s smiling again.”

“Huh. Midoriya sure has been coming to class in a good mood lately.”

“It’s kinda creepy, if I’m being honest.”

“Maybe he’s finally accepted that he’s not gonna be a Hero?”

“He’d be more sad if that was the case, wouldn’t he?”

“Maybe he’s finally snapped. We should keep our distance.”

“...you know, I hear some people get really happy and content with life when they’ve decided to… you know… ”

“Oh geez…”

“You think we took it too far by picking on him so much?”

“God, I hope not.”

 

It was all the extras could do to just speculate amongst themselves while Izuku just sat there, absorbed in his own little world, scribbling in that stupid singed notebook. They didn’t have the kind of context that Bakugou had. If that Quirkless little wannabe thinks he can just get away with his bullshit…

 

The bell declared a break for lunch and the class dispersed. Izuku was still at his desk, the lunch break making it a little safer to openly text whoever it was that he was talking to. But Deku doesn’t get peace today. Bakugou wanted answers .

 

“ Nerd. ”

 

Izuku sighed and stuck a hand into his backpack. “ Hi, Kacchan. ”

 

“What’re you doing?”

 

“Looking for something with a little less sentimental value for you to blow up.” The first thing he managed to grab was a fresh notebook that he bought the week before and he held it up for Katsuki’s consideration. “How about this?”

 

Izuku wishes so much that Katsuki would warn somebody before he fired off one of his explosions, at least so he had enough time to put in some earplugs. Those things are loud , as he was pretty sure Katsuki was aware. In the blink of an eye, the new notebook was reduced to kindling and then snatched out of Izuku’s hand and thrown out the window. “Is that window still open? No wonder we’ve been getting bugs.”

 

“Cut the crap, nerd!” Katsuki snarled. “I heard from the old man and the hag-”

 

“You mean your mom and dad?”

 

“ Don’t interrupt me! -that you ran off to Naruhata last month.” The commotion and hearing that Defenseless Deku did something so presumably out-of-character for him drew a few curious looks from the classmates that were still there, including Kariage and Yosuke. “And to cover your sorry ass, you told Aunt Inko that you were studying with me!? ”

 

Ah, crap. Izuku figured this was going to come back to bite him eventually. “Ah, K-Kacchan, I can explain-”

 

“What’s the big idea using my name to cover for your bullshit, huh, Deku!?” Katsuki grabbed a handful of Izuku’s uniform and growled in his face, “What kinda crap are you trying to pull? What, are you so bitter about not going to UA that you think you have to drag me down with you?”

 

“ Ah- N-No, that’s not what I was trying to do, Kacchan! You’ve gotta believe me!”

 

“Deku, you’d better believe that if you running off shows up on my record and keeps me from getting into UA, I’m gonna-”

 

The door sliding open cut Katsuki off mid-rant. Naru Senchi from Class 3-C poked his head in and he spotted Izuku pretty quickly, perking up a little when he did. “Hey, Midoriya.”

 

Instantly, the terror of being threatened by Kacchan seemed to disappear and Izuku gave back a chipper, “Hi, Senchi!” That bewildered Bakugou, who was still very much in the middle of threatening Deku.

 

“...is, uh…” Senchi mumbled, raising an eyebrow at the scene. “Is everything okay in here?”

 

“Yup. Kacchan and I were just talking about stuff. No biggie,” Izuku reassured and gave Katsuki a pat on the arm that gained him a squawk of outrage.

 

“...oookay, then.” Senchi cleared his throat and held up the red-and-white checkered cloth his bento was wrapped up in. “I was going to head up to the roof for lunch. I was wondering if you wanted to come with me?”

 

“Sure!” Izuku tugged himself free from Katsuki’s grasp and wiggled out of his seat, shouldering his backpack as he followed his schoolmate out the door. “See ya later, Kacchan! Bye, guys!” And then Izuku and his new friend were gone.

 

…did that… did that little twerp… just ditch Bakugou?

 

For a while, Katsuki just stood there blue-screening, struggling to comprehend what just happened. Kariage and Yosuke got up from their desks and curiously floated over towards the baffled blond. “Since when did Midoriya start hanging out with that Senchi kid from 3-C?” Kariage wondered.

 

Another student, the girl who could turn her hands into flames, chimed in, “Midoriya’s one thing but I thought that Senchi guy kept to himself most of the time.”

 

Her wind-summoning friend agreed, “Yeah, he always goes up to the roof for lunch. ‘Quiet and peaceful up there…,’ he says. Some guys can’t handle popularity, not like Bakugou can.”

 

“ Oh, yeah, ” Yosuke snickered, a mischievous grin forming on his face. “I did hear from this one kid in 3-C that Senchi’s got a really cool Quirk. Mr. Matsuda says Senchi would be a shoo-in if he applied to Shiketsu… or UA. ” Katsuki’s eye twitched. “You did say that you’d be the first and only Hero to come from here, right Kacchan?” Yosuke’s fingers stretched up to the side of his mouth and he said, “That’d make Senchi your competition, wouldn’t it?”

 

A challenge. An unspoken one but it unfroze Katsuki nonetheless. “Get back here, Deku! I’m not done with you yet!” With that, Bakugou stomped out of the room, chasing after Izuku and Naru.

 

“You just had to go and rile him up, didn’t you, Yosuke?” Kariage sighed.

 

“What, are you kidding?” Yosuke laughed. “The two most powerful kids at our school? I’ve been wanting them to duke it out for years. This might be my last chance!”

 

“You need to come up with a better hobby than instigating fights, dude.”

 

-

 

“So, what? Are we just gonna stand here and eavesdrop?”

 

“Lame.”

 

“I’m not gonna fight anybody here! The teachers could catch us and I’d get expelled, stupid! Now shut it already! I can’t hear anything with you two yapping back there!” Katsuki hissed.

 

“My bad. I-” Katsuki’s hand clamped over Kariage’s mouth, forcing him to shut up. That made it a little easier to hear whatever it was that the nerd and the extra were talking about.

 

“A community barbecue?”

 

“Yeah,” Naru said. “It’s gonna be a while yet, since… Well, you’ve seen Takoba. We’ll probably be working on cleaning the beach for a few months.”

 

“ Takoba… ” Katsuki muttered to himself. So that’s the so-called volunteer work that the hag and the old man were talking about.

 

“But Dad thinks that with all the people we’ve got on board, optimistically, we’ll be done by the end of the summer. Early September at the latest. It should still be warm enough for a community barbecue by then. My dad, my uncle and a few of their coworkers were tossing the idea around. They think that’d be a great way to reopen Takoba Beach to the public.”

 

“Oh, yeah! I think Kuroiwa-sensei and Kugizaki-senpai were talking about that last weekend. Sensei thinks that’s a great idea.”

 

Naru laughed and added, “From what I heard, Ms. Haneyama is completely shocked that she agrees with Kugizaki on something.” Katsuki’s brows furrowed in annoyance. Now who the hell were these two talking about?

 

“That sure is a colorful cast of characters. Where’d you find them anyway?”

 

Izuku choked down the bit of rice he just put in his mouth and nervously laughed, “Well… it’s, uh, kinda a long story.”

 

“ ACHOO! ”

 

Katsuki’s head snapped in Yosuke’s direction. Damn that idiot and his allergies! “ Shut the hell up, Fingers! ”

 

“ Sorry! ”

 

Naru glanced up from his lunch, curious about the hushed outburst on the other side of the square chunk of building that led back downstairs. Izuku already knew who that was. He’d recognize Kacchan’s voice anywhere. Izuku smirked, popped a hunk of karaage in his mouth and called out, “Hi, Kacchan.”

 

It took a minute but now that his cover’s been blown, Katsuki had to ‘admit’ defeat and stomped out of his hiding place. “ Shut up! ”

 

“If you wanted to join us, you only had to a-”

 

“ SHUT UP AND DIE, DEKU! ” With that, Katsuki practically kicked the door open and stomped down the stairs with Yosuke and Kariage awkwardly following after him.

 

Naru watched the explosive blond leave with a bemused expression. “Rude,” he scoffed. “Was he just standing there the entire time?”

 

“Probably.”

 

“...why?”

 

“‘Cause I ditched him!” Izuku breathed out, his hands trembling with a nervous, excited energy, like that, handing in his theoretical resignation letter to the Bakugou Agency, was the biggest accomplishment of his life. “I’ve never done that before! And clearly, Kacchan can’t deal with that!”

 

“...oh, so he’s the ‘top dog around town’ type?”

 

“Yeah, something like that,” Izuku said. “All the neighborhood kids just naturally followed his lead and I guess he got a little too used to that.”

 

Naru gave an understanding nod and asked, “What was that he called you? ‘Deku’ ? What does that mean?”

 

Izuku sighed and explained, “Well… We were kids at the time but Kacchan was sooo confident that he understood kanji (he did not) and could read my name as ‘Deku.’ ” Naru hummed, proof that he was following along with what Izuku was saying. “And to him… ‘Deku’ means someone who can’t do anything. Which… makes sense, I guess… since compared to everyone else here, I can’t do… anything. ”

 

It didn’t take long to figure out exactly what Izuku meant by that. Naru had heard about a Quirkless kid from 3-A, but their name was lost amidst the sea of chatter that jumbled into the background on a daily basis. Here he is. Izuku Midoriya. “ ...oh… ”

 

Izuku frowned. “Yeah… my classmates don’t think very much of me… or the teachers…” An awkward veil of silence fell over the conversation until Naru set his bento down on the ground an arm’s length from him. For a moment, Izuku thought Naru was going to get up and leave.

 

Instead, Naru got up only long enough for him to change where he was sitting, parking himself down right next to Izuku. “Well, that’s not totally accurate,” Naru said. “I know something you can do.” Naru smirked at the confused look Izuku gave him and he said, “You can carry a 50 pound wall-mounted AC unit up a flight of stairs… and only break a little bit of a sweat.”

 

Ah, he’s referring to the last time they were at Takoba helping the adults with the cleanup. “ Oh, come on, ” Izuku laughed. “You’re just being nice. I felt like I was dying about halfway up. I can still feel it in my shoulders.” Izuku rubbed at his shoulder, willing the ache into submission and said, “The more I work at it, the easier it’ll get.”

 

Naru agreed, “Yeah, exactly.” He reached back over and retrieved his bento from the spot he left it, placing it back in his lap. “You seem like a really cool guy, Midoriya,” he said, getting a sputtery, bashful response from his new friend. “Y’know, if anyone or anything gives you a really hard time, you can come up here and talk to me about it. I’m not really good at the talking part, but I’m good at listening.”

 

To say that Izuku was a little surprised to get such a casual and kind invitation to join somebody for lunch and talk to them about stuff that’s bothering him would be an understatement. “R-Really?” Expecting the other shoe to drop, Izuku sank in on himself and said, “Ah… that’s really nice of you… we’ve only known each other for a couple weeks, though. You don’t have to do something so nice for me.”

 

Naru shrugged and said with a soft smile, “You seemed like you needed someone to talk to.”

 

Cue the waterworks. Izuku pinched the bridge of his nose, beating back the hair-trigger tears. “Th-Thank you,” he managed to say, albeit a bit wobbly with emotion. “Sorry. I dunno why it’s so easy for me to cry like this.” He smeared off the tears that managed to get away and said, “It’s been a while since I’ve had… an actual friend.”

 

Naru rested his hand on Izuku’s shoulder and kept it there until Izuku was done tearing up. The once painfully awkward silence turned comfortable as the boys returned to their lunch, side-by-side in that quiet alcove on the rooftop, mostly empty aside from the handful of delinquents on the other side of the roof that came up here to smoke.

 

“Nice and peaceful up here…” Izuku murmured to fill the silence.

 

Naru nodded in agreement. “Not as claustrophobic as it is back in the classroom.”

 

“...are we even supposed to be up here?”

 

“Mmm… not… really , but the faculty doesn’t really enforce it or anything.”

 

Izuku Midoriya breaking the rules and being where he wasn’t supposed to be? Look at you go, Deku, you lil’ delinquent you!

 

-

 

That Saturday morning, Izuku woke up, got ready for the day and had breakfast with his mom before heading out for Takoba Beach. Inko handed off a basket of sandwiches that she made for him and the other volunteers and Izuku gave her a hug goodbye before he walked out the door, down the stairs and off into town, totally unaware of the explosively blond tagalong that followed him from a distance. 

 

About halfway there, Izuku ran into Naru and the two joined each other for the walk. Naru asked about the basket that Izuku was carrying with him, a delighted smile forming on his face when Izuku revealed the surprise. Well, good. Aunt Inko is a really nice lady and a fantastic cook. Senchi should be happy that she made them something to eat out of the kindness of her heart. Feh, figures that the nerd would find someone just as obnoxiously chipper as him to try and replace Katsuki with…

 

…Jealous? No? Why would Katsuki be jealous? The Quirkless little twerp is nothing more than a pebble in his path. Katsuki just knows that Deku’s up to something, keeping secrets, acting weird… -er than usual. He’s only following the nerd to make sure he doesn’t do something stupid that affects his own chances at applying to UA. That’s all… or at least, that’s what he’s telling himself.

 

Katsuki tailed his targets, listening to them yap the whole way until Takoba Beach came into view. There were cars in the parking lot, some from people that had already pledged themselves to the cause and a couple were completely brand new, at least to Izuku and Naru. One of the trucks from Naru’s family business pulled in, the bed cleaned out and ready for a new load. More people meant that Katsuki had to actually hide, ducking and weaving between the parked cars to avoid detection.

 

The employee bringing the truck back greeted the boys with a wave and elbowed the driver’s side door closed before he headed back down to the beach, sparing a thumbs-up for ‘Kuroiwa’ on his way past the picnic table he set up shop at. Naru followed after and followed his dad’s employee’s example, greeting the older man with a friendly, “Hi, Mr. Kuroiwa!”

 

Iwao gave the two a distracted wave back over the top of his laptop, only looking up when he noticed his new apprentice sticking around. “Hi, Sensei,” Izuku chirped.

 

“Hey there, kid. School go good today?”

 

“Yup. Nothing really exciting to report today.”

 

“You punch that Kacchan kid in the face yet?”

 

“No and I’m not gonna.”

 

The amount of willpower to not shriek with outraged fury at the old fart trying to convince Deku to fight him like he’d actually win was legendary, but Katsuki at least managed to keep his mouth shut and not blow his cover. He did go a little purple in the face from the effort though.

 

Iwao noticed the basket resting against Izuku’s leg and asked, “What’ve you got there?”

 

Izuku set the basket on the table, presenting Inko’s gift to everybody working so hard on cleaning the beach. “My mom made tonkatsu sandwiches for everybody,” he said. “Want one?”

 

“Really? Yeah, hand me one.” Izuku placed a half of one of Inko’s masterpieces in Iwao’s hand and immediately a huge bite was ripped off of it. The sandwich melted on Iwao’s tongue in a delightful blend of juices from the pork cutlet, tonkatsu sauce and kewpie mayo-and-cabbage. One could just about feel every ounce of love and care that Inko poured into every bite and apparently, Inko’s love was savory. Iwao gave a satisfied hum and said, “Your mother’s a fantastic cook.”

 

Izuku smiled and replied, “I’ll pass on your compliments to the chef when I get home.”

 

“Oh, hand me another one actually,” Iwao said, pulling his mercifully clean handkerchief from his pocket and laying it out flat on the table next to him. “I’m probably gonna see Pop as soon as I get back to Naruhata and I bet she’d appreciate a dinner she doesn’t have to buy out of a vending machine.”

 

“Aw, Haneyama-senpai couldn’t make it today?”

 

“Nah, something about a part-time job interview.”

 

“Oh, that’s exciting! I’m rooting for her! I hope she gets the job!”

 

“Yeah, I’m not worried about it. She’s gonna get the job,” Iwao chuckled, wrapping Pop’s katsu-sando up in his handkerchief and setting it next to his laptop. “She’s already got an in with the folks that own the place. Remember, the cat cafe you wound up at last time?”

 

“...Oh! I think I know where you’re talking about! The cosplay cafe near the station?”

 

“Yup, that’s the place. They should be officially open sometime next month.”

 

“Great! Then the next time I’m in Naruhata after it opens, I’ll stop by and say hi.”

 

“Heh, at the very least, the Hotta brothers will appreciate you giving them more money.”

 

The only way Katuski could think of to keep himself from blowing his cover was by meditatively thumping his forehead against the door of the car he was hiding behind. ‘Who the hell are we talking about!?!?’

 

By now, Izuku noticed that it was just him and Sensei (and Katsuki) up here by the parking lot. Everyone else was down on the beach already. “Why are you up here all by yourself, Sensei?”

 

Iwao sighed and grumbled, “My knee bitches at me enough just trying to get up outta bed in the morning. I’ve had enough stairs to last me a lifetime. So, I’m just occupying my time up here doing some online work for my day job. Fun stuff.”

 

Izuku blinked, confusion screwing up his brow and he asked, his voice dropped too low for Katsuki to hear from his hiding place, “Wait, you do have a day job? I thought you made that up for my mom’s sake.”

 

“I had to keep the lights on in the warehouse somehow,” Iwao muttered back, just as quietly.

 

“...I kinda assumed for a minute that you were siphoning electricity from somewhere else.”

 

“...well, that would save me a bit of extra cash…”

 

“ No , pay your electric bi- wait, why am I telling you this!? You’re the adult here!”

 

Now that Katsuki couldn’t tell what Deku and the old geezer were talking about anymore, a new sound drew his attention. He tiptoed through the gaps in between the parked cars until he got to the railing, peeking through the bars down at the crowd of extras down below. The cleaning crew were faced with a little conundrum.

 

“How the hell’re we supposed to get this big ol’ sonuvabitch up there?” Rapt asked aloud, tapping his toe against the side of the industrial-grade refrigerator from before.

 

Soga turned to Tarou Senchi, Naru’s uncle, and asked, “Don’t suppose you guys have a tow truck lying around, do ya? We could probably jury-rig a solution with it.”

 

“We do have a tow truck, actually,” Tarou answered. “The problem is that it’s a flatbed.”

 

Well, there goes Soga’s plan to MacGyver the thing up those stairs. “Tch, dammit.”

 

“Probably just as well,” Moyuru said with a shrug. “I dunno how much weight a boom truck would be able to take anyway. We could drop the damn thing halfway up the stairs and… that would be its own problem.”

 

Tarou hummed in thought, looking for a solution to this problem and noticed his nephew picking through a pile of junk out of the corner of his eye. Oh, Naru could handle this, no sweat. Tarou whistled, getting his nephew’s attention and calling him over. “Naru! C’mere a sec!”

 

Ryouta quickly figured out what his younger brother was thinking and hissed, “ Tarou. ”

 

“Could we borrow your Quirk for a minute?”

 

“ Tarou , we talked about this.”

 

“ What? Naru’s Quirk could take care of this, easy. Why’re you getting mad?”

 

“Don’t just volunteer my son for stuff like this! He’s not even your kid.”

 

Naru squeezed in between his father and his uncle. “What’s going on?”

 

Before Ryouta could say a thing, Tarou briefed his nephew on the situation. “We’re thinking of ways to get this big ol’ monster up there,” he said, pointing to the fridge and hypothetically dragging it up to the parking lot above, unintentionally spooking the hoodie-wearing blond kid spying on them back into hiding. “You think your Quirk could make that?”

 

“Dammit, Tarou, do you listen to a thing I say?” Ryouta grumbled with an exasperated sigh. “My son is not a tool that you can use!”

 

“No, but he’s got a really useful utility Quirk,” Tarou argued. “And it’d be a shame for him not to use it.”

 

“For the last time, Tarou, I’m not the one that picks what high school he goes to. That’s his deci-”

 

“Yyyeah, I think I could make that,” Naru said, having measured the distance from the beach to the top of the railing above while his dad and uncle were arguing. “I think that’s… just at the edge of my range, at least for how much this thing weighs, so I think I can get it up there.”

 

Ryouta frowned and placed a hand on his son’s shoulder. “You’re sure?” he asked, his voice dripping with fatherly concern. Naru responded with a confident hum of affirmation and his dad relented, albeit reluctantly. He had full faith in his son’s capabilities, but fathers worry about their kids, y’know?

 

Ryouta shot a scalding glare at his younger brother, reminding him that he wasn’t off the hook for his nonsense before addressing the employee that came back down to the beach a little while ago. “Akira? It’s… that one, right?” he asked, pointing up to the truck parked just beside the stairs. “The truck you brought back from the facility?”

 

“Yes, sir. Bed’s all cleaned out.”

 

“It’s probably gonna have to go right back. Pretty sure this is gonna be a one-item load.”

 

“You got it, boss.”

 

Ryouta sighed and motioned for everyone to back up. “Alright, then everybody step back a little and give Naru some room.” The crowd of volunteers and relatives took a few paces backwards, putting Naru center-stage in the empty space on the sand. That kinda sucks, just being put on the spot like that but when Naru glanced over his shoulder back at his family, he got a round of encouraging thumbs-up from his dad and uncle. He’s got this.

 

Naru took a deep breath and let it fall from his mouth, mentally preparing himself before he started. He lifted both hands up in the direction of the refrigerator and poured his focus into activating his Quirk. This manifested in a large, rudimentary platform of hard orange light forming underneath the giant appliance, raising it up off the ground by half an inch. The sound of the platform being willed into being got Izuku’s attention and lured Katsuki back out of his hiding spot.

 

With another breath, Naru’s hands flipped palmside-up and he telekinetically pulled up on the platform, lifting the refrigerator off the ground. Admittedly, Naru underestimated just how much that sucker weighed so he stumbled a bit and the platform swayed but he managed to correct himself. The platform cleared his own height and in order to keep it in range, Naru took cautious steps forward, the proximity allowing him to push the platform higher and higher with each step. He flipped around, walking backwards underneath the platform until he was directly underneath the fridge, with his father, his uncle and Soga trailing along beside him, ready to jump in and pull him out of the way if his Quirk decided to give up on him.

 

And right at the end, it really looked like it was going to. Either the platform reached the absolute limit his range could extend or the weight was getting to be too much for Naru to handle but the platform started to glitch and frizzle as soon as it cleared the top of the railing. Naru just managed to push the appliance forward as his platform started to weaken, leaving the whole thing to precariously teeter on the railing. With one last dose of extra oomph, Naru thrusted his arms up and managed to tilt the platform up before it fizzled out completely, letting the refrigerator tumble over onto its side into the truck bed with a resounding crash that kicked off the truck’s alarm.

 

Watching such an astounding display of pure awesomeness kicked Izuku’s brain into autopilot and out came the Hero Analysis notebook. Iwao didn’t even see the kid touch the zipper of his backpack. How the hell did he get that thing outta there so damn fast?

 

Katsuki, on the other hand, just felt more pissed off than ever. Feh, so the kid can make energy projections? Big whoop. That shield won’t do him any favors against a Howitzer Impact. He’d blast Senchi straight to Hell and not even break a sweat. Senchi’s no threat. Not to King Explosion Murder, that’s for damn sure.

 

With his Herculean trial done, Naru’s bones turned to jelly and he dropped to the sand, struggling to suck in air. Ryouta scrambled forward, dropping to his knees right beside his son and wheezed, “Hey, are you alright?”

 

Naru smeared off the sweat from his forehead and with a reassuring thumbs-up, managed to say in between gasps, “I’m good. I got it!”

 

Ryouta gave a relieved sigh and ruffled his son’s hair. “Good job, buddy. Proud of you,” he said. “You only gave your old man a little bit of a heart murmur with that one.” That got a tired laugh from Naru. Relieved that his son was still alive and well, Ryouta whipped a glare over his shoulder at his brother. “Tarou, when we break for today, I’m beating your ass!”

 

“ What, why!? ”

 

“You are so lucky that Naru didn’t lose his grip! That thing would have crushed him and it was your idea!”

 

“Calm down, would ya? Naru said he could do it and he did it! You don’t gotta be so overprotective with him. He’s strong, he’ll be fine.”

 

“See, it’s bullshit like this that made Hikari leave you and take the kids with her!”

 

“ Hey! Low blow! What the fuck!?”

 

The employee from earlier hopped up the stairs back to the truck, a press of the button on his key fob silencing the blaring alarm. Without that grating sound, Iwao could hear the kid beside him muttering to himself as he hastily scribbled notes into his notebook. “So it’s telekinesis and energy projection? Or hard light? Aren’t those the same thing or is there a difference? Ah, his Quirk’s just like the Celadon Lantern Corps in the US! I think they can make more complex energy constructs though, like cars and rockets and stuff. If Senchi got into the Hero Course at UA-” Izuku’s mentor gave him a light tap on the head. “Oh, sorry.” With that, Izuku made a more concerted effort to mutter more quietly.

 

Even then, Iwao wasn’t allowed to go back to work just yet, because his phone lit up with a text notification. Iwao scooped it up off the table and brought it up to his face, smiling at who exactly was texting him.

 

Inko M.:

Hello, Kuroiwa-san. This is Inko Midoriya.

Which you probably could’ve figured out from the contact name.

I’m so sorry about that.

 

Takeshi K.:

Good to hear from you again, Midoriya-san.

Everybody here at Takoba is very appreciative of the lunch you sent Izuku over with.

Thank you so much for going to all the trouble.

The tonkatsu sandwiches are delicious.

 

Inko M.:

Sandwiches?

OH, That’s right! I did make those!

I’m so sorry, my brain’s been somewhere else today.

 

Takeshi K.:

Anything I can do for you, Midorya-san?

 

The speech bubble at the bottom of the screen flickered in and out as Inko started, stopped, rewrote and reworked what she wanted to say.

 

Inko M.:

Well, I’m not sure what your schedule looks like but I was thinking, if you were free sometime tomorrow…

I have a few errands to run tomorrow anyway so I thought that if you were interested, maybe we could meet and talk a bit more about this beach project…

Over coffee?

 

Ah, goddammit, this woman is just too cute~

 

Takeshi K.:

My schedule is flexible so even if I wasn’t free, I am now.

Any particular cafe you had in mind?

I can book a reservation if it needs one.

 

Inko M.:

REALLY!?

Ahem, sorry. I didn’t mean to send that. That’s embarrassing.

I don’t think you need to do that though.

I usually stop at this tiny cafe near Tatooin Station and you can just walk right in there.

 

Takeshi K.:

Just a second

It’s The Sugar Drop Cafe?

 

Inko M.:

That’s the one!

They have such delicious pastries there!

 

Takeshi K.:

The cheesecake looks promising.

What time do you think you’ll be back from running your errands?

 

Inko M.:

Around noon or so?

 

Takeshi K.:

I’ll see you tomorrow around noon or so then.

I’ll save us a table.

 

Inko M.:

Oh, that’s great! I’m so looking forward to seeing you again!

To talk about volunteering and the beach and my son…

OK I’ve gotta go now bye-bye

 

Iwao laughed out loud at Inko’s hasty sign-off and that got Izuku to look up from his notes, curious as to what was so funny over there. Iwao provided no answers, setting his phone back down on the table facedown. Izuku narrowed his eyes at his mentor in suspicion but let it go… for now.

 

Another set of footsteps trudged up the stairs and Naru reappeared, still a little bit winded from the heavy lifting. Mostly on instinct, Izuku snapped his notebook closed and shuffled back so he could return it to its spot in his backpack as Naru dragged himself over. Naru came over to Iwao’s side of the picnic table where the cooler was, yanked the lid open and quenched his thirst with a sip of crisp, ice cold water. “Hah, that’s better,” Naru sighed and grabbed a second bottle of water before he elbowed the lid closed and tossed the bottle to Izuku. “You coming, Midoriya?”

 

“Yeah!” Izuku untangled himself from his spot and his mentor snagged the armstrap of Izuku’s backpack closest to him, dragging it over so it would sit between his feet. He would love to see someone try to steal the kids' stuff from him … no, he’s being serious. The pickings in Naruhata have been getting slim lately and Knuckleduster’s starting to get antsy. Please someone fuck around today. He’s on his knees begging at this point.

 

“Thanks, Sensei.”

 

“You boys have fun storming the castle. I’ll be up here.” With that, Izuku and Naru were off, descending back down the stairs and back to work.

 

“...that blond kid over there can’t sneak for shit. He’s too damn loud in every sense of the word.”

 

-

 

Eventually, the afternoon faded into the evening and everybody agreed that now was a good time to break for the day. Izuku rested on the top step of the stairs, looking out over the beach from his perch. They’ve been making quite a bit of progress over the last few weeks, clearing out a wide swath of the beach from the side of the dock to a stretch that ends parallel to the end of the parking lot above. A satisfied grin grew across Izuku’s face at the sight of the sand and the sun threatening to dip over the horizon. That community barbecue in early September seems assured.

 

Izuku’s backpack was set down right next to him. “Here’s that back,” Iwao said, leaning most of his weight on his walking stick to keep himself upright. He leaned back almost a little too quickly to catch himself. He was not about to go out tumbling down the stairs. That would just be embarrassing. “So what d’you think? Want me to drop you off at your building?” he asked.

 

“Yeah! Thanks, Sensei!”

 

Izuku got up from his perch, shouldering his backpack on and Iwao unconsciously mirrored that action, adjusting the laptop bag hanging off of him. He looked over his shoulder and said to the punks that came to visit today, “Thanks for the help today, fellas. You too, Tamao.”

 

“Hmm? Me too?” Tamao mumbled around the mouthful of katsu-sando she was chewing on. “I didn’t really do anything. I was just the moral support today.”

 

Rapt piped up and chortled, “Thanks to Midoriya’s mom for the free grub! This stuff rocks!” Tamao, Moyuru and Soga gave blissful hums of agreement to Rapt’s sentiment as they continued to munch on their own sandwiches.

 

“I’m glad you guys like them!” 

 

Speaking of which, Izuku trotted over to the picnic table where he left the basket his mom sent him with. His mom would be overjoyed if it came back empty but very concerned if it didn’t come back at all. Izuku paused, discovering one last lone half of a katsu-sando in there. Huh, Izuku was sure he got one of his own around lunchtime. So someone had forgotten to come get their share. Who was missing…?

 

“Midoriya!” 

 

Naru hopped up the stairs behind him, skipping every other step. “Hey, Senchi!” Izuku lifted up the basket and said, “One left in here. Did you get one yet?”

 

“Oh, crap, I totally forgot! Thanks!” Mission accomplished. The last sandwich found its way into Naru’s hands and he took a big, hearty bite out of it. “ Mmm~! That’s really good!”

 

“My mom’s gonna be so happy that this thing came home empty!”

 

Naru swallowed his bite and said, “Well, I know we’re probably gonna see each other again tomorrow, but I came up here to say bye before you left.”

 

“...oh, because your dad’s taking you home from here?”

 

“Yeah… eventually… as soon as he’s done being a man of his word down there.” Naru gestured back down to the beach, towards the two grown men wrestling around in the sand, smacking each other around like they used to do back when they themselves were kids in middle school. From the looks of things, with how he had his younger brother pinned to the sand and stuck guarding his face against his older brother’s punches, Ryouta was winning.

 

“Oh, geez…”

 

“...yeah, he was definitely a delinquent in grade school,” Moyuru theorized. “You can tell from how loose and wild his punches are. No discipline, just pure ‘shut your stupid mouth the fuck up’ energy.”

 

Tamao pulled her phone out of her pocket and held it up high so the camera could get a good shot of the tussle. “This is for sure going in the highlight reel that Pop’s gonna send Koichi,” she laughed.

 

Soga shook his head and said, “Jackassery is alive and well and apparently not confined to just Naruhata. Shocker.”

 

“Who’re we rooting for? The guy with the beard or the guy with the mustache?” Rapt asked.

 

“My dad,” Naru answered.

 

“The guy who’s winning,” Soga clarified.

 

“Go, Senchi’s dad!” Tamao cheered.

 

Rapt added to that with, “Go, Glorious Mustache Dude! Kick his ass!”

 

Tarou heard that and protested, “What the hell!?” And to punish his brother for speaking when he wasn’t being spoken to, Ryouta shoved a handful of sand into Tarou’s mouth. That was the point when Naru sighed and decided that he had to step in and stop his dad before he got into too much trouble.

 

Naru leaned over the railing and shouted down to his father, “Dad! Don’t beat him up too much! It’s his week with Junko and Juurou and Aunt Hikari’s gonna be mad if she has to drop them off at the ER!”

 

That line of logic was enough to slow Ryouta’s pummeling to a stop. Tarou’s learned his lesson… or at least Ryouta hoped he did. “Alright…” Ryouta sighed, pushing himself up off of his brother. “I’ll see you tomorrow, little bro. Tell the twins that Uncle Ryouta said hi.”

 

“Yeah, I will. Fuckin’ prick…” Tarou grumbled, spitting out sand between every word.

 

Ryouta wandered back towards the stairs, dusting the sand off of himself and shouted back up to Naru, “Hey, when your mom asks about how it went today, don’t mention that part, okay?”

 

Naru nodded and said with a conspiratorial shrug, “What part? I didn’t see anything.”

 

“Thanks, bud.”

 

Iwao’s walking stick poked Izuku in the side. “Kid, you coming or what?”

 

“Oh, right! See you tomorrow, everybody!” The Senchis and the punks responded in kind and waved Iwao and his apprentice off.

 

…And the blond kid is still there. Iwao could see his legs from underneath his truck. Probably not the best hiding place in the world. Iwao sighed. Well, if the kid isn’t gonna come out from back there and introduce himself on his own, maybe Iwao can give him a little nudge in that direction. He fished his keys out of his pocket and tapped the unlock button on the key fob attached. The resulting chirp of his truck’s alarm startled the blond kid and got an unintentional yelp out of him, one that Izuku immediately recognized.

 

Izuku peeked around the other side of the truck. “Kacchan? What’re you doing here?”

 

“N-None of your damn business, nerd! I don’t have to explain myself to you or anybody!” Katsuki sputtered, enraged and embarrassed that he got caught.

 

“How long have you been here? Were you here the whole time?” Now that he actually thought about it, though, Izuku might know where exactly this was coming from. “Oh, this is about me ditching you and hanging out with Senchi-kun at lunch yesterday, isn’t it?”

 

Yes. “ No! I just said I don’t have to explain myself to you!” Katsuki snarled. “It’s your own damn fault for acting so suspicious lately! Usually, you yap at me about just about everything you’re doing but now suddenly, you’re keeping secrets from me and doing out-of-character crap? It pisses me off!”

 

“Oh… I… didn’t really think you cared much about what I was doing.”

 

“ I don’t! ” Katsuki lied. “Tch, well, whatever’s going on here seems like it’s on the up-and-up, but I’ve got my eye on you now, Deku. You step too far outta line and I’ll destroy you without a second thought, you got that!?”

 

“Yup, I hear you,” Izuku said with an enduring sigh.

 

“Hey, do you mind? You’re kinda blocking my door.”

 

Katsuki turned his ire onto Iwao and snapped, “I wasn’t talking to you, you old creep!” Oooh, was this the fucking around that Iwao was waiting for all day? “I’m going home!” Katsuki snarled, spinning on his heel and stomping off. “Get outta my way, you stupid nerd!”

 

“...but I’m standing over here, Kacchan.”

 

Drat, foiled again. Iwao was almost starting to regret getting Trigger off the streets back home. His kingdom for a kaiju villain. “Damn it…” Iwao groaned in dismay and shook his head before he lightly tapped Izuku on the back of his calf with the walking stick and asked, “So that’s that Kacchan kid of yours?”

 

“Yeah, that’s him.”

 

“Hmph. He doesn't act like he’s planning to be a Hero.”

 

“Yeah, with an attitude like that, he’s not going to be very popular. But I’m not gonna be the one to tell him that.”

 

“He should work on that attitude problem of his,” Iwao commented, opening the driver’s side door and stashing his walking stick. “Suspicious faces like that are just asking to get punched.”

 

“For the last time, Sensei, I’m not gonna punch Kacchan!”

 

“...”

 

“...unless you meant… Sensei.”

 

Iwao elected not to respond, lifting himself up into the truck and closing the door. 

 

“Sensei, no, that’s child abuse. You’ll go to prison.” Iwao ignored Izuku’s protests and gestured him over to the passenger seat. “Sensei.”

 

Bakugou’s screaming hadn’t gone unnoticed as Naru leaned over the railing on the other side of the trucks beside them and shouted over, “Hey, was that Bakugou just now? What was he doing here?”

 

-

 

Elsewhere…

 

“...hah… hah… hah… kch! …aaaah… ow ow ow… fuck!”

 

Okay, that should do it. Hopefully. Admittedly, it was getting harder and harder to read the instructions in Big Brother’s notebook the further into the procedure she got. Kogo’s hand dropped down to the end table, letting the syringe roll right out of her hand and off to the floor. She lay there for a while, catching her breath, staring off into space as the texture of the ceiling flip-flopped between clear and fuzzy.

 

Kogo sighed, “I envy Pop so much. She got to be unconscious during this part.”

 

A worker bee landed on the end table beside her hand and crawled up onto their queen’s palm, more than likely responding to the call that their mother sent out to them.

 

… Bam! Kogo flipped her hand over and squashed the worker against the end table… and nothing. Sure, her eye socket still bubbled with blood but she didn’t feel a thing. Good. That means she did it right and she can stop now. Thank merciful God.

 

Kogo scraped her palm against the edge of the end table, banishing the worker’s corpse to the spider web dimension. The queen tolerated spiders. As long as they stayed out of her way and dealt with the other intruders like flies and moths, the queen would give them a pass.

 

Kogo clumsily reached out to the other side of the bed for the dry washcloth she set there, haphazardly using it to dry off the blood from her face. Then she grabbed her new favorite pajama shirt from its spot on the empty pillow beside her head and managed to pull it over her head and at least over her chest, denying any Peeping Tom his kicks for the day. Nothing left to do for the day but lay there and try to will herself into recovering faster.

 

A ping from her phone interrupted her rousing game of ‘Spider-or-Ceiling-Texture?’ Ugh, but she left her phone on the charger on the other side of the bed. That didn’t seem like that daunting of a task before she started but now she simply didn’t want to move at all. But she was sure that her Matchbox lure caught something. She’d better suck it up and go check it out.

 

Summoning all the strength she had, Kogo managed to roll over onto her stomach on the other side of the bed and yank the charger out of her phone. So who felt the need to bother her when she was so busy trying not to pass out and die?

 

“...ugh. ‘TheBitchWhisperer69420?’ I’m already in enough physical pain as it is. You want to kill some of my brain cells too?” Kogo scoffed. With a huff and a roll of her eye, she opened his conversation. “Okay, let’s hear it.”

 

TheBitchWhisperer69420:

Wassup sexy mama? ;)

 

Honey <3:

Heya handsome ;)

 

TheBitchWhisperer69420:

How about you find a babysitter for the rugrats and come hang off my arm at the horse races tomorrow?

I got a good feeling about my pick and I’d like to spoil a cutie like you with all the money I’m gonna win after ;)

How does champagne and wagyu sound after I win?

 

Honey <3:

Going to have to file that under ‘maybe.’

Feeling pretty under the weather today and idk how fast I’ll get better :(

Would next weekend work?

 

TheBitchWhisperer69420:

Don’t make me wait too long bby

You’re not the only hot piece of ass on this app.

 

“Ugh.”

 

Honey <3:

You drive a hard bargain

Fine, I’ll take some ibuprofen and chug some cough syrup.

I might feel better by tomorrow.

That sound good?

 

TheBitchWhisperer69420:

Good girl

 

“ Ewww! Don’t say that!”

 

TheBitchWhisperer69420:

Wear something tiny and cute I can show you off in

Can’t wait to see it on my bedroom floor ;)

 

Honey <3:

I do have a cute black dress in my closet.

But I think it would look way better on MY bedroom floor ;)

 

TheBitchWhisperer69420:

Doesn’t matter who’s floor it is to me, babygirl

Just as long as I get to suffocate between those thighs ;) 

 

“Thanks for the half-hearted implication that you’d reciprocate but calm down, you horny beast,” Kogo sneered. “You’re only good for a free meal and the winnings that you definitely won’t need. That’s it. Don’t set yourself up for disappointment like that. It’s embarrassing.” 

 

Kogo sighed and set her phone back down on the end table. She hated so much that she was right about Shinya’s credit limit and had to resort to entertaining losers like that for some free cash just to keep the lights on… well, she didn’t hate it completely. There was something kind of… exciting about pretending to be this innocent, clueless bimbo and letting her victims treat her like a princess only to pull the rug out from under them right at the very end. That was fun, empowering even… but the timing couldn’t be worse right now.

 

“...I don’t wanna…” she sighed into her pillow. “I feel like absolute crap. I’d rather just lay here and perish.”

 

Now, Mari, don’t say that as if it’s just you in here. You may die when the queen gives you permission to die. You know that.

 

“...Am I allo-” No. “Well, I thought I’d at least ask.”

 

-

 

So, from Izuku’s research, the Naruhata Vigilantes had a sort of field dynamic between the three of them back in the day. Each member had a speciality. Sensei, strength, especially in regards to hand-to-hand combat. Pop had agility covered and The Crawler was a pure speedster. Theoretically, if Izuku was with them then as he is now, what could he do that they couldn’t?

 

Nothing, was the answer. So, after a bit of thinking, Izuku decided that those were the three attributes he needed to work on. The ‘jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none’ route. Minimize the amount of weaknesses that would prevent him from helping people. Izuku’s already got strength covered from training with Sensei at his warehouse. As for speed and agility… Well, he got an idea during lunch yesterday.

 

“What’s up, lil’ free-runners? Cool Mike here, and welcome to my series, Parkour for Newbies!” the obnoxiously radical host cheered through the speakers of Izuku’s phone. “If you’ve got places you need to be and no time for stairs, walls or the street, you’ve come to the right place. Ready to start free-runnin’ like a pro?”

 

“Y-Yeah!”

 

“Not yet, you’re not. We’ve gotta go over some basics first. Let’s go!”

 

“Ah, just a sec.” Izuku hit pause on the video and shrugged off his backpack, leaving it on a nearby table and propping his phone up against it as a makeshift stand. “Okay, let’s do it.” Play.

 

“Alright, let’s start with a safety roll. This is a lot safer to pull off during a free-running session as opposed to a regular somersault, because you’re rolling diagonally across your back, instead of right across your spine.” The host crouched down into the grass and Izuku mimicked his motion. 

 

“First, you’re gonna wanna hold your hands like this, so there’s a diamond of empty space between ‘em. Got that? That’s your base and you’re gonna plant that on the ground on whichever side you’re comfortable with. From there, elbow down, keep your eye on that diamond and roll forward over your shoulder. Easy!”

 

Izuku followed those instructions and pulled off a safety roll. Easy-peasy! “Most people will end their roll resting on their knee, but I wouldn’t unless you’re officially calling it quits for the day and make sure you land your roll on your feet instead. That way, you can just keep going from where you stopped.” Oh, Izuku landed on his knee. One more try!

 

Across the street, Katsuki and his pals turned a corner, taking a different route home from school than usual. Bored by whatever the extras behind him were jabbering about, Katsuki glanced over at the park across the street… and saw Deku rolling around in the grass like a crazy person.

 

“Now what the hell is he doing?”

 

“Dodge-rolling like some kinda video game character?”

 

“This kid is so weird.”

Chapter 13: Occupational Hazard

Summary:

Betrayal, thy name is trash pile.

Notes:

Last chapter before I officially retire my current computer and switch to something more up-to-date!

Part of this chapter stems from a very, very, very early mental draft of this fic, back when I was sure that Knuckleduster was a goner. I figured I could still use it to lead into a plot point that's about to become very relevant in the near future. :)

Plenty of artistic liberties taken in this chapter, especially when it comes to the hospital scenes. I'm almost certain that I got something wrong but I hope it turns out good anyway.

JUNE

NYC, New York

 

After a bit of resistance, Koichi nudged his front door open and staggered into his apartment, looking as if he ran through a minefield of glitter bombs. “Phew. Boy, there sure are a lot of friendly people out there today,” he laughed. “...uh, except for those guys with the ‘God Hates… Word-I’m-Pretty-Sure-I’m-Not-Allowed-To-Say’ signs. Those guys were just mean and nasty for no good reason.”

 

“Eh, the No Fun Allowed Brigade are just pissed they didn’t get invited and want to make it everyone else’s problem.”

 

On his way out of work the day before, a brightly colored flier stuck to the bulletin board in the break room caught Koichi’s eye, advertising the annual NYC Pride March. A little bit of internet research told him that it would be following the same route it takes every year, down Fifth Avenue and through Greenwich Village, surprisingly close to his apartment building and as an added bonus, some enterprising people, local artists and entertainers for the most part, managed to get some space reserved in Washington Square Park to keep the party going while everybody was waiting for the parade. With no plans for that day, Koichi figured it wouldn’t hurt to poke his head out of his apartment and see what all the hubbub was about.

 

Just judging from the state he came home in, this little adventure of his was a roaring success… for the most part. He’s going to be picking glitter out of his clothes for weeks. But otherwise, he had a great time.

 

Koichi reached up to brush some glitter out of his hair, pulling out the hair clip that had a green rubber stalk glued to the side that gave off the impression that a plant was growing out of his head. Koichi could not for the life of him remember where it came from or who gave it to him. After a couple months, this somewhat spur-of-the-moment decision to take Number Six’s advice and grow his hair out was starting to gain some traction, now much fluffier than before and creeping down the back of his neck. Not ideal for the increasing temperatures, but it’s the price you pay for style.

 

“Hmph, shock of all shocks: The Skycrawler’s a big hit with the girls, the gays and the theys,” 6 snarked. “How do you do it, anyway?”

 

“Hmm? Do what?”

 

Number Six pointed directly at the big, sparkly, red kiss mark that one of his new fans left on his cheek and said, “How do you get people to like you so damn much?” Koichi’s answer was a clueless shrug. “Oh, don’t give me that.”

 

“It’s not like I’m trying to do anything, really,” Koichi answered. “I just… try my best to be a decent person. That’s all.”

 

“I thought that ‘be yourself’ never works.”

 

Koichi shrugged and replied, “Guess it does for me.”

 

“Well, good for you then, you lucky bastard,” 6 grumbled and stalked off into the living room, dropping right through the couch in his attempt to flop down on it. “Argh, son of a-!”

 

“C’mon, 6, don’t be mad,” Koichi said. Something paper-y smacked the heel of his hand as it came back down and Koichi remembered the sticky note that was stuck to his chest, plucking it off to actually read it now that he could.

 

‘XXX-XXX-XXXX

Call me if you miss me sometime, cowboy~♡

-Ms. Beulah-Mae’

 

Ah, the queen that was lip-syncing to Dolly Parton in the drag show that seemed to take a liking to Koichi, given that she sat right on his lap for part of ‘I Get a Kick Out of You’ and gave him that big ol’ smooch when she had to get back up. She seemed like a very nice lady, funny, charming, very, very pretty and her costume and makeup work was, to use a couple words he heard quite a bit during the show that apparently have a much more positive connotation with the context given, ‘fierce and sickening.’ That sticky note was going up on the fridge. Y’know, just in case.

 

On his way into the kitchen, Koichi glanced down and admired the other souvenir he got from his first Pride festival. Just before he left, one of the vendors recognized him and waved him over. Apparently, they had a relative that was on Skyfall Flight 400 from a couple months ago when it started going down towards the Hudson and they wanted to personally thank him for that and for everything that he does for the city, once again citing the Wall Street blunder like that was something he meant to say on purpose which was… embarrassing but not entirely surprising why they’d think that, given the big, red anarchy symbol on the back of their vest.

 

Their trade was hand-made accessories and they insisted on giving him one of their pieces for free, as a thank-you gift. They absolutely refused any form of payment. Koichi tried at least 2-3 times to talk them into letting him pay for it but they wouldn’t budge on that. When they asked what his preference was, Koichi’s confused response of not having any got him this: a bracelet of woven, dyed twine in pansexual pink-yellow-and-blue. Evidently, they weren’t talking about the same sort of ‘preference’ at the time. Koichi had to look up the meaning of that on his walk back to the apartment and the definition, being able to feel attraction to people regardless of their gender identity… Well, he hadn’t thought about it before but, even though all he had to go off of so far was the romantic ‘will they, won’t they?’ between him, Makoto and Kazuho(?) and the very brief crush he had on Tensei, it sounded like a match. He’s got all the time in the world to figure it out. There’s no rush.

 

Koichi smoothed out the adhesive of Ms. Beulah-Mae’s sticky note onto the fridge, nice and secure. Koichi was honestly glad he decided to do this. What a fun day. “Well, that was interesting,” 6 said, only his calf visible as it phased through the couch while it rested on his other knee. “Now what do we do?”

 

Koichi shrugged and picked at a clump of glitter on his shoulder. “I’m gonna take a shower and see if I can’t get all this glitter off me,” he said.

 

“Pfft- Good luck with that, buddy. You’re gonna need it.”

 

-

 

The next day was business as usual.

 

“Dare you to do a front flip off the runway this time.”

 

“C’mon, gimme a challenge.”

 

“Heh, alright then, smartass,” Number 6 laughed. “Then… cartwheel, back handspring and triple twist somersault. How’s that for a challenge?”

 

“Repeat, Skycrawler?”

 

“OH!” Koichi’s hand shot to the side of his communicator and he sputtered, “I copy, Control. Ready for take-off.”

 

“Acknowledged, Skycrawler. You’re cleared for take-off. Have a nice flight.”

 

After a moment to limber up and measure out the distance, Koichi put all those months of training he got in from the CCC to work, pulling off a cartwheel, turning into a back handspring and culminating in a triple twist off the edge of the runway, free falling for a few floors before he caught himself in the air with his Quirk. He waved hello to Jan from administration through the window and then rocketed off.

 

“Okay, now you’re just showing off.”

 

“ You dared me to do all that!”

 

Norman absolutely called it the second that the American Museum of Natural History announced a new exhibit to show off the haul from a recent archeological dig in Egypt that uncovered a previously inaccessible tomb. Amongst the pharaoh’s most prized possessions from his life, the archeologists found a special and incredibly valuable trinket clutched in his hands: a gorgeous diamond, held in a gold scarab-shaped base. Norman and his razor sharp intuition knew for a fact that someone was going to try and go for that diamond scarab one day, museum security be damned. And lo and behold, go for it someone did.

 

Koichi landed on the museum’s roof, yanking off his visor the second he landed. “Agh, for crying out loud, how did I get glitter in my visor?” he grumbled, blowing out most of the sparkly distractions and shaking out the excess. “Where does this stuff keep coming from?”

 

“Skycrawler!” The Paranormals had beaten him there by a few minutes and Split leaned up from the ledge they were looking down from to wave Koichi over. Koichi hooked his visor back on and came to join his teammates, peering down over the ledge at one of several police barricades set up around the entrance, ready to nab a suspicious ne’er-do-well if they saw one.

 

Koichi looked up and asked Split, “What’s the situation?”

 

“From what we got told, a villain waltzed right in the front door, petrified a bunch of people and went straight for the new exhibit.”

 

“Exactly what I said was gonna happen!” Ultra Instinct huffed, vindicated about his intuition. “He’s probably going after that crazy valuable diamond thingy.”

 

“So what’s the plan for us?”

 

“Right now, we’re just on standby in case they need us,” Jinx replied.

 

Danger Magnet added, “Cow Lady and Elecplant were already on the scene when we got here. They just went in to nab the guy.”

 

“What was the point in calling us out here then?”

 

“With them doing the heavy-lifting, we’ll probably go in with the cops when they pull the villain out and do a sweep of the museum, just in case someone got stuck or injured,” Split said.

 

“Not very exciting stuff, I know,” Danger Magnet said with an apologetic smile.

 

“Happy to help either way,” Koichi replied.

 

“Uh, guys?” Ultra Instinct leaned up from looking down over the ledge. “It… doesn’t look like it went so good in there.”

 

Down on the ground floor, the entrance door was kicked open and the NYPD sprung into action, guns drawn and barking for whoever it was to come out with their hands raised. The villain did no such thing, staggering out of the museum with the diamond scarab clutched in one hand and the other dragging a petrified Elecplant behind him. The villain dropped Elecplant to the ground with a solid thud and yanked down on the dingy strips of cloth wrapped around him, freeing an eye to glare back at the annoying cops standing in his way. Two Heroes couldn’t stop him. What makes these fools think that they will?

 

“Oh, the scarab wasn’t enough? He had to steal the mummy’s bandages too? That’s just petty.”

 

“...”

 

“...stop looking at me like that.”

 

At the back of the barricade, police captain Douglas Falcon leaned over the open door of his squad car and asked his accompanying sergeant, “I don’t recognize this guy. Does he show up in the registry?”

 

“I’m not seeing anything about a mummy villain, Cap. At least not one that isn’t already in custody,” Sergeant Packman replied. “Probably an amateur.”

 

“He seems pretty confident for this being his first offense.” 

 

Sergeant Packman grabbed the megaphone out of the passenger seat and passed it over to his superior. “This should be a cakewalk,” he snickered.

 

Captain Falcon and Sergeant Packman pushed their way to the front of the barricade, drawing the new villain’s attention towards them. Falcon brought the megaphone to his mouth and growled into the microphone, “End of the line, dirtbag. We’ve got all the exits covered. You may as well come quietly. Down on your knees with your hands behind your head. Make this easy for yourself.”

 

The mummy villain tilted his head at the captain, less out of confusion but more amusement at the captain’s challenge. He lifted the diamond scarab up, waggling it tauntingly. That’s what they want, isn’t it? To have their precious diamond back?

 

“Yeah, you can’t keep that. Leave it on the ground and get down on your knees.”

 

The mummy villain’s shoulders shook from his quiet, rueful laugh and instead of following Falcon’s directions, he tugged the collar of his bandage-wrapped shirt open and dropped the scarab down into its temporary holding place down the front of his shirt.

 

Falcon sighed, “You’re not doing yourself any favors, pal. One way or another, we’re just going to-”

 

Suddenly, the villain created a globby substance the texture of wet sand between his hands and whipped his arms forward in a wide arc, flinging the sandy goop out in front of him and taking the NYPD barricade by surprise. The second the substance made contact, it snap-dried, freezing a good handful of officers solid, including Falcon and Packman. A quickly constructed barrier of hardened concrete protected the villain from retaliatory gunfire and as soon as they had to stop to reload, the villain made short work of the rest of the blockade, turning the troop of police officers into living statues.

 

The mummy villain dusted off his hands, laughing to himself over how easy it was to overpower these obsolete fools. He strutted down the steps, approaching the petrified police captain. He was still alive in there. They all were. His Quirk would wear off in an hour or two, long enough for him to get away with his ill-gotten treasure. The villain looked deep into Falcon’s eyes, smirking at how his eyes darted around, confused and deep down terrified.

 

Just to punctuate how crappy Falcon’s situation was, the villain grabbed the megaphone by the horn and with one heavy strike with the heel of his hand, snapped off the main body of the bullhorn, leaving just the grip left in Falcon’s petrified fist. The message was loud and clear. The villain’s Quirk would wear off regardless of how many pieces Falcon was in. The terror left in his eyes became even more obvious and muffled screams of pleading protest came from behind his concrete shell as the villain gripped him by the jaw.

 

But before the villain could do anything, something zipped past his ankles and knocked him off of his feet. “Hey, calm down, buddy,” Skycrawler scolded. “All this over a diamond seems a bit extreme, doesn’t it?”

 

As is Koichi’s luck, there was no way this guy was planning to listen to reason. Instead, enraged that his rampage was being interrupted, he flung a glob of his concrete-esque ooze at Koichi in the hopes that he’d be petrified too and the villain could make his escape. Koichi was quick on the draw, protecting himself with a forcefield that the ooze snap-dried around. “Whoa, this is some serious stuff,” Koichi wheezed, taking his forcefield back and letting the disc of concrete drop to the asphalt. Slide ‘n Glide dragged him backwards and Koichi tried one more time to reach the villain. “Look, we just want you to give that diamond thingy back. You just gotta cooperate. Nobody needs to get hurt.” The villain scoffed and stalked after Koichi, another handful of petrifying goop forming in his hand.

 

Welp, Koichi tried.

 

Fortunately, luring the villain a little closer to the building was part of the plan. That way, Split had a clear shot to drop down from the roof and take the villain by surprise with a swift dropkick to the dome. “Mind if I drop in? ”

 

While Split kept the villain busy, Koichi zipped around the fight back to the barricade. “Uh, captain?” he said, tapping Falcon’s concrete shell right in the middle of his forehead. “You still alive in there?”

 

“ Mmm!? ”

 

“Oh, good. Then Elecplant might not be in as bad a situation as it looks.”

 

“ Mut nuh muk r oo ayin!? ”

 

“...oh, right. You don’t speak Japanese.” Koichi cleared his throat and said in his shaky English, “<Don’t worry! We’ll get you out of there… somehow…>”

 

“Skycrawler!”

 

“On your left!”

 

Koichi dropped into a split and narrowly avoided another blast of petrifying muck from the mummy villain. From that stance, Koichi pulled himself back with his Quirk and swept the villain’s pivot leg out from under him. 

 

Just when Split and Skycrawler thought they got him and Frank readied his wrist-mounted net gun, the villain splashed his petrifying sludge against the ground, providing himself some cover and scaring the Heroes back. With that, the villain used the platform he created to leap into the frozen barricade, grabbed Sergeant Packman and tossed his petrified body at the Heroes to slow them down.

 

“Yikes!” With such little time to react, Koichi’s subconscious took the reins and threw out a forcefield to catch Packman with… forgetting that Koichi’s forcefields are hard. It got the job done, certainly, catching the frozen police officer and keeping him from shattering on the ground in a million tiny, bloody stone pieces but doing it that way left a noticeable crack in the concrete shell around Packman’s arm that he definitely felt in there. “Oh crap!” Koichi hissed.

 

“Oooh, ouch. That had to suck. Sorry about that, meter maid.”

 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry!” Koichi wheezed, making sure to set the screaming and cursing statue back down on his feet. “Please don’t sue me! I’m already in enough legal trouble as it is!”

 

“Skycrawler, c’mon! He’s getting away!”

 

After one last plea for Packman to not sue him, Koichi slid over to Split. “Hop on and hang on tight!” Split climbed aboard the Skycrawler Express and the two zipped off after the fleeing villain.

 

Split tapped his communicator and said, “Team, we’ve got the villain on the run! He’s heading straight down Columbus Avenue!”

 

Koichi gave a sharp whistle and shouted out to the civilians nearby, “<Everybody get off the street! This guy’s trouble!>” Which the villain proved by petrifying some poor jerk’s sports car trying to trip up the Heroes chasing him. “Too many innocent bystanders out here!” Koichi said to the Hero clinging to his back. “We gotta lure him to a less populated area so no one gets caught in the middle!”

 

“Agreed!” Split looked up, keeping the villain in his sights. If they kept going this way, they’d wind up in Hell’s Kitchen. That may prove beneficial if they could give the 10th and 18th Precincts a heads-up that a villain was coming their way… unless they could nab him before he gets there. Split glanced up and saw the street signs passing by. That gave him an idea.

 

“DM, grab something metal and heavy and meet us at the end of West 73rd!”

 

“West 73rd?” Koichi repeated. “I don’t think he’s planning to turn anytime soon!”

 

“Yeah, we’ve gotta force him down that road!” Split grinned down at Skycrawler and said, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

 

“...Oh!”

 

“Yeah! It’s trappin’ time!”

 

“Boo, hiss, boo. Lame catchphrase. Get off the stage, ya hack.”

 

‘Oh, leave him alone, 6. He’s still working on it.’

 

“Kick it into high gear, partner!”

 

“Right!” Koichi sucked in a breath and put some Extra Oomph into it. The speed boost he got from it closed the distance between them and the fleeing villain. Split jumped off of Koichi’s back before he barreled straight into the villain’s legs and grabbed a handful of the back of his shirt, yanking the villain straight to the ground.

 

“Gotcha,” Split sighed and looked up to check on his partner. “You holding up alright over there, Skycrawler?” The winded, gasping Hero catching his breath a few feet away responded with a thumbs-up. 

 

Just as Split figured he’d do, the villain tried that splash damage move again, forcing Split to back off. “Argh, again with that!?” The villain emerged from behind his shield, now clutching a rod of snap-dried cement in his hand. Now that he knew the Heroes could catch him, he was getting desperate, that much was certain. Good thing the others were on the way. Split and Skycrawler just had to herd him up West 73rd to the rendezvous… uh, wait, he’s going the wrong way.

 

“Eh? Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, hey, hey! ” Koichi sputtered as the villain decided to chase after him for whatever reason, sliding backwards down the other side of the street to stay out of clubbing range. “You’re not supposed to chase me ! That’s not part of the plan!”

 

“Crap,” Split cursed and sprinted after his teammate in distress. “Uh, change of direction, team! The villain’s chasing Skycrawler back towards Central Park!”

 

“We see you guys!” Danger Magnet responded. 

 

Split heard a noticeable thunking of hard plastic on metal from the rooftop beside them. Perfect! Good find, DM! Split whistled and called out to Koichi, pointing out the empty alley coming up. “Skycrawler, hard left!”

 

The zippy little Hero jerked to the left, leading his pursuer down the dingy alleyway with Split hot on their trail. Right into their makeshift trap. From above, Danger Magnet jumped off the roof and positioned the empty dumpster that she swiped on the way there underneath her, right above the villain and switched from Attract Mode to Repel Mode, sending the dumpster sailing down to the ground and catching the villain in its maw. Checkmate!

 

“Phew.” Now that the chase was over, Koichi slowed to a stop and got back up off the ground, dusting himself off as Danger Magnet switched back to Attract Mode and let her magnetism bring her back down out of the air, landing on the flipped underside of the dumpster with a loud thunk!

 

“Yeah! I got him!” Laurel cheered.

 

“Alright, Laurie! Great work!” Frank cheered with her, offering her a double high-five before helping her down and rewarding her quick thinking and ingenuity with a sweet peck on the lips that got Laurel blushing and giggling. “Proud of you, babe~”

 

“Ew, get a room!” Number 6 heckled from over Koichi’s shoulder as Koichi leaned on the back of the dumpster to catch his breath.

 

“Aw, that’s really swee-” CRUNCH! “ Whoa, holy crap! ”

 

Calling the chase over may have been a touch hasty. The villain, bound and determined to not get caught, punched his way through his metal prison, pried the jagged edges of the hole open and filled the empty space under him with petrifying ooze. He kept that going until he formed a tower of drying concrete under him, giving him enough lift to fling some of his bandages towards the fire escape and swing over to make his getaway.

 

“Man, this guy is stubborn,” Koichi huffed.

 

Frank answered with a confident reply. “Good thing we’ve got Plan B. C’mon, let’s… uh…” Oof, that’s a lot of stairs. Skycrawler doesn’t need them and Danger Magnet could jump up the side of the fire escape and be on the roof in no time. But Split…

 

“Need a lift?” Koichi said, offering to let Split cling to his back again.

 

Split sighed and agreed. “I wish I had a mobility Quirk like you guys…”

 

The mummy villain scrambled his way up to the roof, where, bizarrely, the same white-suited sidekick that was harassing him from down on the street was waiting for him. “Come on, aren’t you tired yet?” ‘Split’ sighed, readying his net gun. “We don’t want to fight. Just come quietly, would you?” The villain gave an annoyed growl and lunged forward, intending to take ‘Split’ by surprise and knock his block off with the makeshift concrete club of his… only for the stick to cleave straight through ‘Split’s’ head and banish part of the illusion.

 

‘Split’s’ last words before he fully vanished came in a taunting, “Ha! Made you look!” A sucker punch from Ultra Instinct blasted through Split’s doppelganger, banishing him completely and staggering the villain.

 

“Y’know, I’m kinda glad that Plan A backfired,” Ultra Instinct said, cracking his knuckles. “If it didn’t, Jinx and I would have nothing to do.” Speaking of her, Jinx shot up over the other side of the roof and a couple shots from her wrist-mounted electro-magnetic capture weapon scared the villain back up against the ledge. 

 

Ultra Instinct dug into the pouch hanging from his utility belt where he carried his patented Norm Snacks, homemade oat clusters jam-packed with all of the calories that his Quirk could make use of to boost his strength, speed and durability, and popped one directly into his mouth. “Let’s dance, punk!”

 

The villain was immediately pushed back into playing defense against the powerhouse of The Paranormals, with Jinx hovering around in the background with her rocket boots and taking potshots at him with her capture weapon whenever she saw an opening. During the struggle, Ultra Instinct’s grip on the villain’s wraps proved a bit too tight and ripped something, dropping something behind him that Jinx took notice of.

 

While Ultra Instinct kept the villain busy, Jinx dropped to the roof and snatched up the item that the villain lost: a wallet. The kicker, it wasn’t his wallet. The image on the driver’s license claimed it as belonging to a Professor Art T. Fax, a pale, balding, middle-aged man that was the archeologist that led the excavation that found the tomb containing the diamond scarab that the villain was running off with. Looking back at the mummy villain, however, Jinx noticed through a rip in the villain’s wraps that he had a much darker complexion than the man in the license photo. Something didn’t add up. Not unless Professor Fax got a tan since he was last seen on the exhibit’s opening night, but from how pale he seemed in his driver’s license photo, Jinx had a hunch he’d burn before then.

 

“So if you’re not Professor Fax…?” Fortunately for her, the villain made a rookie mistake in choosing not to wear gloves. So, there’s definitely fingerprints left behind to scan that’ll tell her who they were dealing with. Jinx blinked and her Quirk took effect, swapping between one of the many extra sets of lens that her eyes had, this one able to produce blacklight. Instantly, her hypothesis was proven correct. She took a quick snapshot through her goggles and in an instant, the snapshot was sent to the forensics department in the CCC. They’d scan the prints and get an ID on the perp in minutes.

 

Just then, Danger Magnet, Skycrawler and Split joined the fray. Skycrawler happily took over the covering fire role that Jinx left behind, SGB readied and fired the second he zipped up over the ledge. Unfortunately, the villain was halfway decent at multi-tasking and he still had that concrete rod in his hand. He forced an opening with a cheap shot to the back of Ultra Instinct’s knee and swung the club at Koichi’s SGB shot, the ball of repulsive energy glancing off of it and hitting Jinx square in the side of her head instead.

 

“Oh, crap! Jinx, are you okay!?” Koichi gasped.

 

Physically , yeah. That would’ve been equivalent to being smacked in the head and Jinx has taken much worse during her career. But even still, she was handicapped by the friendly fire. “ Ack, my goggles! I can’t regulate my Quirk properly without ‘em!” Jinx was essentially down for the count, stuck partially blind and pawing at the ground looking for her support gear.

 

While he still had the upper hand, the villain hooked his arm around Norman’s and flung him into Danger Magnet, taking the both of them out of the equation in one fell swoop. Then, the villain zeroed in on Split. He added an extra glob of ooze onto the end of his club, carelessly swinging in a way that splashed an arc of concrete behind him. The intent was to send that pest flying out of the park, but instead of Split, Skycrawler pushed Frank out of the way and took the full force of that hit himself. That granted Split an opening to skirt around the villain and get the drop on him… but it left Koichi in a very hairy predicament.

 

Mid-air, definitely not somewhere Koichi wanted to be after getting the wind knocked out of him. Especially when it was him falling off of a ten-story building. Fortunately, this wasn’t Koichi’s first encounter with free-falling and Knuckleduster had taught him exactly what to do in this situation. In fact, it was the first piece of advice he ever gave Koichi. 

 

Koichi twisted around and spotted a significant pile of trash bags that would break his fall. Perfect! He sucked in a desperate breath, enough to use his Quirk to at least nudge him in that direction. As soon as he landed, he’d be able to catch his breath again. He wouldn’t need too incredibly long and as soon as he did, he’d zip right up the side of the building and get back into the fi- KRASH!!!

 

See… the flaw with Knuckleduster’s logic was that Naruhata and New York City are two completely different places. Compared to NYC, Naruhata may as well be a glittering beacon of cleanliness with nary a speck of trash in sight. New York, on the other hand, seemed to have a bit of a trash problem… and that was even an understatement. More often than not, especially in hidden back alleys like this one, dumpsters would overflow and the piles of trash bags that they tried and failed to contain would completely conceal their point of origin…

 

…that was something Koichi found out the hard way.

 

Koichi lost those few seconds before he made contact with the dumpster, catching up with himself having fallen straight through the pile and clutching the back of his head after it struck the inside of the dumpster pretty hard. Everything hurt. His head hurt, his back hurt, the arm and leg he broke during the lockdown hurt, everything hurt . Breathing felt laborious. Koichi wasn’t sure what he was seeing since everything at the bottom of the dumpster was dark and his vision was blurry. Trying to catch up with himself made him nauseous and the smell certainly wasn’t helping.

 

“Oooh, shit. That didn’t sound good.”

 

On instinct, Koichi attempted to roll over to face the direction 6’s voice was coming from, but stopped halfway after his spine screamed at him for even thinking about doing that. “...Siksh?” he slurred. “Ish that you…?”

 

Number 6’s arm phased through the trash bag resting on his shoulder and lightly touched his arm. “Yeah. It’s me. I’m here.”

 

“...Whuht happen’d?”

 

“You fell? Pretty nasty trick that this thing played on you, that’s for sure.”

 

“ Owww… everything hurts… ” Koichi miserably whimpered.

 

“I bet,” 6 said. “C’mon, you can’t stay in here. Are you ‘stuck’ stuck or can you get up?”

 

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Koichi pressed his palm into the floor of the dumpster and tried to push himself up, only to be punished with a bolt of pain down his back. “ Ah-ow! My back! ” Koichi yelped, dropping back down to the floor. “ Ow, and my leg! ”

 

“No good? What about that thing you did during the lockdown? You did… something to fix your arm and leg after I broke it. Try that.”

 

Uh… oh, right. The shell-cast thing, like Cap does. That did work last time, but he didn’t have a concussion drilling into his head during the lockdown. Attempting that move only aggravated his already bruised brain and Koichi curled up on himself with a sob of pain. This sucks. Everything sucks.

 

“Damn. Well, hey, you can still move your arms right? It looks like The Paranormals were pretty distracted up there. They might not know you’re down here. You’re gonna have to call them for help at this point.” Koichi made a noise of agreement and his hand found his communicator. One of them should be able to respond.

 

Back up on the roof, The Paranormals got control over the situation and Split finally got to use his net gun, finally putting an end to the villain’s rampage. After a moment of blind fumbling, Jinx found her goggles and pulled them back on her face. Fortunately, nothing was broken and a notification from the forensics department was waiting for her.

 

“Phew, that was one hell of a cardio workout,” Ultra Instinct sighed, taking a breather against the ledge and treating himself to a recovery string cheese stick.

 

“Tch, jerk made me break a nail,” Danger Magnet grumbled. “Jeez, does he even know how much my manicurist charged me for these?”

 

Split towered over their quarry and smeared the sweat from his brow. “Must’ve been a ton of fun leading us on that runaround, huh? Sorry, pal, but the show stops here,” he said, reaching down and grabbing a hold of one of the loose wraps around the villain’s face. “Let’s see who’s behind all these bandages…” Despite the villain attempting to wriggle away, Split unfurled the wraps, revealing the villain to be none other than…

 

“ Dr. Najib!? ”

 

“Wait, but aren’t you one of the guys that funded that dig in the first place?” Ultra Instinct said, befuddled. “Like, you would’ve gotten just as much money just from ticket sales. Maybe more. Why go to all this trouble just for a diamond?”

 

“I have a theory,” Jinx supposed, holding up the damning wallet. “I think it’s less about the money and more about a grudge. You had a pretty public falling out with Professor Fax, right? That’s what I gathered from a bit of social media research.” 

 

A voice from her communicator took her attention for a second and she nodded. “Yup, I figured. That was the police. They went in to find hostages and figure out what happened to Cow Lady. She’s fine, by the way. She and Elecplant are ‘thawing out’ as we speak. But they did find Professor Art T. Fax… tied up, gagged and shoved in a storage closet and his office was a wreck.”

 

Jinx turned her attention to Dr. Najib and said, “So, let me take a shot in the dark about what your plan was. Dress up as a villain, make a bunch of noise, cause a little chaos, drop this during your big getaway and let Professor Fax take the heat for it so he can get arrested and discredited? Is that about right?” Dr. Najib didn’t have anything to defend himself with other than a groan of rage. “Right on the money, as usual.”

 

“And I would’ve gotten away with it too, if it weren’t for you meddling sidekicks!”

 

Split regarded his teammates with pride and said, “Job well done, team! I think we can call it a wrap for this mission!” The whole team shared a good, hearty laugh over the pun and out of triumph for a job well done… only for the laughter to start to die off when they noticed a voice was missing.

 

“Skycrawler?” The plucky lil guy should’ve been right behind Split. The fact that he was nowhere to be seen had the hairs on the back of his neck standing on end.

 

“...like, where’d Koichi go?”

 

“I don’t know. He was right there, wasn’t he?”

 

A tone from Split’s communicator gave him a brief moment of respite. Hopefully, Koichi was just stuck and needed rescue. “Skycrawler? Is that you?” he said into his communicator. “We caught the villain but we lost sight of you. What happened? Are you alright?” The response he got turned his blood to ice.

 

“Tell him you’re street level.”

“S-Street level…”

“You’re… on the west side of the building.”

“Weh… West side…”

 

In a way, Frank was right… but he sure didn’t want to be right like this . 

 

Frank dashed forward, almost flinging himself right off the ledge, looking down to the street below in search of his distressed teammate. Concerned, Laurel got up and followed after him. But even with the extra pair of eyes, Koichi wasn’t easy to spot. He must’ve landed somewhere in their blind spot. Frank slapped a hand to his communicator and frantically sputtered, “Skycrawler, we can’t see you. If you can fire off an SGB to show us where you are…”

 

After a moment or two, a SGB shot up out of a nearby dumpster, bursting through the pile of trash bags flowing out of it and knocking them away.

 

“ Oh shit… ”

“ Oh no… ”

 

Frank threw a leg over the ledge and an order behind him. “You guys stay here with Dr. Najib and make sure he doesn’t go anywhere!”

 

“Why!? What happened!?”

“Is Koichi okay!?”

“Ah, wait for me! I’m coming too!”

 

With a little help from Danger Magnet’s Quirk, Frank and Laurel scrambled down the side of the building back down to the street and raced over to the dumpster Koichi landed in the second they hit the ground, furiously shoveling through the trash pile to their fallen comrade. The sudden blast of sunlight after staring at the dark for the last few minutes actually, physically hurt Koichi’s eyes. That was quickly relieved when Frank leaned over the edge of the open dumpster and yanked his mask down. 

 

“Hey, we’re here! What happened? Are you alright?”

 

“Frank, don’t bombard him with questions!”

 

“R-Right… uh, here…” Frank reached down into the dumpster, holding a helping hand out for Koichi to take. “Let’s get you out of there.” Koichi grabbed a hold of the lifeline Frank offered and let him start to pull him up, but Koichi’s back, leg and head disapproved of this rescue attempt, the pain forcing Koichi to slip out of Frank’s grasp and drop back down the ground with a cry of agony.

 

While Frank floundered in a panic, Laurel’s hand snapped to her communicator. They were going to need some professional help on this one. “Control, this is Danger Magnet. We need medical to our location ASAP. We’ve got a man down behind The Langham… no, the other Langham. By Central Park West.”

 

His grip must’ve been bad, Frank decided and he climbed into the dumpster himself. The idea was to simply scoop Koichi up bridal style and lift him out that way but Laurel stepped back and stopped him. “Frank! Frank, no, don’t try to move him! That might make it worse.”

 

“Well, what should I do then?”

 

“Just keep him still. Medical’s on their way.”

 

The last thing Frank wanted to do was sit there and do nothing, especially considering that Koichi only got hurt because he pushed Frank out of the way of that attack, but if the paramedics said so, then he trusted their judgment. They knew more about how to help people that get hurt this bad than he did. Frank settled himself down on the floor of the dumpster beside Koichi and held onto his hand. With the most reassuring smile he could conjure up, Frank said, “Don’t worry. Help’s on the way. You’re gonna be alright.”

 

“...did we get ‘im?”

 

Frank huffed a miserable laugh and said, “Yeah… yeah, we got him.”

 

“You got ‘is mask off?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Who wuz he?”

 

“One of the guys that was backing the expedition. He had a falling out with the archaeologist in charge and staged a villain attack so he could try to frame him for it.”

 

“Oh… kinda ov’rkill, huh?”

 

Frank laughed, “Yeah, really overkill. He should try therapy next time.”

 

“Iz ev’rybody else okay?”

 

“Yeah. We’re a little bit scuffed up but we’re all good.”

 

“Thaz good… thaz good… ‘m glad…” At that point, Koichi’s body had quite enough of everything and consciousness started to drain from him. Everything went fuzzy and dark until he fully slipped into unconsciousness.

 

“Koichi? …K-Koichi!? Hey, hey, whoa, whoa, whoa, c’mon, stay with me. Come on, Koichi, you’ve gotta stay awake! Koichi? Laurel, tell them to step on it!”

 

-

 

Beep… Beep… Beep…

 

The rhythmic beeping of the EKG monitor roused Koichi from his unconscious slumber. Holy hell, his throat was dry and everything was just so bright for a moment or two. When his vision adjusted, he found himself in an all-too-familiar situation: laid up in a hospital bed with his arm in a sling and his leg elevated. Hasn’t even been an entire year since he healed up from the lockdown and here he is again, battered, bruised and barely holding together. Silver lining, he couldn’t feel his concussion at the moment.

 

A bit of movement beside him drew Koichi’s eye and he found his ghostly companion settled into one of the empty chairs by his bed. Number 6 stretched out in his chair, emitting a powerful yawn before he looked up and met Koichi’s gaze. Koichi smiled back at him, relieved to see him. ‘Hi, 6,’ he silently said to 6.

 

“Hey.”

 

‘...where are we? The hospital?’

 

“Sure looks like it.”

 

‘What happened?’

 

“Don’t ask me. I’ve been out for as long as you’ve been.”

 

‘Oh…’

 

Number 6 shrugged and joked, “Good job on not dying, by the way. The dumpster is a stupid place to die. I would be so pissed if it were me.”

 

‘Yeah… thanks, by the way.’

 

“Mmm? What for?”

 

‘Helping me.’

 

Number 6 raised an eyebrow at that and retorted, “Help how? The paramedics were the ones that pulled you out, not me.”

 

‘I mean, like, when I landed. Everything hurt, I couldn’t see anything, I was starting to freak out a little, but having you around, just to help me figure out what to do in that situation, really helped. Seriously, 6, thank you.’

 

Number 6 honestly didn’t know what to do with that sentiment and it showed in his body language, simply looking down at the floor at first before that was deemed insufficient and his head dropped so he could stare down at his lap instead. “W-Well, I mean… I am attached to you, y’know?” he replied. “If you die, I die, but permanently this time. I already died once and it really sucked so…”

 

‘I thought you said you were getting used to the idea of being dead…’

 

“I’m allowed to change my mind, Hero.”

 

Suddenly, something cold and metallic snuck under Koichi’s hospital gown and over his chest. “ Uwah! Cold! ” he yelped, scaring the owner of the stethoscope half to death.

 

“ AAH, goddammit! ” The nurse startled backwards, nearly backing straight into his colleague in the process. “Scared the hell out of me!” the nurse, designated as ‘Steve R.’ by his employee badge, wheezed as his coworker sidestepped around him.

 

“Hey, you’re awake,” the other nurse, going by ‘Casey M.’, said. “That’s good. We were worried you fell into a coma for a second there.”

 

“Oh… <Morning,>” Koichi said with a tired smile. “<Sorry about that…>”

 

Steve waved off his apology, now calmed down from his mini heart attack and laughed, “Trust me, that’s not the worst scare I’ve ever gotten around here… or, y’know, in general. ”

 

Casey sidled up against Koichi’s bed, checking the EKG monitor and jotting down the results on their clipboard. A little pop of color over the top of their clipboard got them to look up and they noticed the pretty pansexual bracelet on Koichi’s good wrist, the same one they gave him at the Pride March before. They smiled, so happy that he kept it and used that as a topic to test his memory. 

 

“Uh… Mr. Skycrawler, do you remember me at all? We met at the Pride March the day before yesterday and I wanted to thank you for everything that you do for us little people.” They gently hooked a finger under Koichi’s bracelet and said, “I gave you this as a gift. Do you remember that?”

 

Koichi squinted at Casey’s face for a second and a lightbulb flicked on in his head. “<Oh! Hi,>” he replied, vaguely waving his free hand in front of his face, wordlessly acknowledging the piercings that they were missing since the last time he saw them.

 

“Yeah, I’m not allowed to wear my piercings at work,” Casey laughed.

 

Come to think of it, he also kinda recognized Steve from the Pride March or at least he thought so. If you add some flashy makeup, a voluminous blonde wig and a busty red dress to him… “<Ms. Beulah-Mae?>”

 

Steve let out a breath and joked to Casey, “Well, we can rule out amnesia, at least.” He tipped an imaginary cowboy hat to Koichi and said, “Howdy, cowboy~ You know, when I said I’d like to see you again, this isn’t what I meant. I didn’t want you to miss me this badly.”

 

“<Hi, again! I really liked your outfit.>”

 

“Aw, thank you, sugar. You’re so sweet,” the out-of-costume Ms. Beulah-Mae coyly crooned, giving Koichi an affectionate tap on the tip of his nose. Then Steve cleared his throat and switched back to Other Job Mode. “Anyway, how’re you feeling right now? On a scale of 1-10.”

 

“<Uh… 2? 3? I think?>”

 

“Good, that means the painkillers kicked in.”

 

Casey stepped back and retrieved a blood pressure cuff from the cart they brought in earlier. “EMS dragged you into the ER yesterday and your teammates told us that the villain you guys were chasing chucked you off of a tall building,” Casey explained as they strapped the cuff to Koichi’s free arm. 

 

“<How bad is it?>”

 

“Aside from the busted leg and the injured arm, you got a mild concussion and a crack in your pelvis. Not a full-on fracture but still not particularly good,” Steve explained, swiping a penlight out of the front pocket of his scrubs and testing the dilation of Koichi’s pupils with it. They responded to the light the way they were supposed to, which was a relief.

 

“Doctor’s especially worried about your spine, though,” Casey said, jotting down Koichi’s blood pressure into his chart and releasing the pressure on the cuff. “A fall from that high and a sudden stop that hard…” Casey frowned for a moment, the worst case scenario putting Koichi’s crawling days to an end permanently. But hope can work wonders. “Well, now that you’re up, we can get an MRI done to see exactly how bad it is and we’ll figure out a treatment plan from there,” they said with a reassuring smile. “You’re in good hands, Mr. Skycrawler.”

 

“<Thanks for taking care of me.>”

 

“You don’t have to thank us for that.”

 

“Yeah, this is our job.”

 

A tone from Steve’s two-way drew his attention. “Hey, Steve, we need backup in Room 246. Guess who managed to rip all the wrapping out of the inside of their cast? Again. ”

 

Steve sighed and shook his head. “Roger that. On my way.” With that, he let his two-way rest against him and pinched the bridge of his nose, complaining, “I don’t know how many times I need to tell this guy that the itch means that it’s healing and he needs to leave it alone.”

 

“At least 55,000 more times.”

 

“Sure feels like it. Sheesh.”

 

As if his body itself was in on the joke, Koichi’s bad arm started to itch and without sparing a single thought about it, he rubbed at the itch through his sling. After that was satisfied, he glanced back up and was met with chuckles and enduring sighs from the nurses that were just talking about that sort of thing. ”<Sorry. I’ll leave it alone,>” Koichi sheepishly laughed.

 

“It’ll heal faster if you do.” Steve brought the two-way up to his mouth one more time and said, “Dr. McDreamy, your patient in room Triple 2 is awake.” If the doctor responded, Koichi didn’t hear it. Steve dusted his hands off and as he paced towards the door, he smiled back at Koichi and said, “Doctor should be over to touch base in a little bit. If you need anything, just hit the call button and one of us will come ru- GAH! ” Steve flinched away from the door in surprise after Makoto’s sudden appearance through the window took him off guard. “What is it with everyone sneaking up on me today?”

 

Makoto inched in through the door with an apologetic, “Sorry about that. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

 

“Hi again, Ms. Tsukauchi,” Casey said. “You’re right on time. He just woke up.”

 

Pleased to see a familiar face, Koichi waved his good arm and cheered, “Hi, Makoto!”

 

“Oh, good,” Makoto sighed. “I came as soon as I got the call yesterday and waited until visiting hours ended and they threw me out. I’m so glad to see you’re up.”

 

Makoto abandoned the doorway, allowing Steve to head off on his next task and came to the side of Koichi’s bed, settling herself in the chair that Number 6 was sitting in, unknowingly phasing right through him and sitting in him. That sort of concept did not sit right with 6 and he almost launched himself right out of the chair in protest. “Ew, ew, ew, weird, weird, don’t like it! Get out of me, lady!”

 

Makoto sighed and cautiously joked, “It hasn’t even been a full year since the last time you were in the hospital, Koichi. I mean, I get it. Free food and you get to lay in bed for days on end but I don’t know. This is a little too often for my liking.”

 

“You sure scared the hell out of The Paranormals.” Chris appeared in the doorway, finally having caught up after being stopped by a couple starstruck nurses. “They’ve been apologizing nonstop since they got back to the office. Frank, especially. Hopefully, hearing that you’re still alive and kickin’ will help him relax a bit.”

 

“I’m sorry about that. I wasn’t trying to scare anybody.” Now that he was fully awake, the logical part of his brain kicked in and he nervously asked, “This isn’t gonna affect the whole lawsuit thing, is it?”

 

“Aside from having to attend through video call, not really,” Makoto answered.

 

“Well… uh, what about the cop whose arm I accidentally broke?”

 

“Don’t worry about him,” Makoto replied, giving Koichi a reassuring pat on his good shoulder. “We stopped by his room and appeased him with a very generous ‘please-don’t-sue-us’ gift.”

 

Chris felt that one in his wallet and he groaned, “I’m pretty sure you’re actually trying to bankrupt me at this point, Makoto.”

 

“All for a good cause, boss!”

 

“My generosity’s getting stretched a bit thin, though. Would’ve been cheaper to just let Mike threaten him out of suing us.”

 

“True, but that’d be bad for your image.”

 

Defeated, Chris sighed and asked Koichi, “Fine, fine, just do me a favor and keep the manslaughter to a minimum from now on, alright kid?”

 

“Sorry about that, Cap. I’ll be more careful from now on, promise,” Koichi answered, uncomfortably shifting around against the pillow to try and scratch at an itch that formed right in between his shoulder blades. The worst place to get an itch.

 

A soft knocking announced the white-coat wearing new visitor before he opened the door. Casey was quick to greet him first and stepped forward to hand Koichi’s chart off. “Thank you, Casey,” the doctor said softly as Casey slipped around him and disappeared back to the unseen nurse’s station. “Mr. Haimawari, it’s good to see you awake. My name’s Dr. Derek McDreamy.”

 

‘Wow… he sure lives up to his name,’ Koichi said to himself, accepting the soap opera handsome doctor’s handshake. Koichi almost had to squint looking up at Dr. McDreamy from his spot on the bed. Clearly, they have a really good dental program here.

 

“...tch. He’s a 4 at best.”

 

‘C’mon, 6, don’t be mean.’

 

Chris greeted the doctor in kind with a nice, firm handshake. “Thanks for taking care of my sidekick, doc.”

 

“My pleasure, Captain.” Dr. McDreamy offered the same courtesy to Makoto with a joking, “And you must be the infamous Ms. Tsukauchi.”

 

“Christ,” Chris sighed, resting his forehead in his hand. “We’re not still going on about that ‘goddess’ slipup, are we? For the last time, our relationship is strictly professional!”

 

“Don’t worry, boss. There’s been way more embarrassing foot-in-mouth moments since then. I’m sure this meme will die off soon,” Makoto teased.

 

“ Meme??? ”

 

Okay, that itch is really starting to get annoying. Koichi snuck his good arm behind his back and yet, it still managed to evade his reach. Always, right in between the shoulder blades where he can’t reach. So irritating…!

 

“So, Mr. Haimawari…” Koichi’s attention snapped back to the doctor. He flicked on the backlight, illuminating the radiographs that they had collected while Koichi was out cold. “Frankly, I’m impressed that after a fall like that, this is the worst you came away with,” Dr. McDreamy said in an attempt to lighten the mood just a little. “The concussion should clear up long before the fractures heal. We think… a 6-8 week stay should do the trick.”

 

Koichi nodded and mumbled to himself, “Yeah, just like last time.”

 

Dr. McDreamy sighed and tapped one of the radiographs in the middle of the lineup. “This is the area I’m most concerned about. The imaging we managed to do while you were unconscious indicates that you did sustain some damage to your spine. The extent of it… well, after a day or two, when any swelling goes down, we’ll do a more comprehensive neurological assessment. If we’re lucky, surgery won’t be necessary.”

 

“Uh… <Is that bad?>”

 

“We won’t know for sure until we perform that assessment and determine just how severe this injury is. Best case scenario, after a few months of recovery and rehabilitation, you may be able to return to work no problem…” Dr. McDreamy’s face grew grave and he had to say, “Worst case scenario… you may have to consider retiring from Hero work early.”

 

“Ah! I can’t- ahem <I can’t do that. I really need this job.>” Koichi combed his good hand through his hair and panickedly continued to mutter, “<With the debt and my rent and bills and everything, I can barely afford it all. I need this job.>”

 

“I completely understand, Mr. Haimawari,” Dr. McDreamy answered, placing a comforting hand on Koichi’s ankle. “We’re going to do everything in our power to get you back up on your feet as quickly as possible. If all else fails, there are a few experimental treatment options we could try-”

 

“< Yes! >”

 

“ But we can discuss all that after the assessment.”

 

Chris leaned over to Makoto and whispered, “We could at least sue that villain to cover Koichi’s medical bills, couldn’t we?”

 

“...yeah, I think we might have a case. We should call Mike about it after this.”

 

Koichi sighed, his good hand squeezing at his jaw. Now what is he gonna do? After all this, is he just going to wind up in prison anyway? All because of a bad judgment call that wound up costing him his health, income and his apartment all in one fell swoop? No, no, Makoto wouldn’t let that happen. Thinking like that would just turn that into a self-fulfilling- oh, for the love of-!

 

When his good arm failed to get at that damn itch for a second time, without even a single thought about it, Koichi ripped his supposedly broken arm out of the sling and actually managed to succeed at finally silencing that obnoxious sensation that crawled down his spine. Finally freed from the torment, Koichi sighed, “<Sorry about that. That was really bugging me.>” He glanced up and was met with shocked stares from everyone in the room, living and ‘dead.’ “...what?”

 

“Uh… pretty sure that the doc said that arm was broken.”

 

It wasn’t until 6 pointed it out that Koichi noticed the empty sling resting against his chest. Looking at the arm that was immobilized until that moment, Koichi realized that his arm didn’t hurt at all and after experimentally flexing his fingers, he wasn’t suffering any impairment either.

 

“...what?” Dr. McDreamy looked back-and-forth between Koichi’s arm and the radiographs taken the night before. “Wait a minute…”

 

“Koichi?” Makoto gasped, relieved, sliding forward onto the edge of her seat.

 

“Wait a sec,” Chris said to the doctor as he all but ripped the radiographs down to look at them more closely. “I thought that you said Koichi was all busted up. What happened?”

 

“He… he was! These are his, I didn’t grab someone else’s chart by mistake,” the doctor sputtered, bewildered. 

 

“Is that the thing you did?” Number 6 muttered to Koichi, despite not needing to. “During the lockdown?”

 

‘I… probably? I don’t know. It doesn’t feel like I’m doing anything.’

 

Koichi glanced up at the allegedly broken leg that was strung up and managed to wiggle his toes and flex his ankle. Another miraculous recovery! He glanced at 6 out of the corner of his eye and 6 gave him a hand wave-y gesture, encouraging him to try and get up out of bed. Koichi silently agreed and adjusted himself on the bed, finding a good enough angle so he could lift his leg up and out of the sling, planting his heel on the bed. He swiveled to the side, letting his legs dangle over the side of the bed and slowly and carefully, he pushed himself up onto his feet and… nothing. No pain, no weakness, nothing. Not in his legs or his back or his head or anywhere. Koichi took an experimental step forward, back, to the left, to the right and a little spin for good measure. Absolutely nothing, like he wasn’t even hurt in the first place. 

 

“Phew…”

“Phew… that could’ve been really… permanent.”

 

“Oh, thank God!” Makoto happily exclaimed, jumping up out of her seat and wrapping Koichi in a tight hug.

 

After another double-take between his patient and his very concerning X-rays, a troubling thought struck Dr. McDreamy and he crossed the room, snatching the receiver off of its wall-mounted hook, jabbing a couple buttons and pressing it to his ear. “Hey, can we send Jerry down to radiology and have him run a diagnostic on the imager?” he asked the person on the other end. “...because I just told a guy he might have to retire from Hero work and now he’s back up on his feet like nothing happened. So clearly, one of us misdiagnosed him and I really hope it was me… thanks.” He glanced over his shoulder at Koichi thoughtfully before he returned to the conversation. “I’ll be in the wing later. I want to run an MRI anyway to get some closure, so send him my way when he’s done. Thank you.”

 

The receiver was hooked back onto the wall and Dr. McDreamy joined the group once again, Makoto handing his patient back off to him when he approached. Dr. McDreamy curiously poked and prodded at Koichi’s back, asking, “Anything? No pain or concerning sensations?”

 

“<Uh… nothing aspirin couldn’t fix.>”

 

“I see.” Dr. McDreamy gave a semi-relieved sigh and said, “Well, this is absolutely a good thing, if… really confusing. We should run an MRI, just to… compare to what we got while you were unconscious.”

 

“<Alright.>”

 

“I would like to do a full blood panel as well. Did Casey and Steve get a sample before I came in?” Koichi shook his head. “Alright, let’s do that.” Koichi sat back down on the bed and watched Dr. McDreamy rifle through the drawers in the middle of the room, retrieving everything he would need to collect a blood sample and snapping on a pair of latex gloves. The doctor returned, rolling a stool over so he could sit himself right next to his patient and gently took Koichi’s arm, resting the back of his hand against his knee so the vulnerable side of his elbow was easily accessible. While he prepped the area with a swab of rubbing alcohol, Dr. McDreamy asked, “Mr. Haimawari? What is your Quirk exactly?”

 

Ooh, boy, that one would require a lot of English words that Koichi wasn’t good with yet. Fortunately, Makoto sat on the bed right next to him and whispered, “I can translate.”

 

“Thanks.” Dr. McDreamy pitched the used cotton swab and adjusted his grip so that he was blocking Koichi’s line of sight with his shoulder, on the off-chance that he was squeamish about needles. Koichi wasn’t, but the thought was appreciated. “My Quirk’s called Slide and Glide,” Koichi explained, Makoto translating accordingly. “Although for some reason, it got renamed to ‘Flight’ in the American Quirk registry, which is just kinda…”

 

“Which is kinda asinine because that’s my Quirk,” Chris huffed.

 

“Yeah,” Koichi agreed. “It’s probably not even right either, since my Quirk can do way more than Cap’s.”

 

“Rude.”

 

“Huh? Was it? Sorry.”

 

“Is that right?” Dr. McDreamy said. “Such as?”

 

“It’s a mobility sort of Quirk,” Koichi explained. “As long as I maintain three points of contact, I can glide over surfaces. I used to only go as fast as a bike but now I can keep up with bullet trains.”

 

Ah, there’s the vein that the doctor was looking for. “I see. What else?”

 

“Mmm, I can project forcefields, I can shoot proje- owch! -projectiles, I can cling to walls and… yeah, I did kinda copy Cap once and that’s how I found out that I can kinda-sorta fly. Not for as long as him but something like that. And doing that helped me keep moving after my arm and leg got broken during the lockdown, so there’s that.”

 

And that was as good enough an explanation for what Dr. McDreamy was looking at. Pursuing that topic, he asked, “Is that the extent of it? Just holding your broken limbs together?”

 

“Pretty much.”

 

Dr. McDreamy hummed. “Do you suppose that part of your Quirk may have evolved since then? That may explain why you seemed to have healed so fast.”

 

“What, that I’ve suddenly developed a healing factor?” Koichi said, half-incredulously. “...well, I wouldn’t be that surprised if I did, I guess. Feels like my Quirk has been evolving a lot in the last few years. I’m starting to wonder when it’s gonna stop.”

 

“Well, we’ll see what the blood panel has to say.” Dr. McDreamy capped off the vial he filled with Koichi’s blood and tended to the puncture in his skin he had to create, strapping a ball of gauze to the inside of Koichi’s elbow. Curiously, Koichi’s blood looked a little darker than it should be, but then again, that probably didn’t mean much. One of the nurses here is entirely plant-based and that makes her blood green. Odd, but not cause for alarm yet.

 

As soon as he wrapped up the procedure, the phone by the door rang and Dr. McDreamy caught it after the second ring. “McDreamy… ah, good. We’ll be right down. Any word from Jerry? …he just got there? Alright, then. Be down in a bit.” Dr. McDreamy hung the phone back on its hook and said to Koichi, “Radiology’s ready for us. Shall we?”

 

Koichi nodded and stood back up, quietly laughing to himself as he realized how much he took the ability to move for granted until he nearly lost it. Makoto and Chris kept a hand on his back or shoulder, just in case he lost his balance and the three followed the doctor out of the room. Number 6, however, lingered for a bit, studying the radiographs. No way someone should be able to recover from injuries like that so quickly. “...again with the cheat codes?” he huffed under his breath. “Doesn’t this get exhausting after a while?”

 

‘You know I can still hear you, right?’

 

“Good!”

 

-

 

The next day was business as usual.

 

Aside from everyone tiptoeing around Koichi as if he’d crumble into pieces if he was breathed on too hard, it was a perfectly average day. Koichi certainly wasn’t complaining about having a generally boring, calm day after how his week has been going. Though, he did have a sneaking suspicion that he was intentionally being passed over when someone would call the agency for a Hero. He understood, he really did. Everyone was trying to give him a break so he didn’t get hurt any worse than he already did. But it would be nice if that stopped sometime soon.

 

Just like every other day, Koichi ended his shift doing some training with The Paranormals in the agency’s stadium-sized gym. “And switch.” Laurel leaned back, pulling Koichi into his stretch for the 30 seconds and the handful of breaths it took to start feeling it in his hamstrings before they switched again. As he pulled Laurel into her stretch, Koichi looked up at the green-clad man standing over them. Norman, in turn, smirked and dug out a freeze-dried candy from the bag beside him, silently offering him one. Koichi opened his mouth and Norman dropped the candy into it.

 

“Ruin his workout already, why don’t ya?” Thelma teased.

 

“They’re good though!” Koichi protested.

 

“Ah, we’re gonna work it off anyway,” Norman replied.

 

Laurel pulled back and unhooked herself from the diamond that she and Koichi made, shifting around until she got her feet under her again and pulled Koichi up with her. She pulled her arm across her chest to stretch out the muscles in her shoulder and he caught his ankle behind his back, stretching out his quads. “Y’know, for a guy that got cracked like a glowstick, you’re moving around pretty good now,” Norman said.

 

“You sure healed pretty fast,” Thelma agreed. “Did the hospital call you back about those tests they ran yet?”

 

“Not yet,” Koichi answered. “But the doctor’s probably right. Maybe that one part of my Quirk awakened or something. It would make sense, given how banged up I got.”

 

“Yeah, but if that’s the case, wouldn’t this ability have manifested a lot earlier?” Thelma argued. “From what you told us, you got just as beat up during the Naruhata Lockdown. Why wait until now?”

 

Koichi shrugged. “Maybe it’s a… late bloomer awakening? Or something? I’m not sure.”

 

“Hmmm… what a mystery.”

 

Koichi released his ankle, steady on both feet as he should be. In the background behind his teammates was their de facto leader, watching Koichi with great concern. Koichi gave Frank a soft smile and said, “Frank, I’m fine. You don’t need to worry about me.”

 

Frank sighed and replied, “Well… I know this guy’s really smart and he’s got a fancy degree… but he is still human. He might’ve missed something.”

 

“Everyone’s been fussing over me all day. I’m fine, I promise.” Koichi sidestepped over so he had a long stretch of empty mat in front of him. “Besides, if there was something still seriously wrong with me, could I do this?” To finally prove once and for all that he was just fine, Koichi took a running start and put his training to work. Round-off, front handspring, side aerial and a full twist. He did land awkwardly at the end but the worst that happened was him stumbling backwards off of the mat and bumping into one of the punching bags hanging behind him. But he made it without a new scratch or sprain. 

 

Koichi cooly leaned against the punching bag and declared, “See? Fit as a fiddle!” The punching bag did beg to differ, dumping Koichi on the ground straight on his face. “ Ouch. ”

 

There were a few enduring laughs from the background while Koichi peeled his face off of the floor. When he looked up, Frank was there, holding a hand out for Koichi to take. As soon as Koichi was back up on his feet again, Frank gently placed his free hand on Koichi’s shoulder and said, “I’m sorry.”

 

“Huh? What for?”

 

“This wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t taken that hit for me.”

 

“Well, to be fair, Frank,” Norman piped up. “If he hadn’t, you’d probably be a Frank Pancake right now.”

 

“They didn’t teach us that trash pile thing in school,” Laurel agreed. “Apparently that’s something you have to learn on the streets.”

 

“Yeah, in hindsight, I don’t think the trash pile trick works here,” Koichi miserably laughed.

 

“Still, though,” Frank said. “You nearly got seriously, permanently hurt on my watch. It’s never gonna happen again, I sw-”

 

Koichi gently tapped his fist against Frank’s chest and he said with a comforting grin, “I’d do it again in a heartbeat. We’re a team. We’ve gotta look out for each other, right?”

 

Koichi couldn’t be sure if Frank was completely reassured by that but he still smiled and replied, “Right.” Frank poked Koichi in the center of his forehead and added, “But next time, let me take the hit for you. Then we’ll be even. Okay?”

 

“Eh, not sure I can promise that.”

 

“Try? For me?”

 

“Mmmmaybe.”

 

“ Koichi… ”

 

From the background, Thelma cleared her throat and said, “Hey, they’re probably gonna kick us out soon. Are we gonna get to training?”

 

With his second wind restored, Frank returned to ‘leader mode’ and answered, “Right! Let’s do this, gang!”

 

Koichi glanced up towards one of the clear ledges of the rock wall beside them. Unbeknownst to any of his teammates, Number 6 perched there, watching the little Heroes below. He waved when he noticed Koichi before the squad of sidekicks got to their training, leaving 6 to just watch and think.

 

“...no, y’know, Glasses has a point, actually. Quirks usually awaken when you’re in a life-or-death kind of situation, right? So why would your Quirk awaken from falling off a tall building? Was the stress I was causing you during the lockdown not enough?” 6 folded his arms and harrumphed, “That’s just insulting.”

 

-

 

“So, Ms. Beulah-Mae…”

 

Steve laughingly sighed and responded in her practiced Southern accent, “Yes, sugar?”

 

“I gotta know,” Casey said, excitedly. “Was giving The Skycrawler your number part of the show or were you being genuine?” Their tea cup was empty and Steve simply had to fill it.

 

“Eh, a little of Column A, a little of Column B,” Steve chuckled. “He’s cute! You saw him, he’s cute!”

 

“He is cute,” Casey agreed. “If I was actually into men-”

 

“Well, I’d have to fight you then, ‘cuz I called dibs,” Steve playfully sneered. “Just gimme an hour or two to put my claws back on.”

 

Casey laughed and surrendered. “You’re good, you’re good.” Casey took a bite out of their burger and muttered, “Kinda wild that he just… healed from all that. I didn’t know he had that kinda power. Definitely a lucky break for him.”

 

“I’m glad about that, personally,” Steve agreed. “If he had to undergo surgery, I feel like they would’ve needed me and… I don’t know. Might be shallow of me, but I don’t know if I could date a guy if I knew what his insides looked like before the first date.” Steve shuddered dramatically. “It’d kill my appetite damn near forever.”

 

“Nah, I totally get that,” Casey laughed.

 

“Hey, you guys.” Steve and Casey looked up from their lunch as a very sleepy-sounding, plant woman strolled by their table.

 

“Pammy! Hey, girl!” Steve cheered.

 

“Hey, we missed you yesterday,” Casey added. “Where were you?”

 

Pam miserably laughed, brushing her palm-frond ponytail off her shoulder. “I was mostly on my couch, trying to adjust to reality again,” she admitted. “My girlfriend and I took a little too much over the weekend and we needed a day to try to be functioning human beings again.”

 

“Oooh, that sounds rough,” Casey sympathized. 

 

“Yeah, but I’m alive, I didn’t puke or nothing and I’m lucid enough to survive driving here, so it’s all good,” Pam said, puffing her chest out victoriously. “I’m definitely, totally fine now and I’m absolutely not just telling myself that to convince myself.”

 

Steve snorted, “Whatever you need to do to cope, babe.”

 

Casey placed their heels on the chair across from them and shooed Pam towards the cafeteria. “Well, go grab your lunch. I’ll save you a spot. We don’t have to go anywhere for a bit.”

 

Pam sighed, “Sorry, I’m gonna have to take a raincheck,” to her favorite coworkers’ dismay. “Doctor wants this blood panel done today,” Pam explained, holding up the vial she was carrying with her. “So I gotta go do that before I forget about it. But I have Friday off! If you guys do too, you should come over and hang out. I pinky-promise that I won’t take nearly as much as I did the other day.”

 

“Please do, baby. Seriously, I worry about you sometimes,” Steve said, genuinely concerned about her.

 

“I know, Mama Mae, I’m sorry,” Pam replied. “I’m amazed I got this job sometimes. I absolutely suck at math.” Then a lightbulb went off in her head and she excitedly asked, “Oh, but we’re still on for Pitchfork next month, right?”

 

“Yes, absolutely! I wouldn’t miss it for anything!” Casey answered.

 

“I seriously need this vacation,” Steve miserably laughed. “My phone is starting to think that I actually live here.”

 

“Yes! Oh man, I’m so excited for this!” Pam cheered, nearly actually jumping for joy before she remembered the vial and paperwork she had in her grasp. “Okay, I better go do this so I can earn my lunch. Love you guys, I’ll see you later!” Casey and Steve sent her off with a wave from them and a blown kiss from Ms. Beulah-Mae.

 

Arriving at the hematology lab, Pam nudged the door behind her, set down the clipboard and gently shelved the vial of blood in an empty slot beside a few other test tubes. She needed to be fully awake for this and that’s where her secret stash of extra strength energy shots comes in. After knocking one back and squeezing her face in her hands to wake herself up as much as humanly possible, she retrieved the vial from where she left it and began.

 

With the diagnostic Jerry performed on the X-ray imager the day before turning up nothing and the MRI that was taken of The Skycrawler after confirming that the injuries he sustained simply vanished in a matter of hours, this was pretty much the last resort before the whole incident was written off as Koichi having developed a healing Quirk and calling it a day. The goal was to check his blood to see if any abnormalities were present. For starters, his blood was a shade of red that was much darker than it usually should be but that probably didn’t count. After all, Pam’s Quirk turned her blood green due to the high amount of chlorophyll in her system. So it’s probably less of an abnormality and more of a Quirk-related… quirk, for lack of a better word.

 

Pam prepared a slide with a drop of the patient’s blood and placed it underneath the lab's high-powered microscope. With a press of the button, the screen beside it came to life with a closeup display of Koichi Haimawari’s blood. The computer did its thing, measuring out the ranges of sodium, potassium, creatinine and glucose. That single drop of blood passed a basic metabolic panel with flying colors. The cells themselves seemed as healthy as could be, aside from the red blood cells being a little darker than they should be. The white blood cell count looked good as- “What was that?”

 

Pam swore that she saw something at the top-left corner of the screen, some black, tar-like substance overpowering one of Koichi’s red blood cells. But when she adjusted the scope to look directly at it… nothing. Just an ordinary red blood cell.

 

Pam knew she saw something. She frantically swiped the scope back-and-forth trying to catch it again but that little blob of something didn’t appear. Defeated and bewildered, Pam slumped back in the chair. She numbly jotted down what she saw on the clipboard, hoping beyond hope that someone wouldn’t immediately write her off as crazy and then she got her phone from her pocket. 

 

Palm Tree:

Hey, sweetpea

We probably shouldn’t take shrooms anymore

I think they’re still messing with me

Notes:

I guarantee you that NO ONE will know which Scooby-Doo villain I MHA-ified for this chapter, because I sure didn't. I originally wanted to put an expy of Space Kook here because he's the first monster I think of when I think of Scooby-Doo but then I actually watched his episode and his motivation didn't seem like something Pro Heroes would be called about.

But this guy! (The Mummy from Scooby-Doo and a Mummy Too) This guy I could work with!

Chapter 14: The Big 15

Summary:

It's Izuku's birthday and he gets a few pleasant surprises.

Notes:

First chapter posted from my shiny, new PC with all it's pretty rainbow lights! Sorry I'm late with this one. I meant to post it last week but Baldur's Gate 3 distracted me with my beloved wife, Karlach.

Also, TWO MONTHS TO GO TILL THE ANIME, BABY!!!! LET'S FUCKIN GOOOOOOOOO!!!!

JULY

Naruhata, Japan

 

“47…”

 

Izuku’s muscles burned and his arms started to tremble as the barbell lowered down to his chest. Knuckleduster stood behind him, spotting him by supporting the bar with just the tips of his fingers, just in case the kid’s arms gave up on him. Just a few more reps and Izuku could confidently claim that he could bench 200 pounds. Which would be quite the accomplishment for him as of now.

 

“48…”

 

Izuku’s mastered the rhythm by now. Exhale, down, inhale, lift, repeat.

 

“49. Last one. You got it.”

 

Exhale, down, inhale, lift.

 

“50.”

 

Iwao’s grip switched, grabbing the bar up out of Izuku’s hands and one-handedly hooking it back into the rack above the bench. Izuku allowed gravity to take his tingly jelly arms back while he caught his breath. “Nice work today, kid,” Iwao said, proudly grinning down at his young apprentice. “Whaddya think? Next time, we slap on another hundred pounds?”

 

“Mercy, please,” Izuku wheezed.

 

Izuku admittedly needed a little help simply getting up again. Iwao was happy to help, picking the kid up by the back of his sweat-drenched shirt and pulling him upright and onto his feet again. After such an intense workout, everything in Izuku’s body felt weak as it cooled down from the exertion, his legs wobbling like a newborn fawn. With the last drop of strength he had left in him, Izuku managed to stagger back over to the couch on the other side of the room before he collapsed beside the coffee table.

 

The rattle that shook through the table as a result ended the sentence that Kazuho was writing in her notes on a weird, squiggly note. Good thing she chose to write them in graphite. That would be a much easier fix. Kazuho ducked her head under the table and she asked, “Hey, you okay down there? You’re not dying on us, are you?”

 

Izuku huffed and puffed and answered, “Dunno yet… maybe…”

 

Iwao caught up, leaving one of the one gallon water bottles he had in stock on the coffee table before he sank down onto the couch. With that peace offering from his drill sergeant, Izuku managed to find the strength to sit himself up so he could soothe his parched throat with a generous sip from the bottle and a splash over his head to rinse the sweat out of his hair for good measure. “ Pwah, that’s better… ” Izuku sighed, his antics getting an amused laugh from his mentor and from Kazuho.

 

Izuku set the bottle down and was able to push it to the middle of the table before his forehead dropped down onto his open notebook. He realized his error in judgment pretty quickly and whipped his head back up before his damp hair could cause too much more damage to his already water-damaged notebook. While the kid was trying to dry the patches of wet paper with his breath, Kazuho leaned over and muttered, “It looks like it’s just barely still legible. Maybe you should get a new one and transfer your notes over?”

 

Izuku sighed in defeat, “Yeah, I probably should…”

 

“I see you’re right on top of that .”

 

Izuku shrugged and said, “I’ve still got space to work with.”

 

“If you say so.”

 

Izuku set his notebook back down and went back in to inspect the damage. Fortunately, it wasn’t ruined any more than it already was. In the meantime, Iwao grabbed the water bottle back, taking a swig to wash down his painkillers. The page the kids notebook was open to showed a sketch of a Hero that Iwao has neither seen nor heard of… ah, because this Hero didn’t exist yet. “Working on your costume?” he asked.

 

Izuku bashfully replied, “Yeah, kinda. I’ve had this idea for my Pro Hero costume for a while now. I’m just making a few tweaks to it…”

 

Kazuho smiled softly to herself and said, “The ‘ears’ remind me of Koichi.”

 

Izuku had to do a double take at his own sketch at that observation. “...oh, y’know, now that you point it out, I do see it,” he laughed. “Oh, uh, Sensei? Speaking of my costume, I actually wanted your opinion on something.”

 

Iwao set the water bottle back down on the table and gave his student his full attention. “Go ahead.”

 

“So, I know you and Kugizaki-senpai have been training me to fight and all, but I was thinking… maybe a situation will come up where I can’t just punch the villain and call it a day-”

 

“Agree to disagree.”

 

Kazuho snorted, “ Yeah, you would. ”

 

“Well, my thought was… maybe I should get a weapon of some kind?” Izuku continued. “For self-defense?”

 

Iwao opened his mouth to answer but Kazuho, quick on the draw, cut in and hissed, “ No . No no no, bad idea.” She pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, “Koichi had this idea for a bit himself, about carrying around a katana for self-defense. But if things get serious, it won’t end very well for you when the cops show up and you’re standing there with an unlicensed weapon. You’re already risking jail time by running around, doing the whole vigilante thing.”

 

“ If they get me for vigilantism, that is,” Izuku pointed out. “‘Cuz, technically , it wouldn’t be vigilantism if I do it. Since I’m Quirkless ‘n all, so there’s no improper Quirk usage that a cop or a Hero can arrest me for!”

 

“Yeah, nice try,” Kazuho retorted. “Sure, they can’t get you for that based on a technicality, but you are still standing there, unlicensed weapon in hand, having just beat the snot out of a bad guy. That’s like 2-3 misdemeanor charges right there. Best case scenario: you’d be looking at community service.”

 

“ Crap, ” Izuku huffed.

 

“And the charges are just gonna rack up if you keep listening to this whackjob,” Kazuho sneered, pointing directly at the older vigilante sitting behind him. “Look, Koichi and I have been looking after Naruhata for a lot longer than him, so take it from me: it’s not our responsibility to fight villains-”

“Agree to disagree.”

“ Shut up, ” Kazuho snapped. “* ahem * Koichi and I were pretty much just freelance sidekicks the whole time and that’s all we needed to be. Anything we couldn’t handle, we called the Pros to take care of.”

 

Izuku sighed. “I suppose so… but… well, there might be a situation where I have to just act, right? I might not get the chance to call for a Hero.”

 

“Yeah, but you live in Musutafu,” Kazuho argued. “UA is practically across the street from you, so I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

 

“...how long did it take for All Might to show up during Nightmare Night?”

 

Kazuho frowned. That was one she couldn’t answer, being unconscious for the entire thing. Iwao, however, had a bit of a guesstimate. “A good couple of hours, I’m pretty sure.”

 

“Which is practically forever in All Might Time!” Izuku added. “I actually took some notes, comparing his response time to other instances and for some reason he took a lot longer to show up that time. Which… I mean, he is the most popular Hero in Japan so I wouldn’t be really surprised if everyone needed him everywhere all at the same time.”

 

“ Nerd, ” Kazuho teased.

 

Izuku sighed and relented, “Yeah, you’re probably right. But seriously, that’s what I mean. Everybody needs a Pro Hero. On the off chance that every single one of them is busy and it’s just me…” He glanced up to his mentor and said, “I’ve gotta take action.”

 

Iwao grinned. “Exactly.”

 

Kazuho sighed. Clearly, the punch-happy old geezer is starting to rub off on the poor kid. Trying one more time to reach Izuku, she argued, “Okay, I’m gonna poke a hole in your whole idea here. How’re you planning to get a weapon, anyway? I don’t know a single person crazy enough to sell a katana or a taser or a gun to a minor. ” She shot a scolding glare at the older vigilante as soon as she saw his hand lift off his thigh and hissed, “ Put your hand down. I’m trying to make a point here.”

 

Ah, come to think of it, Izuku hadn’t thought that far ahead. While Izuku was weighing the pros and cons of trying to venture into the dark web, Iwao leaned forward and swiped Izuku’s pencil off of the table. “In that case, you get creative,” he said, twirling the pencil around his thumb and jabbing the sharpened end towards his scarred-up eye. “Just about everything you can get your hands on has the potential to be used as a weapon to protect yourself and everyone around you… so long as you know how to use it wrong.”

 

“...don’t you mean ‘ use it right? ’”

 

“Well, they didn’t invent the pencil for stabbin’ somebody in the eye with, but if you get a good amount of force behind it, you can pluck a punk’s eye right out of its socket with one of these.”

 

“ Ah… ”

 

“ Quit that! ”

 

Iwao handed the pencil back to his student and said, “You’re a smart kid. Put that ingenuity of yours to work. You’ll figure something out.” Izuku hummed, letting his sensei’s advice set in. Basically, DIY his way to victory? Now there was a thought…

 

Kazuho gave an irritated sigh and complained, “Excuse you, gramps. I’m trying to keep the kid out of prison here. Could you not undermine my efforts?”

 

Izuku attempted that cool pen twirl trick that Iwao did but only succeeded in flinging the pencil over to the other side of the couch. His leg muscles still protested all this standing up business so he went crawling after it instead. With the pencil recovered, he glanced up at the digital clock on the microwave that Iwao had stashed on a nearby shelf. “ Oh! ” His muscles quickly got over how tired they were and Izuku shot up off the floor, hurrying back over to the table to stuff his notebook back into his backpack. “Uh, I better get going. My mom’s gonna want me back for dinner.”

 

Kazuho hummed and flipped her notebook closed. “Guess that means you’re throwing me out too, huh?”

 

“Nah, stay as long as you want,” Iwao said, pushing himself up off of the couch.

 

Somewhat relieved, Kazuho found her spot again and pulled her textbook closer. “Appreciate it. I’m gonna need all the help I can get. Stupid college entrance exams. No wonder Miu’s having trouble.” Izuku shouldered his backpack and headed for the door. “See you later, Midoriya!” 

 

“Bye! I’ll see you guys at the beach tomo-” Suddenly, something was planted on the top of his head and Izuku’s train of thought skidded to a stop. Curious, he reached up and accepted the surprise gift, a cardboard carry-out box in deliciously saccharine pastel colors, the logo on the side marking it as coming from a bakery near the station.

 

The gift-giver ruffled Izuku’s hair and said, “Happy birthday, kid.”

 

Kazuho’s head snapped up from her notes and she exclaimed, “Wait, what? It was your birthday this whole time?”

 

Surprised, Izuku squawked, “Ah, h-how did you-”

 

Iwao reached over and tapped the wall-mounted door control. “Tell your mom I said hi.” As the door rolled to a close, Izuku could hear Kazuho’s demands to know how Iwao knew this information in the background. But that last line seemed to tell Izuku exactly what he wanted to know.

 

“Ah, y’know, that makes sense,” he said to himself. “Kuroiwa-sensei has been coming over to visit a lot lately. Makes sense that Mom told him.”

 

Now having been to Naruhata enough times to recognize the streets, Izuku made his way back to the station with enough time to catch the next train home. He settled in for his 2 hour trip home, laying out his notebook on the table in front of him. In the meantime, he could brainstorm. 15 minutes in, though, his eye wandered to the box that Iwao gave him before he left. He had plenty of time before he got home. May as well. Izuku pulled the box closer and ripped the adhesive holding it closed off.

 

Inside was a single red velvet cupcake, topped with gorgeous, glittery red-white-and-blue frosting and an edible sugary topper that resembled All Might’s ‘ears.’ The frosting was flattened in a couple spots from contact with the box but that wouldn’t affect the taste any. Izuku almost didn’t want to eat it, it looked so pretty. 

 

Izuku attacked the cupcake frosting first, licking a clean swipe off of the side. This was going to make the workout he had today completely pointless, but hey, it’s his birthday. He’s allowed a treat. Now he was all set for a long train ride home. Izuku centered his attention back to his notebook, tuning the world out as he got to brainstorming.

 

“...so long as I know how to use it wrong...”

 

-

 

A couple hours later, Izuku made his way home. “Hi, Mom! I’m home!” he called into the apartment, clumsily untying his shoes.

 

“Welcome home, birthday boy!” Inko responded, appearing in the doorway to welcome her son home. Izuku stashed his shoes by the door and collected his next birthday present: a big, warm hug from Mom. After a moment, there was a sentimental sniffle from Inko into Izuku’s shoulder and she sighed, “I can’t believe you’re 15 already. Where is the time going?”

 

“Aw, mom…” Inko pulled back and swiped away the tear that had formed in the corner of her eye. She had intended to say something incredibly heartwarming but noticed a little smear of cake crumb studded frosting around Izuku’s mouth. Maternal instincts kicked in and she thumbed the smear off of Izuku’s face. “Oh, yeah. Kuroiwa-san told everybody it was my birthday,” Izuku explained. “They got me a cake to celebrate.” Not a full-on lie. Just a slight bending of the truth. Enough to protect his new vigilante friends and satisfy his mom.

 

“Oh, that’s so nice of them,” Inko said, brushing the smudge of frosting off of her hands and making a mental note to vacuum there later. “I’m so glad they’re treating you so well over there. You seem like you’ve been in much better spirits lately.”

 

“Yeah, I’m really glad I did this.”

 

“So am I!” Inko fiddled with the edge of her apron and asked, “And… How's Kuroiwa-san doing? Is his knee still bothering him?”

 

“Yeah,” Izuku answered, pulling his backpack off and stashing it next to his shoes. “But it looks like he’s got some system going to deal with it.”

 

“Oh, that’s good to hear.”

 

‘...by drinking, smoking and taking copious amounts of pain pills,’ Izuku added in his head. ‘Which is very not healthy but something tells me that he’s not gonna listen to me or anyone about it.’  

 

Speaking of ‘Kuroiwa,’ Izuku remembered the favor Iwao asked of him before he left. “Oh, by the way, he asked me to tell you he said hi.” For some reason, Inko blushed, smiled to herself and fiddled with her apron some more, her day completely made by that. Izuku’s eyebrow quirked up and he asked, “Say, Mom? What’s going on with you and Kuroi-”

 

A musical tone from the kitchen got Inko’s attention back. “Oh! The rice is ready!” Inko chirped and waved her son inside. “I made your favorite~!” Just like that, Izuku’s curiosity was easily cast aside in favor of katsudon.

 

Even if Sensei got him a full-size cake for his birthday, Izuku would always have room for his mother’s cooking. In between mouthfuls of fluffy rice and juicy pork katsu, he and his mom caught up with each other about their days, Inko with all the apartment drama she’d overheard during her housework and Izuku with… a version of his training. One that sounded decidedly more on the up-and-up.

 

Inko was the first to finish her bowl and set her chopsticks aside, standing up from the table. “I also got you a present,” she said.

 

“Aw, you didn’t have to get me anything, Mom,” Izuku replied. “I know we’ve got to be careful with our money-”

 

Inko shook her head and ruffled Izuku’s hair on her way past him. “There’s always room in the budget for my little hero,” she insisted. Inko disappeared past the kitchen, down the hall towards her room but continued to talk the whole way. “I was doing some Internet research on that American Hero you’ve been talking about lately, The… uh, Sky Hauler?”

 

“Sky crawler , Mom.”

 

“Right, that’s it. I almost had it that time. That poor man, why is his Hero name so hard to remember right?” Inko said, returning with a gift bag. “Well, I found out that he has merch now.”

 

“Really!?” Immediately, Izuku dropped his chopsticks on the table and snatched up his phone so he could see for himself.

 

“Yeah, but the problem is that his merch was just announced,” Inko sighed with an apologetic smile. “Everything’s on preorder right now.”

 

“Aw, man…”

 

Inko waved his disappointment away and continued, “There wasn’t anything really exciting in there anyway. Just T-shirts, hoodies, keychains, coffee cups, pins, the basic stuff. No figures yet.” Inko set the gift bag on the table in front of Izuku and said, “But I saw something while I was out shopping the other day and I thought, ‘Izuku would like this.’ I think that Skyhau- crawler man used to run around wearing this. It’s both of your favorite Heroes in one present!”

 

Instantly, Izuku knew exactly what she was referring to: the All Might hoodie. Izuku handled the bag like it was made of porcelain, setting it in his lap and picking through the tissue paper. Sure enough, he pulled a cotton red-white-and-blue hoodie up from the bag, bearing the same design of All Might’s Golden Age costume, just like the hoodie that The Crawler used to wear when he was starting out. “Ta-da!”

 

Izuku hopped up from his chair and clumsily pulled himself into the hoodie. In his fumbly haste, he misaligned the zipper and it got stuck midway up. After a couple frustrated attempts to fix it, Inko stepped in. “I got it, I got it.” With a quick application of mom strength, Inko unjammed the zipper and properly realigned it so that it would smoothly zip right up. “There we go,” she said with a victorious smirk, one that quickly turned into a nostalgic smile. “This reminds me of those onesies you used to wear when you were little. Like they grew up with you.”

 

Izuku squeezed some of the cotton-y fabric in his hand. Yeah, he could feel it too, remembering the excitable little kid that used to run around their apartment, calling himself ‘All Might Jr.’ “...ah, uh, mirror!” Izuku said to himself, wandering off towards the bathroom, his mother following along behind him. 

 

As soon as he caught his own reflection in the mirror above the sink, Izuku backed against the wall behind him so he could see as much of himself as possible. Inko knew her son’s clothing sizes like the back of her hand but something might’ve gotten confused in production, making it just a smidge big on Izuku, the ends of his sleeves almost completely concealing his hands when his arms rested at his sides. He wasn’t really complaining, it gave him enough room to move around comfortably in and he could just roll them up if he needed, doing just that so he could reach back and flip his hood up. One of the ‘ears’ stitched to the top flopped over and smacked him in the face. The hood could barely contain his curls. It was a slightly awkward fit but given the time, Izuku would easily grow into- “Bleugh, never mind. It’s way too hot for this.”

 

“You’ll get more use out of it when the summer’s over,” Inko chuckled as Izuku peeled the cotton-y heat trap off. “So, what do you think? Do you like it?”

 

Izuku beamed. “I love it!” Fortunately, Izuku would never run out of mom hugs. “Thanks, Mom!”

 

“Happy birthday, baby,” Inko sniffled, emotional about how fast her little boy was growing. Then Inko smeared her tears off on her shoulder and asked, “Do you still have room for more cake? I baked one while I was waiting for you to get home.”

 

-

 

Mercifully for Izuku, the cashier wasn’t paid nearly enough to care what he planned to do with the 40-piece tool kit he bought once it went out the door. Freed from the stagnant, sawdust-scented air of the hardware store, Izuku took in the gorgeous sunny weather outside. 

 

What a beautiful day. Probably not the best temperature-wise for wearing his new All Might hoodie but the breeze coming off of the sea helped a lot in that regard. Izuku wondered how Sensei and the others would react, seeing his first piece of unofficial Crawler merch. He fixed his sleeves and turned towards Takoba. Only one way to find out.

 

On the walk, Izuku had thought to fill the silence with some music, but noticed when he pulled out his phone that he had a lot of text notifications that he somehow hadn’t seen while he was celebrating with his mom the night before. Following them into his messages app, he found that there was a lot of activity in the group chat that Tamao added him to the week before. These vigilantes certainly were a lively bunch. Izuku dragged himself up to the start of this text spam. Tamao was the first to post, swiping a video from Soga’s PicChatter story.

 

The video started with Soga struggling to light the candle stuck on the slice of skillet cookie they got with their pizza one-handed and with a decidedly stubborn lil’ asshole lighter. After accidentally burning his thumb at least twice, he succeeded and stuffed his lighter back into his pocket. Now the task of carrying the plate from the kitchen to the living room. That, Soga was better at doing one-handed. 

 

The camera traveled the few steps from the kitchen counter back over to the TV where Rapt and Moyuru were settled in, playing Call of Battlefield and the cameraman set the culinary masterpiece on the coffee table before Rapt. “ Happy birthday, dumbass. ”

 

The camera settled into the free chair beside them, filming the lizard of the hour and how he beamed at the gift. “ Hell yeah! ” Rapt laughed, tossing his controller aside. He pulled the plate a little closer before an idea struck him. “ Oh, uh, hold on. Gimme, like, two minutes. ” Rapt ducked under the table and came back with the box where he kept his stash. Within a minute, Rapt rolled up a fresh joint and held one end to the business end of the birthday candle, taking the ceremonial first puff as is his right as the birthday boy. “ Good shit. Smooth as butter, ” Rapt coughed, handing the joint off to Moyuru so he could tackle the cookie. He completely forgot to blow out the candle but Moyuru was quick to notice and snatch it off so the poor doofus wouldn’t eat it.

 

Noticing the camera, Rapt roughly swallowed down his bite and addressed their potential audience. “ Oh, but don’t do drugs, kids. It fucks with your brain. There, now we can’t get canceled. ”

 

“ I don’t think we’re nearly famous enough to worry about getting canceled, ” Moyuru said, getting up to pass the joint to Soga.

 

“ At least not for this , ” Soga snorted and took a long drag off the joint. Then he looked down into the camera and managed to choke out, “ So, yeah. Happy birthday to one of the dumbest motherfu- ” before his lung capacity failed him and the camera shook down to the floor as the cameraman coughed up a lung, to his friends amusement. “ *koff koff* Ack, fuckin’- Eugh! Oh, shut up, you fuckin’ hyenas! ”

 

Tamao:

Wow, sounds like you guys are having fun. 😒

Sure wish I got invited. 😒

 

Kugizaki:

Ask us again in a year or two.

 

Sensei:

Good answer

 

Tamao:

And who was asking you????

 

Pop:

You guys have to be the stupidest people I’ve ever had the misfortune of knowing.

 

Tokage:

☹️

And on my bday too? 

 

Tochi:

Fair tbh

 

Kugizaki:

🖕

 

Pop:

🖕🖕

 

Tamao:

Even me? 🥺️

 

Pop:

…you’re the least stupid person here.

 

Tamao:

Woo! 😆

 

Tochi:

Booooo 👎👎

 

Tokage:

🍅🍅🍅

 

Tamao:

LOL

Be mad! I win!

 

Pop:

They’d have to be competing to win anything.

 

Oh, it was Rapt’s birthday the day before too? Well, that day should be easy to remember. Izuku threw a belated ‘Happy Birthday, Tokage-senpai!’ into the group chat and just when he thought no one was awake enough to see it, got a thank you GIF and a UNO reverse card back from Rapt, the most he could manage in his sleepy, post-high haze. Then something at the top of the screen caught his eye: a contact he didn’t have saved in his phone and had yet to say a thing. The extension didn’t seem like one for a Japanese number. What country was that?

 

A distant chattering up ahead made Izuku look up from his phone. He had made it to Takoba and close to the stairs down to the beach were Iwao and Kazuho, both fresh off of their shift at their day jobs, Kazuho still in her pirate costume. What they were talking about, Izuku couldn’t hear properly from that distance but presumably it had something to do with the cake sized carry-out box from the cosplay cafe she was waving towards on the table beside her. It totally wasn’t a ‘sorry-I-didn’t-know-it-was-your-birthday-yesterday’ thing. Does Kazuho seriously need a reason to do something nice for somebody? Sheesh! And Iwao was totally buying that excuse. For sure.

 

“Sensei! Haneyama-senpai!” 

 

Iwao and Kazuho responded to Izuku’s call but had to do a double take when they noticed the familiar blue-red-and-white pattern of Izuku’s brand new hoodie. Immediately making the connection, Iwao burst into laughter and Kazuho held her face in her hands, smothering her own laughter. “Oh no, not another one!” 

 

Izuku smiled to himself. Seems like they approve.

 

-

 

NYC, New York

 

“So it’s not a biography?”

 

Makoto shook her head. “Nope. It’s mostly just me expanding on my thesis now that enough time has passed and I have more to add to it. But I do want you to be a big part of it, Koichi.”

 

“Ah, yeah, I kinda figured- Oh, yeah, of course! What d’you need me to do?”

 

“Well, I never did wind up getting that interview with the Naruhata Vigilantes before,” Makoto said. “And now one of them is sitting across from me and he’s been getting quite the fanbase lately. How about we start there? And don’t worry, you’re free to speak your mind here. I don’t plan to turn you in.”

 

“I would hope not.”

 

“Oh, sure! I can do that!” Koichi stage-whispered to himself, “And at least I’d be able to understand what you’re saying.”

 

“Well, I’m glad the Triolingo owl hasn’t gotten you yet,” Makoto joked. “You must’ve been keeping up with your English lessons then.”

 

“I’ve been trying. English is hard! ”

 

Makoto unconsciously reached over and picked up her mug for a sip of her coffee, only to find her mug ran dry a few minutes ago. “Ah, but first,” Makoto murmured, setting her laptop aside so she could get up. “I need some more brain fuel.” She waved towards Koichi’s mug and asked, “You want some more tea?”

 

Koichi knocked back the last gulp of tea he had before handing the mug to his benevolent hostess. “Thanks.” With that, Makoto trotted into the kitchen and left Koichi holding down the couch. Right then, his phone vibrated in his pocket, a lovely message from one of his friends back home.

 

Pop:

This is all your fault.

 

Crawler:

???

What’d I do?

 

Pop:

Here, look what Midoriya’s mom got for him for his birthday.

 

Kazuho immediately followed that text with a handful of pictures she took from that day’s beach cleaning excursion. The common denominator between them all was that Izuku was the focus and in all of them, Izuku sported a very familiar type of hoodie, one that Koichi had a whole collection of back home. “Oh Christ, now there’s two of you.” Koichi laughed to himself, practically able to hear Number 6 rolling his eyes behind him. 

 

Crawler:

Ah, a young man with exceptional taste in Heroes, I see. 😎

 

Pop:

I knew you of all people would approve. 🙄

Now he’s gonna start his own collection and put himself in crippling debt too.

You’re such a bad influence. 😆

 

Koichi scrolled through the small stack of pictures that Kazuho sent, much smaller than her weekly update spam. They seemed to be making good progress on Takoba, a whole swath of sand cleared out by the pier. It was such a shame it ever got that bad in the first place. That view of the ocean was breathtaking.

 

The picture at the bottom of the stack showed the whole crew calling it a day and celebrating Izuku’s 15th with the cake that Kazuho brought along. Everyone was all smiles and the birthday boy himself looked delightfully overwhelmed by all the attention. For some reason, that homesick feeling Koichi thought he got over started to creep back. Despite Kazuho’s concerted effort to keep him in the loop, it still felt like Koichi was missing a lot with a whole ocean between him and home. But Koichi has an interview to do. Best to save that ruminating for another time. At the very least, Koichi hoped Izuku had a great birthday.

 

…speaking of which, the hoodie. Koichi zoomed in on Izuku specifically, curious about his birthday present. Looks like a new edition was released in his absence because he certainly didn’t remember having this one in his collection. One could argue that Koichi already had plenty of Golden Age All Might hoodies in his collection, maybe too many, but this one was different, Koichi could tell. He’s got a keen eye for this sort of thing. The difference was the addition of the strips of metallic foil-esque material that traced the Hero suit pattern, a ruby red bordering the yellow on the hood and navy blue for the red stripes on the front. There must be some sort of anniversary event coming up and this was an ultra-exclusive edition released for the occasion. Koichi would love to have one of his own for his collection…

 

…but these things were expensive on their own back home. Trying to import one from Japan to the US would just make the price problem even worse than it already was. Damn you, American tariffs!

 

“Whatcha looking at over there?” Makoto asked, making her return from the kitchen with a couple freshened-up drinks.

 

“Ah, you remember that kid I told you about the other day? Master’s new apprentice?” Makoto settled on the couch beside Koichi, curiously looking over his shoulder at his phone screen. “Apparently, it was his birthday yesterday.”

 

Makoto noticed the kid’s new hoodie and chuckled, “Good, that should be a fashion trend back home. I know you always made those hoodies look cool.” 

 

“Aw, shucks…”

 

Makoto glanced at her watch and gently pushed the mug of tea into Koichi’s hands. “Anyway, you’ve got work in the morning and I shouldn’t keep you too late. Ready?”

 

-

 

Elsewhere…

 

This man is soooo boring…

 

Something, something, stock options, blah-de-blah, investment portfolio, yakity yakity yak-yak-yak. It’s really starting to feel like the last few dates she’s been on are starting to blend into one congealed amalgamation of concentrated boredom. And they all have the same uninspired ideas for dates. Kogo could swear she’s been to this same restaurant at least twice in the past month. All she wants is a little bit of variety from time to time. Is that so much to ask for?

 

Maybe it was a good thing that she was getting bored, though. At least that way, she wouldn’t miss them so bad after she brought them home for her children to consume. She’s just gotta smile, nod, try her best not to fall asleep, really play the part of the kind of woman that swoons whenever they flaunt their wealth/status/manliness/whatever they think would impress her and then her babies get to eat. That’s been the winning strategy so far. Still though…

 

A blip of blue light out of the corner of her eye caught her attention but Kogo chose to politely wait until her date went in for another bite of his pasta before she checked her phone. What she found waiting for her disrupted her train of thought. She got a message from Big Brother.

 

Not Number 6. Mari’s big brother.

 

Big Brother:

Hi, Mari. It’s Mamoru.

Had to change my number today and I thought I’d try to reach you again.

For some reason, none of my messages have been getting through before.

Idk Maybe your boyfriend went into your phone and blocked me

Which is a really shitty thing for him to do. Typical of that dick.

…unless you blocked me.

I’m so sorry. That guy really pisses me off.

I’m just worried about you.

 

Ah… Mamoru. The golden child, Mom and Dad’s favorite, the one she was always compared to growing up and whose example she could never measure up to… and yet, also Mari’s closest friend and confidant in childhood. The only member of her family that she still wanted to keep in contact with after she finally moved away from home…

 

…but clearly that thought didn’t go both ways, did it?

 

If Mamoru really wanted to keep in contact with her, he would’ve tried harder to reach her, wouldn’t he?

 

Big Brother:

I’m sorry it’s been so long since I last texted you.

Things got a little busy around here.

 

That text was followed by an image of an unhappy little newborn boy, swaddled in blue and held softly against her sister-in-law’s chest.

 

Big Brother:

You’re an aunt now.

His name’s Hiroki.

He was born a few days ago. 

7.5 lbs, 6 oz, 20 in long

He’s basically a clone of his mom. I don’t see me in there anywhere yet. Lol

 

Well, he’s certainly adorable for a squealing little parasite. What’s the point of telling Kogo this?

 

Big Brother:

Umeko’s going to be discharged here pretty soon.

When we bring Hiro home, I’d love to introduce him to his wonderful aunt.

And don’t worry, I think I can time it so you won’t be here at the same time as Mom and Dad.

 

Ugh. Of course he’s still in contact with them . Ever the golden child…

 

Big Brother:

And… I guess Shinya can come.

I’m sure he’s gonna insist on it.

I’m going to hover over him the whole time though.

I’m sorry, I still don’t like that dickhead.

 

Who? …oh, right. Kogo’s new favorite footstool. Yeah, no, he won’t be going anywhere.

 

Big Brother:

I really hope you’re seeing this.

I love you, little sis.

I miss you a lot.

 

Finally, Mamoru’s messages stopped, waiting with bated breath for a response from his beloved sister. Too bad she’s not here right now. She wanted to respond, though, as Kogo’s finger hovered over the keyboard for a moment longer than she thought it would. But Kogo shook that hesitation away, tapped the contact and blocked Mamoru’s number. 

 

Mari, dear, this is a brand new chapter of your life. One where you get to make your own kind of happiness. What’s the point of letting them back in? They’ll just spoil it again. You don’t need a family that continually lets you down. The queen will always be by your side. Always.  

 

Kogo sighed, her eye damp with Mari’s tears. “Something wrong?” Right, she was in the middle of a ‘date.’

 

“Oh! I’m fine, sorry,” Kogo laughed, using her napkin to dry Mari’s tears. “Just… family drama. I shouldn’t burden you with it.”

 

“Ah, you too, huh?” her date said, sparing a sympathetic smile. “Me too, actually.”

 

“Oh? Then you’ll have to tell me your drama sometime,” Kogo giggled.

 

“Some day, sure.”

 

Some movement in the background caught Kogo’s eye. A woman turned the corner into the fenced off patio area of the restaurant and skidded to a stop, spotting Kogo and her date. At first, she looked shocked, then heartbroken… then furious. The woman then stomped right up to their table and greeted Kogo’s date by punching him square in the temple.

 

“ Whoa! ”

“ Agh! What the hell!? ”

“ I knew it! You cheating bastard!”

“ Ah! Ai!? What’re you doing here?”

 

Uh-oh. This certainly wasn’t a part of the plan. Too many potential witnesses. Well, there goes this meal… maybe Kogo should slink away while they’re distracted.

 

“Following you. Seeing where you were really doing when you said you were staying at work for overtime.” The woman pointed at Kogo and snarled, “So stepping out on our marriage with this slut is overtime , is it? Overtime , my ass!”

 

“ Huh!? Excuse you, bitch! Who are you calling a…” Actually, Kogo should be directing her ire at the real problem causer here. “Wait, who is this?” she sneered at her date. “You said you didn’t have a girlfriend.”

 

“I-I don’t! She’s- She’s not my girlfriend!”

 

The woman stuck her left hand directly in Kogo’s face so she could see the gold wedding band on her finger. “I’m his wife .”

 

The pure audacity of this man. Honestly, Kogo liked him more when he only bored her. “ Oh… You think you’re soooo clever, don’t you?”

 

“Wa-wait, I- This isn’t-” The man sputtered. “H-Honey, you’ve got it completely wrong, I swear! This isn’t- This is just a… a business meeting!” The man sent Kogo a pleading look and said, “Right? We were just talking about a company merger!”

 

Her date’s wife wasn’t buying that bullshit excuse for a second… and neither, it seemed, did their audience. From the mutterings she could catch at the tables around her, everyone agreed that that plea sounded truly pathetic. “ Wow, really? ” “ He doesn’t really think that’s gonna work, does he? ” “ Yeah, like he wasn’t trying so hard to impress that girl all night. ” “ What an idiot. ” In that case, Kogo deemed it best to side with the court of public opinion. At the very least, to keep the spotlight off of her . 

 

“Tch, that’s not what you told me .”

 

“Wha- I-”

 

“You be quiet,” his wife hissed. “The adults are talking here.”

 

“...what? I’m 23.”

 

“And too old to be acting like this , throwing yourself at any man that’ll give you attention! Honestly, have some self-respect!”

 

“ ...what? ”

 

“Ai, honey, shh,” the man nervously whispered. “People are starting to stare at us… a-and besides, all this stress can’t be good for the baby, right?”

 

The man’s pleas to his pregnant wife’s emotions were swiftly rejected as she shoved his hands away from her stomach. “Don’t act like you care about me and the baby now! Are you serious?”

 

“Oh! Congratulations!”

“ Shut up, whore. ”

 

Kogo shrugged. “Y’know what, pregnancy hormones and your husband is a cheating scumbag. I’ll let you have that one.”

 

“What? But, Koko, I-” Thwack! “ Ow! ”

“ You even have a cutesy nickname for her!? What is wrong with you!? ”

 

Fortunately, now Kogo doesn’t have to pretend to like this guy at all anymore. “Yeah, you can stop calling me that now.”

 

“Ah… Look, Kok- Ko go , I am so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of thi-”

“ Why are you apologizing to her!? ”

 

A soft ahem from beside the table broke up the commotion, from the waitress that really wanted to be anywhere but there at that exact moment but regrettably had no other choice but to do her job. “Are you folks gonna want the check?”

 

Kogo reached across the table, swiped her date’s wallet and handed it to the waitress. “Yes, please. He’s paying.”

 

“Kogo?”

 

Kogo folded her arms across her chest and said, firmly and coldly, “Look, I am not about to fight your pregnant wife for your affections like you’re some kind of prize to win. That isn’t how this works. You’re just some guy with a decent job that makes decent money and is willing to buy me stuff. There’s, like, 10-15 of you in my Matchbox DMs. You are not special.”

 

“...I thought what we had was…”

 

“Yeah? Well, you thought wrong,” Kogo sneered with venomous disdain, waving him away. “This is your mess. You be a big boy and clean it up yourself .”

 

“Kogo… baby, I’m so- Ah-Ow! Ow ow ow! My ear! ”

“You get up out of that chair right now! Just you wait until I tell your mother about this!”

“Ah, wait, honey, don’t tell my mom about this, please! She’s just gonna kill me!”

 

With that, the scorned wife dragged her cheating idiot husband out of his chair and away by his ear, forgetting something rather important. “Ah, sir! Your card!” Kogo’s ear perked up at this. Maybe this absolute disaster of a date wasn’t as unsalvageable as she thought.

 

“I can bring it back to him,” she said. “His wife probably won’t let me in the house but I can leave it in the mailbox for him.” With no other real choice, the waitress sighed and gave the man’s card to Kogo. “Your job must be kinda fun, huh?” she joked. “With a little bit of drama like that to spice things up every now and then?”

 

The waitress smirked and admitted, “Well, we definitely gossip about stuff like this after we clock out, but while we’re here…” Then her eyes widened and she darted off. “ Oh my god, ma’am! Ma’am, put the knife down! Ma’am! ”

 

Thank you, crazy scorned soon-to-be ex-wife. Now no one was paying attention to Kogo anymore. Kogo slipped her date’s card down the side of her boot, making a mental note to max that out as soon as possible before he realizes it’s gone and freezes it… oooh , but given how deep that stab wound looks, he might not realize it’s gone for at least a day or two. Lucky for her. Kogo stuffed as many breadsticks into her purse as it could possibly hold, stole the last meatball from her date’s plate and slipped away while everyone was distracted with the lover’s knife fight on the other side of the patio. 

 

As the commotion started to die down the further she got away, Kogo felt her phone vibrate in her hand. Waiting for her was a new catch from Matchbox, one SapphicPeach313. Oh, yay! The variety that Kogo was asking for!

 

SapphicPeach313:

Hi there!

OMG, you are so pretty!

 

Honey <3:

Aw, thank you! 🤭

So are you! 🫶

 

SapphicPeach313:

Not as pretty as you! 💕

 

Honey <3:

LOL

Whatcha up to tonight?

 

SapphicPeach313:

Just got off of work

I’m gonna spend the rest of the night on my couch with a sheet mask, a glass of wine and trashy TV.

You?

 

Honey <3:

Lol. You might see the date I just left on there then.

Poor guy got so close too

3rd date and everything

Then his wife found us.

 

SapphicPeach313:

Oh ew

That sucks!

Why are men like this?

 

Honey <3:

IKR

What about you? You free tomorrow?

 

SapphicPeach313:

As far as I know, I should be.

What do you have in mind?

 

Honey <3:

Wanna meet up at the mall?

I’ll buy lunch. 

 

-

 

Izuku managed to sneak his new vigilante arsenal into the apartment without his mom asking about it. Now, he found himself sitting on his bed, the bag of tools sitting beside him as he mulled over his options. Sure, the level, the measuring tape, the L-wrenches and the little baggie of spare screws may come in handy if he ever needed them. But what he was really after was the hammer and the screwdriver.

 

The screwdriver would work well for eye-poking, just like Sensei said. But Izuku was sure that the hammer he was taking a couple practice swings with would be his all-rounder bad guy deterrent. He could tell just from how much it stung from muffling its impact against his palm. Ouch. And if the blunt side of the hammer did that kind of damage, God only knows how much damage he could cause striking someone with the claw side. That…was reserved for dire circumstances. That’s not even getting into the utility knife he deliberately left in the bag. 

 

This was certainly an idea . Kazuho’s going to hate it but this was the best idea he could come up with. Maybe if he asked, Soga could teach him how to wield them properly. It wouldn’t be so different from his own Quirk. It wouldn’t hurt to give it a try. Until then, back under the bed they go.

 

As soon as Izuku crawled back out from under the bed, his phone emitted a soft ping from where he left it on the desk behind him. The second he unlocked it, he was practically flash banged with the animated confetti and balloons that accompanied the ‘Happy Birthday’ text he received… from a number he didn’t recognize.

 

“Uh… thanks, person I don’t know. You’re off by about a day, though.”

 

XXX-XXX-XXXX:

*Belated

The balloons are important. lol 

This is Koichi btw

Hi! 👋

I asked Pop for your number

She told me about your birthday and I wanted to join the celebration somehow. 

 

…Koichi?

 

…Koichi … Haimawari?

 

…Thump.

 

In response to the sound, Izuku’s door creaked open and his mom poked her head in. “Izuku, honey? Are you okay?”

 

“I’m fine…”

 

“Why are you face down on the floor?”

 

“...I don’t know? I just… wanted to be, I guess?”

 

“...oh dear, you’re not getting sick, are you?”

“No, Mom. I’m fine.”

“Here, I’ll go make some soup. You get comfy in bed and I’ll bring it to you, okay?”

“Mom, I’m not sick-”

 

And just as quickly as she appeared, Inko disappeared. Eh, Mom makes delicious soup, so who was Izuku to complain about that? With the coast clear for a bit, Izuku scrambled back up to his knees and grabbed his phone again, just sitting there and staring at Koichi’s little block of text for a while. Somehow, Izuku was even less prepared to interact with his 2nd favorite Hero than his all-timer, All Might. How was he even supposed to respond? Maybe… like…

 

Midoriya:

Koichi Haimawari?

 

XXX-XXX-XXXX:

That’s me. 🙂

 

Whatever a verbal keyboard smash sounds like, that was the noise that Izuku made.

 

Midoriya:

It is such an honor to be hearing from you, Mr. Skycrawler!

I’m such a huge fan of yours!

 

XXX-XXX-XXXX:

???

Lol

You don’t have to be so formal with me.

We’ve got the same mentor now.

That pretty much makes us friends already!

 

That put the biggest, most joyously teary smile on Izuku’s face.

 

XXX-XXX-XXXX:

Love your new hoodie btw! 🙂

Looks slick!

 

Midoriya:

Thanks! 😊

My mom got it for me for my birthday!

 

XXX-XXX-XXXX:

Did she say where exactly she got it from?

 

Midoriya:

She didn’t tell me, sorry.

 

XXX-XXX-XXXX:

Dang

I didn’t know they released a new hoodie since I’ve been gone.

I’m kinda behind on my collection. Lol

It’ll probably turn up on the internet somewhere.

 

It was the idea of matching hoodies with his 2nd favorite Hero of all time that did Izuku in and he died a grisly, fanboy death on his bedroom floor.

Chapter 15: Backseat Driver, Lucid Dreamer

Summary:

On a warm summer night, Number 6 is the first to discover a new ability of Koichi's. One that doesn't stem from Slide and Glide.

Notes:

Yes, new chapter just two weeks before the first episode of the anime! You don't know how hyped I am!

AUGUST

NYC, New York

 

“ Hwwaaah… oh man, it’s so hot…” The air conditioning was already a blessing in and of itself, but the breeze that flowed out of the cooler at the back of the convenience store felt like an angel’s kiss on Koichi’s sweaty brow. 

 

“We should invest in some… climate control? Air conditioning? …thing for your suit.”

 

“Yeah, we should,” Koichi softly mumbled in response. “Remind me later, I’ll call up Cap’s costume team and bother ‘em about it.”

 

A finger tapped Koichi’s shoulder and the heavily made-up lady behind him said, “‘Scuse me, can I get past you?”

 

“<Oh, sure! Sorry!>” Koichi swiped a bottle of water out of the cooler and stood aside, holding the door open for her.

 

“Aw, thanks. You’re so sweet!”

 

Then Koichi heard a tiny gasp coming up from the floor and looked down to find a little boy, pointing up at his face and tugging on the leg of the lady’s jeans, squealing, “Mommy! Mommy!”

 

The lady exchanged looks between Koichi and her son in surprise until she recognized Koichi herself. “Oh, you’re Captain Celebrity’s new sidekick, aren’t you?” She tapped her chin and murmured, “What was it again? The Skycruller, right?”

 

“Snrkt-!”

“<Uh… n-no, it’s actually The->”

 

The lady scooped the little boy up off the floor, holding him up high enough for Koichi to see the pattern on his Skycrawler-branded t-shirt. “My Tyler is such a huge fan!”

 

“<Oh!>” Koichi beamed and picked at the shoulder of his costume. “<We match!>” he said, to the little boy’s gleeful delight.

 

“Could we get a picture?”

 

“<Yes, of course!>” Koichi cheerfully replied. 

 

The lady set her son back down on the floor and now freed from his mother’s grasp, the little boy excitedly toddled up to his favorite Hero and clung to Koichi’s shin. Both the adults sunk down to his level and his mother beckoned his attention back to her and her phone camera. “Ty-Ty! Look over here, baby! Show Mommy your big muscles!” The little boy didn’t have a full grasp on the concept of flexing just yet, instead just flinging both arms in the air but the enthusiasm was heartwarming all the same and the grown-up crouched beside him mimicked his ‘flexing.’ “Say cheese!”

 

“Peeze!”

“<Cheese!>”

 

After nearly a year in the States, Koichi was almost sure nothing about America could surprise him now, and yet America remained bound and determined to prove him wrong. Where did American cell phone manufacturers get that kind of power just for a camera flash? The sun? “Oof. Yeesh, that was bright .”

 

“Ah, crap. I had my flash on. I’m so sorry about that.”

 

“<No, no, I’m okay. Was that good? Did I blink?>”

 

The lady assessed the photo and replied, “Nope, looks good.”

 

“<Oh, good.>” 

 

“Thank you so much,” the lady said, scooping her son back up into her arms and conspiratorially snickering to him, “That little turd, Dylan, is gonna be so jealous, huh?” Her son kicked his feet and gave an evil laugh of his own. May the little twerp suffer knowing that Tyler got to meet a Hero and he didn’t.

 

“Oh, and…” The lady held a free hand beside her mouth and she added, “If anyone asks, you didn’t hear it from me, but me and a few of our neighbors from our borough love that we have a Hero looking out for us working-class people.” She scoffed, “ Billionaires. Hmph. Always thinking they’re better than us because mommy and daddy funded their lifestyle and they never had to work a day in their lives. They should. It’d build some character.”

 

…oh, she’s referring to the ‘Wall Street’ blunder again. Man, that’s going to haunt Koichi forever, isn’t it? What was the phrase that Casey person from a couple months ago used? …oh, yeah! Koichi nodded and responded in his wonky English, “<Yup. Eat the rich.>”

 

“Exactly!”, the lady laughed. “They’d probably taste good too, with all that fancy food they eat!”

 

Koichi gave an awkward laugh in ‘agreement’ and looked to 6 out of the corner of his eye. ‘They’re being metaphorical when they say ‘eat the rich,’ right?’

 

“For now, at least,” 6 replied with a devious grin.

 

‘Oh… should I not have said that?’

 

6 shrugged and replied, “Well, did you say something wrong ?”

 

The lady caught the time on the clock over them and yelped, “Ah, crap! I gotta go. I’ve still got to drop the little man off at daycare.”

 

“<Oh, okay!>” The lady pried the cooler door back open, rummaging around for that bottle of apple juice she was going for before this whole thing started. Her son didn’t take his eyes off of his favorite Hero for a second. In response, Koichi smiled and waved. “<Bye, Tyler!>”

 

The little boy beamed and adorably squeezed at the air in his best attempt to wave back. “Bye-bye, Sycruller!” Still wrong, but the cute lil’ stinker gets a pass this time.

 

The lady nudged the door closed and with a grin of her own, told Koichi, “Keep fighting the good fight, Skycruller! We’re all rooting for you!”

 

“<Ah, it’s… uh, I’ll do my best! Thank you!>” 

 

With that, the lady and her son were gone, heading off to the main counter to buy the juice and hustle off to daycare. With them finally out of earshot, the first thing 6 did was laugh. ‘Quit laughing at me. It’s not funny,’ Koichi quietly complained.

 

“Sky cruller ?”

 

‘Oh, leave me alone,’ Koichi internally grumbled. ‘The kid has to be… 2? 3? His speech skills definitely don’t sound like they’re there yet. He’ll get it when he gets older, I’m sure.’

 

“Uh-huh, sure… so what’s the mom’s excuse?”

 

‘I don’t know,’ Koichi lamented. ‘I thought I finally escaped this. It’s the Sky crawler , for crying out loud!’

 

“Heheh… Sky cruller …”

 

‘Stop it~!’

 

Koichi sighed, absent-mindedly rolling the bottle of water in his hand. Then he noticed, skimming his eyes over the nutrition label on the back, that he couldn’t read it properly. Not because he suddenly became illiterate over the span of 20 minutes but because of the weird fuzzy spot in his vision that frazzled and fragmented his sight, just about near where the camera flash seared into his retinas. That’s odd. Normally that should’ve vanished by now.

 

“What’s up with you?”

 

‘I don’t know… you know when you look at a bright light and you can still see it when you close your eyes? Usually it goes away after a bit but…’

 

6 crossed his arms and hummed in thought. “Is it… like, spreading over your eyeball?”

 

…ah, as a matter of fact, the fuzzy spot was starting to grow and hollow out into a fuzzy ring. ‘I think so.’

 

“Oh, okay,” 6 said with a nonplussed shrug. “Probably just a migraine, then. You’re fine.”

 

‘You can get migraines in your eyes now!?’ Koichi blinked and rubbed at his eye, hoping that would help in some way to resolve this thing a little faster. ‘Aw, man…’

 

“Well, that’s not gonna help.”

 

The bell above the entrance beeped, signalling the exit of the lady and her son and the entrance of a pair of sharply-dressed men, one in gray, the other in brown. The man in brown strolled up to the counter with a friendly grin, greeting the suddenly terrified cashier. The man in gray stood on his toes and scanned the store to make sure it was clear, immediately spotting Koichi by the new slushy machine, giving into temptation and pouring himself a small peachy treat. Witnesses. He’s gotta go.

 

The man in gray sighed and pulled a $50 out of his wallet, weaving through the shelves over to the Hero that just managed to fit the lid over his slushy. The man in gray loudly cleared his throat, startling the hell out of Koichi. “Hey, buddy,” he said, offering Koichi the $50. “Do us a favor and take a hike.”

 

“Eh? …oh, uh, <thank you!>” The man in gray turned around and returned to his partner’s side while Koichi was folding the bill up nice and neat and fitting it in one of the compartments of his belt. ‘Wow, they’re just handing out free money around here! Makes my life easier, that’s for sure… hey, 6, did he say something? I wasn’t paying attention.’

 

Number 6 followed after the man in gray for a few steps, finding him looming over his partner’s shoulder as he cheerily threatened the poor, terrified cashier. Easily, he could gather what was going down and he informed Koichi of such. “Looks like someone’s behind on his ‘insurance’ payments.”

 

‘’Insurance’...?’ Koichi leaned around the shelf and found what 6 pointed out. “ Oh… ”

 

“I’m not holding out on you guys, I swear!” the cashier stammered. “I just need more time!”

 

“You said that last month,” the man in gray sneered.

 

“Look, Mr. Bunni is a generous and patient man,” the man in brown said. “But, buddy, you’re starting to test his patience.”

 

“I will pay him back. Hand to God, I will!”

 

“Oh, you definitely will. We’re just hoping that you start paying him back now .”

 

“I… I can’t! I need more time.”

 

The man in brown sighed, “Kid, come on. You know that’s the wrong answer.”

 

A fourth person joined the conversation, Koichi clearing his throat and sidling into the side closest to the cashier. “<Hey, is everything okay over here?>”

 

The man in gray snapped his head towards the new voice, the clown he tried to run off the diplomatic way and scowled. “I thought I told you to scram,” he snarled, his hand reaching under his coat for something before his partner recognized Koichi and snatched his hand.

 

“ Tom! ” the man in brown hissed. “ Hero. Play it cool. ” The man in gray relented quite reluctantly and the man in brown grinned, saying to Koichi, “Sorry about him. He’s kind of a hot-head.” The man in gray scoffed in response. “Everything’s on the up-and-up here, Mr. Skyhauler. Scout’s honor!”

 

“Pfft-! Sky hauler !?”

‘That… ugh, no, that’s still wrong!’

 

“See, our friend here-“ The man in brown looked at the cashier’s name tag. “Ben Dov- There is no way that that is your actual name.”

 

The cashier gave a miserable sigh. “ It is. My parents never really loved me.”

 

The man in gray snorted, “Yeah, we can tell.”

 

The man in brown chuckled, “God, you poor, poor man. I am so sorry.”

 

Koichi blinked, totally missing the punchline. ‘I don’t get it.’

 

The man in brown cleared his throat and reoriented himself. “ Mr. Dover here borrowed quite a bit of money from our boss to help himself out with his tuition. He was meant to start paying us back last week but…” He turned a menacing smile to the cashier. “…clearly, something’s come up.”

 

The cashier floundered for another way to plead his case but Koichi slid himself in between the man in brown and the counter, not saying a thing and simply meeting his eyes. He didn’t need to know the English to say that they had to go through him first if they wanted to get at the cashier and the man in brown understood right away, narrowing his eyes in annoyance before he smirked and replied, “Y’know… our boss is an understanding guy. We’ll let him know you need some more time.”

 

The man in gray hissed in protest, “Jerry?” His partner, however, gave him a knowing look and the man in gray fell silent again. 

 

The man in brown tipped his hat and said, “We’ll see you around, Mr. Dover.” With that, he turned on his heel and made for the door. The man in gray lingered for a little longer, glaring at Koichi, before he followed. He made sure to lift the side of his coat to reveal the handgun he had holstered, a silent threat. As soon as the doors slid shut, the two burst out laughing about the poor cashier’s unfortunate name as they walked back to their vehicle.

 

As soon as they were gone, Koichi let out the breath he was holding. ‘Even now, that’s still nerve-wracking,’ he sighed to himself, before turning his attention to the victim. “<Are you okay?>”

 

“ No, ” the cashier groaned with his forehead pressed against the counter. “ God, I should’ve listened to my roommate. I’m such a fucking idiot. Why’d I put myself in this mess? ”

 

“Yeah, kinda your own damn fault for borrowing so much without the means to pay it back. C’mon, kid, this ain’t rocket science.”

 

‘Give him a break, 6. He’s already having a rough time of it right now.’

 

Number 6 gave Koichi a serious look and said, “You know they’re just gonna come right back as soon as we leave, right?”

 

‘Yeah,’ Koichi sighed, giving the cashier a comforting pat on the back. ‘What should we do?’

 

“I have an idea… You’re probably not gonna like it though.”

 

‘Yeah, it sounds like I wouldn’t like it.’

 

“Then I have zero ideas.”

 

Koichi rested his cheek against his knuckles and thought while the cashier wallowed in his misery. There had to be something Koichi could do. Reporting it to someone at the agency so someone would keep an eye out for them was a given but leaving it at that didn’t feel like enough. There was 6’s idea… but that’s definitely not Koichi’s style. What else could he do?

 

Then an idea struck him. It wasn’t a permanent fix to the poor guy’s problem, but it was better than nothing at all. Koichi retrieved his phone from his utility belt and tapped the counter by the cashier’s head, prompting him to drearily pull his eyes up. “<I’ll give you my number,>” Koichi explained. “<If they come back, I’ll scare them off again.>”

 

The idea of having a Pro on speed dial seemed to instill a spark of hope in the cashier and he stammered, “That… that might actually help.” He dug his phone out of his pocket and pulled himself as far forward across the counter as he could. “Thanks so much, Mr. Skyhauler, sir.”

 

‘Ugh, that’s not my-’

“Bahahaha! Sky hauler !”

‘Oh, forget it.’

 

Koichi completely gave up on the concept of correcting anyone about his Hero name and clumsily rattled off his number.

 

-

 

A buzz from the coffee table caught 6’s attention and he pushed himself up out of the couch. Koichi’s phone had lit up with a notification from Kazuho. The weekly update spam, right on schedule. And on cue, the bathroom door creaked open. “‘Kay, I’m decent again! You can come in now if you want!” Good, 6 was starting to get sick of the quiet.

 

6 pulled himself out of the couch and floated over to the open bathroom door, placing himself in the doorway and watching Koichi through the mirror as he ran the hair dryer over his head. With a triumphant smirk, 6 said, “See? Told you the long hair would suit you.”

 

By now, Koichi’s hair grew long enough to lightly brush the tops of his shoulders, almost identical to how Rokuro Nomura was crafted to look. “You think so?” Koichi murmured, setting the hair dryer aside and running his fingers through his hair. “I’m… still not used to it, somehow.”

 

“It looks good, Koichi. Trust me. I know things.”

 

“Yeah?” Koichi replied, tying back part of his hair.

 

“Yup. It’s what I do now. I haunt and I know things.” 6 took quite a bit of pride in how he got Koichi to chuckle at the reference. “Pop texted, by the way.”

 

“ Oh! ” 

 

With that, Koichi hustled out of the bathroom and back to the living area, snatching up his phone and flopping down on the couch. 6 followed, settling on the floor beside Koichi. “Ready?” Koichi asked.

 

6 smirked and replied, “Are you ? She usually has a lot to talk about.” Koichi smiled and settled himself in, opening up his texting app.

 

Pop:

It’s Saturday!

You know what that means…

Weekly update spam time!

Prepare yourself.

 

“Okay! I’m ready!”

 

Ding!

Ding!

Ding ding!

Ding ding di-ding!

Ding ding ding d-din-ding!

D-Ding din-ding di-di-ding din-ding!

 

“Wait, I lied! I wasn’t ready! Pop, slow down!”

 

“You know you could let her finish first, right?” 6 laughed, watching Koichi struggle against the tidal wave of information.

 

“Maybe if I had more patience than that,” Koichi laughed in return.

 

Somehow, he managed to fight his way back up to the top of the pile of videos, pictures, news articles and social media posts that Kazuho had been hoarding for today. The first bit of news she had to share was about the cosplay cafe she’s been working at since May. To keep things fresh and interesting, they decided to jazz things up with a new theme. They’ve been doing so since the cafe opened up, doing something new every month. This month’s theme, surprise, surprise, was Tropical Paradise. That, of course, meant swimsuits.

 

“Ah, there she is!” Koichi said, pointing out Kazuho in the lineup of the cute girls that worked there on the updated poster. Kazuho was pretty easy for him to pick out of a small crowd, given how well he knows her… and also because… Well, every girl that worked there had a ‘character type’ assigned to them that they had to play up for the customer’s enjoyment. The oldest girl there was casted as the busty, pervy onee-san type, the shortest was casted as the little sister type. There was the prim and proper ideal wife type, the loud and boisterous gyaru type, the emotionless kuudere, the quiet dandere, the wild-eyed yandere, the weird rotten fujoshi type, the flamboyant and haughty princess type and for some reason, Kazuho was always, without fail, type casted as the tsundere. Kazuho was completely clueless as to why they constantly casted her that way but Koichi could tell why. He wasn’t going to be the one to tell her though. Knowing her, Kazuho would telekinetically punch him in the kidney again.

 

Kazuho accompanied the poster with a video of the inside of the cafe. She was sitting in a corner of the room, filming the mini-performance that a few of her coworkers (the yandere, the kuudere and the onee-san) were doing on the raised stage in the center. They danced and sang a moe song that the customers watching simply ate up. Kazuho herself was humming along behind the camera and Koichi caught himself humming part of the song as well. Hopefully, Kazuho gets a turn on stage soon. She deserves it.

 

Then Kazuho caught something in the background and the camera started to shake as it traveled along to the other side of the room. Through a window peering out at the outdoor tables, Kazuho found a couple faces she’d never thought she’d see again. “ No way… ” she muttered under her breath.

 

“Oh! Rin and Hina!”

 

The video showed the girls from the one singles mixer that Koichi ever went to sitting at an outdoor table, talking and eating sweets. Rin looked a lot less stressed these days, which Koichi was relieved to see. She held onto one of Hina’s hands under the table. Koichi didn’t pay that much mind. Friends hold hands all the time. Then Hina brought Rin’s hand up and placed a kiss on the back of her hand. That… could still be platonic. Then Rin giggled and leaned over to place a kiss on Hina’s- Yeah, they’re dating now. There is absolutely no platonic explanation for that.

 

Kazuho gave an astonished gasp behind the camera. “ Are you kidding me!? ”

 

“ Hey, hey, Kazuho-chan~! ” Kazuho’s deredere coworker said behind her. “ Whatcha doing? ”

 

“ Huh! Uh-nothing! ” Kazuho sputtered. The camera shook and the video cut.

 

Koichi blinked, surprised at the revelation. “Oh…”

 

“Yeah, I’m not surprised, really. That Hina chick was not subtle about how into her friend she was.”

 

“Wait, you met her?”

 

“Yeah? Who do you think gave her the Trigger?”

 

“It was Hina!? ” Koichi squawked in shock. Then he actually thought about it and her behavior at the mixer started to make a little more sense. “You know, that actually kinda checks out,” he said. “She seemed kinda… y’know…”

 

“Batshit insane?”

 

“... I wouldn’t say that… but if I were to say that…”

 

The next video in the pile was a shot of Takoba Beach. The camera panned over the clean golden sand and the sparkling ocean, proudly displaying the work the community put into restoring the beach to its former glory. “ We’re almost done! ” Kazuho said from behind the camera, focusing in on the last pile of junk left at the edge of the park. “ That’s all we got left. ”

 

“ Man, can you imagine how long it would take for one person to do all that on their own? ” Midoriya’s voice said, drawing the camera over to the green boy leaning on the rail beside her.

 

Beside him, Iwao tapped off the ash from his cigarette into his empty beer can. “ Probably a year? ”

 

“ I could not be doing this in the dead of winter, ” Kazuho complained. “ I barely function when it’s cold to begin with. ”

 

“ It’d help if you put on some damn pants. ”

“ You- Shut up, you old creep! ”

“ Just giving some sage advice. ”

“ Psh- ‘Sage.’ As if! ”

 

Izuku noticed the camera and knowing who Kazuho was planning to send the video, happily waved. “ Hi, Haimawari-senpai! ”

 

Iwao waved over Izuku’s head and then Kazuho’s eye popped into frame. “ Yeah, hi, Koichi! ” The video cut out there and under all that was a handful of pictures from the cleanup effort. Koichi decided that if he ever got the chance to visit home, Takoba Beach was one of the places he wanted to visit. Surely by the time he got home, there’d be some life there waiting for him.

 

The next video in the pile was donated by Midoriya himself, displaying as much of Deep Dope’s latest performance that he could, standing on his toes and reaching high up with his phone over everyone’s heads. This worked for a minute-and-a-half worth of music until someone was pushed into him and his phone clattered to the floor. “ Ah, crap! Wait, wait, wait! ” Then the camera got an eyeful of someone’s boot and after an audible crunch, the video cut there.

 

“Oooh, that sounded expensive.”

 

The second half of this scenario came from Rapt’s PicChatter story. His camera loomed over Izuku’s shoulder, showing the sorry state Midoriya’s phone was left in, the screen all but pulverized. “ My mom’s gonna be so mad at me, ” Izuku wheezed.

 

“ Damn, I hope she got the warranty for it, ” Rapt chuckled.

 

“ You get a good look at the guy? We could probably shake him down for the cash to pay for it, ” Soga suggested.

 

“ Nah, it was an accident. It’s not like he meant to- ” Then Izuku’s phone miraculously lit up with a notification that Izuku had no way of properly reading through the smashed screen. “ Wh- YOU’RE ALIVE! HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!? ” Izuku screeched and Deep Dope started laughing themselves to tears around him.

 

The caption Rapt added to his story: ‘📱: i lived bitch’

 

The next video in the pile caught up with where The Mad Hatters wound up after their stint at NaruFest. The video picked up mid-song during a performance in Shinjuku that Kazuho mentioned the week before. The first, more upbeat song ended with a flourish and a round of applause drowned out the audio for a moment. From behind the camera, a voice Koichi didn’t recognize teasingly heckled Hiroto specifically and he waved her off.

 

The lead singer took the microphone and said, “ Thank you, thank you! You’re all amazing! We’ve got one more song tonight. This one’s… ” He looked off to the side of the stage, smiled and continued, “ ...gonna be really special. ” 

 

He held an arm out, beckoning his beloved girlfriend, the former East Naruhata High Dance Squad president, to join him center stage. The crowd replied with endeared ‘ aws ’ when he gave her a loving kiss before a new, slower ballad started. To the lead singer, there was no crowd anymore. It was just her. He was singing just for her.

 

When the lead singer was done serenading his girlfriend, he surprised her and everyone by dropping to one knee and producing a little black box from his pocket. “ Kaede, I love you more than anything. More than rock ‘n roll, even. I want to serenade you like that every day for the rest of our lives. So… will you marry me? ” The former Dance Squad president responded with a joyful scream and leaping directly into his arms. The crowd mirrored the newly-engaged couple’s joy with a wave of cheers, whistles and applause.

 

The camera turned back down to the table, showing Kazuho, Miu and surprise guests: Tamao and her friends from college. Satsuki whistled and cheered, “ Yay, cute couple I never met before! ”

 

Karin gave a dreamy sigh. “ That’s so sweet. I’d love to be proposed to like that~ ”

 

Tamao and Kazuho managed to catch each other’s eye and quietly giggled between each other. For a moment, Tamao glanced at the floor as if she was building the courage to say something but when she opened her mouth to do so, the girl manning the camera, Yu, reached forward and tapped the table. “ Ahem. Girls, I think that means that I won the bet, ” she said, holding an outstretched hand to Kazuho and Miu.

 

“ Aw… ”

“ Dammit… ”

 

Tamao blinked. “ Eh? What bet? ”

 

“ We had a bet going for a while on how long it would take for those two to get engaged, ” Yu explained as Kazuho and Miu placed a couple bills in her palm.

 

“ I was so sure those two were gonna get hitched before NaruFest was over! ” Miu complained. “ What took ‘em so long? ”

 

“Ha. I get to keep my money. Sucks to suck,” 6 quipped.

“ Aw. Now I owe Yu 3000 yen,” Koichi said with a lighthearted sigh.

 

To round off this week’s update spam, Kazuho had one more video to share. This one started with her directly addressing the camera. “ Hey. Midoriya kidnapped me to be the camera lady again. ”

 

As soon as his name was mentioned, Izuku popped into frame, waving with a very chipper, “ Hi, Haimawari-senpai! ”

 

Kazuho poked Izuku in the temple and explained to Koichi, “ So, Midoriya’s been doing some solo-training, teaching himself free-running. He wanted to show you what he’s learned so far. ”

 

“ I-I would’ve sent it to you directly but… well, my phone’s back at the shop. The screen needed to be fixed. ”

 

“ It was bad . ”

 

“No shit.”

“Yeah, we saw. It looked rough .”

 

The camera flipped around, revealing one of the construction sites in the Old Quarter that the two definitely weren’t supposed to be in. Whatever building that was going up here, the project had just started with only a few brick walls scattered haphazardly around the site. Like they were expecting someone to come along and climb all over them. “ I think… as long as we’re out of here in a half-ish hour before the construction guys come back from lunch, we should be good, ” Kazuho muttered. The camera turned to the young vigilante as he finished his warm-up. “ Awful convenient that they left these walls all free-runnable for you, huh? ”

 

“ Awful convenient that you know one of the guys working on this site and he’s willing to look the other way for us, ” Izuku replied.

 

“ Helps having fans in this line of work. Well, let’s see what you got, ” Kazuho said, waving him at one of the walls behind him. Izuku loosened up, dashed towards the wall and executed a clumsy but successful wall flip.

 

“Nice!”

“Nice!”

“ Nice! ”

 

Izuku vaulted over a half-built wall and Kazuho followed from a distance with the camera. His flow was a little stuttery still, pausing to reorient himself before scaling the taller wall beside it and pausing again at the top to make sure he still had his balance on the foot-wide ledge. From there, he trotted across the top of the wall until he hit the beam that connected that L-shaped wall to the one across from it. No need to worry about potentially breaking something important if he slipped and fell from this height but his pride would never survive if he wiped out with his second favorite Hero of all time watching.

 

The camera hovered just underneath Izuku and he waved when he noticed Kazuho underneath him, successfully crossing the gap. This wall was most of the way finished, save for a couple dips in between the columns, making for good precision jumping practice. From the end of the beam to the top of the first column, Izuku hit the landing on the edge and had to flail a little bit to keep from falling right off, but he nailed it! That gave him a boost in confidence and he tackled the next three columns in quick succession, hitting the last one on the other edge of the platform and making him flail the other way.

 

“ You’re giving me a heart attack down here! Knock it off! ”

 

“ I’m okay! ” Izuku called back.

 

From the top of the third column, Izuku glanced around for somewhere else to go, spotting one more column across a wall-less gap from him. That would do for him, but Kazuho looked over the gap and warned, “ That one’s kinda far out. You sure you can make it? ”

 

“ I think so! ” Izuku replied, gearing himself up for the jump.

 

“ ...okay, if you say so, ” Kazuho reluctantly answered. “ Just… be careful, okay? ”

 

“He is not gonna make that jump.”

 

…and 6 was right. Izuku got a touch overconfident with this one and missed by a foot, which would’ve been fine had he not landed into the side of the column with his face. Needless to say, he was done free-running at that point, crumpled into a heap at the base of the column.

 

“See?”

 

“ Ah, jeez, ” Kazuho muttered to herself. The camera tilted down so she could grab the first aid kit by her feet and then shook as she rushed to Izuku’s side. She left her phone camera-side up on the ground so the rest of the video was just a shot of the sky with the rest of the conversation taking place off-screen.

 

“ Ow, ow, ow, ow, my face… ”

“ Here, c’mere. Let me see… ooooh, yeah, that’s not supposed to look like that. ”

“ Owwwwww… I thought I had that one. Crap. ”

“ ...okay, well, good news: you didn’t chip any teeth. So… it could’ve been worse. ”

“ Don’t send that one to Haimawari-senpai. ”

“ Oh, don’t worry so much about what he thinks. Koichi’s no stranger to eating dirt. He’d get it. ”

“ I guess so… ”

“ Here, hold still a sec. ”

“ Still though, it’s really embarra- ” * crunch * “ AaaAA OWW!”

“ There we go. Looks better now. ”

“ Augh… whoa, feels like that cleared up my sinuses a bit. ”

“ I lost count of how many times I had to do that for the old timer. ”

“ Thanks, Haneyama-senpai. ”

“ Ah, don’t worry about it. It’s one of the things I’m best at. ”

“ Pop! Psst! Pop! ”

“ Wh- Oh! That’s our cue to leave! C’mon. ”

 

The camera shook and the video cut out there.

 

Crawler:

Is Midoriya doing okay?

That sounded like it hurt.

 

Pop:

He got a busted nose and a fat lip but he’s doing okay.

 

As proof, Pop sent a photo of Izuku after all that, giving the camera a thumbs-up with a splint strapped over his nose and a triumphant grin.

 

Pop:

He’s a lot tougher than he looks. 🙂

 

Crawler:

That’s good. I’m glad.

Aside from busting his nose, that was really cool!

 

Pop:

Lol

You just went and made his entire day.

Personally, I think it would’ve been cooler if he didn’t wipe out like he did but that’s j      .

 

“Huh?” The fuzzy, fractaled spot in Koichi’s vision returned with a vengeance, distorting the rest of Kazuho’s text. “Aw, man. Now it’s the other eye,” Koichi grumbled, uselessly grinding the heel of his hand into his eye.

 

“Not to sound like an old geezer, but all this looking at your phone probably isn’t helping with that.”

 

“Yeah, you’re right. My eyes are probably just tired.” Koichi glanced at the top of the screen, failing to read the clock and turned the screen to 6 with a sigh. “Suddenly I can’t read anymore. What time is it?”

 

“8:02 PM.”

 

“Eh, close enough. This’ll probably stop after I get some sleep.” With that, Koichi pulled himself up off the couch, stretching and rubbing at his eyes. “Good night, you guys,” he yawned to his phone. “...or good morning? I guess? Time zones are weird.” He smiled down to 6 and asked, “You coming with?”

 

6 shrugged and pulled himself up off the floor. “Not like I got anything better to do.”

 

~

 

…

 

…

 

…

 

One, two, three…

 

Okay, that should do it. Now just a couple glugs of floor cleaner and we should be good to go. That’s the… uh, third shelf, right? Ah, there it is! While I was finishing mixing up the concoction of mop water, I could hear Tsuki helping out a customer just on the other side of the wall.

 

“Alrighty, your total is… ¥4926. Anything else I can grab for you, sir?”

 

“Uh, yeah. Your autograph?”

 

“My… I’m sorry?”

 

“Ah, well, it’s just- I’m a big fan of the Fatal Frame games and ‘Koe’ is my favorite ending theme-”

 

“ Oh! Oh no, no, no, I’m not that Tsukiko Amano!”

 

“You’re not?”

 

“No, no, I’m just some Average Jane that just happens to have the same name as her.”

 

“...Oh. Oh my god, this is so embarrassing. I’m so sorry.”

 

“You’re totally fine. It happens more often than you think.”

 

“I’m- I’m just gonna…” There was an awkward rustling of plastic bags and the man was shuffling out the door right as I was wheeling the mop bucket out of the supply closet. “Bye, I’m sorry.”

 

Tsuki waved and replied with a cheery, “Bye, sir! Come back soon!” As soon as the door slid closed, Tsuki turned to me and said, “He’s probably not coming back for a while.”

 

I shared a sympathetic smile and agreed, “I wouldn’t either. Poor guy.”

 

Tsuki chuckled and added, “I wish I was that Tsukiko Amano, though. It must be fun being a professional singer.” I nodded. Pop sure made it look fun anyway… and thinking that gave me an idea.

 

“Oh, y’know, one of my upperclassmen is helping plan this NaruFest thing that’s coming up. If you’re interested, I can ask her if there’s a spot available-”

 

“Oh God, no!” Tsuki laughed. “I sing like a dying owl. Let’s spare everybody that . Besides, that’s literally next weekend, isn’t it? It’s kinda late in the game to squeeze me in now!”

 

I shrugged, a mischievous grin spreading across my face. “You never know, someone might suffer an… ‘unfortunate accident.’”

 

Tsuki humored me with feigned shock. “Ah! An ‘unfortunate accident?’”

 

“Yeah. Someone might lose their shoes or their wallet or their train pass,” I suggested. “Then someone would have to step in and take their place at the last second.”

 

“Oh, who’re you trying to fool here, Mr. Nice Guy?” Tsuki playfully sneered. “You wouldn’t do that.”

 

I gave her an ‘evil’ smirk. “Wouldn’t I?”

 

“No, you wouldn’t. I’ve seen you return lost items to their owners before. That’s not how you roll. You’re way too nice a guy for that.” Then she decided to stop teasing me for a second and genuinely smiled. “Thanks for thinking of me, Koichi, but I think I’d fit better in the audience than on the stage.”

 

“Alrighty… oh, so you’re gonna come then?”

 

“Yeah, of course! It…” Tsuki looked away for a second, like she wanted to say something else but corrected herself and said, “It sounds like it would be fun!”

 

That sailed right over my head when this actually happened before, but… since this is a dream, I knew what she actually wanted to say then. ‘It’d be a great way to spend my last night in Naruhata.’ Tsukiko was quitting. In real life, I wouldn’t find out until she told everybody on her last night, the day after NaruFest. And then she’d move away. If I remember right, it was because her boyfriend had proposed the month before and they agreed they wanted to be closer to her parents. After that… I haven’t really heard from her since.

 

It’s nice to see her again. Even if it’s just for a little bit.

 

…and don’t believe what Pop says about me ‘crying big man baby tears’ over my work bestie leaving me. It’s not true… mostly because she didn’t use the words ‘big’ or ‘man’...

 

I smiled and nodded, pretending I don’t know what I know and said what I said before. “Yeah, it should be! And my other friend, Pop, will appreciate all the support.”

 

“Pop… oh yeah, one of the girls mainlining the thing. The pink one, right?”

 

“Yeah, that’s her.”

 

Whatever response Tsuki might’ve had died off real quick when the ringer on her phone went off. Immediately, I could tell who was calling before she answered just from the way her silver eyes sparkled. Her boyfriend- er, excuse me, fiance . “Hello? …Hi, Terry-Bear!!♡” I think I met this Terry guy before, the American guy in the back of my sociology class. He’s not much of a talker, not unless it’s Tsuki. If it’s not her, he just kinda… glares at people. Other men, especially. Especially especially if they’ve been looking at her for a little too long. He’s kinda scary. At least Tsuki’s happy with him.

 

“Oh no, I have time to talk. It’s really slow around here. How’s your day been?” Tsuki caught me out of the corner of her eye, pointed to her phone and mouthed, ‘My boyfriend.’ This conversation didn’t have anything to do with me and these floors weren’t gonna mop themselves anyway. So with that, I waved and left her to her phone call. “Koichi says hi, by the way… you’ve met Koichi. Remember? He works with me at the convenience store… Yes, ‘the plain one.’ C’mon, honey, don’t be mean.”

 

I could just skip over this part. This is my dream and all, but there was something kinda soothing about it, falling into old routines, painting the floor with soapy water while generic pop music and the sound of teeth-rottingly saccharine ‘no, you hang ups’ played in the background. Just when you think you’re past this homesickness thing… Maybe I’m going on about this too much. It’ll be a full year next month. Maybe I’ll finally get over it by then…

 

Bing! “Oh, I actually have to go now, Terry. We’ve got a customer. Love you, baby! Bye-bye! …Hi, good evening! Wel… come? Uh, okay. I’ll be up here if you need anything, sir.”

 

I finished off one aisle and turned to tackle the next- oh, that guy’s back. He’s been coming in for the last few months now, black hoodie with the hood pulled up over a maroon baseball cap and a black ponytail. I always wondered what his deal was. He doesn’t usually buy anything, he just lurks around for a while and then leaves. Then after NaruFest started, he never showed up again. I never did figure out who he was.

 

I cleared my throat and asked, “Hi, mister. Can I help you find anything?” 

 

The guy startled, shoving his phone into his hoodie pocket and stammered, “Nah, I’m good.”

 

“You sure? I’d be happy to he-” Then the guy snatched something off of the shelf and hustled away. “Oh, alright then.” I wasn’t meaning to scare the poor man. Whoops. I guess it’s back to mopping for me. Tsuki’s got him from here.

 

I managed to get halfway through this aisle before I heard Tsuki’s voice again. “Ah! Sir! You forgot your change!” At that, my head snapped up from the floor and spotted the guy hurriedly walking out the door. Looks like a job for Nice Guy!

 

I abandoned the mop bucket in the middle of the aisle and rushed up to the front of the store. “I got ‘im!” Tsuki tagged me in, handing off the guy’s change on my way out the door. But it seemed like I already lost him. And I made sure to check both sides of the store too, just in case he took one of the alleys as a shortcut. He was just gone, just as quickly as he showed up.

 

“...or not, I guess,” I said as I walked back through the sliding doors, the guy’s cash still in hand.

 

“He’s gone already?”

 

“Yeah. He must be the speedy type.”

 

“...Hmm.”

 

“So… what do we do with this?”

 

Tsuki shrugged. “I guess it goes right back in the register.”

 

“Okay.” I was going to just turn right back around and go back to mopping after handing the money back to her but Tsuki had this troubled expression on her face doing it that made me pause. “You okay?”

 

“...Are you ?” she asked. “You’re not in some kind of big trouble, are you?”

 

“Not that I know of. Why?”

 

“Well… that guy,” she said, pointing to the door. “He’s been just coming in and lurking around for a while now. I know the boss is more concerned that he might be casing the place and planning to rob us, but I noticed that he only shows up when it’s your shift. I’m… kinda worried that he’s stalking you.”

 

“‘Stalking?’”

 

Tsuki nodded. “D’you want me to walk you back to your apartment after work?” For some reason, I involuntarily snorted. “What?” she playfully sneered at me. “What’s so funny, smart guy?”

 

“Nothing, nothing, it’s just- I should be asking you that, shouldn’t I?”

 

“What, you think I couldn’t protect you from some weirdo because I’m a girl ?”

 

“No, no, that’s not what I mean! It’s… the chivalrous thing to do.”

 

“Well, surprise, buddy, chivalry is actually gender neutral!” Tsuki put up her dukes and declared, “I just so happen to be a blue belt in karate, so I’m not scared of your creepy, creepy stalker!” We shared a laugh but after that, Tsuki studied my face for something and frowned. She tapped the counter and said, “You know what, I’m actually worried about you, so I’m not asking anymore. I’m walking you home after work and that’s that!”

 

At that point, I remembered how it went the last time I invited someone that wasn’t Pop, Makoto or Master to my apartment and just how bad that went. “Ah… n-no, that’s okay-” I nervously muttered but she just completely blew me off.

 

“Nope! You’re not getting out of this one, Haimawari!”

 

Accepting my fate, I let my head hang and mumbled, “...okay.”

 

~

 

“ This is your apartment building?”

 

I kept my eyes firmly planted on my feet. “Yeah…”

 

“I kinda assumed this building was abandoned,” Tsuki said.

 

“It… mostly is,” I replied, nervously looking up at her. “I think I’m the only person that lives here… legally, that is.”

 

“Oh, so it’s Squatter City over here, huh?”

 

“Something like that.” I rubbed at the back of my neck and continued, “Thanks, Tsuki, for walking with me all this way. I can probably-”

 

But Tsuki wasn’t having it. She shook her head and said, “I said I would walk you all the way home. Technically, we’re not there yet. Besides, maybe someday I’ll want to come over to visit?”

 

A promise she hasn’t managed to keep yet, not that I was going to hold her to it. Life gets in the way. I get it. “Alright.” Tsuki nodded, vindicated and made towards the entrance. “Ah, wait, wait, wait!” I yelped, catching her by the elbow and pulling her back. “Uh, you weren’t far off with the ‘Squatter City’ thing. I usually avoid the stairs, especially at this time of night. Some of them like to break into the older apartments to do… pretty hard stuff, y’know.”

 

“ Oh ,” she said with raised eyebrows. “Yeah, good idea.” She pointed up to the roof where my penthouse was and asked, “So, if you don’t take the stairs, then how do you get all the way up there?”

 

“I’ll show you.” I motioned for her to follow me over to the narrow gap between my building and the next one over. I squeezed myself through the tight alley until I hit the spot I usually start my climb from. One hand and one foot locked to the walls beside me, I patted my free hand against my shoulder, inviting Tsuki aboard the Crawler Express and she threaded her arms around my shoulders, holding on tight. Cleared for takeoff!

 

Tsuki yelped in surprise at just how fast we zipped up through the gap together and in seconds, we were up on my rooftop. “Woo! That was fun!” Tsuki laughed, smoothing the wrinkles out of her skirt. She took one look at my ‘penthouse’ and smirked at me. “Something tells me this isn’t supposed to be here.”

 

“No, I don’t think it is,” I agreed. I pressed a finger to my lips and whispered, “Don’t tell anybody though. I still need to live here.” She zipped her lips and threw the key over her shoulder.

 

With that, Tsuki and I marched the rest of the way up to my front door, where she turned to me with a triumphant smile and proudly declared, “Operation: Escort Koichi Home is a success! And no sign of that guy anywhere. Huh.”

 

“Thanks again, Tsuki. Oh, hey, since you’re here, you want to come in? I’ll put the kettle on for tea!”

 

Her smile turned apologetic and Tsuki replied, “I wish I could, but I wanna go home and get an early night. I’ve got tomorrow off. Terry and I are going on a road trip… looking at a couple houses. We’re thinking of upgrading and moving in together, so…”

 

Right. ‘Cuz they’re getting married and obviously they should live in the same house. It’d be weird for a married couple to live in separate apartments. Oh well. It was worth a try. “Oh… okay,” I said, forcing myself to smile. “Maybe next time?”

 

I think right then was when Dream Tsuki caught on to my inexplicable knowledge of the future. She patted me on the shoulders and poked me in the forehead, with her big sisterly ‘you’re-gonna-be-okay’ smile. “Yeah. Next time.”

 

“...yeah.”

 

“...so, I’m gonna take your advice about the stairs. I might need a ride back down.”

 

“Oh, sure thing!” The Crawler Express runs 24/7, rain or shine!

 

Back down on stable ground, I dusted myself off and offered, “Do you want me to walk you back to your apartment?”

 

Tsuki laughed, “I appreciate it, but then I’d have to walk you back here again and we’d just be stuck in a never-ending loop. I’ll be okay! Blue belt, remember?”

 

“Aw, okay. If you say so,” I said. “I’ll see you at work tomor- no, not tomorrow. The day after tomorrow!”

 

Tsuki laughed, walking backwards out of the alley. “I’ll see you at work!” she cheered and, confirming what I was thinking, threw in, “And I’ll be cheering you on from Musutafu, Skycrawler!” 

 

As soon as she cleared the alley, some random guy ran right into her. “Ack! Oh, my bad.”

 

“Huh? Oh… hey, cutie~”

 

Instant disgust. “I have a boyfriend.”

 

“I don’t see him anywhere.”

 

“ Still have a boyfriend.”

 

The guy got bold and thought he could play with the end of Tsuki’s ponytail without consequence. “Aw, don’t be like that, gorgeous. He don’t gotta know nothing. I can be discre-”

 

“Tiger Uppercut!” THWACK!

“Aghk! What- *koff koff* What the hell?”

“Spinning Bird Kick!” THWACK WHACK THWACK!

“Achk, okay, okay! I get it already! I’m going!”

“Shoryuken!” THWAM!!

 

In three rounds, the guy was flat on his back. Flawless Victory!

 

…okay, I confess. I know nothing about karate and filled in the gaps with dream logic, but basically, that’s what happened. Close enough, anyway. After indulging in her victory a little, Tsuki waved back at me and went on her way, stepping on the guy’s face in the process. I’m gonna miss her.

 

Right back up to my rooftop, I found where I stashed my backpack, peeling open one of the pockets on the front (or back? Either one, I don’t know) where I had my key stashed. Huh… I thought Pop was hanging onto this one, with the heart-shaped keychain, the one I intended for a theoretical girlfriend. I guess it was the first thing I thought of. 

 

I stood straight, my backpack dangling at my side and took one more lingering look at my apartment and my rooftop. It’s only been a year but it feels like it’s been a lifetime since I’ve seen this place. And knowing that it’s gone now and I’ll never see it again… I’ve had some good times here. Rest in peace, illegally constructed hut on an abandoned building filled with squatters and junkies. I’ll never forget you.

 

With that, I shouldered my backpack and unlocked my front door. “I’m home,” I wearily called out to the ‘empty’ apartment, stashing my backpack by the door and unlacing one of my shoes. “Not that anyone’s here to greet me-”

 

“ Who was that? ”

 

“ACK!!!” In hindsight, I should’ve waited to make sure I was really alone before trying to take my shoes off. I pulled myself up from the pile I collapsed into to find Pop standing over me, arms crossed and glaring at me. “Ah, P- eep! How long have you been here?”

 

“The whole time? The lights were on, dummy!” Pop growled before stomping over to the window, presumably to check if Tsuki was still there. “S- ee- riously, who was that?”

 

I scrambled back up, dusting myself off. “That was my coworker, Tsukiko. Didn’t I mention her before?”

 

“Mmm, may- bee- ,” Pop grumbled. “She kinda looks like Makoto but obviously she can’t be her . She at least has some respect for personal space.” Yeah, unlike a certain someone I’m looking at right now.

 

“I invited her in, but she has to get up early. She and her beep! -friend are going house shopping tomorrow.”

 

Suddenly, Pop wasn’t angry anymore. “Oh. Okay.” Then Pop turned right around and went back to the kotatsu. Huh. She backed down pretty fast. That’s… not like her. Well, this is a dream. Real Pop probably would’ve had a bit more fight in her.

 

I shrugged and changed the subject. “How’s practice going?”

 

Pop sighed, hooking one side of her headphones back on her head. “It’s going, that’s for sure.” She shook her hands and wheezed, “The nerves sure aren’t helping. I f- eep bee- l like I’m screwing up already.”

 

“Aw, relax, Pop! You’ll be fine!” Thank you, future knowledge, for reminding me how she’d react. It gave me enough time to dodge. My kidneys get to live another day.

 

“Don’t just tell me what I wanna hear!”

 

“Sorry, sorry.” Unconsciously, I rubbed at my side, nursing the phantom ache of kidney punches past. “So, are w- beep be- going on patrol tonight?”

 

“We should beep! As soon as the old g- ee- zer shows up,” Pop answered. “... If he shows up, anyway.”

 

“Yeah, it feels like he’s been coming around less and less lately,” I murmured. “I wonder what’s going on with him?” I never did figure that out.

 

“Probably something insane, just like him,” Pop dismissively answered. -beep! Okay, that’s not just me, right? You guys are hearing that too?

 

“Um….” I cleared my throat and changed the subject again. “So, you hungry? I can whip something up while we wait for him.”

 

Pop thought for a moment and then turned back with an answer. “ Beep beep! ?”

 

“Sure th- …er, sure thing!” I can’t be the only person hearing that. Beep beep! Huh. I attempted to brush it off and grabbed my apron from the hook, tying it on and preparing to fix up some delicious… What did Pop even say? Beep beep! Thank you, whatever that noise is but that’s not food. Uh… I guess I’ll just make some beep beep! …uh, yeah. That . Whatever that is.

 

So, the first step in the recipe is to beep beep! some beep beep! R-Right? So, I grabbed a cutting beep beep! and a beep beep! from the basket by the fridge. I set up a str- beep beep! in the sink to collect scraps and started peeling the skin off of the beep beep!

 

Erm… beep beep! Okay, that’s really starting to piss me off. Beep beep! Anyway, that’s done. Beep beep! Now, carefully, cut part-way through the beep beep! Not all the way through, though. Beep beep! ‘Cuz then you have to turn it to the side so you can dice the beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep beep!

 

Goddamn it, what is that!?

 

Vmm…

 

He emitted a groggy growl as the alarm clock dragged him out of his dream so incredibly rudely. Why in the hell did he set the damn thing anyway? He’s not working today, so what was the point?

 

“Urgh… shut the hell up…”

 

He swung his arm out of the covers, smacking the top of his alarm clock. It was the button closest to him, right? …no, for some reason, that didn’t do anything. Other side? Ugh, thanks, the nightlight definitely helped matters. Annoyed, he simply smashed the side of his fist against the top of his alarm clock and that finally shut the damn thing up. Probably broke it too, but he can buy a new one in the morning… later morning than this, anyway. He just wanted to go back to sleep…

 

…and alas, he was not allowed to yet. Damn nature and her stupid call. Fine, fine, he’ll get up. He forced himself up out of the warmth and security of the covers, perched on the side of the bed and rubbed at his face, trying to wake himself up enough for the journey from here to the bathroom. When he tried to stand, his knees buckled for a moment, as if he hadn’t stood up in ages. Weird, but he overcame that obstacle just as quickly as it presented itself. But his feet for sure ached like he hadn’t walked in a long time.

 

He lugged himself all the way to the bathroom, not bothering to close the door and letting the light from the kitchen do twice the work. Who cares? It’s just him in here. He did his thing, shook himself off and tucked himself away again before dragging himself over to the bathroom sink. He’s not that much of a grimy slob.

 

He worked a couple pumps of hand soap around his knuckles, lazily glancing up at the mirror as he worked and then stopped dead in his tracks when he saw something that woke him up the rest of the way. A scratch of golden light. He dried his hands off on his pajama pants and curiously ran the tip of his finger over the glow, dug right into his… left… cheek…

 

He needed more information than this and smacked the bathroom lightswitch, momentarily blinding himself with the fluorescent light. Looking back at the mirror, he saw… “Koichi?”

 

Number 6 thought the word, but it was Koichi’s voice that spoke it.

 

Taken entirely off guard by the revelation, Number 6 flinched back into the wall, coughing in pure shock. “Wh-What the…” Then he all but flung himself back at the mirror, really investigating Koichi’s face. “What the hell!?” After a thorough examination, everything about Koichi’s body looked exactly the way it was when he fell asleep the night before, save for the glowing scar.

 

“What is this?” 6 demanded, confused and frankly infuriated by it. “No, I’m serious. What is this!? There’s cheat codes and then there’s fucking around in the developer console! I didn’t do this! What did you do!? …Hello?” 6 tapped the side of Koichi’s face, trying to prompt a response. “Koichi. Hey, say something! Hello?” Nothing. Pure radio silence on Koichi’s end. That’s… not ideal. Not at all. Worrying, even. 

 

For a very brief moment, 6’s (Koichi’s?) hand slowed, really feeling his (Koichi’s??) skin, realizing that he was solid again… alive again… in a manner of speaking… This is too weird. 6 needs to think.

 

For a while, Number 6 just meandered aimlessly around the apartment, flexing his (Koichi’s???) hands and slowly becoming accustomed to having his own sense of mobility again. He ran into the couch, the wall and the kitchen counter a couple times during his loop, thinking he’d phase right through them like he’d been doing up till then. But Koichi’s body was 100% solid.

 

The loop stopped at the apartment balcony, 6 sliding the door open and savoring the burst of warm, fresh, clean air that flowed through… clean by New York’s standards, at any rate. He wandered out onto the balcony, looking up to the sky. If you really squint up there, you can still see the stars. They were a lot easier to see back at his old penthouse apartment. 6 had to wonder when the last time he just looked up at the sky was. A long, long time ago.

 

The balcony on Mr. Kent’s side, he populated with a few potted plants with some especially rare herbs and flowers. He always skirted around where exactly he got them from when Koichi asked. One in particular, a yellow-and-orange flower that looked strangely similar to a hibiscus but noticeably wasn’t, called to 6. He leaned over his edge of the balcony, gently holding the flower and stealing a deep inhale of its sweet, vaguely citrusy scent.

 

From the balcony on Ms. Kyle’s side, there was a cheerful meow from one of her cats, the gorgeous pitch black witch’s companion that sat perched on the edge of the balcony, unafraid of gravity. “...Salem, right?” 6 murmured and approached the other side of the balcony, hand outstretched in greeting for the cat to smell. “Hey, little guy.” Unfortunately, cats are quite perceptive creatures. Immediately, Salem could tell something was off about Koichi tonight and sat back on his haunches, ears flattened against his head and hissed. “Tch, fine. Be like that, then,” 6 huffed, taking his greeting back. “Furry little jackass.” 

 

Number 6 flipped over, leaning over the balcony and looking down to the street below. 4 in the morning on a Sunday, one would almost be convinced that it wasn’t busy down there. There were still cars and buses and taxis going by, still people walking around, living their lives… 

 

6 decided to try something, pinching Koichi’s arm and giving it a good twist. It hurt like a bastard but it still didn’t wake Koichi up. Neither did biting Koichi’s hand. What was going on? Why wasn’t he responding?

 

Number 6 sighed, resting his (Koichi’s????) cheek in his hand, staring back down at the street again. Maybe… if he wore Koichi’s body out again? A witching hour walk wouldn’t hurt anything, surely. His (Koichi’s?????) legs could do with a good stretching. Matter of fact, his (Koichi’s??????) whole body could. Simply stretching out his (you get the gist) arms and legs undid a year’s worth of tightly wound muscle. But before he turned around and went back into the apartment, 6 couldn’t help but be petty and hiss back at Salem. “I can do it too. You’re not special.”

 

Number 6 swiped the hair tie that Koichi abandoned off of the coffee table and pulled back his hair into the same low-effort ponytail he favored in life, complete with that one strand that refused to be contained. After pulling on Koichi’s sneakers, 6 crept out of the apartment into the hallway, immediately catching Mr. Kent, who should’ve been asleep, hastily adjusting his button-up to try and cover up the flash of red-and-blue underneath. Seems they both have something to hide.

 

“Oh! *ahem * Morning, Koichi.”

 

“<Yeah. G’morning.>”

 

Mr. Kent made his excuses and escaped into the safety of his apartment, not really mentioning or possibly just not noticing Koichi’s glowing scar. Pretty snazzy disguise that 6 got for himself. Probably his best one yet, if he was actually trying anyhow. 

 

Number 6 stole another deep breath of fresh air as soon as he made it outside the apartment building. Then he just picked a direction and started walking, taking in the sights and sounds with the awe of a man that spent a year dead and came back to life just an hour ago. New York City is so lively, even at this time of night. 6 caught snippets of conversations from people on the street, snapshots of people’s lives through the tinted windows of their apartments. Up the street, he heard a girl shriek about her purse and on instinct, tripped up the purse-snatcher so her male companion could catch up with him. This is 6’s kind of city, that’s for sure. It’s never dull around here.

 

Number 6 slowed to a stop at the opening of an alleyway that cut straight through the block, opening up to the street on the other side. He smirked to himself. It’s like it was just begging him to Overclock right through it. And who was he to pass up on such a challenge? Besides, he had always wondered how Koichi was able to keep up with Overclock. May as well give his body a test run. For science!

 

Number 6 bolted off down the alleyway, only to skid to a stop as quickly as he started. “Huh?” Overclock hadn’t reacted when he told it to. That’s not right. So he tried again… nothing. And he tried again… still nothing. He tried that wall jump trick he used to do… still nothing! Again. Nothing! Again? Nothing! Again! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing! Nothing!?

 

“What’s up with that guy?”

“Don’t stare at him. He must be on something.”

 

Eventually, 6 wore himself out trying and failing to provoke a response from his own Quirk. He sunk to his heels, head in his hands and face pale at the concept that he had lost - fucking lost - Overclock. That with his death, O’Clock’s Quirk went with him. Now what? Is he just stuck with Koichi’s dinky copycat Quirk now? “ Noooo, are you fucking kidding me? ” he wailed into his hands. This really is Hell. Number 6 is in Hell right now. This sucks, this sucks, this sucks!

 

Number 6’s arms simply gave up, mopily flopping back down to the asphalt and there, 6 sat sulking for a while. After his own personal pity party, he looked down to his hand, digging his fingertips into the ground for some traction and experimentally willed Slide and Glide to respond. It did, but instead of the silvery-blue color it was when Koichi was at the helm, Slide and Glide manifested in a golden hue similar to the one coming from his scar, the only other sign that it was Number 6 talking and not Koichi. “Huh…” Well, Overclock may be off the table right now, but the ‘for science!’ thing wasn’t yet.

 

Number 6 shifted into a crouching stance, ensuring all three points of contact that Slide and Glide needed. So far, so good. Now… go left? “Whoa!” 6 yelped as Koichi’s Quirk jerked him to the left a little more aggressively than he intended. He instinctively tried to correct himself, smacking into the dumpster to his right in the process. “Ow! C’mon, chill out already.” He jerked out into the middle of the alley, managing to wrestle some control over Slide and Glide enough to get himself to stay still. Crawler Style, but on ice physics. That’s what he had to envision. Grip the ground to fight through the drag, but with four-wheel drive on. Nice and easy now…

 

Number 6 carefully backed himself up to the opening of the alley again and then, slowly, carefully, started to accelerate. Back and forth, getting a feel for how Slide and Glide handles. There we go. Getting it? Good. Faster. Back and forth, getting confident with it. Faster! Back and forth, drifting with the turns, gettin’ kinda cocky with it- oh shit, too fast!

 

His drift swung too wide and 6 completely cleared the curb on the other side of the alley, narrowly passing under a bus that was going by and blowing through a small pack of pedestrians into the alley across from where he started, crashing into a pile of cardboard boxes and trash cans. “ Owwww … shit,” 6 hissed under his breath, pulling himself up from the crash site. “Koichi makes it look so easy too…”

 

“Huh? Whozzat?” One of the crumpled cardboard boxes got smacked open from the inside. From inside, a homeless guy that 6 recognized as the tramp that threw Koichi off and inadvertently caused his infamous ‘Wall Street blunder’ pulled himself up off the ground. First thing he did was check to make sure his booze was still intact. Then he blearily looked up at 6, far too wasted to properly recognize Koichi’s face. “...Hey.”

 

“<Hey.>”

 

“You crashed into my house…”

 

“<That’s my bad.>”

 

The tramp shrugged and muttered, “‘s fine. Was gonna need a new box anyway. Rain made it soggy…” Then he laid down and went back to snoring. Phew, crisis averted. Bing! …for a grand total of two seconds.

 

XXX-XXX-XXXX:

MR SKYHAULER

SOS

HELP

THEY CAME BACK

ONE OF THE GUYS SMASHED THE SECURITY CAMERAS

NOW HES JUST BREAKING STUFF

PLZ HELP

 

6 sighed, leaning back against a tipped trash can. “Told you they were just gonna come back,” he murmured, trying to reach Koichi again. He poked Koichi in the temple and said, “Y’hear that, Koichi? That kid with the unfortunate name from the convenience store needs your help. You planning to wake up to help him? …or are you gonna make me do it?” Still more radio silence. Seems like it falls to Number 6 to uphold Koichi’s promise.

 

“ Ugh, fine. Just don’t complain about how I choose to handle the situation. I did try to wake you up, you know.”

 

-

 

Smash! Crash! Smash!

 

“B-But you guys said that you’d talk to Mr. Bunni and convince him to give me more time!”

 

“We told the Hero that! Not you! ” the man in gray sneered, bringing his bat down against a shelf. “You are paying him back today.”

 

“B-But I don’t have the money!”

 

“Then I’ll just keep breakin’ shit ‘til you pull the money out of your ass!” the man in gray shouted, bringing the bat down and leaving a good heavy dent in the brand new slushy machine.

 

Bing bong!

 

The man in gray paused, surprised that someone managed to slip past his partner’s notice outside. That damn useless bastard… “Ah, Mr. Skyhauler!” The Hero was back? Where? Behind the schlub that just walked in?

 

‘The Skyhauler’ gestured at the cashier and told him to, “<Stay down.>” The kid did exactly as he said, dipping back down behind the counter. Then he turned to the man in gray with an intimidating grin and greeted him. “<Hi again.>”

 

The man in gray snorted, amused by the off-duty Hero marching in here trying to act tough. “What the hell am I looking at?”

 

“<So… my new friend, Ben Dov-> Snrkt-! Sorry, I’m too immature,” 6 snickered before catching himself. “* ahem * < Ben over there, tells me you guys are still bothering him.>”

 

The man in gray responded with an indignant scoff. “Yeah, we wouldn’t be if he paid his dues when he was supposed to. It’s just business.”

 

‘The Skyhauler’ nodded agreeingly. “<Yeah, business. I get it. Frankly, I think the kid’s an idiot. He absolutely did this to himself. He should never have asked you guys for anything if he couldn’t deal with the consequences.>”

 

“Thank you! Glad you get it… also, your English got a lot better all of a sudden. What’s up with that?”

 

“<Oh, you noticed? Thanks. I’ve had an owl threatening my loved ones for almost a full year now,>” 6 joked. “<Threats of violence sure help make that information stick, huh?>”

 

The man in gray snorted, gesturing to the counter. “Yeah, try telling that guy.”

 

“<But, see, Koi- *ahem* I told him that I’d keep an eye out for him,>” 6 mused, swiping one of the rare wine bottles that survived the attack. “<So, we’ve got us a conflict of interest here.> …a $50 wine? From a 711? …oh, ‘cuz it’s the fancy French kind. …but from a 711?”

 

“We do, huh?”

 

“<Yeah, unfortunately, we do.>”

 

The man in gray burst out in derisive laughter, looking up to the camera that was still hanging on by a thread. “You hear this clown threatening me? What a joke!” He leveled a menacing smirk at 6 and shooed him away. “This ain’t got nothin’ to do with you, Sidekick. Why don’t you run along and go do your job and save another airplane or something?”

 

Number 6 changed his grip on the wine bottle and sneered, “<Just so happens, dealing with punks like you is my job.>”

 

The man in gray shook his head with a huff of laughter. “Gotta feel bad for Captain Celebrity,” he growled. “He’s just gonna have to pay for your medical bills again. ”

 

Then he swung, intending to take The Skyhauler by surprise and knock his block off. Unfortunately for him, Koichi’s out of the office right now. 6 weaved, catching the bat under his arm and clamping it to his side so the man in gray couldn’t use it. Then the wine bottle exploded across his face from how hard 6 hit him with it, drenching him in shards of glass and prosecco. This made the man in gray stumble backwards, clutching at his face in shock and gave 6 an opportunity to steal the bat away from him.

 

“Wh- Hey! ”

 

“<C’mon, big guy. Come ‘n get it,>” 6 taunted, using Slide and Glide to zip backwards around the end cap.

 

The man in gray bought the trick hook, line and sinker, chasing 6 around the end cap and getting kneecapped for his trouble. One hit to the front of one knee, one to the back of the other and one to his back and the man in gray was down. Just to drive the point home, 6 got a few more hits while he was down. However, the man in gray was far from done, willing to take a hit to the solar plexus to hook his legs around the bat and yank it out of 6’s hands, flinging it down the aisle and scrambling back up.

 

“<Good, this would’ve gotten boring,>” 6 laughed, beckoning him to come at him.

 

The cashier stayed huddled under the counter, listening to the commotion out in the rest of the store. He heard punches land, more shattering of glass and then a sickening crunch that sent a shiver down his spine and a bloodied tooth scattering over the edge of the counter to the floor beside him. 

 

6 managed to get the upperhand in the fight and smashed the man in gray’s face into the counter, mouth-first. That finally got the man to yield, spitting out a couple more teeth and a mouthful of blood. 6’s fist tightened in his hair and pulled his head up so he could growl in his ear, “<When I tell you to leave my friends alone, you leave. My friends. Alone. You get me?>” The man in gray coughed and nodded. 

 

“<Now you go back to whatever hole you and your partner crawled out of and you tell your boss that this store and the people who work here are under The Sky crawler’s protection. I don’t want to see you shifty fucks sniffing around here again. If I do…>” 6 rattled the man’s head, shaking out one more tooth from his mouth. “<You’ll lose more than teeth next time. Do you understand me?>”

 

“…”

 

“...< Nod if you understand me. >” The man in gray hastily nodded. He understood perfectly. “<Good.>”

 

Outside, the man in brown glanced up from his phone to see his partner being tossed out on his ass by… somebody he couldn’t see very clearly with the light at his back. Whoever that was told him to ‘get outta here’ and then backed into the store, leaving his friend to scramble back up to his feet, a hand pressed to his bleeding mouth. “Oh, shit! Tom, what happened!?” The man in gray simply waved at the car, muffling the words, ‘Just drive.’ as he staggered over to the passenger side door.

 

Looking back at the store, the man in brown saw his friend’s opponent glaring out at them through the window, a glowing scar scratched into his cheek. Whoever that was waved and pressed a middle finger against the glass to send them on their way. “...Tch.” With that, the man in brown climbed into the driver’s side and the two were gone.

 

The cashier stayed firmly in his hiding spot until he heard the ‘Press for Assistance’ bell chime from the top of the counter. “<Safe to come out now.>” With the all-clear given, the cashier cautiously pulled himself back up, wincing as he took in the sight of the wrecked store and flinching at the smear of red and scattered teeth on the counter beside him.

 

“ Ah, man… ” he wheezed.

 

Number 6 placed the crumpled $50 from earlier that day on the counter. “<Here, that should cover the product that I damaged… I think,>” 6 said. “<Or does that need the sales tax too? Crap.>”

 

“I-It’s no problem, Mr. Skyha- Skycrawler. I can cover the sales tax.”

 

“<Oh? Thanks, man. You’re a lifesaver.>”

 

The cashier gave an astonished laugh and said, “No way, man. That’s you . This is the second time today you’ve saved my ass. Thank you.” Then the cashier noticed Koichi’s scar and pointed out, “...er, was that glowing before?”

 

Number 6 feigned ignorance. “<Hmm? Was what glowing?>”

 

“Your scar.”

 

“<I have no clue what you’re talking about.>”

 

“But… eh, never mind.”

 

Number 6 glanced around the ceiling, looking for the cameras. The man in gray was very thorough about it, thankfully. If the footage of the fight made its way to the internet, Koichi would be in even hotter water than the ‘Wall Street’ thing. Good. The man in gray won’t squeal without implicating himself… that just leaves…

 

Number 6 smiled at the cashier and asked, “<Hey, can I trust you to keep a secret? See, with my fancy new job title, I’m not supposed to do stuff like that. Old habits, y’know. But if my boss catches wind of this, they might skip the lawsuit thing and just throw me in prison. So…>”

 

The cashier nodded. “Y-Yeah, no problem. I’ll take this to my grave with me.”

 

Number 6 gave a relieved sigh. “<I knew I could trust you. Thanks, Ben.>”

 

The cashier glanced up at the clock and grumbled, “Of course I have 3 more hours on my shift. I better start cleaning all this up.”

 

“<Yup, good luck with that.>” 6 brushed himself off and started backing towards the door. “<I think they got the message this time, but if they show up again, you know how to get a hold of me.>”

 

“Yeah,” the cashier responded, fishing a broom and dustpan from the supply closet. “Seriously, thanks again, Mr. Skycrawler. I owe you one!”

 

Number 6 waved and spun on his heel, pausing at the door when he noticed the box that the slushy machine came from stashed by the employee entrance. Presumably, it was supposed to have been broken down and thrown out already but it sat there forgotten in the commotion. It looked like it was just big enough for a drunk homeless guy to fit in and have plenty of legroom. “<I’m taking this with me,>” he called back to the cashier, shouldering the box. “<You don’t need it anymore, right?>”

 

“Nah, have at it.”

 

“<Thanks.>”

 

With that, 6 strolled out of the store, a brand new cardboard manor for the homeless guy whose house he crashed into held awkwardly against his shoulder. “Good thing Ben had the sense of mind to keep his lips zipped.” Saying this, 6 pulled out the large rock he had stashed in Koichi’s pocket and casually tossed it aside. “Guess I don’t need that after all. Now… What alley was that guy in again? Ugh, this city’s like a damn maze.”

 

-

 

“After all that, you’re still non-responsive?” 6 tried biting Koichi’s hand again and got no response. “You didn’t actually die in there, did you? I mean, I could get used to having a body of my own again but it’s gonna get really… disturbing when you start decomposing on me.”

 

Number 6 tried just about everything he could think of to elicit a response from Koichi and absolutely nothing worked. “Come on, Koichi. You’re killing me here!” 6 admitted defeat and slumped against the couch to think. He closed his eyes and searched for any sign that Koichi was there. They had the same heartbeat at this moment and 6’s breathing was Koichi’s. But in the back of his subconscious, he caught wisps of something, the dream that Koichi was having, of the old Family Mart he used to work at, his favorite coworker, Tsukiko, Pop in his apartment… and that guy. Technically, the first time Koichi and Number 6 met. He just didn’t know it yet.

 

“...what if… what if I just go back to sleep?” 6 hypothesized to himself. He shrugged and said, “I’ve tried just about everything else. Why not?”

 

With that, 6 stood up, dragged himself back to Koichi’s bedroom and flopped down on the bed. He tossed back a couple melatonin gummies and lay there, staring up at the ceiling until his eyelids started to droop and sleep took Koichi back.

 

Vmm…

 

“Fried rice?”

 

“Sure thing! Lemme just-” Suddenly, an intense wave of exhaustion bowled me over. “Oof, whoa…”

 

“Hmm? What’s the matter?”

 

“I don’t know,” I mumbled. “I’m just so… tired, all of a sudden. Oogh, and now I feel like someone beat me up. Yeesh.” 

 

Pop blinked at me before she sighed and shook her head. “Oh jeez, who’d you get into it with this time?”

 

“Nobody, that’s the thing! I don’t know how- Ow, my jaw…” 

 

“Maybe leftover bruises from that Cat Bus thing? You did get a pretty decent case of road rash from it.”

 

“Hmm… maybe…” Thinking about it, my body probably wasn’t up for something that involved now. So, instead, I gestured to one of the cabinets and suggested, “You wanna do something a little more low-effort instead? I should still have some cup noodles.”

 

“Sure, whatever. I don’t really care what we eat.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Could I get the shrimp kind?”

 

I poked through the selection I had stashed in the cabinet. Thankfully, these two mooches hadn’t cleaned it out yet. “Shrimp for you, cheese curry for me and Master likes beef…” I brought those and the electric kettle over to the kotatsu, settling in and catching up with Pop about her day while the water was boiling. 

 

A half-hour later, Master still hadn’t shown up yet. I wonder what’s keeping him. His noodles are gonna get cold.

 

I polished off the last of the broth from my cup and set it off to the side. Pop was most of the way through her cup, distracted studying the Marukane jingle for NaruFest. I shouldn’t know this song as well as I do yet. Inexplicable knowledge of the future again.

 

…it’s good to see Pop again… this version of Pop, I mean. Before… all of that happened. I kinda wonder… What if we got to have that talk? About feelings and the future and stuff? Would that have changed anything? Probably not, but there’s always a chance.

 

“...hey, Pop.”

 

Pop unhooked one side of her headphones and distractedly replied, “Yeah?”

 

“...I’m sorry.”

 

Pop raised an eyebrow and paused the song. “For… What for?” Then she glared at me and sighed, “What did you do this time?”

 

“Nothing. It’s more… what I didn’t do.”

 

“I’m not following.”

 

“For not really paying attention to your feelings.”

 

Pop’s face turned pink and she nearly knocked over her noodles. “H-Huh? What feelings?” she sputtered. “I don’t have feelings! Er, I have one feeling and it’s annoyance!” I couldn’t help but laugh. She’s always been funny like that. “Shut up!”

 

“I don’t know. Maybe… maybe I got so wrapped up in what was going on with my life that I accidentally made you feel like I was leaving you behind,” I said. “I’m sorry for that. I was never going to leave you behind, though, promise. You’re one of my best friends! I couldn’t imagine life without you around.”

 

Saying so clearly touched her heart but still she gave me the most confused look and answered, “Koichi… I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re really starting to creep me out…” A worried expression drew across her face. “Is… Is something gonna happen?”

 

In hindsight, it was probably too early for that talk. Dream Pop wouldn’t know what I was talking about yet. But still, I wanted her to hear that. I couldn’t come up with anything else for her, at least nothing the real Pop wouldn’t already know. So I just rested a hand on her head and smiled at her. It’s gonna be okay, no matter what. Pop searched my eyes for something before she nodded and gently pushed my hand off.

 

Knock, knock, knock!

 

“Hey, I’m here! Let me in!”

 

“There he is!” Pop huffed. “Took him long enough.”

 

“Hey, Master!”

 

With that, I hopped up from my spot, made for the door and opened it, allowing the bright morning daylight to pour in and then…

 

-

 

Koichi woke up.

 

“Phew. That did it. Good.”

 

“Uh?” Koichi groggily dragged himself upright with a powerful yawn. He stretched and rubbed at his eyes before smiling at 6. “Good morning…” he wearily croaked.

 

The spectre waved from where he perched on the dresser and replied, “Hey. Morning.”

 

Koichi turned to look out the window. The world was alive and thriving, the noises of the city pouring through and the sun bright and vivacious. “...it’s awful bright for 4 in the morning,” Koichi murmured, glancing at the alarm clock.

 

…because it’s 12:30 PM.

 

“...AAAAAHHH!!!!” Koichi flopped out of bed, tripping over himself and all but ripping his pajamas off. “CRAP, CRAP, CRAP, I AM WAY TOO LATE!!!!”

 

Number 6 chuckled at the panicky display. “Koichi.”

 

“I’M SO IN FOR IT NOW! STUPID ALARM CLOCK! WHY DIDN’T IT GO OFF?” Koichi panicked, forcing himself into a pair of jeans and shoveling through his dresser for a shirt.

 

“‘Ichi.”

 

“I’m so gonna get fired and then I won’t be able to pay off these lawsuits and then I’m gonna go to prison and-”

 

“Koichi! It’s Sunday!”

 

Koichi paused, his face hidden in the middle of the shirt he was pulling on. “Huh?”

 

“It’s Sunday. You’re off today, remember?”

 

“...oh.” Koichi pulled his head through his shirt and sheepishly laughed, “Oh, right, I’m not working today. I forgot.” He breathed a sigh of relief. “Phew, almost lost my cool there for a second.”

 

“That was almost losing it? What does completely losing it look like?”

 

“Me curled up in a ball in the corner, having a mental breakdown.”

 

“...yeah, I can see it.”

 

Kind of a late start for the day, but technically, breakfast has no set schedule. “...you’re hovering over me a lot more than usual today, 6,” Koichi said as he poured himself a bowl of cereal.

 

“I’m not hovering.”

 

“You’re literally hovering over my shoulder right now.”

 

Number 6 harrumphed and pulled away, hovering a little further away. He had to know just how aware Koichi was during the night. It didn’t seem like he was at all, but 6 had to be sure. “So… how’re you feeling?”

 

“Sore,” Koichi responded, rubbing his shoulder. “Slept pretty good though. Maybe we should get a new mattress?”

 

“Yeah, probably. …so… just wondering, do you… remember? Anything?”

 

Koichi turned a confused look to 6. “...oh, like, my dream?”

 

“Sure, that!”

 

Koichi hummed in thought, recalling the events of his dream. “Well… I was back at my old job. It was a slow night and it was just me and my favorite coworker there.” “Mm-hmm.” “I was doing some cleaning when this guy showed up.” “Yeah?” “I never did figure out who he was. He just came in and hung around for a few months before NaruFest started. Tsuki was worried that he was stalking me.” 

 

“Stalki-?” Ah, no, that’s… that’s exactly what 6 was doing.

 

“So she insisted on walking me back to my apartment in case the guy attacked me.” “Awful nice of her.” “Then she left and Pop was already in my apartment so we just hung out for a bit while we were waiting for Master to show up…” “And then?”

 

Koichi shrugged. “And then I woke up. It was a good dream, I don’t know why I feel so beat up… Ow, my jaw. ”

 

“Hmm… and that was it? You don’t remember anything else?”

 

“No, that was it,” Koichi replied and narrowed his eyes at 6 confusedly. “Why are you asking all this, anyway?”

 

“N-No reason! I’m just curious. What, I’m not allowed to be curious now?” 6 spun away from Koichi with an indignant huff, putting an end to the conversation.

 

“...oookay then.”

 

Huh… So Koichi was completely unaware? The whole time? 6 glanced back over his shoulder, watching Koichi as he returned to constructing his breakfast. 6 still had no clue how exactly he managed to worm his way into the driver’s seat like he did, but it was… fun. Getting to stretch his legs again after so long. Hmmm… he’d have to investigate this.

 

“Huh?” Koichi shook the box of green tea bags as if one would jump out to surprise him. “Aw, man. I knew I forgot to grab something from the store yesterday.” He flattened the box and tossed it in the trash. “Guess we gotta go back.”

 

-

 

“Did you at least get a good look at the guy?” Sanjay the mechanic asked, looking over what was left of the security camera.

 

“Yeah, he was about…” Ben waved his hand a head over himself. “This tall-ish, he was dressed all in gray, gray hair, yellow eyes, smug smirk like he thought he was better than everyone. Especially me.”

 

“You catch a name?”

 

Ben handed a screwdriver to Sanjay and replied, “When they were in here earlier, I heard them call each other ‘Tom and Jerry,’ but that’s about it.”

 

“Hmm…” Sanjay looked down at Ben with a serious expression and told him, “Ben, buddy, you should report this to the police.”

 

Ben gave a reluctant sigh and answered, “I… I know I should but then I’d have to mention that I borrowed money from a loan shark and then…”

 

“Yeah, they’ll probably give you a funny look over that but I think they’ll be more concerned with all the property damage that happened here.”

 

“This is the cops we’re talking about. No, they won’t.”

 

“Alright then, you cynic,” Sanjay chuckled. “Still, though, getting the ball rolling on putting them away for this is better than doing nothing.” He gently handled the camera. “And you’ve got evidence.”

 

“...uh? I do? I thought that wasn’t recording anything.”

 

“Not video, no,” Sanjay said, pointing out the wire the camera was still dangling from. “But it should still have caught the audio.”

 

“ A-Audio? ” Ben parroted back, suddenly wide-eyed and pale.

 

“...yeah? What? What’s the matter?”

 

“Oh, uh, n-nothing,” Ben stammered. Then his ticket out of the conversation came in the form of a heavily made-up lady walking in through the entrance. “Afternoon, Ma’am! I’ll be right with you!” With that, Ben shuffled away, frantically typing something on his phone.

 

“...oookay? Weirdo.” 

 

Sanjay turned back to his work and managed to carefully unhook the camera from the stand when a pair of squeaky footsteps wandered up to him. “What you doing?” a tiny voice asked and he looked down to see a little boy looking up at him from the bottom of the ladder.

 

Sanjay gave the boy a friendly grin and replied, “Hey, little guy. I’m putting up new security cameras.”

“Why?”

“Because someone broke the old ones.”

“Why?”

“Because he thought he wouldn’t get in trouble for breaking everything if they couldn’t see him.”

“Why?”

“Because he’s a petty criminal and petty criminals ain’t too bright.”

“Why?”

 

“ Tyler, ” the little boy’s mother sighed, scooping him up into her arms. “C’mon, let the nice man work. Sorry about that, he’s in his ‘why’ phase.”

 

Sanjay laughed, “No harm done, ma’am. The kid’s adorable.”

 

The lady chuckled in kind, “I’m glad someone thinks that. That’s one of the two words he’s been annoying everyone at the daycare with for the last week-and-a-half.”

 

The little boy gasped and started squirming around in his mother’s grip. “ Sycruller! Sycruller! ”

 

“And that’s the other one.” 

 

The lady looked over her shoulder at what her son saw, spotting Koichi in one of the aisles. He was contemplating what sweet treat to grab for himself as a reward for leaving the apartment when he heard some mangling of his Hero name in the background. Seeing his little fan again, Koichi smiled and waved back. “Oh, we’re just running into him all over the place all of a sudden,” the lady laughed to herself. Her son was really trying to escape her arms at this point. “You wanna go say hi?” she asked her little boy and got an enthusiastic shout in return.

 

The lady set her son back down on the floor and he took off in a squeaky-shoed toddler sprint to his favorite Hero who had crouched down to his level to greet him. “<Hi, Tyler! It’s good to see you again!>”

 

“Hi, Sycruller!” Tyler babbled and poked Koichi’s shoulder. “Match!” By pure coincidence, Koichi and Tyler’s mom had the same sense in style, favoring jeans and a white graphic tee that day, though Tyler’s had a firetruck on the front and Koichi’s favored All Might.

 

“<Yeah, we match again!>” The little boy got such a kick out of matching outfits with his favorite Hero.

 

“Hi again, Skycruller,” the lady said, strolling up behind her son.

 

“<Hi! Good morning.>”

 

“Morning?” The lady glanced at her watch. “It’s almost 2:00 PM.”

 

“<Yeah… I really slept in last night.>” Koichi did some mental math on his fingers, his eyebrows raised at the answer he came up with. “<...for 17 hours.>”

 

“Wow.” The lady looked down at her son and teasingly told him, “See, Tyler? When you get to be The Skycruller’s age, you’re gonna love naps.”

 

Back at the counter, Ben hunched over his phone, frantically plugging things into the search engine. “...how… to erase… security camera… footage,” he muttered to himself under his breath. “...okay. …industrial… strength… magnet… that one. Add to cart… same-day delivery, please … and confirm!” Phew. He may just be able to keep his promise to The Skycrawler after all.

 

“Bye-bye, Sycruller!”

“<Bye, Tyler! See you later!>”

 

Koichi’s shopping basket thumped against the counter and in a panic, Ben flipped his phone over. “<Hi, I’m back.>”

 

“Oh, good, it’s just you. Hi again, Mr. Skycrawler.”

 

Koichi sighed, “<Actually, it’s the Sky crawl- > …oh wait, that was right. <Sorry, everyone says it wrong all the time.>”

 

Ben tilted the basket to the side. “This gonna be all for you?”

 

“<Yup.>” While Ben started picking items out of the basket to ring up, Koichi asked, “<Did those guys come back?>”

 

“They haven’t yet,” Ben said with a relieved smile. “I think you really did scare them off. Thank you, Mr. Skycrawler.”

 

“I did?” All Koichi really did was get in between them. Huh, that was easier than he thought.

 

Ben placed the last shopping bag of Koichi’s groceries on the counter. Looking at the screen beside him, the total came out to a clean even $50. Ah, because Koichi was swayed by the fancy name brand tea. Good thing he had a fifty in his pock- “Huh?” Koichi’s left pocket was empty and his right didn’t have anything to offer either. “What happened to it? Crap, I didn’t drop it out on the street, did I?”

 

The screen emitted a beeping sound after Ben ran his employee ID through a reader on his side. That applied his employee discount and neatly cut his total in half. “That’s gonna come out to $25, Mr. Skycrawler.”

 

“Ah… <Is that okay? Are you allowed to do that?>”

 

“If I get written up for it, I’ll deal with it later,” Ben said. “But I gotta thank you for saving me yesterday somehow.”

 

“Oh! <Thanks, you’re the best!>”

 

“No, dude, that’s you! ”

 

Koichi paid for his groceries and went on his merry way, back home for a day of relaxation. “Wow. I’m not sure what I did but that was nice of him,” he said to himself.

 

“Yup.” 6 slowed for a few steps, side-eyeing the cashier through the window. Shame he couldn’t see 6 right now. But he had better keep his promise. Number 6 will hold him to it.

 

-

 

“What do you mean you idiots got ran off?”

 

Jerry cowered under Mr. Dukk’s scowl, Tom focusing on regenerating his teeth. “I-I’m sorry, Mr. Dukk. But… exactly that.”

 

“By what exactly?” Mr. Pigg asked.

 

“Does it matter, porky?” Mr. Dukk scoffed. “There’s no excuse for these two screw-ups to be coming back empty-handed. That Dover kid’s a cool 5’3” and 120 pounds soaking wet.”

 

“And…” Jerry interrupted. “He’s got a Hero on speed dial. That’s the only reason we came back empty-handed, boss, I swear.”

 

“A Hero?” Mr. Pigg repeated, suddenly concerned. “Which one? Cow Lady? Elecplant? Captain Celebrity? Oh God, not Star and Stripe. ”

 

“Not the Captain,” Tom choked out. “One of his sidekicks. That Skyhauler punk.”

 

“You mean Sky crawler , don’t ya?” Mr. Pigg said.

 

“Hauler, cruller, crawler, who cares?” Mr. Dukk snorted.

 

Before Mr. Pigg could snipe back, Mr. Bunni growled from the chair behind him, “I am so tired of seeing that schmuck’s face everywhere I go.” He flicked off some ash from his bright orange cigar. “And now he’s interfering with my business. Of course, he must realize this means war.”

 

“What do we do, boss?”

 

Mr. Bunni stood up from his chair, adjusting the coat draped over his shoulders. “Tim, Barry, you two keep on the Dover kid. Just ‘cuz he’s got a friend in high places doesn’t mean he’s exempt from his contract.”

 

“Yes, boss,” Jerry answered.

 

“It’s actually Tom and Jer- ” Tom started but a firm swat from Jerry silenced him.

 

“And… you.” Mr. Bunni pointed in a random direction, addressing one of his other men. “Gonzales.”

 

“ Si, senor. ”

 

“Keep an eye on this Skycruller. Whoever he talks to, whatever he does, you tell me about it. He’s gonna be a real pain in the ass, I just know it.”

 

-

 

Musutafu, Japan

 

Thunk!

 

“And that is the last of it!” Ryouta proudly declared. 

 

Takoba Beach was officially cleared!

 

“Wow…” Kazuho sighed in awe, looking out to the ocean. “Look at that view… it’s gorgeous…”

 

“Yeah,” Tamao agreed. Her view was pretty gorgeous too. Kazuho noticed Tamao looking at her out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at her, Tamao yanking her gaze away to look out at the sea and pretend like she wasn’t admiring Kazuho instead.

 

Iwao ruffled Izuku’s hair and said, “Good job, kid.”

 

Izuku looked up, grinning a fat-lipped grin. “Vanks, Sensei,” he managed to say through the splint on his nose. That cracked his mentor up. “Wat? Wat!? Wat’s so fuddy!?”

 

Ryouta climbed up into the bed of the truck beside the last filled one, dragging the cooler forward. “So, I know we’re gonna do that community barbecue thing next month,” he announced, carving a frosty can of beer from the cooler. “But I see no reason we shouldn’t celebrate early!”

 

He tossed the can to Iwao. Within a spare couple of seconds, it was cracked and Iwao took a good victory swig. “My kinda guy!”

 

Ryouta passed out beers to the rest of the team, pausing when he got to Kazuho. “How ‘bout you, young lady? You want one?”

 

“Ah, I’m underage still.”

 

“Not a problem!”

 

“I’m not!” Tamao cheered. “Toss me one!”

 

“Ah, nice try, punk,” Iwao said, dragging his daughter back towards him. “Your 21st ain’t until December.”

 

“Oh my god, you guys, he remembers when my birthday is,” Tamao sarcastically deadpanned.

 

“It’s a Christmas miracle!” Rapt joked.

 

“‘Course I remember when your birthday is. I was there,” Iwao huffed.

 

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” Ryouta chuckled, fishing out a couple soda bottles from the cooler. “Here you go. I’d hate to leave you ladies out.” Kazuho and Tamao accepted the offering and Tamao clinked her bottle against Kazuho’s, getting a smile out of her.

 

Ryouta recovered another pair of sodas, handing them off to his son and Izuku. Naru heaved a dramatic, joking sigh, pretending to be disappointed over being left at the metaphorical kids table and accepted the drink from his dad. “Thanks, Dad.” He glanced over at Izuku, worriedly wincing at the splint that he came to the beach with. Cautiously, Naru asked, “So… how’d that happen?”

 

“Uh… ran into a wall,” Izuku technically lied.

 

“Ouch.”

 

“Oh, bud I’m fine. It coulda been worse.” Izuku cast a knowing look at Kazuho out of the side of his eye and she nodded. It really could’ve been so much worse.

 

Iwao cleared his throat and raised his can. “A toast… Here's to community.”

 

Ryouta mirrored Iwao’s toast. “Here’s to a job well done!”

 

Clink!

“ Cheers! ”

Notes:

Whoops, I accidentally named one of my OCs after an actual IRL person, but I think I can still skirt around it.

And techincally, Tamao doesn't have a confirmed birthday, but she strikes me as a December Sagittarius. I can't explain it. She just does.

Notes:

Heya! Long time reader, first time poster! I hope you enjoy! ^^