Chapter Text
“You do realize she could’ve killed you?”
Izuku’s eyebrows shot up at Yaoyorozu’s worry. “Killed me? We were in a public place.”
“And she’s one of the top S-Ranks in Japan! You know how they are! The law barely applies to them!”
“She wasn’t going to kill me,” Izuku reassured her. The two were currently waiting outside the Hero Safety Commission for Nejire. Yaoyorozu asked to come along when she heard the plan, and Izuku took the time to explain everything since the two had last parted. Ironically, she chose to focus on the Miruko bit. “And besides, I had Igris with me. He’s basically an S-Rank all on his own. I would’ve been okay.”
Yaoyorozu still didn’t look convinced. “You basically called her weird. Some S-Ranks would kill you for that. Please just… be more careful in the future.”
Izuku acquiesced with a nod. “So, what about the Shadows?”
“What about them?”
“Well… what should I do about them? I mean, there’s a bit of a morality issue with bringing back the dead. Especially considering that I’m the one who made them dead in the first place.”
Yaoyorozu shrugged. “But they don’t seem to mind, do they?”
“But how will we know if that’s the System or not? It could be torture for them, but the System might be forcing them to act the way they’re acting.”
“Or your initial assumption could be correct,” Yaoyorozu said, “Maybe they truly are happy to have a second chance in life.”
Izuku could sense the creatures in his shadow react to Yaoyorozu, almost as if they were nodding along. But again, Izuku couldn’t be sure if that was them, or the System.
Yaoyorozu could sense his unrest, laying a hand on his arm. “The System is already storing souls, and giving those souls a second chance is better than letting them sit there. You could be right, the System could be doing something malevolent. But there’s no way to know, so for now, you use the Shadows, and you use the System. There’s a lot we still don’t know about it, so until we learn more, or until the Shadows start giving you a sign that something’s wrong, I think you should use them…” Her brow scrunched up. “But maybe don’t use them in front of others. It could bring up a lot of questions.”
Izuku chuckled. “Way ahead of you on that. I might need a Hero Outfit soon to hide my identity.”
“So then what are you gonna do for UA?”
“Well, I’ve come this far on my own… with your help, of course,” Izuku quickly corrected. “I can always keep the Shadows as my backup plan. With the gauntlets and elemental gems I can just say I got a Reawakening, and my Quirk is Elemental Control.”
“A Quirk and a Reawakening sounds a little too convenient doesn’t it?”
“It has happened in the past. And honestly it sounds more feasible that the weakest Hero in the world would get a much bigger boost than, say, an A-Rank.”
Yaoyorozu pondered for a moment before sighing. “Well, I guess it makes more sense than trying to conceal everything , or trying to explain the System to the world. There’s not really another option.”
“Well if you don’t see another way I’m sure there isn’t one,” Izuku casually remarked, unaware of his comment's impact. As he stared out at the city, Yaoyorozu did her best to hide the blush of happiness on her face.
“Oooh! Did you bring your girlfriend?!”
“Gah!” Yaoyorozu jumped as Nejire dropped from the sky, landing next to them without a sign of strain on her body. She didn’t even have to crouch.
“That… That can’t be good for your knees…” Izuku mumbled. He probably could’ve done something similar with his new strength, but because he spent a good portion of his life as an E-Rank, he still had relatively sensible thoughts about how to treat your body.
“Hey hey! Izuku don’t ignore the question!” Nejire said, jumping towards Izuku with excitement in every syllable. “Is she your girlfriend?!”
“We’re… Raid partners,” Izuku answered, unsure of how to respond to such a question.
Nejire squealed at that. “So you’re refusing to say ‘no?’”
“Wait, that’s not-”
“It’s rude to force an answer like that,” Yaoyorozu interrupted, lightly scolding Nejire.
“So both of you are avoiding the question… interesting,” Nejire said with a teasing smirk.
Yaoyorozu and Izuku glanced at each other briefly, the single moment fostering a bountiful tension as the two thought in unison:
“I haven’t really thought about it that much…”
“We have been getting closer haven’t we…”
Nejire had spent enough time at UA, amongst the love addicted students to recognize the meaning that the glance carried, but clearly, these two needed a little more time to grow before they’d get there. So Nejire just sighed with a smile and gestured for the two to follow her.
“Come on! Let’s get you Ranked!”
“Wait, wasn’t I going to explain everything, first?”
Nejire shrugged. “Lunch is on me today! You can explain while we’re eating!”
The lobby of the Hero Safety Commission was always busy. If there was one thing to compare it to, it would be the DMV. Constant lines, constant backlogs, and constantly annoyed people. It was its own hell.
Izuku and Yaoyorozu had both waited in that hell before, when they first got their official Ranks, but instead of wading through the wasteland that was the Hero Safety Commission’s public support, Nejire led them off to the side, where a door reading, ‘Authorized Personnel and S-Ranks Only,’ waited for them.
“Nejire Hado,” She chimed, passing her badge to the man at the door, “I’ve got two guests today!” She then lowered her voice, “One’s a Reawakened. We want to get him measured.”
The man scanned her ID, then nodded, not a word out of his mouth as he acknowledged her and opened the door.
“Welcome to the real Hero Safety Commission,” Nejire said as she pulled the two into a gleaming marble lobby, almost identical to the public one, but calm, cool, collected, and professional.
S-Ranks, with their agencies or their guests, roamed the gilded halls with a relaxed smile on their face, in stark contrast to the first lobby.
“Only S-Ranks and Agency Presidents are allowed here. Obviously, they can bring their own guests, but it’s otherwise limited.” Nejire gave a small wave to the receptionist as they approached. “Hi! I scheduled a measurement test today!”
“Of course, Nejire-Chan! The room is all ready for you!”
Izuku chuckled. “So you get everyone to call you Nejire-Chan, huh?”
“It’s in my contract!” She joked, handing them temporary badges for the day before heading off for the test room.
“Well well well,” A familiar voice spoke up, coming out from a nearby doorway. “If it isn’t the survivors.”
“D-Detective Tsukauchi!” Izuku rubbed the back of his neck, feeling the awkward stare of the Hero Commission agent.
“Relax kid.” Tsukauchi smiled, brushing his hand against his stubble. “You haven’t committed any crimes. It’s clear that whatever Reawakening you went through was somehow abnormal, or delayed. I’m just glad I wasn’t losing my marbles, cause no Dungeon would function like that without something special about it.” As Izuku sighed in relief, Tsukauchi continued, “But you do owe me. Miruko was asking all about you. I made sure she didn’t get ahold of your address.”
Izuku balked. “O-Oh… Is she… angry? Should I be warning my sister about her-”
“She’s not out to kill you,” Tsukauchi quickly corrected. What he had intended as a joke had turned into an accidental panic. “She wanted to apologize, I think. She said she was being weird the other day. But I figured it would be best if she didn’t know your address just in case. I’m sure you know just how… intense… she can be.”
Izuku bowed his head. “Thank you.”
“I can’t believe you managed to stop an S-Rank from getting what they wanted,” Yaoyorozu remarked, to which the detective shrugged.
“I may be an A-Rank, but I’ve got enough pull to stand up to the S-Ranks every now and again. Although, if you ever put me in front of Endeavor I might need a new change of underwear after the fact. That guy isn’t all there, I swear.” Tsukauchi spun a finger around his temple in the universal sign of ‘crazy.’ If Endeavor himself saw it, he might’ve very well killed Tsukauchi then and there.
“I’ll let you kids carry on your way, but…” The detective paused for a moment. “I’m sure you’ll brush this advice off. Just don’t think a Reawakening makes you any different,” He cautioned. “Keep the mentality of an F-Rank. It’ll keep you alive longer.” With that, Tsukauchi brushed past the group, clapping both Yaoyorozu and Izuku on the shoulder.
“That was…”
“Uplifting,” Yaoyorozu deadpanned.
“No…” For the first time since meeting her, Izuku noticed a perturbed look on Nejire’s face. “That was strange… He never speaks so freely… He’s always been the cliched brooding detective.”
“Maybe he just woke up on the right side of the bed?”
Nejire shook her head, but cast aside the dreary look and put back the cheery grin she was so known for. “You’re probably right!”
Eventually, the trio came to the measurement room, where a massive sphere rested. It looked like a solid ball of obsidian, but Izuku knew that it was condensed Villain Cores, forged into a measurement device.
“Please rest your palm against the device and I’ll begin the test,” A plain woman in office clothes said, walking over to the control panel.
Izuku did just that and a few moments later, the woman’s face scrunched up whilst gazing at the display.
“Is everything okay?” Nejire asked.
“Well, the machine is reading him as a B-Rank, based on the mana output he’s capable of. But it’s also reading like there’s a dozen other people in the room. An A-Rank, several B-Ranks, and even an S-Rank.”
“Not us?” Nejire questioned, looking between herself and Yaoyorozu.
“No…”
Of course, Izuku and Yaoyorozu knew the truth. The machine was picking up the Shadows hiding inside of Izuku. Which at least helped establish that Shadows were indeed created at the same Rank and power as their predecessors. By having Igris under his command, Izuku jumped to what was essentially an S-Ranking.
Izuku couldn’t help but grin at that. Just a week ago, he was barely even an E-Rank. But now, he stood on his own as a B-Rank, with an entire party’s worth of power at his beck and call.
“Will it interfere with my measurement?”
The woman shook her head, still befuddled. “I have a clear reading of you, so I won’t have any problems verifying it for your new ID. And have you Awakened a Quirk since your last ID update?”
“Basic Elemental Manipulation,” Izuku responded.
She typed on her display for a few moments longer before the machine spit out a laminated card with Izuku’s face and details on it.
“The machine has Ranked you as low A-Rank overall, with B-Rank amounts of Mana. It assessed you as a multirole battlemage.” She nodded, impressed. “Those are some very desirable qualifications. You might be able to get a gig at one of the bigger Hero Agencies with some credentials like UA.”
“Thank you,” Izuku said, taking his new badge as the woman bowed.
They had considered doing a remeasurement of Yaoyorozu as well, but not much had actually changed for her. Her Mana measurements would probably be the same despite her improved Quirk.
Besides, they didn’t want to risk her Quirk evolution becoming a big thing. If the Hero Safety Commission started talking about it, others would surely hear the rumors of a girl with a powerful evolved Quirk. It would make Yaoyorozu’s parents’ job of finding their daughter that much easier. They weren’t sure just how far their influence reached, but it was better to be safe than sorry. And since she was already Ranked at A, it wouldn’t affect anything within the UA system.
“Now you won’t get put into the super low tier classes at UA. Better teachers, better training, better everything.”
Izuku rolled his eyes at that. “There’s a class system to everything huh? Even for students…”
Nejire shrugged. “Sorry Izu, but the lower Ranks don’t take as much precedent. There’s plenty of lower Ranks for the government to throw at the smaller Gates, but never enough high Rankers.”
There was a lot wrong with how the government prioritized lives, but Izuku kept quiet. He didn’t want to upset Nejire. After all, it wasn’t like it was her fault.
“Now then! Off to lunch!” Nejire shouted, pointing into the air like a general leading their troops.
*******
“And that’s about everything,” Izuku said, finishing off his recap as Nejire finished off her sandwich. He had obviously left out Yaoyorozu’s history, as that was her info to divulge as she saw fit.
“So what you’re telling me is that you’re not a B-Rank, but Japan’s newest S-Rank?”
Izuku tilted his hand side to side. “It seems like the System will at least let me reach S-Rank status, yeah. We have no idea what the limits are.”
“And an undead army on top of it…” Nejire rubbed at her brow. “You cannot, under any circumstances, let the public see it. Not only will the S-Ranks and higher be after you, but entire governments. They’ll do whatever it takes to get you on their side, even if it means threatening your family or way of life. People like Endeavor would be no different.”
“I’m sorry,” Izuku muttered as she grew pale with worry. “I didn’t realize telling you would have such an effect…”
“I’m glad you trust me,” Nejire clarified. “I’m just concerned for your sake. From now on, unless absolutely necessary, keep the System between the four of us,” She said, grouping Kei in with them. “Even Heroes like Dabi or Ryukyu, who aren’t so caught up in the power structure, would be careless with a secret like that… And if you must use the Shadows, have some sort of disguise or covering ready for yourself.”
Izuku nodded. “Do you think any of it will interfere with the Entrance Exams?”
Nejire shook her head. “Unless you show off the Shadows or System, there’s nothing that should arouse suspicion thanks to your updated ID.”
“Then I guess that’s settled for now,” Izuku said. “It’ll be a hassle if we ever get a contract with a Pro Agency though…”
“By the time you’re out of UA, you might be enough to form an Agency on your own,” Nejire suggested. “You might even get to keep your anonymity if you get strong enough. All Japan cares about is that they have their own powerhouses. You might even just end up as a Solo Hero like Miruko!”
“Isn’t defying laws like that akin to a National-Rank?” Yaoyorozu asked.
“Like he said, we have no idea how far the System will go. And it’s not that far-fetched to have an S-Rank be secretive.”
“We’ll cross that bridge when we get there,” Izuku said with a smile, content for a moment to just enjoy the moment, the realization that he wasn’t just strong and growing stronger, the realization that he had friends he could rely on, friends who would be there. “For now, all we have to worry about is the Entrance Exams!”
*******
“Master? Mistress? Have you felt it?”
Before a throne of darkness, a lowly servant of the royalty knelt. He dared not gaze up at his leaders. He did not have permission.
“We have. The Shadow Monarch has graced this world with his presence.” The woman declared in a voice that oozed with honey, like that of a venus flytrap.
“It’s time for us to prepare our daughter for the ritual,” The man said, standing from his throne. “Momo has avoided her parents for far too long. Her destiny is catching up with her.