The Bizarrely Disastrous Days of Windex

by DawnDEve

Summary:

Emitter. Mutant. Transformation.

The older generations liked to tell the tales about the old days, a time of peace (not really but roll with it), when no human had a quirk. But all that changed when a glowing baby was born. Only the government, master of bad decisions, could have prevented what came next, but noo, experimenting on babies is deemed atrocious and inhumane by most civilisations. More than 100 years have passed, and humans have yet to resolve their differences.

Eleven years ago, my mom went to the grocery store to get cleaning supplies, leaving me to watch All might’s debut video for the thousandth time. Some people believe there will never be a hero that will surpass him. But I know. I will not lose hope. I believe that one day, Windex will save the world.

Chapter 1: Intoduction

Notes:

Hello, dear fellow mentally un- I mean, fellow readers. Welcome to a deep dive into my, and pookie’s (aka my equally mentally unstable, enabling best friend) brilliant brain’s innermost mechanisms.
If you click on this story, you have automatically signed a contract stating that I bear no responsibility for any loss of braincells, dehydration, need to hit your head against the closest flat (or not) surface and anything that might cause physical or mental harm.
If you do wish to take the legal route and sue, sucks to be you lmao, you’ll never get me alive.
With that said, hope you guys enjoy the tale of our unlikely protagonist.
Also, I am both dyslexic and greek so there are bound to be a few typos. I apologise in advance.

“That’s mean. Can’t you see he’s crying?”

A young boy desperately tried to keep his composure in front of the older children. It was truly a sight to behold. At this point I think he was crying more than the actual victim.

“Even though you are quirkless, you’re pretending to be a hero, huh squirt?”

Sparks flew, and not in the metaphorical sense, while the boy called Kacchan brutally attacked the bullies. I mean really, he literally used explosions against other kids. Is there no police around here? I would even settle for just the parents intervening. Come on, it’s one of the few anime where they at least exist, please use them. Unfortunately though, for as powerful as his quirk was, he was still a little child in front of much older ones.

Moments after the incident, a small figure entered the park. What he saw would play a detrimental role in his development.

“I-…Izuku, Katsuki?”, he barely managed to get out, as he was frozen in place.

It was a normal reaction, seeing people close to you so broken was not a pretty sight. He, of course, knew what had happened. It didn’t take a genius to figure it out. Sadly, discrimination persisted even now. Approaching the fallen boys, lying next to each other, he heard his little brother muttering.

“All men are not created equal.”

Those words made him freeze again, although not in the same way as before. In that moment the only thing replaying in his mind was how small and helpless the green-haired boy sounded. That was the only push it took for him to fully develop his ninja w- I mean his goal. All men might not be created equal, but who is to say you can’t break yourself down and use the scraps to build it up again the way you want to be. If he can’t be the creator, then he will become someone even better. Because if all it takes to never see his loved ones in that state, is to become the strongest, God be damned, he will wipe out all the evil on earth. 

Chapter 2: Accidentally became a protagonist

Cherry blossoms littered the air as two middle school students rushed to class. Running through the crowds, just to catch a glimpse of the action, was usual for the two of them. Well, for one more than the other, but if Izuku asked him to walk through hell and back just to get an autograph of some random hero, he would gladly do it.

As soon as they got to their seats the bell rang signaling the start of classes.

“Since you are all third years, it’s time for you to think seriously about your future.”

The air grew tense for a second before the teacher happily exclaimed.

“But you are all pretty much planning to go into the hero course, right?”

Cheers erupted from the students. I am pretty sure someone just stretched out their eyeballs. And is that student not wearing a top? Doesn’t that violate the dress code? Going back to the situation at hand.

“If I remember correctly, some of you want to go to UA high, right?”

And here come the surprised reactions. Quite uncalled for, to be honest. A specific trio had been rambling about it for years, even though it has one of the best hero courses in all of Japan and is notoriously difficult to get into.

“Let’s see, Bakugo wanted to go to UA as well as the Midoriya siblings, right?”

He should not have said that. God knows what the students thought of this, but they didn’t dare to show it. Not in front of them.

Katsuki slowly turned to the back of the class where the brothers were seated and flashed them a smirk. His gaze quickly switched from Izuku to the seat next to him. He had to take a moment to take in one of the people he has known most of his life.

He was tall, quite a bit taller than average, if we could even use that word in this universe, with muscles slightly visible beneath his uniform. The blond could only brace himself to look at his face. He was ethereal, so to speak. A face as if sculpted by the gods themselves. A bit more masculine than most people his age due to his sharp eyes and strong jawline. He always seemed to have a red hue to him which contrasted nicely with his otherwise pale features.

At that moment, Katsuki couldn’t help but wonder what was going through his mind. It was truly an enigma, and that bothered him. Even after so many years of friendship, he managed to conceal his emotions so effectively, always acting as a support beam for others. The blond was determined to be one for him, too.

The rest of the school day went on without any disturbances. Since it was the first day, they didn’t really do much, so Izuku had a lot of time to think. What of, you may ask? His tragic backstory of course, this is an anime we are talking about, even if he had a generally alright childhood compared to other protagonists.

It had always been his dream to become a hero. Ever since he saw that damned All might video. Young and impressionable as he was, it really had an impact on him. He wanted to help people with a smile on his face, show them that everything was going to be alright. Be the hero this world needs.

 

~~~

 

“You should probably give up.”

Utter silence. Except, of course, for the constant ringing in Izuku’s ears. The doctor took a deep breath before continuing.

“Ever since quirks manifested, it became common practice to see if the pinky toe was missing a joint or not.”

Got to love how evolution works. Who could have known that a mutation on the gene for a bone formation could have such a huge impact on the population. We must ignore though, that it, for some reason, happened to thousands of people at the same time. What were they feeding that generation? An even better question is, what was going on before the first quirked person was born? We never find out anything about before that moment. Maybe a nuclear war took place and had such an effect on people’s genomes? Still wouldn’t explain how everyone had the mutation on that exact gene. And on that note, is the gene dominant or recessive? Izuku was born from 2 parents with it, but he didn’t inherit it so one would think it’s dominant. Then again, there were many instances that a child was born with the mutation even if none of his parents had it. But we are getting off track here, back to the story.

A small figure inside the room was taking all this information in. Sure, having a quirk sounded cool but why was it weird that someone was quirkless? 20% of the population was too, so 1 in 5 people. That’s quite a significant part of any given community. It’s like saying being black is unusual. Come on people, we should be over that already. But the look on Izuku’s face was anything but normal. Why did he look so sad?

“He saves everyone with a smile, no matter what trouble they are in. He is such a cool hero… Can I… be a hero too?”

The response was immediate. In just seconds the two of them had Izuku in their arms.

“I’m sorry Izuku. I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.”

‘I don’t think that is what one should say, it’s not any one’s fault.’

It had always been his dream to become a hero. In that moment though, he needed one himself. Someone who would show Izuku everything was going to be alright. And if there was anything he could do, God himself be his witness, he would be that person for his brother. If along the way, he had to sacrifice a few things, he would gladly do it with a smile on his face. A smile that would put the stars of the night sky to shame. Yes, the stars, for he would be a guiding light in the dark times and leave the role of the sun to Izuku.

 

~~~

 

The bell rang again, this time signaling the end of classes for the day. The two boys started gathering their stuff to get back home. Sadly, Katsuki would not be able to join them since he had to run a few errands, quite out of the way of their usual path.

Izuku looked lost in thought as they started their journey back, but let’s be honest, his emotions were clearly visible on his face. The two failed to sense the danger that was looming over them until the last possible seconds.

What he saw was horrifying. Truly, some of his worst nightmares combined. Izuku being attacked, and that filthy villain.

Almost a decade of training prepared him for this moment. He breathed in and drew his fist back. The next thing that happened was not clear. One moment Izuku was being engulfed by dark slime and the next he was coughing on the ground after a blast of wind knocked both of them over.

“It’s alright young man. I am here!”

Is that… All might?, Izuku thought before briefly passing out.

He ran towards his fallen brother carefully looking for any visible injuries. Thankfully there weren’t any, and only seconds passed before he started to regain consciousness. That was a relief, any more and he might have suffered brain damage.

“I am glad you’re okay. Sorry about getting you caught in a villain attack.”

Izuku couldn’t believe any of his senses. All might, his idol, was right there and saved him. He looked exactly the same, yet so different, than he had imagined he would in real life.

“Well, I need to take this guy to the police. See you again on the other side of the screen.”

The green-haired boy had to act quickly, he barely gave any thought in his next actions.

Suddenly both him and All might were gone, leaving our protagonist worrying for his brother’s safety, but he was sure that, since he was with the No1 hero, he would be in good hands. Unfortunately, none of them realized that the threat was not over yet.

 

~~~

 

On a roof, quite far from the attack, Izuku could barely stand. Thoughts ran through his mind, thousands of kilometers per second (eagles per freedom for the Americans). At last, he managed to stutter out.

“E-even if… even if I don’t have a quirk… can I become a hero?”

To say All might was stunned, was an understatement. He didn’t have enough time to react before smoke engulfed his whole body.

“I want to be the greatest hero, like you…!”

The boy’s soft voice suddenly got a surprised edge. Were his eyes deceiving him? Jack Skellington, is that you? Oops, wrong media.

“You’re a fake?!”

“I am… All might.” Blood suddenly spurted out of his mouth making it even harder to believe his words. All might? More like 1/4 might.

“You know how the guys at the pool are constantly flexing and posturing? It’s like that."

Izuku could feel his world and everything he knew crumbling around him. Surely there was an explanation.

“It’s an injury I got from an enemy attack, five years ago. Half of my respiratory organs were destroyed, and I lost my whole stomach.”

The now frail looking adult said, while lifting his shirt to show a huge scar. We will just ignore that the only respiratory organ close to it is the lungs and they are one of the 6 organs that make up the respiratory system. Math and medicine do not work that way but hey, in this universe those rules probably do not apply.

“Right now, I can only work as a hero for about three hours a day.”

Five years ago? What happened then? The boy started to voice the questions inside his head.

“Five years ago… Was that when you fought Toxic Chainsaw?”

“You are well informed. But a punk like that couldn’t beat me.”

All might said, shaking his head.

“I will save people with a smile. The symbol of peace cannot be daunted. Pro heroes are always risking their lives. Saying that it will be possible without a quirk, is something I cannot do so easily.”

Just give up.

You are hopeless.

You will never be able to achieve your dream.

Izuku what are you doing with that All might figurine, and where are all the jars?

Those words he heard often, too often. Too often for a child. Children should be encouraged. Taught that even though they should strive to be their best selves, it’s alright to make mistakes. That is how they will learn. It’s cruel to say that to anyone, but when said so often that it gets engraved in their minds, is even worse.

All might quietly left the roof, leaving the boy all alone. He looked as if he was frozen in time. Barely even breathing. A loud noise snapped him out of his trance and immediately a burned stench filled his nose. Was that smoke he saw? Was it a fire? A villain attack? The second option seemed more likely. Izuku felt the urge to run there before All might’s words flooded his mind.

 

~~~

 

“Get out of here! Cover your mouths and noses!”

It was a disaster. One would expect that with so much fire, they would be able to at least see easily, but the smoke lowered the heroes’ visibility by a lot. They had to evacuate everyone. Every second was important.

“The villain has a hostage, it’s a student!”

That sentence was enough to make anyone’s blood run cold.

The teen seemed to be struggling with all he had. He was the source of the fire engulfing the area. Most heroes had their hands full, trying to save the bystanders and putting out the fire. No one had a quirk that could help with the hostage situation. That led to a terrifying thought. What if, when the appropriate hero arrived, it would already be too late?

Suddenly, someone barged through the crowd, heading towards the sludge.

What did I do? Why did I just run out? What am I even going to do? I haven’t read enough comics to know where this is going.

With pure adrenaline running through his veins, Izuku threw his backpack at the villain.

“AH, MY EYES!”

Cue the dramatic sequence of the things we saw less than 20 minutes ago.

“Why are you here Izuku?!”

Was he serious? He could hurt himself. Sure, they had trained together these past few years, but this was an actual villain, one even pros had a very difficult time dealing with. Who was Katsuki kidding though, he would have done the same in an instant. That didn’t stop him from worrying about his childhood friend, though. A strained smile spread across the green-haired boy’s lips.

“You look like you needed help.”

The sight of the boy was everything All might, who just happened to be there, needed to rush into action.

“DETROIT SMASH!”

Izuku felt a huge gust of wind for the second time that day. The hero might have overdone it, honestly. It was strong enough to change the weather, which can be explained scientifically but we won’t go into detail right now.

Now that the villain had been dealt with, the boys were taken to the paramedics nearby.

Izuku got a huge lecture, of course, but Katsuki didn’t come out unscathed either. He was praised for his power as usual, but got reprimanded for putting many peoples’ lives in danger while using it. He was still young, and if he wanted to work in this field, he had to be more careful. He tried to pay attention; he really did, yet he couldn’t get rid of the ringing in his ears.

 

~~~

 

After both friends made sure the other one was alright and Izuku reluctantly left the blond a couple blocks away from his house, the young Midoriya walked quietly back home. Guilt ate away at his heart. In his mind, this only solidified how useless he was. He was glad he tried to help, but the situation was his fault in the first place, or so he told himself.

“I am here!”

Izuku almost screamed in surprise. How did All might get here? Why did he get here?

All might opened his mouth to speak, surely to say something heroic, but before he could, blood started sputtering from his mouth and he returned to his smaller form. Really, why does this man wear a white top when he knows that he will most likely get blood on it?

“Young man- cough- I came with thanks, a correction and a suggestion.”

The next words he spoke would change the course of this story completely.

“I was not completely truthful with my last statement on the roof.”

More tears ran down the boy’s face. At this point are we sure he doesn’t have a water quirk? A normal person would have died of dehydration long ago.

“You too, can be a hero.”

 

~~~

 

After a long conversation where All might basically gave away his biggest secret, which could be detrimental to the world, to a 14-year-old boy, who he knew only for a few hours- smart move- Izuku knew he had to say something else that was long due.

“I never got to thank you for saving me the first time.”

All might looked puzzled for a second.

“I wasn’t the one who saved you though, I just captured the villain.”

Was that true? The power felt so similar though. The only other person at the scene was…

 

~~~

 

Izuku got home that night, only to be bombarded by his crying mother who saw the attack on the news.

“Your brother is also very worried; he almost ran out of the house when he saw the news, but All might got there before he could. He already called Katsuki to see if he was okay and ask where you were, since you weren’t picking up your phone. He’s probably at your room, waiting.”

Izuku wasted no time, pretty sure he had given his family a heart attack today. Opening his bedroom door, he came face to face with his brother, whose face visibly relaxed when he saw that Izuku was safe. The siblings might not be that touchy, but they hugged tightly until one was sure today was real, and the other that he was not hallucinating his brother being safe.

“I am glad you are safe, Izu.”

Izuku briefly glanced around his room taking in all the pictures of them that littered the walls.

“I am glad too… Windex.”

Chapter 3: Child trafficking should not be normalised

Sharp knocking interrupted 3-year-old Windex’s sleep. He blinked his fierce orbs clearly disoriented and looked around to find the source of the noise.

“Open up you little brat, come to the living room at once!”

Another day is this hellhole, oh how he wished to run away from here. His mother had become quite abusive and neglectful after his dad left to get milk one day and never came back. With a sigh, he threw his waist length wavy auburn but also blond and maybe even chocolate brown in some lightings, hair into a messy bun and grabbed a book before glancing at his reflection in the mirror. His orbs stared back at him, looking like pools of melted caramel as the light from the window fell on them. He didn’t bother putting on makeup, he didn’t really need it anyway.

Walking into the living room, he coughed because of all the smoke in the air. They should really open a window.

“Listen here you gremlin, I am out of money for drugs, so I sold you.”

“Wait, you did? You can’t do that, it’s illegal. Isn’t this considered human trafficking? Who in their right minds would buy a human, and a child one at that?”

His rant was cut short when the front door opened. In walked a group of people dressed in fancy, black suits. Tattoos covered any square cm of uncovered skin. Man, tattooing their eyelids must have really hurt.

“’Ello, love.”

The middle person flashed a smirk towards him, his canines glinting dangerously in the moonlight. This can’t be! Those people were dangerous, everyone knew it. They were the infamous mafia leaders of the local werewolf pack. And even more concerning, it was morning just a couple minutes ago, plus they were inside. Was this the effect of one of their quirks? What did they want with him? He was just a normal boy, with a normal life. But there was something about him that no one knew. That's right, our protagonist had a secret. He was not miraculous, nor simply the best. There were times he wanted to run away when things went wrong. Yes, not miraculous at all. Unlucky would be a better word. Even the power of love could not save someone who has never felt it. He was quirky, did not fit in with others. He often was called weird by his classmates and even got many notes shoved in his locker which he never opened, afraid of the threats they might contain.

*Side note, they were friendship requests since many of the kids were too intimidated by his presence to ask him face to face.*

“We saw you in the park, and you caught our interest. You were under a tree, reading. That is unusual. I mean, you are three years old. Most people learn to read at five. You are not like other girls at all. Mostly because you are not a girl, and a child, and a Windex bottle. From then on, we kept tabs on you until we found out all the information we needed. Luckily, we saw that you were up for sale on craigslist and managed to bid the highest in time. And let us tell you, the competition was difficult to defeat. Those darn kpop bands are really getting in our business of kidnap- I mean, surprise adopting kids.”

We are going to ignore that that is creepy and stalker behavior, bordering on pedophilia, since it will be one of the most normal parts of this story.

“Pack your bags, you are coming with us. We must get you some decent clothes for Jackson Wang’s party. Tonight, you will be introduced to the other gangs.”

And so began Windex's life in the mafia. Not that it lasted a long time. Barely two weeks had passed and in that time, he got kidnapped 17 times, almost died 4 times and got asked for his hand in marriage 9. The only day that he actually enjoyed was his first, during the party. There he had managed to make his first friend but sadly, he never saw him again after that. He had really tried to look for him throughout the years but he barely remembered any characteristics, not that any stood out that much, anyway. The whole situation led to the hard decision of letting Windex leave, since his safety was the most important thing, and this kind of life proved to not be for him. Who would have guessed.

That is how Windex ended up on a supermarket self, after being mistaken for a cleaning supply on sale by the tired workers. Thankfully, Midoriya Inko noticed him, and her decent human being instincts kicked in. She decided to take him home until they found a solution to his situation, which did not really go according to plan but it was for the best. It took a while to explain to the workers that, no, he was a child, not a windex bottle and that holding him hostage to sell later was illegal.

"You guys should really ask for a raise, if you are overworked to the point of mixing up a human child and a cleaning product."

Thus started our protagonist’s story. What a start, right? But it was worth it, for he got to feel love for the first time in his life.

Chapter 4: A wildflower and a child

The days after the sludge incident were chaotic, so to speak. Izuku seemed to always be busy with something, and that was reflected in his face, which looked more and more worn out as the days passed. By the first week, it had started to really worry his brother. The younger boy was not one to keep secrets from him and that could mean the situation was really bad. Windex tried to calm himself by rationalizing that Izuku is smart, and he wouldn’t put himself in too much danger without informing someone else. At least that is what he hoped. He will come around, he told himself, he would tell me if it’s something he couldn’t do alone, right? Then again, we are talking about the same person who rushes to crime scenes the moment he realises they are happening.

At the same time, Katsuki had also been acting strange. Sure, he was his usual loud and confident self, but it looked more and more forced as time passed. He was also way more irritable, lashing out at anyone who got too close and not instigating his usual playful fights or headlocks.

And that is how our protagonist was left worrying over two of his closest loved ones, without anyone to talk about it. Well, other than his mother, of course, but he didn’t want to put even more weight on her shoulders. She surely noticed something was up, we are talking about Inko here, but she hadn’t made a move to address it yet. At least until a few minutes before. Izuku had left the house in a rush while shouting about having something to do, leaving them to wash and dry the dishes from their breakfast.

“You know, you should trust him more to take care of himself.”

That was surprising to hear. Was he really worried because he didn’t trust him enough? He was his little brother, it’s his responsibility to take care of Izuku. He had made a whole dramatic vow to himself a few chapters ago and everything.

“I know you want to protect him, but he won’t grow if you don’t let him learn through his own experiences.”

Windex didn’t think he was babying Izuku so much. He was growing, he was flourishing, wasn’t he? He… he was being treated like a fragile flower, one that could only survive in a greenhouse. Given everything he needed to thrive but was that really thriving? No, heroes are not mere flowers, they are weeds. Meant to survive in almost any condition, coming back every time they are cut down. Heroes are not meant to be perfect, not beautiful, not something on display. They should sprout blossoms that help them survive, and in turn help the rest of the ecosystem continue on. A flower in a greenhouse won’t do that. It won’t help create even more flowers by spreading his seeds. It's roots won't feed and won't be fed by the plants around it. No, they will only be reproduced for those few people that want to brag about them when they look best. Until they wilt. Until they hold no purpose for them. Until they inevitably are thrown aside. That was not Izuku’s dream. He wanted to inspire people, to be the help people need and he wouldn’t be able to reach that goal if he didn’t go through hardships on his own. A hero who did not understand what he was protecting others from, well, was he really a hero?

“How do you always know what to say mom?”

Inko smiled, glad that her few words had the impact she wanted. Both her children were strong, that she was sure of. They would be able to achieve anything they put their mind to. But they were still children, they needed guidance, and she would fulfill that role the best she could.

“Because you, my sons, deserve the best and I will do anything to give it to you.”

Windex felt something rubbing against him and looked down only to see their cat looking up at him.

“Even princess agrees, don’t worry so much. He will tell us when he is ready, until then we just need to support him.”

Yes, that is what they had to do. What they will do. He trusts his brother and that won’t change. He will be next to him at a moment’s notice, but their paths are not the same, nor should they try to make them be. They are not walking in parallel paths, nor perpendicular ones. Life is not a simple straight line. The function that describes it has way too many variables for that to be the case. They will have crossing points, but even when far from those, they will know that the other is heading to the next one and waiting for them to catch up. That is all they needed.

“Now, there is still something that is bothering you, I can tell. Do you want to talk about it?”

Of course, there was still Katsuki’s situation but now he knew what he had to do. With a kiss on his mother’s cheek and a quick scratch under princess’s jaw, Windex headed towards the blond’s house.

~~~

“What are you doing here?”

Katsuki looked more guarded than usual. The only time Windex and Izuku were on the other side of that treatment was when the three had their annual prank war.

“You will tell me what is going on.”

Having known him almost his whole life, he knew waiting for Tsuki to talk about what is troubling him, on his own accord, would lead nowhere anytime soon. And he would be damned if he let his best friend suffer alone for any longer.

Katsuki's first reaction was of course to try to deny the accusation. There was nothing wrong, and if there was, he is strong enough to take care of it on his own, thank you very much.

“I know you are strong.”

Those words stopped his barely coherent blabbering in its tracks. The blond’s eyes brimmed with tears. He wanted to talk; he really did. But every time he thought about it, it was as if he was suffocating all over again. He couldn’t get the memories off his head. He was supposed to become a hero goddammit. Being so shaken up by a small villain attack is not how a hero would react. He was strong, stronger than the others. He had to be.

“I know you are strong enough, but I also know that whatever you are doing right now is not fighting. It’s letting it beat you up. Not avoiding any blow by sparing it a glance. Strength is subjective and there are opponents that can’t be defeated if you don’t acknowledge they exist.”

Katsuki brought a hand to his face to wipe away the tears, having ignored the tickling feeling of them running down his cheeks before. He started hyperventilating, prompting Windex to go hug him as usual but his immediate reaction was to flinch and take a step back.

“Don't touch me. Please, just don’t, please.”

And Windex didn’t. The older Midoriya sibling just sat listening to the blond going on and on about his experience during the attack and what came after it. All the nightmares, all the flashbacks, all the panic attacks. Everything felt as if it was caving in on him and that made it harder and harder to breathe. He didn’t want to feel that way, he hated not breathing, he hated not being able to move, he hated feeling as if he was about to die. He hated feeling weak. Most of all, he hated himself for not handling it better, both during the attack and after it.

To any person’s eyes, other than his own, he was a child. A child that shouldn’t have to go through all that at any point in their life. But to Katsuki, a child was weak. In reality, children are the bravest creatures, facing things head on before being told whether they should be scared. And Katsuki needed to be told that it's okay to feel that terror.

“It’s going to be alright.”
"What you are feeling is completely valid."
“You are safe now.”
“You have people that will protect you.”

All these statements, Windex whispered softly while watching his friend let everything out. They were not empty words; they both knew it. Katsuki just needed the validation that what he is going through does not make him weak, that things will get better. He will still be able to achieve what he has been striving for his whole life. And even if he didn’t want to take that route anymore, no one would punish him for it. It was his choice, and everyone who cared about him would stay by his side, protecting him just like they have always been doing. Just like he was doing for them.

The blond did something he thought he wouldn’t do any time soon but it sure was a huge step compared to the last few days. He wrapped himself around Windex's arm, like a small animal clinging to their mother. He buried his face in the taller boy's shoulder and let all his emotions flow out. Windex slowly reached his hand to his friend's hair, carefully, and as gently as possible, so that he wouldn’t frighten him. Katsuki was free to end the embrace when he wanted to, but he just stayed there, for it was the first time in a while that touching didn’t feel suffocating. Instead, it was as if a shield was protecting him from the rest of the world outside of their little bubble. It might take some time, but things would get better. Now he was sure.

Chapter 5: Time passes by fast when you are an anime character

Phssit phssit… phssit phssit… phssit phssit…

It was still quite early in the morning, the sun barely peaking over the horizon, and our protagonist was calmly sleeping in his room. His dreams though? That’s another thing.

“Hydrate us Windex~”

The boy woke up with a start, sweat dripping down his well-built muscles.

Well, that was something for sure.

It had been a couple of weeks since the sludge incident and Windex had calmed down considerably after seeing his brother in such a good mood, even if he looked more tired. Something must have happened, but he was not the one to pry. Izu would surely tell him when he was ready.

Welp, it’s morning and for our protagonist that means training. If he wanted to keep his promise, he had to give his best self. And so, today’s training began.

*Cue training montage with 1977s hit song "Gonna Fly Now", also known as "Theme from Rocky", the theme song from the movie Rocky, composed by Bill Conti with lyrics by Carol Connors and Ayn Robbins, and performed by DeEtta West and Nelson Pigford. *

~~~

10 months passed before anyone knew it and one could see the difference in the two brothers. Izuku, albeit the dark eyebags, stood straighter, when he wasn’t slouching from exhaustion that is, and his uniform seemed to highlight his newly gained muscles. Katsuki was proud at the boy’s progress, even though, most of the time, he was seen yelling at Izuku to properly hydrate and rest.

On the other hand, Windex had gotten a bit taller, at around 1.95 m or approximately 18.22 McDonald’s quarter pounders for our American readers. The little baby fat he had almost completely vanished and raw muscle took its place. Even his features were noticeably sharper than at the beginning of the year. He was truly a sight to behold.

On the morning of the exam, the siblings made their way to the UA school grounds. Once they reached the gates, they tried to find a place to stand and wait for their third friend, who had decided to sleep as much as he could. Izuku looked a bit nauseous, but Windex attributed the fact to his nerves. As the younger brother was giving himself a pep talk, he failed to notice his own foot because yes, it’s normal to forget how to walk sometimes, thank you very much, and tripped, falling face first towards the ground.

I’m a failure… I’m sorry All might. I’m sorry mom. I’m sorry Windex. I’m sorry that one hamster I had in second grade. I’m sorry miss Jackson. God I’ve been falling for a long time...

“Hey, are you alright? You’ve been staring at the floor for a few minutes, quite frankly it’s concerning.”

“Ah… ga… eh…”

“…Uhmm… is he...--?”

The girl’s words got stuck in her throat and her heart started thumping against her ribcage. That was honestly a very concerning physical reaction, but she paid it no mind. She couldn’t believe her eyes; no human must hold that much beauty. But he was not human, he was an angel that descended on earth to bless us all. His face reminded her of a sif bottle but that couldn’t be true. No, he was far too perfect for that. Sif bottles are a mere badly made copy compared to the person standing beside her.

Meanwhile, our protagonist had noticed how red the girl had gotten. Is she trembling? Am I that scary? He barely managed to utter a sound before a cloud of dust entered his vision as the girl ran away from them, while shouting quick words of encouragement. As he turned to voice his thoughts to his brother, he heard him muttering.

“I talked to a girl!”

A small smile lit his features. Izuku was not exactly correct, but Windex would never dare to erase the smile on the boy’s face. Subtly checking his phone, he read Katsuki’s message, who informed them that he was already inside the auditorium. He had seen the whole scene and felt way too much secondhand embarrassment to intervene, so he just went into the building. With a small chuckle at both his loved ones’ antics, Windex led Izuku to the examination room. They wouldn’t want to be late after all.

~~~

“For all you examinee listeners tuning in, welcome to my show today! Everybody say hey!”

*Cricket noises*

No, like actual ones. Where were they even coming from? Windex turned his head towards the sound and saw a green haired girl hurriedly closing some Tupperware. Maybe it’s a snack? I mean, the written portion of the test took quite a while.

“What a refined response! Then, I’ll quickly present to you the rundown on the practical exam!”

The monitors changed to show a brief presentation on what the exam would consist of. The instructions seemed clear enough, but of course, as always, there was one student who had to ask something. His question was simple enough, but come on man, don’t diss the school when you haven’t even given them a chance to finish their explanation.

“That’s a great question examinee 7111. You see, the 4rth …”

Huh? How did he know that guy’s number? He didn’t announce it and they didn’t have it visible written anywhere. Maybe a knowledge quirk? Mind reading? Superhuman eyesight? Anything was a possibility in Windex’s mind. Growing up with Izuku sure did affect his way of interpreting the world around them. He didn’t even manage to fully form his thoughts before noticing everyone getting up and heading towards the examination grounds.

Did I miss anything important? Probably not.

(Spoilers, he did.)

~~~

“Okay, START!”

Not even a second had passed before a huge crashing sound came from deep within the grounds. The asphalt tore in two and dust filled the air where Windex once stood.

“Uhm, I guess someone is excited. THAT’S THE PASSION I LIKE TO SEE!”

And with that the rest of the participants filled the grounds, only to find tens of already destroyed robots. Some were so broken; it was hard to understand how many points they were supposed to have been. One would expect the sight to dishearten the exam takers, but most were even more pumped up. This meant the robots might not be as hard to defeat as they initially thought.

Windex had stopped in front of a building to catch his breath, not yet used to fighting so many opponents in such a short time. The rest of the examinees had already started to take down any robots they could find, if the sound on crashing metal was any indication. For now, our protagonist wanted to help the students that might be inconvenienced by the wreckage.

With only about a few minutes left, the boy stopped once again. He had just helped a student escape the attack of a three pointer. The purple-haired teen looked dejected after realizing that his quirk had no effect on the robots. Windex could hear him muttering about how unfair this exam was, and he couldn’t help but agree.

Sure, they couldn’t really bring real villains for them to fight but there must have been other options. Not all aspiring heroes wanted to specialize in combat, so having just one test, for that specifically, did not serve the purpose it was supposed to serve. There were certainly people out there who could have been incredible infiltration heroes, but just couldn’t get the best education out there.

“Are you alri-“

A large shadow was cast over the area and dust filled their surroundings before the taller male could finish his sentence. The duo turned around, only to come face to face with a giant robot, which towered over the nearby buildings. The initial shock froze them in their places before survival mode kicked in. Some other examinees had not yet snapped out of it.

Windex’s first instinct was to head straight for their opponent, but that would mean that any people in the area would be in danger from the falling debris and wreckage. The teen beside him, having seen how easy it was for Windex to destroy the smaller robots, quickly came to the same conclusion. He was their best option, now they just had to evacuate the students.

 “Don’t worry about this, big guy. I got this.”

The older Midoriya gave a thankful nod, mentally noting to ask his name after the exam was over. He crouched for a second, before jumping straight towards their biggest opponent yet. While still in the air, Windex spared a glance behind him, wanting to make sure that the purple haired boy and the rest of the students were not too close to the fight. From where he was, he could see the boy shaking any nearby students and speaking to them. Those examinees, in turn, ran to other, still immobile, teens, bringing them out of their shock.

The chain reaction quickly cleared the immediate area of any people that could be hurt, relieving Windex of one of his worries. With newfound determination, he turned his attention back to the robot in front of him and pulled his fist back for a punch.

“TIME’S UP!”

~~~

“Good work everyone. Here, have some gummies to replenish your energy.”

Windex bowed at the pro, after taking the sweets in his hand, having recognized her as the pro hero Recovery Girl. Fortunately, there weren’t students with serious injuries in their exam block. The teen tried to look around for the person that had helped him during the last few minutes of the exam, but he seemed to have already left the perimeters. The fact saddened Windex, who had hoped to thank and congratulate the teen for his heroic performance. I guess we will meet again.

~~~

Windex stood waiting at the school’s entrance with Katsuki by his side. The latter was currently between bragging about how well he had done and complaining about how much his forearms hurt.

Izuku was surely taking a long time. Maybe Zuku is talking to other students? An almost invisible smile crossed his lips at the thought. Yes, that would be nice. Izuku having friends for once, other than him and Katsuki of course. The younger Midoriya, although never actually bullied, had felt what being shunned by your peers was like from a very young age. It was time for people to see how lovable his brother was.

Notes:

Yes, I did spend time from my life to calculate how many quarter pounders are equal to Windex's height. Since there is no actual dimensions online, I took the length of an official image of the burger. Through it, I got to the number 10.69 ( no joke) as it's full diameter (only actual data I could find was the dimensions of the bun). I rounded it up to 10.7, just to have a bit of a margin for errors, and lastly divided it with 195 cm as the numerator. The result was 18.22 as seen in the fic. Hope anyone reading is enjoying themselves

Chapter 6: Smash to pass

A week had passed before either of them realized it. Or at least that is what should have happened. Instead, all three were so anxious, that seconds passed like centuries. The brothers currently sat around the table, enjoying the food their mother made, its flavor serving as an anchor to reality. Izuku’s gaze had been fixated on his fish, seemingly empty, for the past 15 minutes. What resembled a smile rested on his lips, which was the only hint of emotion on his face. Windex, on the other hand, was looking at his brother and barely keeping in his laughter. In that moment, the look on the shorter one’s eyes was so black, it resembled the fish’s.

Inko looked at both her children, understanding how anxious they must both be. She excused herself to get ready for the neighborhood meeting held that day, while Windex took care of the dishes and Izuku did his morning exercises. She couldn’t help but smile at the sight of the older brother randomly spraying water at the younger.

“But Izu, I am just trying to take care of you. You need the water with all that sweating you are doing. Tsk, such an ungrateful little brother.”

I swear, they are too childish for their own good, she thought as she pulled a couple things out of the way of the water with her quirk. They were her whole life, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. She was proud to have them as sons and would shout it to the whole world if needed, if it meant that they would realize how much they are worth. Giving a quick peck on each of their temples, she rushed out of the door, not wanting to be late.

That plan was soon thrown out the window when she saw two envelopes outside their door.

“T-the-the lett—THE LETTERS ARE HERE!”

The siblings all but snatched the envelopes out of their mom’s hands before running to their respective rooms. Minutes later, yelling and crying were heard though the closed doors, oddly enough, both sounding relieved and excited. The handles turned at the same time, opening to reveal Windex and Izuku who both had neutral expressions. Inko looked at both quizzically, waiting for the results. The two looked to one another, before nodding and letting huge grins break out on their faces. Their mom did not even have to ask, suddenly finding herself in the middle of a crushing hug. God, had they grown up, she was literally engulfed in their embrace. Wouldn’t change a thing indeed.

~~~

After a quick call to Katsuki, to ask about his results as well, the three ended up planning an outing to celebrate and buy all the school equipment they needed. Getting their new uniforms tailored was especially fun. Kacchan insisted on going for a buggier look since he was sure his muscles would grow throughout the year, and he didn’t want to have to get it tailored again any time soon.

“You can literally ask your parents to do it.”

“Are you crazy? And have mom add her own ~*special touch*~? We all saw how that turned out last time.”

Izuku on the other hand, decided to get multiple ties since, well, Princess had a habit of playing with any hanging piece of clothing. Actually, playing is an understatement. A better way to say it would be “viciously attack and proceed to turn it to shreds”. Windex was just glad that he could easily find a uniform that fit. One would think was a given seeing how many different body types existed, but he rarely found clothes that fit both his waist and his, uhm, assets.

Finally satisfied with their purchases, they sat together at the food court to relax and discuss their hero costume forms. Now, of course they had already talked about it quite a lot while growing up, but their dreams were not just that anymore. They were a very close reality, and that meant they had to get a bit more serious with their choices.

Each had a different plan in mind, but they all agreed to at least have something to represent the other two. The best solution was to coordinate colour schemes so it wouldn’t affect the parts that were specific to their quirks and fighting style. It was an easy way to signify that they still had one another, even in the brutal world of hero work, without making it too obvious and placing unnecessary targets. Redish-orange, green and white it is, then. The final designs would be a surprise, but they all shared ideas on how to benefit their quirks and fighting style with their costumes. Most, as expected, came from Izuku, who brought the very first notebook of “Hero analysis for the future” he wrote, which was dedicated to the three of them.

~~~

“Dammit Princess. You should know better by now.”

Waking up on the morning of your first day of high school, only to find all your ties ruined, was not a great way to start the day.

“Here you go ‘Zuku. I know it’s a bit short, but it’ll have to do for now.”

And so, the younger Midoriya left for school without Windex, who still had to finish patching up his own tie and take care of the mess their cat had created. Izuku insisted on helping, but Windex assured him that he would finish things up quick enough to not be late. And if he was, then at least the green-haired boy would be there to inform the teacher.

After a quick walk towards the school- thank God we don’t live in another prefecture- he finally reached class. With a deep breath, he opened the huge door, looking for his childhood friend, only to find him being berated by another student first thing in the morning.

“This is UA, you shouldn’t put your legs on the desk! Also wearing earphones is not allowed during class hours! This is disrespectful behavior!”

Is that guy Italian or something? I have never seen anyone gesticulate that much. Oh yeah, these were new classmates that didn’t know about-

“Shouting like yours is the reason I am wearing these.”

Katsuki swept a piece of hair out of the way, showing his ears, where he was clearly wearing hearing aids, side effect of the many close explosions he has had to listen to his whole life. Fortunately, his hero costume form specified that a muffler might be a good idea.

“Ehm, I apologize for my mistake. But that still doesn’t excuse your sitting position!”

Before he could oh so kindly reply to the boy’s statement, a new voice joined them.

“Well, he usually keeps his legs elevated because of his low blood pressure. Also, Izu, here you go, you forgot today’s lunch, and Tsuki, here is yours too, just as you like it.”

All the heads which were previously turned towards the arguing duo, turned to the newcomer, only to see the most radiant being they had ever laid their eyes upon.

Rheinberger’s Mass in E flat major, specifically the part just before the 13-minute mark, could be heard, before it stopped abruptly a few seconds later. A boy, judging from his uniform, with a bird’s head fumbled with his phone while looking mildly embarrassed.

That was random, Windex thought, trying to ignore the stares of his new classmates. He really hoped he hadn't already made a bad impression by butting in the conversation.

“Uhm, I am sorry for-“

“Go somewhere else if all you are going to do is stare at one another.”

Omg, a huge caterpillar with a human face. He looked like Koh the face stealer’s distant cousin. If he was, then the whole class would be screwed, since everyone sported a surprised expression.

“It’s kind of sudden but put this on and go out onto the field.”

The students, not wanting to irritate the exhausted looking man any further, quickly changed and followed him outside. He told them that they would be skipping the entrance ceremony and that they had a couple more years to attend it if they really wanted to. Unless they got expelled before that, that is. But they didn’t need to know that right now.

After a quick explanation of what they would be doing, he called Bakugo to step in front, so he could demonstrate one of the exercises. Katsuki looked confused for a second, having lowered his hearing aids’ volume after hearing the word rational for the nth time in a single sentence. With a small push from Windex, he discreetly increased the volume again while pretending to nonchalantly put his hand behind his head, and walked towards their teacher. The exercise was easy enough, just throw the ball as far as he could using while maybe using his quirk if that would helpful. Who does fitness exams without warm up first?, Katsuki thought as he stretched his arms a bit, how will we do our best then?

“DIE!”

The device on their teacher’s hand displayed that the ball had travelled 705.2 m before falling to the ground. This caused an uproar from the students, who apparently had not used their quirks during fitness exercises before. It should really be added to the curriculum because, let’s be honest, how do you expect students to have the skills to be able to pass the exam, which mind you, has a battle with huge robots.

And so, the tests began. Each part went fairly well for the trio, years of weight and endurance training helping tremendously. Who would pay for all that broken and scorched equipment though, was another thing. Izuku was trying to calm Windex down because, and I quote, it will be hard to remake the whole track which had been destroyed by the speed he had run in and oh God, what if the other students couldn’t use it for a while?

The rest of the class was too entranced by the tall student’s results and trying to discern what his quirk was or how it was so versatile, to notice the damage he had done. He already looked like a god, but being that strong too was just unfair. The most difficult one for him seemed to be the forward toe touch, his chest serving as a big hindrance. The squish though, was real.

The ball throw exercise came again and fortunately Katsuki did not have to do it again. Instead, he got a few extra minutes to relax and stretch. Windex’s ball disintegrated before it hit the ground due to its velocity, so the result had been a bit inconclusive. Izuku got ready to throw the ball, looking extremely anxious. He felt his recently gained power spike as he drew his arm back, only to throw it barely 70 meters in front of him. That seemed to confuse him before his eyes caught movement in his peripheral vision.

“The entrance exam was definitely not rational enough.”

Well, of course it wasn’t. You had children fight against robots, one of them being taller than a building. Not many people had quirks suited for that kind of battle. Also, there are many other types of hero works other than combat-based ones. What about infiltration, rescue, or support? They really had to reevaluate the admission exams.

“You erased my quirk?”

It took a couple more seconds of confusion before realization hit Izuku. How hadn’t he thought of this sooner, he would never know. Every teacher here was a pro hero, that he knew, but for some reason it had completely slipped his mind when he first took in the adult’s appearance. This only served as another reminder that there were many kinds of heroes out there and every one of them was still crucial for protecting the people.

“From what I can tell, you can’t control your quirk, can you?”

The boy, along with the rest of his new classmates, couldn’t take his eyes off the hero. He looked so intimidating, Izuku felt that if he looked away, the man would attack him immediately.

There was also another reason, though. He couldn’t bear to look at his brother’s and friend’s faces, who would surely be confused and maybe even hurt by the new revelation. They were not naive; they must have noticed the change in him, but he never found the words to explain what happened this past year. Would All might be mad if he told them? So many questions flowed through his mind, leaving him looking almost paralyzed to any onlooker. Eraserhead must have taken his silence and posture as lacking a good response, so he continued.

“Passion will only get you so far without power to support it.”

“Pro heroes are always risking their lives. Saying that it will be possible without a quirk, is something I cannot do so easily.”

That. That very same statement, sometimes with different words, sometimes not even stated directly and left as an implication. He always dreaded hearing it. But for some reason, it hadn’t sounded the same coming from the pro’s mouth. He didn’t know that he used to be quirkless, so he couldn’t be talking about him not having one. No, he was pointing out that even with all the passion in the world, he had to hone the skills a hero needed. If he didn’t get stronger then he wouldn’t be able to protect his loved ones. He knew that, but all these years he thought that it was his lack of quirk that didn’t let him become strong enough. Now there was an actual hero in front of him, saying that his obstacle was not not having a power. It was not having power. He had to get stronger, and that is why he was here, at this school.

With newfound determination, he took the ball from the teacher’s hands before returning to his spot and trying once again. Only this time, not relying on just the quirk he was given, but his own strengths too. And what better strength to use in this situation than his intelligence. If he couldn’t break his whole arm, then at least minimize the damage.

“SMASH!”

A low “or pass” was heard from the direction of the students, a certain yellow blond looking as if he was struggling to keep his laughter in.

The device showed a distance of 705.3, barely higher than Katsuki’s, but still way more than he thought he would ever achieve. A pained grin spread across his features. But there was another emotion too. One that screamed at the world to look at him, to see what he could do, that he was not powerless, he never had been. And everyone could see it indeed.

Izuku turned to face his excited classmates, only to pause as he saw the expressions, or better said lack thereof, on Windex’s and Katsuki’s faces.

~~~

The last of the students had completed the ball throw and it was finally time for the results. A hologram appeared displaying their places, and it came to no one’s surprise that Midoriya Windex had taken the first spot. Katsuki had also done fairly well, coming in 4rth overall, a fact that reminded him that he still had a way to go, and that having stronger classmates would help him get more so himself in the long run. Izuku rested at the 16th spot which might not have been the best, but he had only used his quirk on one exercise. The rest of them were all his own accomplishments, and he felt proud of where he stood amongst his classmates. But now, he had to get over one more obstacle for the day.

Turning towards his two loved ones, he saw that they were keeping their distance from him, but the space between them didn’t feel hostile.It was more like they were the ones giving him the space he needed to gather his thoughts. Once Windex noticed him looking over, a gentle smile found its way onto his face, which prompted the blond to also look his way with an acknowledging nod. Izuku could feel his eyes watering even more easily than usual. They didn’t hate him, they understood, they weren’t angry. And even if they were, they would get through it, together, like they have always had.

After changing out of their sports clothes, the three headed home, a comfortable silence falling over them. It was surely filled with questions but there was no urgency for the answers. And so, when they finally reached the Midoriya household, Katsuki followed them inside. They all knew there were many things to be said, and they would be revealed when Izuku deemed it right. For now, movie night it is.

And that is how Inko found the three, huddled on the living room couch, dozing off while a comedy played on the TV. She entered the kitchen quietly, seeing plates upon plates filled with fresh cookies, an activity that had always served as a relaxing pass time for the trio. An extra plate, this time of curry, sat covered on top of the table with a note reminding her to eat after a hard day’s work and a small doodle of their cat, which was currently cuddled up against the teens.

Not being able to control her smile, she snapped a photo of them and sent it to Mitsuki, before setting it as her new wallpaper. With a final look and a quiet goodnight, she lowered the lights and headed back to the kitchen to eat her dinner. She couldn’t say no to her children now, could she?

Chapter 7: Things get spicy

Summary:

Midoriya siblings x Katsuki lemon
CW spice

Notes:

Please read the chapter before calling the FBI on me. I promise, this isn't what it sounds like.

Katsuki has always been a very active kid, so feeling tired was not a new experience. But after his quirk manifested, there were days he could barely get out of bed. It was really starting to get on his nerves, which caused his quirk to activate on its own since he couldn't quite control it yet. The almost constant muscle soreness was already enough. How would he be able to train if he could not even stand up without his vision fading.  Would he ever reach his dream if he couldn’t give it his absolute best? If not, then what was the purpose of it all? And just to add to the already bad situation, he felt numb, as if the tiredness of his body drained the little mental energy he had left.

At the same time, it is no secret that Katsuki loves his food as spicy as possible, often paired with something sour, like a glass of fresh lemonade. The capsaicin and citric acid caused a burning feeling to his tongue, which both comforted and reminded him that he is alive. That his body was still working. That he was also able to feel pain. That he was also able to feel. That he was not a perfect little robot some people viewed him as.

His two best friends couldn’t help but notice how he always looked like he was on the verge of passing out. Had he been training too hard? Was he taking care of himself? The feeling of worry only grew as time passed. They had tried to ask what was wrong on multiple occasions, but Katsuki was not the one to show weakness in front of others. Even so, he was merely five. He needed to learn that being weak is not a bad thing. At that age, he was not meant to protect anyone else and that there were people out there more than willing to fill that role.

Both Izuku and Windex wanted to do something, but they first had to learn what the cause of the problem was. Lots of days of pestering Katsuki to talk ensued, many of which ended in them almost losing their eyebrows from the explosions the angry blond threw in their faces. But in the end, he relented. He really couldn’t resist these idiots’ advances for long.

“I just feel so tired. I can sleep the whole day and it still isn't enough. I don't know what to do.”

That much the brothers had already figured, but the revelation that he wasn’t actively doing this to himself surprised them.

“Katsuki, have you seen a doctor about this? Mom always takes us to the hospital if there is something wrong.”

Had he? He didn’t remember doing so for that specific reason, except for the occasional vaccine. Maybe he should get a checkup soon. 

That led to a few days later, right outside the doctor’s office, where he was just told that his fatigue was most probably a side effect of his quirk. Something about it lowering his blood pressure and needing to run further tests. Why though? How did that work? He really had to look into it since the doctor had not given any specifics.

The news came as a surprise to the sibling duo, who were eager to learn more about the effects of quirks on one’s health, especially if it meant that it would help their friend to have a better quality of life. In the next few weeks, they read any information they could get their hands on and understand with their limited scientific knowledge.

Since his quirk was based on the production of nitroglycerin, they searched what effects it had on the human body and took it from there. From what they gathered, nitroglycerin, like most nitrate compounds, produced nitrous oxide once inside the body, which dilated the veins and arteries, lowering the speed in which the blood circulated. Unfortunately for Katsuki, that meant that any nitrate rich food also aided in that effect. And what were his two favourite foods? Anything spicy and lemonade, which contain capsaicin and citric acid respectively. The first one produced excess nitric oxide while the latter increased its bioavailability and maximized its absorption. No wonder he always felt faint.

That fact hit Katsuki like a truck. He couldn’t eat his favourite foods if he wanted to get better and reach his goal. At least not as often, but he was a dramatic little child and not being to do so sounded like torture. They couldn’t bear to see their friend so dejected, so they immediately started looking for alternatives. If they could, they would not let him lose one of his life's pleasures.

It took a few weeks, but thankfully they were able to find a solution. They could barely wait to show Kacchan what they had discovered, so the moment they had free time, they ran to his house. Each sported an excited expression on their face and held a couple bags.  

“What are those?”, Katsuki exclaimed as soon as he saw them, surprised by their random visit.

“These are my crocs.”

Those look very comfortable, Katsuki thought before turning his attention to the bags with a questioning look. He had barely managed to open his mouth before Izuku started rambling on and on about how they had found some substances that have the same effect as capsaicin but don’t affect blood pressure.

“Piperine and curcumin might not be as spicy but that only means you’ll have to use a bit more. Oh, and there are plenty of fruit juices from fruit that do not contain citric acid so we brought you as many as we could find. You can try all of them and pick a new favourite and-“

Katsuki could barely focus on anything else other than the excitement on his friends' faces and the thumping of his own heart. He was sure no amount of spice could replicate the warmth they radiated at that moment.

Minutes later, as they all sat in the living room talking and trying all the juices the siblings brought, the blond stopped talking for a few seconds. Izuku was trying to wipe his tongue after trying grapefruit juice and Windex was frantically holding a glass of water to his brother. And for a moment Katsuki thought that maybe being the one in need of help sometimes wasn’t so bad.

 

Chapter 8: There is no I in team, but there is an A for "Allmight, please stop trying to make jokes."

School was as normal as it could be for the first couple of days. General education was an undisputable necessity for every student, no matter what they planned to do later in life. But all of them were inching for the class that differentiated the heroics course from the rest.

“I am coming through the door like a normal person!”

The No 1 hero’s exclaim was met by surprised yet excited shouts from the class. Windex could see a dual haired boy- he really had to memorize everyone’s names- scribbling a few words down, while muttering something along the lines of understanding how normal people act for future reference. His gaze was quickly snapped back to the front of the classroom as Allmight began talking about the subject he would be teaching them.

The pro was surely taking his time to reach the podium, taking slow, robotic steps, as if waiting for the paparazzi to take pictures every time he paused. The strange sight didn’t affect the teens though. Instead, it heightened their anticipation for what they would be doing.

 There were just so many possibilities. Target training, endurance, new techniques, everything was possible.

“Let’s get right into it! Your first heroics, and today’s lesson, is COMBAT TRAINING!”

*Record scratch*

Wait. No. Huh? This is the second day of school. Many of the students probably had never used their quirks against other living, and I repeat, living beings. Shouldn’t the first lessons be structured around learning to control their quirks? Sure, they could try them on each other, but not during actual combat. Do some of these students even know how to fight? Destroying robots is way different than dealing with conscious entities. Even if the attacker knows how to fight, there isn’t a way to know how their opponent will react when under threat. Maybe someone should point it out-

“And to go with that, are these! Your hero costumes!”

No? Just me? Yeah, I am losing my faith in the UA educational system by the second.

The previously hidden cases of the costumes slid out the wall, each numbered for the corresponding student to take. Everyone quickly grabbed them and headed towards the changing rooms. Since it was still the beginning of the year and none of them really knew each other, most of them opted to change in the stalls provided, which gave our trio the perfect opportunity to surprise one another.

Once outside, Izuku, who managed to change the fastest, sat waiting, while simultaneously taking note of his classmates’ costumes and how they might assist them with their quirks. To be truthful, he didn’t understand some of the stylistic choices. One of them appeared, well that is not the correct word, to be only wearing gloves and shoes. Was the rest of the costume invisible? Then why not make those parts too? Fighting completely naked sounded dangerous, then again since he couldn’t see their physical form then they might not have average human skin. Maybe they were covered in scales hard enough to protect them but also able to scatter light in a way that no wavelength managed to reach other peoples’ eyes.

His internal monologue ended as a hand fell on his shoulder.

“See you kept our promise, you big fanboy.”

Izuku turned around and his eyes fell on Katsuki who was grinning at him. Indeed, he had kept his promise, sporting a pair of red shoes and a belt of the same color, along with his green jumpsuit which had white stripes along the chest and sides. It was also obvious that his hood and mask was inspired by the current No 1 hero.

Both took their time observing one another while they waited. Katsuki had also kept his end of the deal, wearing various white armor like parts and green garters connecting to a green belt. Thankfully, he had ditched his idea of wearing huge grenade-like gauntlets, which he had often brought up since they were children and opted for a smaller version of his original design that covered only the lower part of his wrists.  

“Windex is taking a while, isn’t he?”

As if on cue, said person jogged through the doors, being one of the last students to get to the grounds. His entrance was worth it though, the jiggle physics were really physiching. As he came into a halt in front of the duo, they were able to take in his full appearance.

He had opted for a more classic and elegant design, wearing a short sleeved black top, along with the same color, long, loose bottoms over black boots. Around his torso he wore a white harness that tied around his waist instead of his diaphragm, before flowing down to cover his upper thighs. The surface area was ideal for pocket placement, most likely filled with emergency medical supplies. As he titled his head, waiting for their reactions, they noticed his headgear, which consisted of a headband with some very familiar prosthetics. His outfit was very reminiscent of 19^th century France. Maybe because it was a traditional French maid costume, plus or minus a few details. The teen had added a red, green, and white plaid bow to his. A few seconds passed before Izuku recognized that the headband prosthetics looked just like their cat’s ears, down to the last hair.

Windex started feeling a bit self-conscious from all the stares he was getting since he got onto the grounds. On the other hand, Katsuki could feel small explosions going off on his hands, a nervous habit he had yet to get rid of and usually acted up when he was flustered, since he tended to sweat more.

“Does it look okay?”

The blond could barely form coherent thoughts, much less actually vocalize them, leaving Izuku to step in and save him from further embarrassment. The later swiftly elbowed the frozen teen, fortunately, knowing about his friend’s crush on his older brother for quite a few years now. It was great blackmail material, and it gave him a reason to tease him mercilessly. But when it came down to it, he could act as a great wingman. Now it was not one of those times.

“You look great Win-chan! Don’t you agree Kacchan? Wait, you look a bit red, and you are awfully quiet compared to your usual self. Is something wrong? I am sure Windex, and I could help.”

Katsuki frantically shook his head, while discreetly glaring at the green-haired boy. He stuttered out a small compliment about his friend’s costume, before the tallest of the trio started to explain how the material was fireproof and his boots, which reached to his upper thighs according to him, offered both support and had extra padding on the knee and shin areas.

Before they could continue their conversation any further, Allmight called the students to start the lesson. As he explained what they would be doing, talking about taking it two steps further than the entrance exam, like that was a great idea for a class’s first lesson, the teens were filled with more and more questions, none of which were actually answered by the end of their teacher’s presentation.

“Teams and opponents will be determined by drawing lots! There is an extra one for the I team, to prove that there is not I in teams, HAHA!”

After a deadpan reaction from the students, the box was passed around, and they found their teams. Windex had ended up drawing a lot for the three-member team, along with two other classmates he hadn’t really interacted with so far. He briefly remembered seeing one of them using his tail to aid with acrobatics while the other hadn’t really used their quirk for anything physical.

“The first team to fight will be… these guys!”

Allmight said, as he held up two balls with the letters A and D on them, explaining which team would act as heroes and which as villains. While the students were getting ready to go to their places, Windex was sulking about his brother and best friend going against each other, whereas he would have to fight a team without either of them.

When everyone got situated in their assigned spots, Allmight gave the cue for them to start.

~~~

On the battle grounds

“Even if this is training, it pains me to act as a villain.”

The blue-haired boy said as he inspected the weapon. After tapping it a few times, he turned around, only to find the blond with a furious expression, muttering something like how dare that seaweed tease him when he knows how he has tried to keep his crush a secret for years, and that he will regret it during this lesson.

“Uhm… okay. I will leave the confrontation to you then! Glad to see such eagerness from a fellow UA student!”

Outside the building, a cold shiver ran down Izuku’s back, making Uraraka stop what she was saying and instead start worrying about the boy next to her.

 “I might have not timed my actions correctly… I need to be on guard, or I may not make it out of this alive.”

Thankfully, Allmight announced the start of the trial only a few seconds later, so Izuku did not have to deal with the uncertainty anymore. He was 100 % sure he was screwed from the moment they stepped into the building, and he almost got his head blown off.

“Come on Izuku, don’t dodge. Just accept your fate.”

I knew it, I shouldn’t have teased him, the green haired boy thought as he prepared for combat. Katsuki had a nearly maniacal smile on his face as he ran towards the victim of his wrath. Well, Izuku was not really a victim per say, he had brought this on himself, but this was an exercise so he couldn’t just sit there and take it.

“You knew this was coming!”

And knew it was coming, he did. The blond started with his distinctive right swing, a default move he had been using for many years, which gave Midoriya the opening to grab his arm and flip him over.

“Accept it Kacchan! You are way too obvious!”

Okay, this might not have been the best choice of words. Scratch that, it was one of the worst ones he could have gone with, judging from the explosions going off on the blond’s palms. What did Izuku expect? He has known this guy almost his whole life. This was going to be his divine punishment for eating the last cookies and blaming it on Windex when they were 6, right?

“Kami, if you are listening, I know we haven’t always looked eye to eye, but please let me survive this.”

And with these final thoughts, the real fight began.

~~~

In the observation room

The students watched as the battle went on, the sheer rage Bakugo emitted making some of them uncomfortable.

“Should we really let them fight each other?”

Admittedly, it was a valid question, but seeing Windex not worried at all calmed them a little. This could be normal for all they knew. And again, even if the fight was interesting to watch, there were still two more students participating in the exercise.

As they all turned to the screen showing Uraraka and Iida, they promptly went back to watching the fighting duo. The transformer looking hero was acting way too strangely for their taste.

At the same time, Katsuki was preparing for a big scale attack -not very smart of him since they were in an enclosed space- but he had to get his revenge.

“This is the consequence of your own actions Izuku!”

Allmight had no idea what was going on based on their conversation. He was under the impression the two had been close friends since childhood, but so far, this battle showed the opposite. If they weren’t referring to each other in such a familiar way, then he would have been sure that they were mortal enemies.

“I guess he isn’t the type to think.”

Windex turned towards the classmate that spoke, knowing full well that while Katsuki seemed rash most of the time, he carried a good head on his shoulders and his battle experience only amplified the fact. Before he was able to correct him though, the rest of the class let out a collective gasp. He quickly looked back at the screen to catch the final moments of the simultaneous attack his brother and friend used which gave the opening to Uraraka to capture the weapon while Iida was distracted.

“The hero team… WINS!”

~~~

A couple minutes later, the two teams walked in the room and were congratulated by the rest of their classmates. Bakugo still wore a scowl on his lips while Izuku just looked relieved to be alive, even with a broken arm. Windex couldn’t help but hug them both, while praising their skills.

“Both teams did great, but the real MVP for this battle was young Iida!”

Allmight’s statement seemed to surprise the Ultra Magn- I mean Iida, but it did give him a confidence boost compared to how he felt a few seconds ago.

“Now onto the second match! Team B as heroes and team I as villains!”

~~~

In the bomb room

“Guys, I am going to get serious!”

The only female of the group exclaimed, as she removed the last few pieces of clothing she had been wearing. Her declaration stirred Windex, who decided to take this as seriously as he could as well. The fight might have been against his classmates, but it was still an exercise preparing them for their future. With a small tug, he removed his cat-eared headband and replaced it with a nearly identical one. Upon closer inspection this one lacked the tiny bells that rang with the male’s every step, now giving him a stealth boost.

His two teammates could only fangirl internally at his antics, knowing he would be a great advantage against any team.

Allmight had barely given the start signal before they, along with the whole building, were frozen and unable to move, giving the other team full access to the now unprotected weapon. Well, at least that would have been the case, if they were up against any other regular student. The moment Todoroki let his guard down while reaching for the weapon, it all but vanished from his sight. Momentarily confused, he failed to notice the blond next to him tying his hand with the capture tape they were given. At the same time, his other teammate from the outside of the building let out a surprised yell.

“Ah…Team I wins?!”

Let’s break it down now for our readers.

~~~

In the observation room

“Oh man! This ended too quickly, we didn’t even see them do anything.”

“Yeah! I thought that Midoriya guy would at least put up a good fight.”

“Oi, the exercise isn’t over yet. Shut up!”

Katsuki, who had just stopped thinking of ways to get back at Izuku, was getting irritated by his classmates’ yapping. He pointed to the screen, showing where Windex once stood. In his place remained only his boots, still frozen to the ground. The male was a few steps next to them, silently signaling Ojiro to get his tape ready. With a small nod between the two, all hell broke loose. The taller teen was a blur while sprinting towards the weapon, bypassing Todoroki and grabbing the bomb. He gently put it down out of the boy’s view before continuing his sprint. On another camera, Hagakure too was missing from her spot.

The student sitting outside, waited for their teacher to announce their win, looking quite disappointed at his lack of involvement. That was until he seemed to pick up on a sound. It was too late though, for he felt tape being wrapped around one of his arms. It must have been a first for him to be sneaked upon like that because his expression was one of utter surprise and confusion.

Windex, along with Hagakure which he could only hear, were cheering about their win. From what the class understood, the male had carried the invisible girl to minimize the sounds she created and make Shoji focus on the visible foe. Hagakure then had the opening to tie his hand while they were running towards him, something that thankfully didn’t require much precision since he had so many of them. The speed they had been going at made most things around them a blur, so it was a lucky match up.

~~~

Once they were back in the observation room, team I was immediately bombarded with questions. The students who asked them, were in turn literally bombarded by Katsuki for not letting his childhood friend have a breather after the exercise. It’s not that he wanted to be the first one to congratulate him, no sir, that’s not it.

“Ahem, what a plot twist! Team I showed excellent teamwork and served as an example that nothing is lost until the very end! Onto the next teams!”

~~~

The rest of the class went by without a hitch and the teens were free to change and return to the rest of their classes. Windex and Katsuki gathered the extensive notes they took in place of Izuku, having known that he would be disappointed for not being able to view the rest of the matches while he was getting healed. After a quick visit to the nurse’s office to ask about the green-haired boy’s condition, they both headed back to their class to continue with the day’s schedule.

The adrenaline from the fights seemed to have a different effect for each student, some seeming more focused due to the extra energy while others could barely keep still. Thankfully, the last couple of periods passed quickly enough. Bakugo and Windex were waiting at the gates, already carrying Izuku’s bags since they might lock the classroom before he was discharged.

Maybe they should have messaged him to say so, but it completely slipped their minds. And so, the younger Midoriya ended up in the classroom with many of the students introducing themselves to him and complementing his fighting skills. Getting a bit overwhelmed by all the attention, he glanced towards the inside of the classroom, not finding the people he was looking for and his desk already tidied.

“Uhm, did Kacchan and Win-chan already leave?”

~~~

“Do you think that Iz-“

“KACCHAN!”

Izuku was out of breath, having run through half the school to reach the gates, which was not a great idea after having most of his energy drained to heal his injuries. Katsuki turned to glare at him, still a bit angry.

“I believe I owe you something. I AM SOR-”

Before Izuku could finish his sentence, he was rudely interrupted by Allmight, who all but completely deafened Katsuki, by shouting words of encouragement and holding him in place by his shoulders.

“Ah… Allmight-sensei, can you let go of ‘Tsuki? He looks a bit in pain.”

“Uh, right. Allmight away!”

After that awkward experience, and Katsuki having to adjust his hearing aids once more, the three stood looking at each other.

“Kacchan, I-“

The blond swung Izuku’s bag at the latter’s chest, giving him a small nod, showing that everything was alright between them. That made a smile appear at the freckled boy’s face, which almost immediately turned into a smirk.

“At least while I was avoiding you, you got to spend more alone time with Wi-“

 Izuku, for the third time in the past few minutes was interrupted, this time by his friend screaming and lunging at him. Once again, he had to run for his life, but this time with chuckles escaping his lips.

Windex could only sigh, but he didn’t dare to stop them. They were going into a brutal work field so they should enjoy these moments whenever they came upon them. And after today, they would become more and more rare.

Notes:

I just wanted to note that Windex's plaid bow symbolizes how tightly woven the trio is.
Also, special thanks to killua_bestboi for the idea for Windex's hero costume. Brilliant, trully brilliant. I hope I did justice to your vision. If anyone wishes to recover some brain cells, please read their Villain Izuku au "Where is the Justice". Highly recommend.

Chapter 9: Oh no, my greatest fear: responsibilities

“Good work on yesterday’s combat training. Just a few pointers. Bakugo, you are talented so don’t act like a child.”

“Sir, with all due respect. We are, in fact, children.”

At that moment, Aizawa knew he should have chosen to become a professional mattress tester. Or a retail worker, even that must be better than his current occupation.

“And Midoriya-“

The two brothers looked up at him quizzically, which made their teacher heave a sigh.

“The one who breaks stuff.”

Even more confusion.

“The stuff being his own bones. Damn it, I really have to find a different way to address you both.”

Is the salary really worth it? The man pondered, while actively trying not to bang his head against the board.

“As I was saying, Midoriya, don’t view breaking your bones as an option. I don’t like repeating myself.”

The statement got a chuckle out of Katsuki, who had started keeping a tally of how many times the man had used the word rational. He was already in the double digits, and this was only their third day.

“Today I’ll have you decide on a class representative.”

The class, which had previously been at the edge of their seats, broke out into shouts about being chosen for the position. They had been expecting yet another special test from their teacher, so the announcement came as a pleasant surprise.

“I want to be class rep!”

“Me too!”

“Pick me! Choose me! Love me!”

“My manifesto is for all girls’ skirts to-AGH”

The last student got a piece of chalk right on the center of his forehead before he could finish his sentence. Honestly, a justified action. This made everyone face the board obediently since Aizawa seemed to be losing self-restraint at an alarming pace. Judging by the big red mark the chalk had left on the boy’s head, no one was keen on being the next target of his wrath. There even was a full box of it next to the board, ready to be used at the slightest provocation.

“Let’s, ugh… vote quietly on the matter?”

This seemed to calm Aizawa a bit, at least for a bit. He nodded before slipping into a sleeping bag and promptly falling over, with a thud.

~~~

“Well, at least it’s not Kanye.”

The younger Midoriya looked shocked at the results, while his older brother gently patted him on the back. Truth be told, no one from the trio wanted the position. Bakugo had made it plenty clear, questioning who would want to deal with a bunch of hormonal teenagers, while Windex outright refused being one of the choices. Nope, not today, Satan. I can already smell the trouble.

Izuku had not been so lucky. He had just opened his mouth to say that he didn’t want to be a candidate, but everyone’s disappointed yelling at Windex’s refusal, caused Aizawa to wake up and glare at them. Which brings us to this moment.

“No, no, this can’t be happening. This is too much responsibility on top of what I have already. Katsuki is in this class, that already means that we have no hope for a calm year. Can I just quit on the first day? Will that have repercussions on my student records? Oh my god, what if-“

~~~

Lunch Rush’s eatery

So, I’m sitting there, barbecue sauce on my tiddies, Windex thought with a sigh after his sauce packet exploded all over him. He had been trying to open it but miscalculated the force needed. Good thing he had an extra uniform with him in his locker. After the incident in kindergarten, when Katsuki had burned his shirt since he hadn’t learned to control his quirk yet, their mama always reminded them to carry an extra change of clothes. After a while, it just became a habit that proved beneficial more than once.

“Even though I’ve been chosen as class rep, I don’t know if I’m qualified for it.”

“Sucks to be you. Hey, you, with the glasses. Pass over the napkins, will you?”

The teens sitting around the table were a bit baffled by the blond’s apathy towards his friend’s predicament. Were they really that close? He almost killed him during the previous day’s exercise.

“Katsuki’s right Izu-chan. You can’t always choose your battles. You’ll do just fine.”

“What I want to know, is who is the third person who voted for you.”

Food exploded out of Bakugo’s mouth thanks to his Windex’s jab at his ribs.

“Hey!“

“Wait. You two voted for me?”

Windex was fumbling around, trying to explain that they didn’t think he would get the position, so they wanted to give him a bit of a confidence boost- although Katsuki outright refused to admit it. Izuku was in-between crying about how loved he felt and trying to pinch the other two as a small punishment. The girl at the table was understandably confused at the dynamic between the three, but Iida smiled softly at the scene, being familiar with the sibling way of showing affection. He discreetly coughed in his hand to turn their attention to him and stop himself from revealing himself as the secret voter. When everyone was looking at him, he began to speak.

“Desire is to want something very strongly, no matter the outcome. Duty, in contrast, is a moral obligation. Both are important characteristics of a hero and yet, to perform one's duty should be put as a priority when it comes to protecting the people.”

His short monologue had the rest of the group staring at him. Izuku and Windex had sparkles in their eyes and were slightly leaning towards the blue-haired boy. Katsuki, on the other hand, was snorting at how much the siblings' expressions resembled each other, while Uraraka-

“Are you rich Iida?”

“I don’t think that I understand- “

“And if so, are we talking having all the premium accounts rich, or going on vacation every holiday rich?”

Bakugo could hardly keep in his chuckles seeing the spectacled boy fumble around for words. He buried his face into Windex’s shoulder to muffle the sound as much as possible. Izuku on the other hand, did not have a reaction. He had already deduced that their classmate was probably at least related to the famous Iida family, which had produced many heroes through the years. It was kind of hard not to notice really. Iida looked identical to the few shots the public had managed to take of Ingenium without his helmet.

As the blue haired boy tried to explain his family situation to Uraraka, Windex felt the hair on his arms stand up.  A couple seconds later, an alarm started blaring throughout the building.

“There has been a Level 3 security breach. All students please evacuate promptly.”

The next moments were a blur as students pushed one another to get outside. It was chaotic, with most teens trying to guarantee their own safety, forgetting that there were other people who were also in the same situation.

“Pretty heroic reaction of them- agh! Watch it!”

Katsuki was not at all pleased with the situation. Did these students never have a school evacuation drill during their middle school years? Even worse, he had to endure being squished from all sides. Not ideal when he still had not completely mentally recovered from his run in with that sludge villain last year.

The Midoriya siblings on the other hand, seeing the panic that flickered across their friend’s face, tried to create a small circle around him, careful not to make him feel even more suffocated. Somehow, they had gotten separated from Iida and Uraraka, but hopefully the two were together. Wait, why is someone doing flips and shouting over the crowd?

Thud

Ouch, that sounded painful, many of the students thought at once. Hey, at least Iida had managed to get their attention. That’s what he was aiming for, right? Now for the next part.

“Everyone, everything’s fine! It’s just the press. There’s nothing to panic about!”

A squeak echoed through the hallway. A blue-haired, seemingly older student was currently being patted on the back by two others, muttering about how cameras were one of his greatest fears. Okay, maybe I did not phrase that correctly, Iida thought as he signaled Uraraka to release him from her quirk. That also proved not to be a great idea since he now had even more of a difficulty hanging on the wall pipe. Thankfully, a student was able to extend a helping hand, literally, to help him get down safely.

~~~

Back at 1-A’s classroom

I’m seriously getting secondhand embarrassment, Katsuki thought as he tried to pay attention to Izuku, who was currently sweating buckets in front of the whole classroom.

“Before we decide on the other class officers, I would like to give up my position to Tenya Iida!”

The class’s reaction seemed positive overall to Izuku’s statement with notable exceptions being Iida, who looked both surprised and touched, and Windex, who discreetly handed some coins to a smirking Katsuki.

“It can’t be helped then. I, Tenya Iida, promise to do my best to carry out the duties bestowed upon me!”

Chapter 10: You should always read the fine print when signing a contract

“For today’s basic hero training-“

“Shouldn’t we be eating lunch right now? I mean, it’s 12.30 pm.”

The pro hero let out an exasperated sigh and opened his desk drawer. From inside it, he pulled out a medium sized box, which he carried around the classroom, hanging out the jelly pouches it contained. Maybe if they had something to preoccupy their mouths with, he would finally be able to talk for a few seconds, without being interrupted.

“As I was saying. Today, you will be training with Allmight, myself, and another teacher.”

Some of them started to open their mouths, to say something idiotic probably, but Aizawa went on with his explanation, without paying them any mind. Phew, made it this time, he thought, glad to not have to listen to their incessant babbling for a couple more minutes.

“You can decide if you want to wear your costumes or not. Depends on if you think they will be a hindrance or not.”

With those final words, the students left for the locker rooms. Katsuki and Windex decided to wear their costumes for the day’s class. Well, the latter only wore it after he got persuaded by his classmates. Their reasoning had been pretty solid, if he were being honest. They pointed out that even if the costumes did hinder them, then it would be better to notice it early and think of future modifications. Izuku, unfortunately, couldn’t wear his, since the body suit part had been severely damaged during last day’s battle training. Katsuki still felt a bit of guilt about it, but the green-haired boy had assured him that this could have happened during any battle exercise. In the end, he settled for wearing the rest of its parts that had remained undamaged.

The trio had barely taken a step into the area where the bus that would take them to the training grounds was parked, before a whistle almost deafened them. In Katsuki’s case, even more.

“Class 1-A, gather around! Form two lines by your student numbers to make boarding go smoothly!”

Understandably, most of the teens were quite confused by Iida’s wording, since there were a couple of ways to do what their class rep asked. Divide themselves by even and odd numbers or by the first and last ten ones, which would create the problem of whether the 11^th or the 21^st one would be left without a partner. While they were still exchanging nervous glances, their teacher had finally had enough, and warned them that if anyone was still not boarded in the next 15 seconds, then they would be dragged behind the bus held only by his capture weapon.

The threat was all the students needed to scurry on the bus and take the first seat they found. Windex squeezed himself against the divider placed between the horizontal and perpendicular seats, with Izuku sitting a couple seats away from him and Bakugo facing his left side.

“I say whatever comes to mind-“

Windex heard a faint “Aye~ ADHD gang” from somewhere on the bus, before he focused his attention back on Asui.

“Would cutting Mike Wazowski’s limps be considered amputating or beheading him? And the younger Midoriya’s quirk is similar to Allmight’s.”

Todoroki momentarily woke from his nap to note something down, before closing his eyes again. On the other hand, Izuku started sweating so much that Katsuki felt both impressed and jealous.

“Wait a sec Tsu. It being considered a beheading would mean that all his internal organs, other than his brain, would be inside his limbs. That’s highly unlikely if we look at the size of them. And Allmight doesn’t get hurt when he uses his quirk.”

Izuku, not so discreetly, sighed, which made his brother glance at their childhood friend, who was moments away from facepalming. They really had to help him with his acting skills. Kirishima took the boy’s reaction as disappointment for not being like his favourite hero, so he tried to comfort him a bit.

“But it’s nice to have a simple augmenting-type quirk to do flashy stuff with. My hardening-

hehe

-is quite strong, but not that showy.”

“Mon laser nombril est à la fois flashy et puissant.”

(Direct google translation for “My navel laser is both flashy and strong.”)

…

“Oui, oui, la baguette.”

Ashido patted Aoyama’s shoulder with an understanding look on her face.

“Well, if we are talking both flashy and strong, that would be Todoroki and Bakugo, but I am sure some of us are easily number 1 hero material.”

The red-haired teen glanced at Windex with a small blush dusting his cheeks, before quickly looking away so his classmate wouldn’t notice it. Real smooth Eijiro, real smooth, he thought.

“Bakugo would scare the civilians too much though.”

The blond would have started shouting had it not been for his friend’s hand playing with his hair, so he settled for letting out an irritated click of his tongue.

“We’re here. Stop messing around.”

The students didn’t need to be told twice, not wanting to experience their teacher’s wrath. They gathered all their stuff and got off the bus.

~~~

In front of the USJ building

“Everyone, I have been waiting for you.”

Izuku and Uraraka were obviously excited to meet the hero, with Izuku explaining who they were for the viewers’ convenience. We will be skipping it for laziness purposes. It’s not like the majority of you don’t know most of the anime lines by heart at this point.

“Let’s go inside without delay.”

~~~

Inside the building grounds

“Let’s see. Before we begin, let me say one thing. Or, er, two. Maybe even three? No, four is more like it. Five is also a number. And six, still there’s more, seven and eight, nine and then, this little one makes ten. Ten little eggs all sleeping, ten little eggs in a row. Count them while they’re cozy. Count them all let’s go!”

At some point during the introduction a couple of students started to join in reciting the kiddie song’s lyrics. After they had finished the whole song, Thirteen cleared their throat and went on with their introduction.

“Everyone, I am sure you are aware of my quirk, Black hole. I can suck up anything-

hehe

-and turn it to dust-

not hehe

but it’s a power that can easily kill. Some of you also have quirks like that, right?”

“And left”, Eraserhead muttered, having witnessed the destructive power some of them had even at their current level. They probably are more of a danger to themselves right now than to others, he thought while looking at two specific boys, a blond and a redhead. Honestly, it was a medical wonder how the former’s brain still functioned after so many years, and he was sure the latter had never heard of the words ‘chronic traumatic encephalopathy’.

Kaminari felt a chill run down his spine, and although he was sure that it was his teacher that was staring him down, he wasn’t going to risk looking towards him.

“You shall learn how to save people’s lives. You do not have your quirks to harm others. That is all, so now let’s begin- “

Her words halted as a black swirl materialized over the fountain, in the middle of the plaza. Soon, dozens of people started walking out of it. If this was part of the day’s training, then UA must have an insanely high budget. I mean, first needing a bus to get around campus and now this.

“Gather around and don’t move! Thirteen, protect them!”

The urgency in their teacher’s voice was enough of a warning. This was a serious situation and not something the school had planned.

“Thirteen and Eraserhead huh? Our data said that Allmight was also supposed to be here. Well, not much to do then. Goodbye.”

The man who spoke turned back towards the portal they had come out of, only for a cough to stop him from taking another step. One of his companions, who looked to be made from the same material as the portal, threw him a pointed look and shook his head towards where the hero students stood. With a grumpy expression, the long-haired villain turned away from the portal and muttered something about wasting precious gaming time. With a final glare pointed at the one who stopped him, he directed his words at the pro heroes.

“I guess we can cause some havoc while waiting for him. Not like I had anything else to do, other than villain stuff of course.”

The students were admittedly a bit confused by the man’s behavior. One would expect a criminal mastermind, who managed to not only break into UA, but to also not alert anyone of their presence, to be a bit more serious or at least motivated to carry out their plan.

“Thirteen, start the evacuation. Kaminari, see if you can interfere with the school’s signal in any way. I’m going in.”

Before any of the students could object, the pro had already leapt down the stairs. As scared as they were for their own safety, they couldn’t help but admire their teacher’s bravery. That didn’t stop them from worrying about him, though. Eraserhead was not a well-known hero, and he tended to stay away from the spotlight. That left any of his fans with only glimpses of him fighting, caught on camera. Maybe that could be used as an advantage, since the villains didn’t know his fighting style. And maybe being so under the radar wasn’t such a bad thing, since he could, easily, be underestimated.

“Who’s that?”

“I don’t know, but if he thinks he can just attack us from the front like that by himself, then he’s a huge idiot!”

The man quickly ate his words along with a kick in his face, while he was momentarily confused by his quirk not working. A very strange sensation akin to your limbs not obeying you after putting pressure on them for a while. The feeling and confusion themselves were enough for the villains in his field of vision to not notice the hero’s weapon wrapping around their torsos, before being flung harshly against each other.

One would expect that since they knew who would be accompanying the class, they would have been better informed about their quirks. Even looking up their names before the attack would have been useful. And if their leader didn’t say anything about it, then he really should up his strategy game. Who in their right minds withholds important information that might change the whole outcome of the plan. So many people relied solely on their quirks when fighting, that not being able to use them would make them little more than dead weight for the rest.

“But what are you going to do against a heteromorph like me!”

Are these people even able to form a singular thought? Aizawa pondered as he evaded the, honestly not very thought out, attack, before punching his opponent and flinging him with his scarf towards a couple other villains. They literally just saw me use this a couple seconds ago. Even without combat skills, this should deter them from attacking so rashly.

“Wow, Mr. Aizawa’s actually good at fighting against a lot of people, huh?”

The class had, certainly, gained new respect for their teacher, but for now they had to focus on following his orders. His efforts should not be in vain. With a final look back at the plaza, Izuku turned to follow his fleeing classmates. He nodded at his brother and best friend who did not dare let their eyes off him while in a situation like this. They had both seen him rush straight into a villain attack the previous year, and they did not want that to be repeated.

“YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”

Oops, wrong media.

“I won’t let you get out.”

The students and Thirteen stopped dead on their tracks as the same black mist-like substance that the villains got out of, materialized in from of them. Their path to the exit was completely cut off.

“Hello. To spare you the details, we are here to kill Allmight.”

Shock was evident on the teens’ faces. Windex quickly looked at Izuku and Katsuki to make sure both were okay. He knew how much they admired the man, so they must have been taking this worse than the average person. Izuku looked distraught, so Windex reached over and held his hand, giving it a light squeeze, and hoping it would help calm him down. Izuku quickly snapped out of his thoughts and turned his gaze to his brother, who nodded his head towards the blond, who was just as frozen as Izuku had been moments ago. The only difference was that his hands were twitching, which alarmed the brothers as to what he would be doing next. Before any of the two could stop him, he, along with Kirishima, lunged at the villain.

While the attack was unexpected, it seemed to have no effect on the man. To be honest, Kirishima’s and Katsuki’s quirks were some of the least effective against the fog villain. Since his visible body was composed of a thick mist-like substance, physical attacks would probably not deal any damage, while explosions would only work if the mist was combustible, and he was only comprised of that, with no actual non-fluid body. And even then, it was just a speculation.

Their best bet, at least with the limited information they had, would have been Todoroki lowering the gas’s temperature until it liquidized, or maybe even lower than its melting point, and limiting his mobility in that way. That is, of course, if he could control his body only in a gaseous or fluid state.

“Of course, thinning out the future heroes should also be a good idea. Let’s see how well you fight when only a few of you are left! My job, is to scatter you all!”

In under 5 seconds, almost half the class had been enveloped by the villain’s body, which stopped the ones outside of it from seeing their classmates’ fates.

~~~

At the shipwreck zone

“FUC----”

Izuku barely remembered to hold his breath as he came closer to the body of water below him. Thankfully, the height from which he fell was not so much as to kill him on impact. Not wanting to run out of air while still underwater, Izuku started swimming towards the surface, which was only about 3 meters above him. Any more than that would have meant that he had fallen from such a great height, as to reach speeds that would affect the general behavior of water, and make it almost no different than concrete upon contact.

I am looking at you, angst and action writers.

A dark mass entered his peripheral vision, that turned out to be one of the villains swimming at him with his mouth, full of razor-sharp teeth, open.

Why did I sign up for this? Izuku thought, as he closed his eyes, which, albeit a reflex, was not the wisest choice during a battle. Surprisingly, he felt the water current around him move differently than he had expected it would.

“Midoriya!”

Everything was a blur as something long wrapped around his body and brought him out of the water and onto the deck of a ship. Not a moment passed, and a loud thud shook the floor near him, followed by a pained yell. It turned out to have been Mineta, who had hit the deck way harder than he had.

“You alright?”

The boy looked at the side of the ship, to see Tsu climbing over the railing. She had probably been the one to get them out of the water.

“What is that!”

The trio looked at the villains suddenly surrounding the ship. Many of them sported quirks that looked well suited for aquatic environments, giving them a big advantage in the situation.

“If they are here to kill Allmight, they must have thought this through, and saw that they had a high chance of success.”

Why else would they attack a literal hero school, with mostly relatively weak and unknown villains as help? I mean, sensei by himself is enough to defeat at least 20-30 of them before getting overwhelmed.

“Then the only thing left is to act a wild variable to their plan and fight back the best we can!”

Chapter 11: We'll show that creep the real super power of teamwork!

UA Teachers’ Lounge

The number you have called is not in service, or has been temporarily disconnected. Please, try again later.

“Dammit. I really need that package delivered by tomorrow.”

 It was the third time Toshinori had called the post office that day, and it always redirected him to the same automated message. Now that I am thinking about it, Aizawa’s and Thirteen’s phones did the same when I tried to call them before.

“I really shouldn’t have used OFA today. I could probably hold my buff form for 10 minutes at most. Is that enough time to both get my mail and see the class? BUT I HAVE TO GO-!”

He briefly changed into his Allmight form, only for blood to sprout out of his mouth. Fortunately, years of experience had taught him how not to get any of it on his clothes. The table in front of him was another matter.

“Hold your horses, Yagi-san.”

The door to the office opened and in walked a short, animal-like man. If one were to look at him, they wouldn’t really be able to tell that he was an actual animal and not a heteromorphic type quirk user. Especially when people like Gang Orca existed. Speaking of heteromorphs with animal-like traits, my question is, and always has been, who had sexual intercourse with all those animals and effectively produce offspring. The non-human characteristics must have come from somewhere. I am getting off track though.

“Am I a mouse? A dog? A bear? No, really, what am I? My quirk grants me a greater level of intelligence than you, simple humans, could even dream of. And yet, every day I suffer because of my own nescience.”

Toshinori did not know how to answer the principal’s questions, not even sure if they were rhetorical or not. Instead, he settled for redirecting the conversation a bit.

“Principal Nezu. Your fur is well-groomed today, as usual.”

The shorter man slowly approached the currently crouched No1 hero, which made the latter even more nervous than he had been already.

“Toshinori-san. I will gladly discuss haircare with you at a later date. For now, would you mind looking at this?”

The news article that Nezu showed Toshinori, was talking about how the man had helped stop three attacks that morning. He had managed to do so in just an hour, a feat not many pros could boast about. But the principal was far from oblivious to the hero’s predicament, and he understood how taxing it was on the man. During his years at UA, Nezu had seen hundreds of young students collapse under the weight of the path they had chosen. He was also aware, that the pressure did not lessen at all after graduation.

“I believe you can stay here for a bit longer. But from now on, I must ask you to prioritize your teaching duties more. Now, how about a cup of tea?”

Alright, I am sure resting a bit longer will do no harm, Toshinori thought. Oh, how wrong he was.

~~~

USJ entrance

“Everyone is scattered, but they are all in the building.”

The news made a wave of relief wash over the students remaining with Thirteen.

“Class rep! Run to the school and tell them about what is happening here!”

“But it would be a disgrace to leav-”

“You are not leaving; you are bringing reinforcements! You are our only hope to contact the school right now!”

Iida quickly shut his mouth at the retort and got ready to sprint to the exit. After seeing his classmates’ encouraging looks, he couldn’t let them down.

“Even if you have no other choice, should you talk about your plans in front of the enemy?”

Kurogiri said, forgetting that he had been the one who literally gave away his role in the enemy’s plans just a couple minutes ago. But we will ignore that for now and turn our attention to the shipwreck zone once again.

~~~

The shipwreck zone

“What do you mean fight? Are you stupid?!”

Mineta was crying so much, that if they weren’t already surrounded by water, he could have singlehandedly given the surrounding villains the upper hand. Not very plus ultra of him, to be honest. Especially since fighting villains was one of the main job requirements for pro heroes. True, it was only the third day of school, but they would have to do it sooner or later. It just happened to be sooner than they expected.

The other two continued to ignore him, trying to come up with a plan based on the limited information they had. Thankfully, the villains seemed just as reluctant to attack them, as they were.

“For people who are trying to kill Allmight, they do seem pretty hesitant to attack mere first-years. Could it be that they don’t know what our quirks are?”

We could use this to our advantage, Izuku thought as he continued to observe their now more restless-looking opponents. If Kaminari had ended up here, this battle would have been over in seconds, but with our abilities…

The green haired boy snapped out of his thoughts as soon as his female classmate started speaking.

“I’ll tell you more about my quirk. Maybe that will help.”

While Tsu was explaining, Izuku’s brain was already formulating a basic outline of their next actions. He had already seen what both her and Mineta were capable of during Aizawa’s tests, but any extra information could prove to be extremely useful. After all, not all quirks, or their aspects, aided in physical skills. Hagakure was the most obvious example in their class.

Mineta was listing what he was capable of, when a tremor shook the whole ship. It almost immediately started to sink after being cut, cleanly, in two. Damn, that was an overpowered move. He literally cut through a whole, albeit small, ship. Imagine what he could do to a human. Scratch that, he could have easily won against the trio, if he had just attacked them before they had managed to form a plan.

“I’ll only say this once. After that follow my lead. First-”

Izuku’s plan was the best they had, mostly because it was the only one they had. But it was also their best bet for survival. Well, other than the pro hero teachers coming and saving the day, which seemed highly unlikely for the foreseeable future. With a nod at his classmates, he leapt over the side wall. His action bewildered their opponents, since it was extremely reckless, and the trio was betting on that moment of confusion. Izuku was glad that he didn’t have to physically touch the water, because there was always the possibility that one of them could catch him, while he was still mid-air. With that thought, he aimed a full powered flick at its surface, praying that years of science class would not betray him.

“Delaware smash!”

The result was instantaneous. The water was pushed away from where the pressure wave hit, and they just had to let physics do its thing. The current Izuku had created dragged the villains back towards the point of impact due to a little thing called “liquids like to take the shape of the container they are in”. If he had used more force, then the water could have gotten out of the lake-like hole, and just moved the villains further away than their current spots. But let’s not nitpick the plan too much. Once they gathered back in the middle, Mineta’s quirk would make sure that they stuck together, making it even more difficult for them to move.

Tsu wrapped her tongue around Izuku’s waist, before he hit the water, and jumped away from the now airborne ship. She was also carrying their third classmate, since leaving him behind was not an option. She didn’t think anyone would believe her if she said that she couldn’t have carried him. They landed a few meters from the shore, feeling extremely relieved. Mostly.

“This went just as planned. That’s not right, at all. There were so many uncertainties, especially since we didn’t know their quirks either. What if we are forgetting someth-“

“Midoriya, stop it, get some help.”

The pain of Izuku’s broken fingers came back full force as his adrenaline rush subsided. He let a grimace slip on his face, garnering worried looks from the other two, which were quickly dismissed from him with a slightly forced smile. It was not the time to dwell on small injuries, especially since they had no idea in what condition the rest of their classmates were. We should head back towards Thirteen, Izuku thought, but he changed his mind as soon as he noticed the dust clouds forming because of Aizawa’s fight in the central plaza.

“We should help Aizawa…”

His murmur caused the duo to turn to him in surprise.

~~~

The landslide zone

“Let it go, let it go!”

*Record scratch**freeze frame*

“Yep, that’s me. You’re probably wondering how I got here. Let’s rewind a bit.”

Approximately 5 minutes ago

“It’s just one kid, how hard could it be?”

Todoroki had found himself surrounded by a group of villains, which, quite stupidly but fortunately for him, had decided to underestimate his abilities. His opponents had almost immediately been encased in ice and unable to move, probably on the road for some nasty ice burns and frost bites.

“What makes you think you can kill Allmight?”

The villain to whom he directed the question was trembling from both the cold and fear, but he kept his mouth shut. He hadn’t seen what that Shigaraki guy was capable of, but he also did not want to find out. He would certainly have to face some harsh consequences if he revealed valuable information. The lack of response made Todoroki sigh, not necessarily glad that it had come to this.

“Well, there is only one thing left for me to do.”

~~~

The mountain zone

“Oh, me life flashed before me eyes… it was really boring.”

“If you have the time to make movie references, then help us!”

Kaminari ran back to his two female classmates, which were backed against the mountain’s side, covering the gap Jiro had on her left.

“That’s not fair, why do you two get badass weapons?!”

Jiro barely kept herself from punching the blond right then and there, and calling it collateral damage, by biting down on her tongue.

“Why don’t you do something about it with your electricity then? Hurry up!”

“Yeah, because discharging electricity with the two of you around, especially when holding metal weapons, is such a great idea!”

Yaoyorozu, who was already stressed, could also barely hold it together, while the two bickered beside her. She had to focus on creating something that would help them release a large-scale attack without injuring themselves in the process and their yelling wasn’t helping in the slightest. Come on Momo, think. She was sure she had memorized some electrical insulator structures before. Yes, that’s it!

“Maybe you should have requested something to help you aim in your costume order!”

“Well maybe I should have!”

“God, you are such a freaking moron!”

“Both of you shut up! Kaminari, attack on my signal!”

A huge sheet materialized out of the girl’s back, covering both Jiro and her with room to spare. The boy immediately recognized the Teflon material. His family frequently used it while he was learning how to control his quirk. Let me tell you, a child that randomly discharged electricity is not as fun as it sounds.

“I see ( •−•)>⌐■-■. Now I don’t have to hold back as much (⌐■˾■)!”

“How the fuck did he say that out loud?”

~~~

Back at the central plaza

Aizawa always knew that being a pro would not be an easy job. But God dammit, fighting so many opponents during the time he was supposed to be sleeping, while Thirteen and Allmight taught the students, was not part of that day’s plans.

“24 seconds… 20…”

The man rose his head after crouching to catch his breath, only to see the supposed leader of the bunch running towards him. He barely had any time to dodge, thankful that his body reacted on instinct after so many years. He avoided the enemy hand that was about to touch him with literal nanoseconds to spare. No sir, no physical touch in this household.

“Hah, you avoided me like you knew that my touch would kill you.”

Aizawa drew a blank as he stared at the now intrigued villain. Beads of sweat ran down his temple, kind of embarrassed to admit that he mostly did it because he disliked the touch of strangers.

“Ehm, yes. A hero should always be prepared…”

“Well, based on how the affect period of you quirk has been steadily declining, I believe you will need those dodging skills!”

~~~

USJ entrance

“Black hole is quite an astounding quirk for sure. But that is not enough to win against me!”

Thirteen had been trying to absorb the mist villain with their quirk for the past minute. Taking advantage of the latter’s fluidity, it was easier to suck him in little by little, than to try to attack him as a whole. They suddenly felt the familiar effect of their quirk coming from behind them. The shock of having their own quirk turned against them, and the fear of its destructiveness, froze them in place. The thought of deactivating did not cross Thirteens’s mind for a couple seconds, but those were enough to damage the spacesuit-like costume that they wore. Even now, if asked whether they stopped their quirk at will before passing out, or the pain of their skin being pulled with such force shocked them into a complete blackout, they still would not be able to reply with certainty.

Sato discreetly elbowed Iida beside him, nodding towards the temporary opening which had appeared. The blue-haired boy barely spared the time for a nod before sprinting with all he had.

“Let’s speed, keed!”

A portal appeared before him, mere meters away from the doors. It was somehow engulfed by Shoji, leaving Iida’s path, once again, clear. Sadly, there were more challenges on the horizon.

~~~

The collapse zone

“Tsuki, you look very red. Did you overheat again?”

Windex stood in front of Katsuki with a worried expression. Kirishima, who was alongside them, made sure the defeated villains were all knocked out and wouldn’t attack again anytime soon. I guess I should explain what happened from the beginning.

As soon as the three fell out the portal

Oomph

“Well, that fall could have been way worse. At least we didn’t plunge into water from 10 meters up.”

The trio had been teleported inside a destroyed building, thankfully less than a meter off the ground. If the villains really wanted to cause some harm, then they could have easily opened a portal 30 meters into the air and let them fall to their deaths.

“Chit chat later, we have those extras to deal with.”

Around them had gathered 5 to 6 villains already. One would think there would be more, but the setting did not allow much space for people to stand around. As soon as the words left Katsuki’s mouth, one of the villains decided to attack, making the rest follow along in a mass attack, hoping to overwhelm the students.

Unfortunately for them, attacking a walking explosion, a brick wall and a windex bottle, head on was not the wisest decision. In under 5 minutes, most of them lay on the floor with scorch marks and possibly broken bones, while others frantically tried to leave the perimeter.

“Is that all of them? They’re so weak.”

Or maybe you guys just are too strong, but that is just the author’s thinking.

“We have to take responsibility and do the manly thing of going back to help Thirteen sensei!”

“If you want to go, then go by yourself. Windex and I-“

The blond’s words got caught in his throat when he finally took in his friend’s appearance. Before, he had just been focused on not letting anyone hurt him. And he was glad he had done so because he wasn’t sure he would have been able to focus if he had noticed the state Windex’s costume was in.

The once ankle length maid dress now stopped at about the middle of his thighs, revealing the thigh-high socks that he wore underneath. Each had a small red bow on the top part, which fit snuggly around the slightly toned flesh. The boy’s hair looked disheveled, and he was panting a bit due to the previous fight. His eyes were wide open, waiting for Katsuki to finish. What he had been saying, that is, you dirty minded degenerates.

And that brings us to now.

“Tsuki, you look very red. Did you overheat again?”

“I’m gonna kiss y- I mean, I’m gonna kill that wrap gate.”

Windex let the worry melt off his face and replaced it with a small smile, gently reaching out his hand to pat the blond on his head. He felt relieved that the blond was his normal self and did not look to be that affected by encountering villains after last year’s incident.

“Since you have left your guard down-!”

The attacker did not get to finish his sentence, before he was met with an explosion in his face. Katsuki didn’t even take his eyes off his crush, and just enjoyed the feeling of his hand running through his hair. No one was going to interrupt him. Except of course…

“Wow Bakubro! That was amazing! I didn’t know you could be so calm and rational!”

Well, it was nice while it lasted, Bakugo let out an exasperated sigh. He turned to Kirishima and spoke directly to him.

“As I was saying brick head. Go if you want to go! We’re aiming for the wrap guy.”

~~~

The fire zone

Everybody was kung fu fighting~

Those kicks were fast as lightning~

In fact, it was a little bit frightening~

“HOW THE FREAK IS THAT TAIL-GUY TOUCHING THOSE METAL POLES!”

~~~

The squall zone

“It’s just a kid. What can he do against us?”

“CAW CAW, MOTHERFUCKERS!”

A few seconds later

“Dark Shadow. I know you are enjoying this, but please keep it PG-13, next time.”

Koda watched the conversation between Tokoyami and Dark Shadow, not sure whether he should say anything.

“You can’t tell me what to do. You don’t understand me!”

“If it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t exist.”

“So? Existence is pain anyway.”

Tokoyami sometimes really regretted having gone through an emo phase. Dark Shadow would often repeat stuff the boy had thought during that time, just to make fun of him. But she was like an annoying little sister to him, so he had to put up with it.

“Alright, alright. But don’t let Mom know that you know those words.”

“Deal”

~~~

USJ entrance

“You’re being impudent, four-eyes. Hasta la bye-bye, sucker!”

Iida had been running continuously for a whole 3-scene sequence and it was starting to take a toll on him. Black spots started to cloud his vision, making the door seem even more unreachable. Suddenly, the runner’s high kicked in and everything looked normal again. Or that is what he thought for a split second, before realising that the darkness was coming from the mist villain engulfing him, and it disappeared because the latter was forcefully thrown into the air by Uraraka.

“I’m not sure yet, but if he’s wearing something like this then it must mean he has a physical body!”

That was enough of an opening for the boy to reach the exit and pry the doors open. Once he managed to do so, he used a blast from his engines to propel himself even faster away from the building. The rays of sun that fell in between the crack were dim compared to the ones of hope that Iida sparked in his classmates. They finally had a chance.

 

Notes:

Yes, the title is also a sonic reference. If you have read this far, did you really expect anything else?

Chapter 12: Shigaraki would be an awful stand-up comedian

“Cool, cooler, coolest. You are almost like Sakamoto, Eraserhead! But I am not the final boss.”

A shadow fell over the pro. When did he…? Aizawa didn’t even manage to form the thought completely, before pain took over all his senses. When his sight focused again, he realized that he was on the ground, with a heavy weight on top of him. He could feel his arm being forcefully twisted, almost to its breaking point and he braced himself to look at the person who had attacked him, only to see the person who had so far sat idly beside the hand covered villain. Aizawa carefully looked at his attacker, desperately looking for a way to escape his hold, to no avail.

“Your quirk is great, but nothing impressive. In the face of overwhelming power, you might as well be quirkless. This Nomu right here, has been created to be the ultimate weapon against you, heroes.”

A crack echoed through the plaza as the villain basically shattered the man’s humerus before smashing his head on the ground. He did it with no hesitation, but he didn’t look pleased with his actions either. Can I even call it a he? There doesn’t seem to be anything other than killing intent behind those eyes, Aizawa pondered, trying to get his mind away from the pain.

“Eh, psst. Tomura Shigaraki, we might have a problem. One of the students escaped.”

“What?”

“One of the students is heading towards the school to call for reinforcements.”

“What you are saying is, heroes are probably on their way here as we speak and our whole plan was a big loss of time.”

“…Maybe…”

“That means that I could have just gone back to gaming when I said so.”

“…”

“Kurogiri, you’re so buying me a steam gift card if we get out of this.”

The three students which had been observing the interaction were hit with a wave of different emotions, ranging from momentary relief to confusion. If these people had a way to kill Allmight and with their numbers, would a few pro heroes be that much of a challenge?

“Oh, yeah. Before we leave, let’s smash some of his pride as the Symbol of Peace!”

“…”

“Oh, come on, it’s a reference! Smash! Like most of his attacks!”

“…”

“It was supposed to be a cool moment…”

Cough

“Screw you. Lightingmacqueen707 would have laughed.”

Before Izuku could react, Shigaraki was already in front of Tsu, reaching for her face. But when he touched her, nothing seemed to happen, leaving everyone confused, except Shigaraki himself.

“You really are cool… Eraserhead.”

The latter had managed to pick up his head off the ground just in time to stop Shigaraki, before it was smashed onto the cement again. Thankfully, that gave Izuku enough time to aim a punch at the villain.

“Let go of her! SMASH!”

The impact created a blast wave strong enough to sweep people off their feet. Izuku, who had been expecting the excruciating pain that usually followed his attacks, was surprised to see his arm completely fine. He didn’t have enough time to give it much thought before the dust cloud around him cleared up. Where the man he was aiming at once stood, now was the creature that had been holding down Eraserhead.

“Oh, I see. When I say it, it’s weird but when he does, it’s suddenly cool. Now I really am gonna delete you, noobs.”

Izuku could see a weird scene sequence of what was happening around him, pass slowly in front of his eyes. Damn, Aizawa has lost a couple liters of blood so far, considering that for it to reach his broken goggles, it must have first filled up the crater, and overflowed. How much blood does he have?

The hand that was about to hit the green-haired boy stopped midair, as everyone turned to the doors of the building, which had blown open.

“Fear not, I AM HERE!”

“Kurogiri, you still own me that gift card.”

A sigh left the mist villain’s mouth? Does he have one? Anyway, let’s focus on the situation at hand.

“Come on guys, this is what we came here for. Let’s attack him!”

Even if the villains had not hesitated for those few seconds, they stood no chance in front of Allmight. Before they had even managed to start their attack, he had already subdued any still standing opponent in the plaza and taken Aizawa in his arms. After a quick look over and assessing the damage, he sprinted to the students currently beside Shigaraki, picking them up as well and placing them down a bit farther away.

“Head to the exit and take Aizawa wit-!”

The number one hero all but choked on his words as he felt a chill run down his spine. Shigaraki mumbling could be heard around the whole plaza, as he held his face with both hands. It took a few seconds for Allmight to be able to discern what the villain was saying yet it still barely made any sense. The hero’s body went even more into defense mode as the blue haired man took a few steps towards the fallen hand that previously covered his face.

“I’m sorry father. He hit me as he was saving them. He’s fast, very fast. But it’s okay, because, after all, he’s weak.”

…

“Does that guy think he’s Gojo or something?”

A two-dimensional sweat drop appeared beside the blond pro’s face, another evolutionary trait that appeared in many creatures these past hundred years. It usually manifested as 2D doodles surrounding the person’s face, quite reminiscent of older Japanese animations. Scientists theorized that it helped with differentiating other’s emotions since quirks changed human physiology to a point that some people were not capable of making certain expressions.

“Ahem, as I was saying. Midoriya, you three get out of here with Eraser. I’ll take care of everything else.”

Izuku was admittedly worried about his mentor. That creature had withstood a punch from OFA, without any sighs of damage. Just as he was about to express his worries to Allmight, the pro cut him off.

“Young Midoriya, it’s alright.”

The green-haired boy looked into the man’s sunken eyes, darkened after years of hero work. Yet his smile still shone more than enough to give people the hope that they needed, and he was one of those people. With a nod, he along with Tsu, Mineta and an unconscious Aizawa, started walking towards the door as fast as they could.

“And as for you, Carolina SMASH!”

The pro wasted no time to attack, aiming at any place that could serve as a weak point. Its stomach, the ribs, the face, throat, none of those seemed to work. Thoughts were running a thousand kilometers per hour through the hero’s brain. Maybe he was missing something. What is its quirk? Eraserhead must have nullified it at some point, but he still got extremely hurt. Just how strong is this thing?

“By now you must have realized that your punches won’t work. His shock absorption far surpasses your punny attacks.”

Allmight let his signature smile slip back on his face at the words.

“Shock absorption, huh? Thank you, that makes it all the easier!”

While avoiding the next hit headed his way, he ducked under the Nomu’s arm and grabbed it by its waist before performing a suplex.

~~~

With Izuku and the other three

“Allmight’s on a whole other level!”

They came here believing they could kill him. Allmight is the strongest hero in Japan, and he said everything is alright. But… but I know, he might already be at his limit, Izuku thought as he listened to the shouts of relief coming from everyone. He didn’t want to darken the sightly lighter atmosphere, nor reveal his mentor’s secret. And in the end, he didn’t have to, but for all the wrong reasons. The dust cloud covering the Nomu, and the pro cleared up to reveal a gruesome sight.

Two portals had appeared beneath the two fighters. One right underneath the Nomu’s upper half and the other under the Allmight’s middle. This enabled the creature to grab the hero by his waist and dig its fingers in his flesh, drawing blood. Allmight seemed to be struggling to keep his screams inside, his clenched jaw and pained expression being enough of a giveaway.

Shigaraki seemed to be a bit happier at the turn of events, conversing gleefully with the portal quirk user. Allmight started struggling even harder against the Nomu’s grip after hearing his words. The sight was enough for Izuku to make a split-second decision.

“Asui, trade places with me for a moment.”

“I mean sure, but why?”

Tsu slowly took the injured teacher on her back, with Mineta acting as extra support for his legs. The green-haired boy stretched his back, hearing a satisfying pop, and let out a sigh.

“Well, there is a very good reason for that. You see- Is that one of the 10 plagues of Egypt, specifically the 8^th one, described in Exodus 9:13-24 as a wind from the East bringing a swarm of locusts into Egypt. It is said that the sheer volume of locusts was so much that the sun was completely blocked out, enough to forge a path of destruction across the land!”

“Locusts? Where?”

Izuku quickly took advantage of the small distraction he had created and sprinted back to where Allmight was.

Damn, bamboozled again, Tsu thought while looking at the running boy.

“Allmight!”

“How foolish.”

 

 

Chapter 13: "This is straight out of a comic book!" Hear me out, you're not gonna believe this

Are we rolling? Everyone ready? Okay, in 3, 2, 1, go!

“According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too sm- “

CUT!

“Did I say something wrong?”

Sigh

Jerry, we have talked about this. 5-minute break everyone and then we are taking it from the top! Jerry, come with me.

“No please, sir. I have 3 dogs at home. I’ll do bett-“

*Door slams shut*

…

*Door creaks open*

Break’s over guys! In your places, and… 3, 2, 1, and action!

“Allmight!”

“How foolish.”

Kurogiri appeared in Izuku’s path, mere meters before the latter reached Allmight. There was no way for the boy to avoid falling into the villain’s misty form. His momentum was far too great, and he wasn’t sure if a shockwave from OFA would affect the mist like substance. Just when he had accepted his fate, an explosion went off above him.

“Seriously, and then you call me impulsive Izuku!”

Katsuki had aimed just below the man’s eyes, and thankfully had hit his target. The shock of the explosion also caused Izuku to fall back a couple meters. At the same time, Todoroki created a trail of ice that crept up the Nomu’s body, effectively immobilizing it even further.

“All I heard was that you are here to kill Allmight.”

Shigaraki gave a sigh of relief at the dual-haired boy’s statement. Well, at least he didn’t hear me try to sound cool, he thought, momentarily distracted from Allmight’s struggling. Fortunately, that split second had been enough for Windex to pry the creature’s arms out of the pro’s body and take him away.

That is how Allmight found himself being carried bridal style by none other than his successor’s brother. Frankly, the absurdity of the situation helped him forget about the pain that he was in, for a moment.

As a final surprise attack, Kirishima aimed an overhead punch at Shigaraki, who managed to avoid it centimeters from hitting him. Seeing that his attack had missed, the teen jumped back, keeping a safe distance from the villain, whose quirk he didn’t know yet.

“Guys! Allmight!”

“Seems like our only way in and out of here has been nerfed.”

Katsuki had pinned Kurogiri against the ground. He was putting pressure against a metal, neck brace-like object, which had previously been covered by the fog, and didn’t dare to take his eyes off him.

“Just as I thought. You have a solid body beneath all that mist. Try to move and you are finished.”

“Katsuki, no murder.”

“…Fine”, the blond sighed,” Try to move and I will, non-fatally, hurt you.”

Windex nodded in acceptance, satisfied with the slight improvement. He gently lowered Allmight’s legs to the ground, being extra careful to support his lower back and abdomen, without putting any unnecessary pressure on the fresh wounds.

“Kids these days are amazing. They make the league of Villains look bad.”

“…”

“You know what I meant! Now, Nomu.”

The creature’s upper half sunk into the second portal, and, at the same time, emerged from the first one. Its right side, frozen solid as it was, broke off the rest of its body, leaving it unable to stand upright. The fact served as a spark of hope, which was immediately extinguished by the sight of rapidly generating bodily tissues, replacing the previously missing limbs.

“Wasn’t his quirk shock absorption?”

“I didn’t say that was all he had. Nomu has been modified to take you at 100%. You couldn’t have expected it to be that easy. Nomu, fetch Kurogiri back.”

Oh shit, Katsuki thought as he felt the wrap villain finally stay completely still. That’s going to hurt like a mother fucker. He closed his eyes as he braced himself for the punch, and felt himself being launched into the air, before suddenly stopping. Katsuki tried to snap himself out of the shock, with his eyes still closed, and begun to focus on how his body felt. The absence of pain, which he first attributed to shock and adrenaline, confused him as more time passed.

“Kacchan!”

The blond opened his eyes, seeing Izuku looking at him in worry. The height from which he looked at the green-haired boy, and the slight tugging on his clothes, made him aware of the fact that he too was being carried in someone’s arms, much like Allmight had been a few minutes earlier. He turned his head towards the one holding him and saw Windex’s features twisted in a worried expression. The way the taller male was gripping Katsuki’s clothes revealed just how distraught he felt, more than any facial expression. The knuckles on his hands had turned white, but Katsuki noticed that Windex only held his clothes, probably in fear of hurting him if he put so much pressure on his body.

“How did you-“

“Wait, where did Allmight go?”

Kirishima’s observation brought the duo back to reality. All five boys looked at the now almost completely settled down dust cloud, which revealed the pro standing in a defensive position against a nearby destroyed wall.

“Do you not know how to hold back? Thank God I had some help.”

Izuku quickly deduced that Windex must have reached Bakugo and had grabbed him while his mentor focused on blocking the attack on time.

“…that green haired one. He was about to punch me with everything he had, you know.”

The statement snapped the boy out of his thoughts, and he turned back to the battle. He couldn’t lose his focus now, this was serious.

“Violence for the sake of others makes it admirable. Isn’t that right, hero?”

Allmight hang his head a bit, knowing that the statement held at least some truth.

“You know what? I’m about to say it. I don’t care that it might hurt some feelings. I must be transparent here. Some could even say brutally honest. Not a hint of a lie. The truth can be bitter but I need to-“

“Get on with it!”

“Okay, okay. Stupid wrap gate. I was just trying to create some suspense. What I was saying is, I am angry. Angry as to how society categorizes people into heroes or villains. Heroes like you can kill villains like me, and you will be celebrated. What makes a murder not punishable? Is it the suit, be it hero or police man? Is it that flimsy paper they give you? Why is that if a normal civilian hurts a so-called villain, they are taken to the law, but you guys get to walk around receiving everyone’s admiration? Answer me, hero?”

“I see your point young man, but I call bull.”

“Impossible, how did you already figure me out? I put so much thought and practice in that speech.”

While Shigaraki and Allmight conversed, Todoroki turned to his classmates.

“It’s three against six.”

The other four understood the meaning behind their classmate’s words and took defensive stances next to each other. Windex had long since let Katsuki down, settling for keeping him and his brother as close to him as he could.

“No! You five run away.”

“But-“

“Young Todoroki, thank you for your help earlier. Just stand back and watch a pro giving it his all.”

Izuku noticed the quick thumbs up Allmight gave towards them, realizing the double meaning it held. For now, he would have to trust his mentor.

“Nomu, Kurogiri. You guys get Allmight. I’ll deal with the children, although some of them might pose as a problem.”

With those words, the villain looked pointedly at the Midoriya brothers, before briefly glancing at the other 3 boys.

I must do this. It’s true, I am weaker than I was, but protecting the students comes with the job. I won’t let them get hurt, the pro thought as he looked at the three villains in front of him.

Shigaraki, who had already been running towards the students, saw a blur pass him before he got thrown into the air. He barely managed to land crouched, on his legs to minimize the landing damage. He looked up to find what caused the shock wave and locked his eyes on the Nomu’s punch which had been evenly matched and subsequently blocked by the hero’s own one.

After the initial hit, both Allmight and the creature unleashed a flurry of ongoing attacks, creating a continuous shock wave that held everyone in the immediate vicinity at a considerable distance.

“If your quirk isn’t shock nullification but shock absorption, then there’s a limit to it, right? Agh!“

The Nomu had managed to land a hit on the hero’s injured side, sending a new wave of pain throughout his body. And yet, even if his smile wasn’t present, he radiated just as much passion as usual.

“If you can withstand me at 100%, then I guess I just have to give more than that!”

The fight was just a reminder of why Allmight was the number one hero. Every punch was made with such precision and reminded the students just how much more they had to go to reach his level. Such destructive power made them think about how lucky they were that Allmight was a hero and not on the villains’ side.

As the seconds went on, the pro’s attacks dealt more and more pressure on the Nomu, to the point where it was being thrown around like a rag doll. Despite that, it showed no signs of physical damage.

“Hey villains. Have you ever heard these words? Go beyond, PLUS ULTRA!”

Allmight’s final punch had enough strength to shoot the creature straight towards the ceiling of USJ, and break through it. The impact was so strong that everyone in the building must have felt the tremor it caused.

“This is straight out of a comic book.”

The five students, who had been observing the fight, stood almost speechless. It was impossible for them to put all the thoughts running through their heads in a sentence, so they chose to remain silent while looking at the hero in front of them. 

“I really have gotten weaker.”

His statement sounded even more unreal after such display of power. Just how strong was he?, was the thought in everyone’s head.

Allmight could feel the smoke coming out of his body, glad that it blended in with the surrounding dust. Knowing that he didn’t have almost no time left, he turned to the remaining villains in the plaza.

“Now. I’m sure we’d all like to end this as soon as possible.”

Shigaraki would have been completely frozen in place, had it not been for his continuous trembling which gave way to the itchy feeling he was so familiar with.

“He…he used a cheat code!”

~~~

The mountain zone

“Don’t move. If you do, I’ll kill this guy.”

Yaoyorozu and Jirou looked angrily at the villain holding Kaminari by his jacket, the latter being almost completely out of it.

“I’d rather not kill an electric type like me, you know?”

At the display of the man’s quirk, the girls put their hands up, careful not to make any sudden movements.

A last-resort plan formulated in Jirou’s mind, and she immediately put it into action.

“Electric types like you are in pretty high demand, right?”

“Huh? What are you-“

The girl went on, glad that the longer front pieces of her hair covered her quirk, especially at this distance.

“I mean, villainy isn’t your only option. It’s just an innocent thought. It’s fine if you don’t want to answer.”

Yaoyorozu noticed the slight movement of her classmate’s ear lobes, but tried not to give away that there was anything going on.

“Give it up. You think I wouldn’t notice? I have been a villain for far longer than you guys have even dreamt of becoming heroes.”

Their previously fallen opponents started stirring from their unconsciousness which created an even greater feeling of urgency in the students.

“If you two don’t put up a fight, I will let this boy go. It’s your choice to make.”

~~~

The central plaza

“What? You said you guys came here to kill me. Come and get me if you can.”

Allmight’s dishevel appearance looked even more intimidating than usual, the dust and blood splatters helping create a more chilling image. I just have to hold on for a bit longer, he thought. If they see any sign of weakness, they will surely attack right away, he continued as he stared down his remaining opponents. But then again, I should never underestimate a cornered animal.

Izuku could see right through his mentor’s bluffing and that scared him. He desperately wished the villains weren’t as perceptive.

The itchiness got almost unbearable for Shigaraki to handle, his nails coming close to drawing blood. That, of course, didn’t go unnoticed by Kurogiri, who turned slightly to him, not taking his eyes completely off Allmight.

“Shigaraki, calm yourself. Nomu definitely weakened him.”

The statement made the villain stop his itching for a second, the feeling subsiding slightly.

“Even without the Nomu, we still have a chance of winning against him in this state.”

“He. Hehe. Hehehehehe, you’re right. We’ve reached the final boss, better fight him with all we have.”

The two prepared themselves for an attack, while their now awake subordinates almost completely circled around the children.

Windex took a defensive stance along with the rest but spared a quick glance to his brother and childhood friend. Katsuki was in a similar position, but Izuku’s eyes were still transfixed on Allmight.

Before Windex could snap him out of it, Izuku had already jumped to hit the two villains attacking the pro. His legs swayed in the air, and anyone could guess that the bones were completely shattered from their unnatural way of moving. Even though he had aimed for Kurogiri, Shigaraki’s hand appeared right in front of his face, with all fingers extended and ready to grab him.

“This hand is…”

The moment Shigaraki plunged his hand inside the fog, Windex was sure Izuku was in complete and utter danger. He gave no second thought as he sprinted towards his brother, ready to push him out of the way, even if that meant being in his place.

Just before it touched Izuku’s face, a bullet hit the man’s hand. It was enough to change his reach’s trajectory, away from the boy’s face. Windex caught him before he fell on the ground, being extra careful with his legs.

“Are they here?”

Allmight turned to the building’s entrance and just as he expected, the rest of the pros working at UA were gathered there.

A second shot from Snipe hit the man holding Kaminari hostage, making him drop the boy.

Looks of disbelief took over the students’ faces except Windex’s, whose face managed to be both blank and distraught at the same time.

I wasn’t fast enough.

The thought swirled around his mind and what ifs started filling the extra space.

“Sorry for the tardiness everyone! I gathered everyone who was immediately available.”

Relief replaced the surprise at the turn of events.

“I, Tenya Iida, class 1-A representative, have now returned, with reinforcements!”

Any villains who tried to attack as a last-ditch effort, were easily dealt with by the teachers, showing the true gap between the strength of their forces.

“It’s really game over now. Shall we go home and try again later Kurogi-“

Bullets rained upon Shigaraki, piercing through his arm and both his legs before Kurogiri could wrap his quirk around him. While the portal quirk user was focused on Snipe’s attack, he failed to notice Thirteen activating their quirk again. He quickly wrapped himself and his leader away from the school, knowing they stood no chance at that time.

When all of him disappeared, Thirteen stopped using their quirk, finally feeling like they could rest. At the same time, many of the teachers had taken care of any conscious remaining villains throughout the building and taken note of the students’ conditions.

“My goodness. I can’t believe we let them escape after they made such a big show of trespassing. We were caught completely off guard, huh?”

The man’s relaxed and pleasant demeanor strongly contrasted with the words coming out of his mouth.

Kirishima did not pay him any attention as he ran to Izuku. He was currently being held by Windex, who looked more surprised than anything.

“Kirishima! No, wait!”

A wall created by Cementoss stopped the red-haired boy on his tracks.

“We need to make sure the students are safe, so please gather everyone at the gate.”

“…Sounds legit. Hey guys, he said to gather in front of the gate!”

Cementoss turned to the deflated Allmight, who had a relieved expression, along with Izuku. Windex continued to look just as surprised as earlier, at the pro.

“Thank you Cementoss. You saved me.”

“I am a big fan too, Allmight. Through the years, I have seen how reckless you can be. Now, let’s get you to Recovery Girl before anyone notices.”

~~~

Some bar in Yokohama City

“Agh. I will never get used to wrapping through you.”

“It’s not that much of a pleasant experience for me either.”

Shigaraki glared at Kurogiri, gritting his teeth as hard as he could to deal with the pain from his injuries.

“This didn’t go as planned at all. Almost all the intel we had was wrong. You lied to us master.”

“No, I didn’t, we just weren’t prepared enough.”

An almost staticky voice replied to the man through the TV. No image was displayed but the voice could be heard clearly enough.

“What happened to the Nomu? Was he captured?”

Kurogiri answered in place of Shigaraki, who was breathing heavily on the floor.

“He was blown away. I have no way to find him without knowing his location.”

“What?! After all we did to make him that strong!”

The voice sounded angry at the news, but he quickly regained his composure before continuing.

“Well, I suppose it cannot be helped. How unfortunate.”

The man on the floor twitched a bit at the person’s words.

“Strength? That’s right, there were some students almost as fast as Allmight. We might have gotten away with this, if it wasn’t for those meddling kids!”

Shigaraki’s breath became even more ragged as he thought of two specific kids.

“Of course you have regrets, my child. But this was not futile. Take all the time you need and gather the elites. Allmight may be their symbol of peace, but you will be our symbol of change, Shigaraki Tomura.”

~~~

Outside of the USJ

“Every student is accounted for. Other that the boy who injured his legs, everyone else has been deemed physically unharmed.”

The teenagers were left to talk to one another under a close watch. The teachers supervising them paid attention to their conversations, deeming the small violation of privacy necessary to make sure that their mental health was intact, at least as a first sign.

“Ojiro, I heard you were fired up this time!”

The boy sheepishly turned to his invisible classmate before replying.

“Well, I mean, I was in the fire zone, ehe.”

Not being able to see the girl’s reaction to his joke, he continued.

“Where were you, Hagakure?”

“In the landslide zone! Todoroki froze everyone. He was so strong!”, she started rambling about her experience but stopped to add a small “And cool.” In a more teasing tone this time.

Todoroki was too focused on the fact that he hadn’t even noticed her, and therefore he could have caused her frost burns, to notice Ojiro blushing at Hagakure’s pun.

“Où crois-tu que j’étais?”

No one really paid attention to Aoyama’s question, most probably due to not really understanding what he said. The blond tried to repeat himself multiple times but was met with confused looks.

Windex nudged Katsuki, knowing that his childhood friend was fluent in the language after many years of classes. Paris was one of the biggest fashion capitals in the world so both his parents were adamant that he learned French along with English. The blond grumbled what Aoyama had said to Windex, not wanting to be the one to ask.

“Where were you Aoyama-san?”

“C’est un secret!”

His reply did not need a translation this time for Windex to understand. Before he could ask any further questions, the detective from before approached them again.

“Let’s have the students return to their classroom for now. We’ll begin the questioning later. Midoriya Windex and Bakugo Katsuki, you two follow me to the infirmary. Midoriya Izuku should be waking up soon and it would be better if there were familiar faces around.”

Iida took the chance to ask the man more about his friend’s condition. His injured teachers also crossed his mind, so he decided to ask about them as well.

“The boy is fine. One healing session should be enough. Aizawa has been stabilized but the full extent of his injuries is still being looked into. Thirteen suffered some bad lacerations, but she is expected to make a full recovery. As for Allmight, he should be back in top shape almost immediately. Now if the two I mentioned earlier will follow me.”

Windex and Katsuki walked behind the detective and into the school. He was stopped for a brief second from one of his colleagues who whispered about finding a strange man in the school grounds, from what the duo caught. He gave an order for investigation and the police officer left to inform the rest of their group.

“Sorry for the delay. I am sure the two of you have many questions.”

~~~

School infirmary

“As much as I want to, I can’t really scold you this time.”

Recovery girl sighed while looking at the injured pro. She took a big breath and opened her mouth to continue.

“Or that is what I would say if you hadn’t been so reckless! You have been the symbol of peace for 30 plus years and yet you are just as idiotic as on your first day. I swear, with heroes like you around, I will never get to retire!”

Allmight debated telling her about how his time limit must have shortened again, before deciding on just saying then and there, to save him from any more berating later. The once daunting man now looked extremely frail as he tried to slowly sit up. The mood in the room darkened, with none of the three uttering a word. A knock on the door made them turn their attention to the newcomers.

“Excuse me. I brought the two like you asked me to.”

“IZUKU!”

The green haired boy didn’t have the time to register that Windex and Katsuki stood behind what looked like a police detective. He suddenly found himself sandwiched between the two in a tight hug.

“Uhm, guys. I know you are worried and all, but I’m kind of in pain here.”

The duo quickly let go of him, making him let out a relieved breath. That is before both his cheeks were assaulted by hard pinching.

“You will really give us a heart attack one day!”

“But Kacchan! You were the one who attacked Kurogiri without a plan first!”

The pulling of his left cheek ceased, and he took the opportunity to look at his friend, who was in between glaring at him and looking at Izuku’s right side with a slightly scared expression.

“…I can explain?”

But Windex did not let him say another word before grabbing and pulling his cheek as well. The three adults in the room sweat dropped at the scene.

“Wait! Allmight, is it alright to be seen in that form?!”

“It’s fine slightly younger Midoriya. Tsukauchi is one of my most trusted friends and slightly less young Midoriya already saw me just before you fell unconscious. Some explanations are due, and from what you have told me, young Bakugo is a very trusted friend to you two. You three better take a seat.”

~~~

“So, to transfer your quirk, you had Izuku eat a hair of yours.”

Allmight had already finished his explanation and was now the subject of the two teens’ relentless questioning and criticism.

“You made him start with how much weight?!”

“You did not train him in actual combat at all when you knew that that was the whole premise of the entrance exam?!”

“You gave him the quirk mere hours before the exam?!”

He really had not thought some things through, but hey, this was his first student! He was bound to make some mistakes. Well, some is an understatement, he thought as he tried to answer all their questions.

“Yes, I did give him a hair of mine to eat. He needed to ingest some of my DNA.”

Katsuki broke out in hysterics at his friend’s misfortune, swearing that he would never let him live that down.

“And- haha- you- hah- you couldn’t give him like- I’m sorry this is too funny- like a drop of blood?”

Izuku was completely red by now but also pleased with how the two were taking things. Even after the whole thing on their first day, he couldn’t help but be a bit worried of their reactions when they found out.

The sun gave way to the stars and moon, for he now just basked in the feeling of being the one protected, without feeling like a burden this time.

Chapter 14: A galaxy of our own

The moon was made when a rock smashed into earth.

 

“Which one of you threw this eraser at me? Tell me now or I will call everyone’s parents!”

None of the kindergarteners made any move to confess. Their teacher looked at each and every one as carefully as he could for any sign of guilt, before sighing and dropping the subject.

“Wow! Katsuki you were so cool! He didn’t even suspect you!”

“That’s because I didn’t do it moron!”

 

The moon always shows earth the same face.

As it orbits Earth, the latter can only see different parts of it.

 

“I heard your friends talking about how you were the culprit Bakugo-kun. I must say, I did not expect this from you. You have always been an exemplary student, so it really pains me to have to punish you.”

 

The changing illumination is why, from our perspective, the Moon goes through phases.

 

“What did you want to talk to me about Midoriya-kun?”

“Katsuki didn’t do it!”

The usually quiet boy’s exclamation surprised their teacher.

“And how do you know that Midoriya-kun?”

Izuku puffed his cheeks a bit, not wanting to snitch on their other classmate, but also not liking the fact that Katsuki got wrongfully accused. The older man looked at the kid expectantly, but Izuku kept avoiding his gaze. Not getting any answers, the teacher came to a decision.

“Okay, listen to me Midoriya-kun. I won’t ground Bakugo-kun and you don’t need to tell me who did it. But. You have to prepare a presentation on how lying is bad, and present it to class, alright? That might make the one responsible come out, don’t you think so?”

The green-haired child grinned brightly at his teacher with an excited expression. He nodded his head frantically, causing his short curls to bounce around and smack the sides of his face.

 

The moon’s surface is actually dark. The sun reflected on it makes it appear bright.

 

“Why did you do it?”

Izuku stopped playing to look at the one who approached him. Katsuki was looking at him with a confused expression, not expecting the help he had received from him. They had barely exchanged a couple words since the beginning of the year and those had been during class exercises.

“Because you looked very sad.”

The boy’s statement, although simple, had an immediate effect on Katsuki. Most other kids would have called his reaction angry.

“Do you…want to play together or something?”

Izuku smiled at the blond’s offer, grabbing his hand and dragging him to the more open part of the school yard. Katsuki should have been surprised by his classmate’s enthusiasm, and he definitely was, but the main emotion he felt was reflected on the small smile tugging at his lips.

 

The sun is only one of the thousands of stars visible from our galaxy

 

“Katsuki-kun, I want you to meet our new addition to the family.”

Inko stood a couple meters in front of the blond, whose eyes were fixated on the short figure hiding behind the woman’s legs.

“You don’t have to be jealous Kacchan! He can be your brother too!”

 

Stars meet a variety of fates. If you are wondering if the Sun will explode, it won't.

 

“Izu, are you alright? You haven’t said anything since the doctor appointment.”

“Hey, mosshead. How come you aren’t laughing? This is your favourite part.”

 

As a relatively small star, its outer layers will collapse in on themselves.

 

“I know Mitsuki. He hasn’t been eating that much these past few days and I am afraid he will crash from lack of energy.”

pause

“He tries to act like everything is fine, but Windex said that he can hear him crying at night.”

Pause

“Of course, Katsuki noticed too. Those three are joined at the hip.”

“Mom, come quick! Izuku fainted!”

Beep beep beep

 

At that point the pressure will cause the star to rapidly expand outward to form a red giant.

 

Izuku sat on a hospital bed too big for his tiny body. His mom and brother had not stopped fretting over him since the moment he came around. Katsuki and his family had left a few minutes ago, much to the young blond’s dismay.

Seeing how worried everyone was, he couldn’t keep the tears in anymore. They were worried for him, a quirkless child. Someone whose dreams were destroyed before he could even take a step towards them. He hid how he felt, not believing he was worthy of the attention, but he was so very wrong.

“Izuku, can you tell us what's wrong please?”

“I- I want to be a hero too!”

Windex and Inko were even more sad hearing just how broken their youngest sounded. The two hugged him gently, allowing him to express himself as much and as loudly as he wanted.

 

But the Sun is a dynamic star. Constantly changing

 

“’Zuku! Tsuki's at the door! Aunty Mitsuki's taking us to the park today!”

“I’m coming!”

Izuku ran to the front door to put on his shoes. As soon as they were safely on his feet, he grabbed his brother’s and his friend’s hands and dragged them outside, excitedly rambling about the latest hero on the news.

 

The moon, of course, has quakes too

 

“Look at that Bakugo kid, always thinking that he’s better than us.”

“Yeah. How do those siblings even put up with him?”

Katsuki could hear the rest of the students talking ill of him. Yes, he was confident in his abilities, that much was true, but everyone confused that confidence for arrogance.

The only good thing this stupid quirk has done is affect my hearing. Maybe when it’s completely gone, I won’t have to listen to those assholes.

“Tsuki? You alright? Izuku asked if you wanted to visit the arcade with us after school.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

 

Also, the moon has water, just like the earth, although it’s mostly in the form of ice

 

“Look at him crying like a little bitch. HAH! Looks like you can feel things other than your stupid pride.”

“You think you are so much cooler than the rest of the people around you, huh? Serves you right for looking down on us.”

 

And yet, only a select few have been able to get close to it

 

“Do you guys ever listen to what comes out of your mouths?”

“Windex is right! Katsuki never claimed to be better than you. He just knows that he has a strong quirk!”

“Yeah. If anything, the teachers make the biggest deal out of it. He didn’t give you any right to treat him this way!”

 

The temperature on the moon varies from super cold to super hot

 

“We all know you hang out with him out of pity, you don’t have to pretend to actually like him.”

“Hey, maybe they are just as bad as him, that’s why they stick around. I mean, the green haired one is quirkless and you know what that means.”

Katsuki felt his blood boiling at those words. If they wanted to mess with him, they could, but no one insults his loved ones and gets away with it.

“Listen here you bastards!”

 

But unlike the moon, the stars were more constant, playing a key role in navigation

 

“Tsuki, I understand that you care about us, but please be more careful next time.”

The blond sat on top of his friend’s bed, who was currently tending to his minor wounds from his earlier fight.

“You and Izuku are always such sticklers for rules, I had to do something myself.”

Windex sighed while putting ointment on some bruises that had already started to form on Katsuki’s forearms.

“At least talk to us if something is bothering you. We will help you find a solution. Three heads are better than one, right?”

 

Stars might appear to be a single color, but, in reality, they emit a broad spectrum of colors

 

“As you all might have noticed, two of your classmates have been indefinitely suspended from the school due to behavior unbefitting of students.”

“Sensei, what did they do?”

“I cannot reveal any details, but some other students recently came forward with evidence we couldn’t simply overlook.”

Katsuki turned to look at his friends, which were subtly throwing finger guns at each other. Once they noticed him looking over, they sent him matching mischievous grins, accompanied by their pointer fingers in front of their lips.

 

Star birth can take millions of years and create huge families of them

 

“Windex ni-chan! You’re so cool! We want to be like you when we grow up.”

Izuku and Katsuki sat a few meters away from Windex, who was currently playing with the younger children of the neighborhood. Through the years, they had kept the local park as their hangout spot, and the little children had taken a liking in the trio.

 

The Moon has a very weak atmosphere. It does not provide any protection from the Sun, so thankfully there weren’t more of it orbiting nearby

 

Ever since Izuku found out about the blond’s crush on his brother, he never missed a chance to tease him about it.

“Stop mocking me, you damn bush! I should never have talked to you about it!”

Katsuki had taken to calling the green haired boy a bush after a joke about being too short to be considered a tree, but Izuku did not mind the nickname one bit.

 

The Sun, on the other hand, was surrounded by a disk of gas and dust early in its history, with some of that dust still around to this day due to it tracing the orbits of planets, whose gravity tugs the dust into place around the Sun

 

“Izu, you are barely eating again. Wanna talk?”

He did, very much so, but what would he say first. Every thought he had expressed countless times already, repeating them seeming futile. But he had to try.

“It’s nothing different than the usual and I think that is one of the biggest problems. I am stuck in this loop with no visible new paths to take. Although the bullying has calmed down over the years, I can’t help but look at their faces and remember everything they have told and done to me.”

 

But slowly, the dust is moving away from our solar system

 

“Wow Midoriya! Didn’t know you had it in you. That thing must weigh like 90 kg.”

“That was so manly, bro!”

Izuku wiped the sweat from his forehead and chugged a few mouthfuls of water. He really had to be careful not to choke because of how much his lips were trembling from trying to form a wide smile.

“Tsk, that’s nothing. Look at this!”

The green haired boy looked at his red-faced childhood friend, who had tried to pick Windex up, bridal style, just like the latter had done a few days prior. Izuku was not sure if Katsuki was turning red from the strain or having his crush hype him up while in his arms.

“Hey! If you are carrying Windex, then I call dibs to be carried next!”

“Come at me broccoli! I will carry you higher than the earth’s atmosphere!”

Izuku laughed along with everyone, just enjoying the blissful moment.

I already am Kacchan. I already am.

 

Notes:

This is my favourite chapter so far. I really hope you guys enjoy it.

Chapter 15: Rest in peace Alberto, you will be missed

“This is a follow up report on yesterday’s incident at the UA rescue training facility. According to the investigation-“

The streets were bustling with people as usual. The attack at USJ had become a hot topic on the news and even busy workers stopped in the middle of their commute to listen to any new information.

Even if there had been an open attack on the No 1 hero, the fact that 72 villains were caught at once certainly helped lessen the load on the pros for a couple days. Any extra time gained was spent not on relaxation, but on strengthening their future defenses.

At the same time, in a run-down apartment complex, sat an old man, with a letter in his hands. He must have been annoyed at the content based on his expression. Nope, wait. False alarm everyone. He just reached for his glasses; poor man is just presbyopic. Well, I guess it comes with age. No, scratch that again. He is definitely annoyed.

“That moron hasn’t spoken to me in years and now he writes a letter like this. I pity the poor kid who he has to deal with Toshinori so often.”

He took an angry bite of his taiyaki as he continued to read the letter.

“The day may come when I must trouble you, my old teacher. You idiot, I am still waiting for that day to pass.”

He reached over blindly to get another taiyaki, only to grasp empty air. He looked at his now empty plate for a few seconds, before letting out a heavy breath.

“A boy acknowledged by Toshinori, huh? He should be interesting.”

~~~

UA conference room (all the teachers are present)

“The police have investigated the group calling themselves “The League of Villains”. There does not appear to exist a legally registered person that matches any known information on Shigaraki Tomura. The same goes for Kurogiri, the one with the Warp Gate quirk.”

The news, although kind of expected, was still disheartening to hear. With no more info than what they already had; it would be very difficult to move forward.

“Maybe we are missing something. Although they had such a thought-out plan, Shigaraki seemed almost impulsive. He easily switched between acting like a child throwing a tantrum to boasting just how great their plan was. Let’s not forget all those gaming and pop culture references.”

“So, a man-child.”

“I have dealt with many of those and let me tell you all, not a fun time.”

Different ideas and comments were thrown around the room, with no real cohesion other than the main topic of conversation. Desperation was becoming evident as their words went on. They had barely managed to get the upper hand last time. No one guaranteed that the same thing would happen next time.

“A child that was never told no, suddenly not getting what he wants, is like a cornered animal trying to protect its only sense of normalcy.”

Nezu understood better than anyone what his own statement meant. The whole room went silent in anticipation for his next words.

“Such a villain might pose a great threat, especially with someone backing him up and fueling his negative emotions. Change breeds fear, and fear gives its place to recklessness. That is truly terrifying.”

~~~

Midoriya household, the day after the attack

Izuku was watching his usual Allmight video again, but this was one of the rare times he couldn’t concentrate on it.

“It’s fine now. Why? Because I am here!”

Just when I thought that I was making great progress, I was yet again reminded just how much further I have to go.

The boy left the video playing in the background and picked up one of his dumbbells. The repetitive motion of bicep curls helped him focus more on his thoughts and not so much on his environment.

I don’t have much time. I have to try harder.

“’Zuku? Mom says dinner is ready.”

Izuku placed the weight back on the floor before opening his bedroom door. Windex looked at his brother, searching for anything in his demeanor that would help him understand how the boy felt. The latter also did the same, which led both to stare at each other with almost blank stares. Windex made a funny face at the same time Izuku said “Iridocyclitis”.

Their faces turned back to neutral for a few more seconds, neither willing to lose this battle. This time, it was a draw as the two burst out laughing at the same time.

“Mom! Win-chan is not letting me have my dramatic inner monologue moment!”

“No! He’s lying! For that, you shouldn’t give him katsudon tonight!”

“Gasp!”

~~~

The next day, class 1-A

“Hey, did you guys watch the news last night? They showed a picture of the class! I didn’t stand out at all thought.”

Hagakure’s tone went from inquiring, to excited, to dejected, in less than a minute. Ojiro tried to comfort the girl, but he couldn’t really find the corrects words to use so he settled for what he always did best.

“I guess you didn’t because people couldn’t stand to look at your blinding beauty.”

Oh my God, why did I say that? That was so cringe of me. Goodbye social life, I guess this is it-

Hagakure started giggling at the admittedly lame pun, but at least he is trying to make me feel better. The flustered boy relaxed a bit at the girl’s reaction and turned his attention back to the conversation that the class had picked up.

“But man, all the channels made a big deal out of it.”

“Yeah, I was so surprised.”

Jiro rolled her eyes at Kaminari and Kirishima before giving her own input.

“Well, of course they did. A new villain group, that we know nothing about, infiltrated the best guarded school in the country, with at least 74 villains, without anyone taking notice AND tried to kill a pro hero. The general premise is already a big thing, not even counting the fact that the pro was Allmight. Moreso, they had an almost surefire way to defeat one of, if not the strongest, heroes on the planet and nearly succeeded. We were lucky only 4 people got hurt, and two could have died.”

All the students looked at the girl either in awe or agreement.

“What?”

“Everyone! Morning homeroom is about to start! Stop talking and take your seats!”

“Iida-san, you do realize you are the only one not in your seat.”

“You are correct! I shall repent for this by writing the school’s rules 100 times after class!”

“I don’t think you’ll have the time to do that.”

The door of the classroom opened and in walked-

“OMG! Aizawa came back from the dead after being mummified!”

Aizawa would have rolled his eyes if he could. He contemplated whether his face being hidden wouldn’t let the students see just how exasperated he was with them, before deciding it was for the better. He didn’t want to go through another reprimanding from Nezu.

“Contrary to popular belief, I am in a better condition than I look like. But that doesn’t matter right now, the fight isn’t over yet.”

The whole class tensed at their teacher’s statement. It was way too soon for them to go against the villains again. The attack had made obvious just how much power and skill they lacked compared to the stronger opponents they would face.

“The UA sports festival is drawing near.”

The students which had been leaning forward in anticipation, almost faceplanted on their desks.

“Wait, wait, wait. Mr. Aizawa, is it okay to have such an event so soon after a villain attack?”

Maybe not all hope is lost with this generation, the man thought as he turned to Jirou.

“The higher ups want to show people that the crisis did not affect the school to a degree where we would have to cancel one of our most important events.”

“A whole class of first years and 3 teachers could have died-“

“Look, kids. I am just a teacher. If any of you want to have a go at the principal, feel free to do so yourselves. Now, today’s training will be stealth. Be as quiet as possible so I can sleep.”

~~~

“Wait, we never explained what the sports festival is.”

“You think the readers don’t already know the previous scene by heart?”

“I’m just saying. Not everyone might remember.”

“I mean, it’s a sports festival. What is there more to say?”

“I don’t know, maybe something like that it’s a publicly broadcasted event that has overshadowed the freaking Olympics!”

“Okay, okay. Jeez.”

“Let’s not forget the fact that their performance will affect how the current pros see them!”

“I get it! Can we get back to the story now?!”

“Alright, alright. As long as you understood.”

“Uhm, guys? Who are those two yelling by the door?”

Kirishima was visibly confused at the duo having an argument. He had never seen them before, nor did they wear the school’s uniform. Are these guys intruders?

“…”

“You never saw us here.”

The two unidentified people sprinted away from the classroom as soon as they said so. A loud crash almost immediately after their departure and one of them could be heard yelling.

“Dammit! I told you that the job of narrator is hard! Why did you have to blow our cover?!”

“Wait! Who are you both? How did you get past the defenses?!”

Boom

“AHHH”

Crash

Elephant noises

“NOO ALBERTO!”

Bang bang bang

The screaming and loud noises ceased after the gunshots and the class continued to stare at their door. A few seconds later, one of the teachers came back to the class and looked at the students.

“I apologize for that. We don’t know who those two were and, unfortunately, they managed to escape. We’ll strengthen the security again, there is no need for you children to worry.”

With those parting words, the teens were left alone again to get ready for their lunch period.

“I don’t know what that was, but I am pretty excited for the sports festival.”

Murmurs of agreement came from the group that had gathered around Sato’s desk. Tokoyami, who had perched himself above the lockers in the back of the class, nodded slightly, offering his own input.

“We will only have a few chances, so we had better not miss them.”

“Tokoyami is right! I am getting a bit nervous now. We need to try our best and stand out! Right, Ojiro?”

Ojiro felt a bit awkward by the sudden attention but couldn’t help but agree with Hagakure. Aoyama took the chance to insert himself in the conversation, right when the tailed boy opened his mouth to speak.

“Cela ne me posera aucun problème. Je me démarque simplement en restant immobile, de sorte que les éclaireurs ne pourront pas me quitter des yeux, n’est-ce pas?”

The blond pointed at the nearest person, who just happened to be Koda. Ojiro felt some kinship for his startled classmate, having been at his position not even 3 minutes ago.

“You’re lucky Shoji, your brawn stands out on its own.”

Shoji blushed at the compliment, not really used to getting any. Thankfully, his mask covered his reaction pretty well.

“I think you will stand out, too,” Jiro said, referring to how Kaminari acted when he overused his quirk.

“Hey! You and Momo promised not to tell anyone!”

Everybody in the class sounded very fired up, which didn’t really confuse Izuku as much as surprised him. He had fully expected some of his classmates to become more apprehensive about becoming heroes after their recent encounter. On the contrary, they seemed as excited as ever.

“You guys, let’s do our best at the sports festival.”

The Midoriya siblings, Katsuki and Iida turned to Uraraka, who emitted so much passion that it created a visible aura around her body. It was so intense that nearby students turned to look at the girl.

“Is she on her peri-“

Tsu did not let Mineta finish his sentence. Instead, she used her tongue to smack him as hard as she could, which turned out not to be the best idea.

“A woman licked my cheek!”

Disgust found its way onto the girl’s face, the exchange not going unnoticed by the teens near them. Mina flicked a tiny drop of acid in Mineta’s open mouth, right before Sero shot out a piece of tape to cover his mouth. The combination of their attacks caused the short boy to fall off his desk and scream, which was muffled by the tape. After a few more seconds of staring at him, the students turned back to their respective conversations.

“As I was saying, I’M GONNA DO MY BEST!”

~~~

“You want to become a hero, for money?”

The group heading to the cafeteria started discussing the reason they chose to become heroes and some answers were a bit surprising.

“Well, technically, that’s the simplest way to put it.”

Uraraka did not look the slightest bit embarrassed in her statement and there was no reason she should have been. Hero work paid a decent amount of money and the higher the popularity, the higher that salary became. There were tons of heroes who had chosen this career for that exact reason. The civilians knew, but they didn’t really care, as long as they were safe. This was not some fantasy book, where all the heroes were all incredibly virtuous beings, ready to lay their lives down for the greater good. No, this was real life. And even if the final goal had always been the prosperity of the people, it was generally accepted that some sacrifices needed to be made.

And so, the group did not look at the girl in contempt, but more of, in surprise. Although UA had one of the best hero courses in Japan, the hero license would be the exact same as if she got it from any other heroics school. So why had she tried to get into this specific school when any other could have served the same purpose.

Uraraka looked at their confused expressions before elaborating more on the matter.

“My family owns a construction company, but it hasn’t been going well for years now. We are pretty bad financially so I want to get a career where I will be able to support my parents like they have supported me.”

Iida started applauding her reasoning, calling it an admirable goal, while the Izuku, Katsuki and Windex continued to look at her with understanding.

“Heh, good luck with that Kirby. But don’t think that we are going to make it easy for you.”

“The slightly younger Midoriya is here!”

The students stopped in their tracks, startled by Allmight’s yell.

“Young Izuku, do you want to eat lunch together?”

Windex and Katsuki almost choked on their own spit at his question. On the other hand, Uraraka and Iida found the situation quite odd. Why would the pro ask a student he had not even known for a whole week, to eat lunch together?

Izuku sighed internally, now starting to see what his brother and friend had told him about how obvious his mentor could be.

“Of course, sir. You said you wanted to talk to me about my performance during our first lesson, right?”

Allmight got the hint, although he must have looked a bit bewildered for a second. Windex’s and Katsuki’s hard stares snapped him out of his state, and he gave a small nod, before asking the boy to follow him to his office.

The four teens continued their path to the cafeteria. A few meters in front of them, Todoroki sat, a bit hunched over and with his front towards the wall. Windex thought of asking the boy whether he wanted to join them, but he looked far too engrossed in the small notebook he was currently holding. The group could hear him mumbling something while frantically scribbling on a page, even so, they weren’t able to understand a single word.

“I heard that Lunch Rush made different types of donburi for today.”

“Let’s go!”

~~~

Allmight’s office

“Fifty minutes? That’s like a 72 percent decrease since almost a year ago! If it continues to go down in that rate, then you won’t be able to use it before the year is over.”

The pro was admittedly dejected by his successor’s words. Izuku couldn’t harness One-for-all’s full potential yet and the repercussions on his body were severe each time. That is why he had called him to his office.

“Ahem, more importantly. The sports festival is in two weeks, and you still can’t regulate One for all, right? What are you going to do?”

Determination filled the boy. This was not the time to feel bashful around his idol.

“I was hoping you could give me a few pointers. Since it was also passed down to you, you must have had a transitional period before you were able to use it effectively.”

When I first got it, huh, Allmight thought as he raked his brain for any information that could prove useful. He was already 15 when he inherited it, but he had gained mastery over it rapidly, to the point it felt like something he had been using since birth. The only thing the hero still remembered was how weird using the quirk initially felt.

“I’ll have to look a bit more into it. For the time being, I can only recall the pressure I felt the first few times. Like my body was about to explode from the buildup. Frankly, as you said, I don’t have much time as the Symbol of Peace. But I will do all that I can with the time I have left. That, I promise you, young Izuku.”

Notes:

For anyone wondering why two random people showed up at UA, caused havoc and then disappeared. It was killua_bestboi and yours truly, just going through a normal day. Thank you for reading, I really hope you are enjoying the story so far.

Chapter 16: Potential new friend

Ringgg

“Finally! Now I can go game for a bit!”

“Shouldn’t you use your free time to train?”

Kaminari was about to answer, but he let out a yelp instead. He had almost collided with Koda’s back, who had previously been walking in front of him. The blond noticed that many of his classmates stood unmoving at the classroom door, but he couldn’t really see why. He patted Koda’s shoulder to get his attention, before motioning to the stopped students with an inquisitive look. His classmate crouched a bit to let Kaminari see what was going on.

It seemed that the reason his classmates weren’t moving was because the exit was blocked by other UA students.

“Uhm, what is going on?”

Most of the teens blocking the exit did not bother answering, instead opting to continue their stare down.

“Did you guys have class with Present Mic, or something?”

…

“Get it? Cause he’s so loud, you went deaf?”

…

“Tough crowd.”

The crowd remained silent once more. Black lines covered Kaminari’s upper face, a definitive sign that he felt downcast because of the lack of response. Windex saw the blond’s reaction and patted him on the shoulder in a consoling manner. Katsuki started talking as he walked towards the door.

“They are scouting the enemy, Universal wireless charger Type C micro-USB. Out of my way extras.”

His words caused a collective gasp from his classmates.

“Bakugo-san! Stop calling people ‘extras’ just because you don’t know their names!”

“I don’t know man, knowing our names isn’t that much better.”, Kaminari said. He had just gotten over his prior embarrassment, only to be assaulted by a new nickname. Getting a nickname from Bakugo was a definitive sign that he felt closer to them, right? Please tell me I am right.

“I came to say a few stuff, but you guys seem pretty arrogant for the infamous class 1-A.”

A boy who bore a resemblance to their teacher came out of the horde of teens. His voice jolted Windex out of trying to comfort Kaminari, and he turned his eyes to the student.

“Seeing something like this makes me disillusioned. Hero students are not what they make them out to be. Not all of you are worthy to be in this course and the teachers know it. That’s why they gave the rest of the courses the chance to replace you based on their sports festival performance. You better watch your bac-!”

His monologue came to an abrupt stop when a hand slapped him upside down the back of his head.

“I swear, hanging out with Monoma doesn’t do you any good. I’m sorry for his behavior; I hope he didn’t cause you guys too much trouble.”

Class 1-A stood dumfounded at the interaction.

“Oh, I apologize, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Kendo Itsuka. I am 1-B’s class representative, and this guy is Shinso Hitoshi. He wanted to talk to one of your classmates.”

“Damn. Did you have to hit so hard? I was just trying to intimidate them a b-”

“You got into the hero course after all?”

Shinso looked at the one who asked him and came face to face with the exact person that he was looking for. Although he was sure that he had gotten into the hero course, he had never actually learned his name, nor had he seen him around campus. At least, that was before the news report on the USJ attack, where they had shown a shot of all the 1-A students and Shinso had recognized the boy.

He let an easy-going smile slip on his lips and gave a soft nod at the male.

“If you’ll excuse us, may I speak to Midoriya-san in private for a bit?”

Overprotectiveness and curiosity filled Katsuki’s body, before he remembered the boy Windex had talked about after the practical portion of their entrance exam. He quickly deduced that Shinso must have been him, before glancing at his childhood friend.

“Hey, hey, hey! I heard you fought against villains, so I came to hear ‘bout it!”

Omg, introducing all these new characters is getting too tedious. Oh well, if it isn’t the consequences of my own actions. The previous words were uttered by yet another male student, who looked way too fired up for someone who had just finished almost 8 hours of school.

“Uhm, we could tell you if you want.”

“Shoji-kun, he was being derogatory.”

Shoji, once again, was glad that his mask covered his embarrassed face.

“I’m getting tired of this. Seaweed, you coming?”

Katsuki was done with the situation. All he wanted to do was go home, do his homework, relax a bit and train. If he wanted to win, he couldn’t waste even a minute of precious time. Windex would be taking a bit longer to talk with that purple furby guy, but that didn’t mean he had to endure these people’s shouting any longer.

“A-a, yes Kacchan. Windex, see you at the gates after your talk, okay?”

The older Midoriya nodded at his brother and looked back at Shinso, who motioned at the teen to follow him.

~~~

Once the duo had reached a more secluded area, they stopped and faced each other. Shinso took a deep breath and bowed deeply at Windex, a gesture which flustered the taller teen.

“Midoriya-san, thank you for your help during the entrance exam. Without it, I wouldn’t be here today.”

The boy’s embarrassment quickly faded as he processed the words. Instead, confusion filled his brain.

“Why are you thanking me, Shinso-san? You already did so before, after I stopped that three-pointer. You don’t have to do it again.”

The purple-haired student looked at the teen in front of him, sensing the puzzlement radiating off him.

“That is not what I meant. I am talking about how, if not for you, I wouldn’t have been accepted into the heroics course. I didn’t manage to gather any villain points, and all the ones I did get were from when you were fighting the zero-pointer.”

Windex started to understand what the boy was hinting at, but the fact made him even more confused.

“Shinso-san. You were given those points because you, yourself, took the initiative to help all those bystanders. Using a great strategy, if I am being honest. It’s thanks to you that I was able to run headfirst into that fight, because I didn’t have to worry too much about hurting anyone. I should be the one thanking you.”

The boy finished his words with a bow, just as his companion had done a few minutes prior. Shinso, now on the receiving end of praise, understood why Windex had been so flustered.

“I-uhh-“

“And you not getting any villain points does not show your hero potential. Izu-chan, my brother, didn’t get any either and yet I am sure he will become one of the top pros in the future. The test just wasn’t designed to give everyone a fair chance. Now, if you wanted to talk just to thank me for something you should be praising yourself for, then I would like to end this conversation.”

His last words surprised Shinso, who had not been expecting to anger the teen. Windex saw the sadness in his eyes and immediately understood that he had not phrased what he wanted to say correctly. Frantically waving his hands in front of him, he desperately tried to explain what he had meant.

“I mean end this conversation, as in end this topic! Not stop talking! I just wanted to move on from this and maybe exchange contact information? I would like to get to know you more Shinso-san, and you are always welcome to hang out with me and my friends. I am sure that you guys will get along great. If you want to, of course! And if you think that it’s too early to exchange numbers then that is fine too! Am I being too pushy-“

The purple-haired student’s eyes were as wide as they could get. Sure, he had made some acquaintances in his class; well, at least he thought it was too early to call them anything more than that, but they had been way more aggressive with their approach. Windex, on the other hand, looked genuinely worried about crossing his boundaries, which, in its own way, showed how much he cared about becoming his friend.

Friend, huh, Shinso mused mentally. I like that thought.

A low chuckle stopped Windex from his anxious rant, calming him down considerably. He waited for the teen’s next words.

“I would be very happy to get to know you more, Midoriya-san. Although meeting the rest of your group will have to wait. I am not that good with meeting too many new people at once, and since it’s the first week of school, I had to do that way too often recently.”

The taller boy smiled and gave an understanding nod, glad to not have offended his potential new friend. He felt a vibration in his pocket, which reminded him that Katsuki and Izuku had been waiting for him this whole time, so he quickly exchanged numbers and social media handles with Shinso, before bidding a last goodbye and running to the front of the school.

Chapter 17: Extra chapter: A chemist's quirk analysis- Bakugo Katsuki edition

Notes:

Hello~ This chapter is not a part of the main story but a side project I started since quirks both fascinate and frustrate me. I understand that it is a story, and it doesn’t have to make sense but nowhere in the whole manga has it been stated that the rules of science do not apply. So, as a chemist, I took it on me to try to explain as many quirks as I could in a way that makes sense. I will be publishing it as a separate book, but this chapter is crucial to understanding one (1) specific sentence from the next chapter, and I will be damned if I do not explain it beforehand.

Most likely, I will (unfortunately) be not analysing mutant-animal quirks, since they are not in my area of expertise, as I (fortunately) did not pursue veterinary medicine, unlike my best friend killua_bestboi (derogatory).

Bakugo Katsuki

Explosion: Katsuki's Quirk allows him to secrete nitro-glycerine-like sweat from the palms of his hands and ignite it on command. The more Katsuki sweats, the stronger his explosions become. If Katsuki overuses this power, his forearms will start to ache. His Quirk underwent an awakening,  allowing his explosions to be stronger and more condensed.

Analysis

Let’s break it down a bit. Katsuki creates nitro-glycerine- like sweat. It is a combination of his parent’s quirks. Mitsuki secretes glycerine while Masaru secretes acidic sweat with combustive properties.

Seeing as most acids are not combustible in nature but act as oxidizers, oxidation reactions are generally exothermic in nature, meaning that the produce heat. In the chance that there is oxygen present, many “fuels” (ie compounds that get oxidized by the acid) ignite. In some cases, the ignition classifies as an explosion.

It is the rapid liberation of heat that causes the gaseous products of most explosive reactions to expand and generate high pressures. This rapid generation of high pressures of the released gas constitutes the explosion.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s pan out a theory for Masaru’s quirk. The wiki states that he secretes acidic sweat with combustive properties. Most combustible acids are weak organic acids. From those, I picked to study only the ones that contain Nitrogen. That concession was made because the only glycerine-derived compounds that are combustible, occur after a reaction with nitrogenous molecules.

Here, I have to say that some nitrogenous molecules are considered “contact explosives” due to combusting under relatively low stress (static, shock, friction, pressure etc). We will not be studying those since if that was the case, Masaru would not be alive. Contact explosives are part of the “primary explosives”  category, which contains nitro-glycerine.

Out of all the metabolic by products that contain Nitrogen, the most promising is NO.

The process I suggest is:

1. NO is produced naturally by the body in the mitochondria. It is then dissolved in the blood stream.
2. During strenuous exercise, the human body requires a higher quantity of Oxygen. Oxygen can be found in the blood, attached to haemoglobin, while a small amount is dissolved in the plasma.
3. The reaction between NO and O2 produces NO2, which can be hazardous to human health, so it is expelled by the system.
4. NO2 mixes with the H2O from sweat, producing NO3.

Since the above can occur in a quirkless body, albeit with lower yield than necessary, I propose that along with higher production of NO, Masaru also produces low percentages of H2SO4, enough to react with NO3 as to give “nitrating mixture”, but not to be hazardous to his bodily health.

5. The mixture reacts with organic substances, generating high amounts of heat.

In the instance that the organic substance is glycerine, nitro-glycerine is produced, which is sensitive to both shock and heating. Here, it is essential to point out that since Katsuki stores his sweat mixture in his gauntlets, they should have a cooling mechanism and a way to minimise shock, so it doesn’t explode while inside them.

I proposed this model, here where the actual explosive is formed outside the body, since the friction due to the movement of fluids inside glands might be enough to cause a combustion while still inside his body.

This supports my initial thoughts on the “Things get spicy” chapter. Like most nitrate compounds, nitrous oxide (NO) acts as a vasodilator, lowering the speed in which blood circulates the body. Low blood pressure itself can lead to shock, which has excessive sweating as one of its primary symptoms, further increasing NO production (if it is tied to the amount of sweating, that is).

Chronic low blood pressure is a serious medical issue that should be addressed when creating a character, as it can limit their abilities, something we don’t really see from Katsuki’s character.

The above model is not as complete as I would like it to be, since it does not take into account just how hard it would be for Katsuki to control the constant explosions, but for now it can be attributed to low concentrations of the components.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Notes: There can exist possible models for how the quirk works, which is always a huge plus. I deducted 2 points solely on the fact that the health risks were not taken into account.

 

 

Chapter 18: Rise and grind

“I don’t think this will work.”

Katsuki fell back on his chair after he finished writing down yet another rough training schedule for the next two weeks. Izuku was going over it, muttering some comments here and there, and Windex had just gotten back from the kitchen with some snacks for the three of them.

After Windex’s talk with Shinso, the trio met up at the school gates and they started their walk to Katsuki’s home. All three knew that they were in for a hellish two weeks, so some heavy planning was in store. A comfortable silence enveloped them, broken only by the sound of their footsteps. Once they reached the house, they headed straight to Katsuki’s room, only taking the extra time to take off their shoes and coats. The blond’s parents were still at work so that gave them even more time to themselves. Soon after, the whole room was filled with papers, either crumbled up or containing the week’s homework. Katsuki wouldn’t have thrown them to the ground at any other point in time, but he was understandably angry with how the school managed these kinds of events.

Which moron decided that barely three weeks into the school year is enough time for the students to show their skills, he thought as he noted down some changes Izuku had suggested. Since it was Friday and the sports festival would take place on a Monday, that meant that they had just over two weeks of time to train to their best ability, not nearly enough if he were being honest. And so, planning their training took priority for the day.

The Sunday before would be a rest day, if they wanted to be in the best condition possible for it. So, counting today, we have fifteen days left. Fifteen continuous days of training, if we count the four hero lessons periods and the four P.E. ones, might be too much. So, we must find a rest day somewhere in between too.

Katsuki banged his head on the desk. He was about to scream from frustration until he felt something cold touch his cheek. Looking up, he saw Windex smiling softly at him and gesturing at the glass of cold tea in his hand. The blond took it with a grateful nod, while the taller male peaked over his shoulder, to see what the schedule looked like so far.

Let’s see what we can do with this, Windex thought after briefly admiring his friend’s neat handwriting. Katsuki had gotten up from his seat to stretch for a bit, leaving it free for the taller teen to grab. Well, seems like Tuesday’s are already pretty tiring, with both P.E. and hero lessons, so lighter training might be a better option on those days. He quickly scribbled down his observation. Homework and studying should take about 2 hours a day, if we all do a part each and then swap answers. And since we are home by four thirty most days, then that leaves us with 3 and a half hours of free time. He tapped the pencil he was using on his lips before continuing. Three of those could be training, with half an hour for food and a full 9 hours of sleep. On Saturdays we can even do a full extra hour of training. But when will the rest day go? Hmm…

Windex was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt Izuku’s and Katsuki’s breaths hit the sides of his face. They were both hunched over the boy’s notes and looked just as focused as he had been a few seconds ago.

“What if we make Mondays resting days?”

“Yeah, that way we can have lighter training on Tuesdays and maximize our training hours the rest of the week.”

“Of course, we shouldn’t train together every day. I don’t want you two to steal my moves.”

“Hah! I bet Windex, and I could easily win against you right here and now.”

“In your dreams Kermit! I will pulverize everyone in this contest, and that includes you two as well!”

Windex looked at the quarrelling duo, glad that they were there to help. More heads are always better.

“Wait, Kacchan. What would happen if I shock-activated a canister of your sweat with as much power as I can harness from OFA?”

“I don’t know but now we have to find out!”

Okay, maybe not always.

~~~

“And that is why my brother and Katsuki were full of bruises this week.”

Shinso almost choked on his water after hearing Windex’s explanation.

“Damn. Must have been a pretty bad explosion.”

Windex, who had been leaning against the same wall as Shinso, started to break down in laughter, causing the wall to vibrate slightly behind them.

“No, no. They never managed to actually get through with their plan. Aunty Mitsuki caught them before they even got out the door.”

“Did…did she hit them, then?”, the purple-haired teen reluctantly asked.

“Oh, no, never. Aunty can be a little rough, but she wouldn’t hurt us. So, you see, they were ready to go outside to do it, so Katsuki was holding a bottle of water to bring with him, to produce more sweat, you know?”

“I fail to see where this is going.”

Shinso was getting more and more confused, but curiosity was a force to be reckoned with.

“I am getting to it, don’t worry. It will all make sense in a bit.”

Windex’s laughter had settled down, except for the odd chuckle here and there, but it was obvious that he was trying his best to hold it in.

“For some reason, I doubt that,” Shinso teased, so far enjoying their break from the day’s training.

“Come on~ I know you are dying to know. You wouldn’t have asked otherwise.”

“Okay, okay, you got me. Please continue, oh great storyteller, Midoriya-sama. What happened next?”

Windex grinned, taking a moment before he continued, wanting to build up the suspense even more.

“As I was saying. The bottle was orange and that is important because-"

~~~

“You are not ascending to godhood. You are just dehydrated!”

“Out of my way, gay boy! I am about to liberate myself from this mortal shell!”

Thud

“Hospital...”

I swear, this idiot would be dead without supervision, Katsuki thought as he kneeled to pick the fallen Izuku from the ground. He understood that being Allmight’s successor was not an easy task, but the boy just made it harder for himself. Doesn’t he know that the body needs rest as well? Dammit, Izuku. You are supposed to be smart.

The blond carried Izuku to the nearest bench and set him down. He gave a quick glance around the school’s gym as he reached for some water to give to his childhood friend. It was evening on a school day, and many students had the idea of using the school facilities to get some extra training in. Thankfully, UA had more than enough space to accommodate them.

Windex had also decided to train along with the two, but he was currently spotting Shoji, who was lifting weights. The masked boy had approached him after class to ask for his help, since not many people in the class could lift as much as him and he wanted to push his limits as much as possible. He, of course, offered to do the same for Windex, so Shoji stuck mostly with the three friends for that evening.

It was a very productive weight training session for all four, and they even got to exchange some tips between them. Shoji’s were especially useful since, through the years, he had to find ways to efficiently train many muscles at once, due to his quirk’s nature.

“You guys good to go? Shoji-kun said he will stay for a bit longer, but he can continue by himself.”

Izuku groaned a bit, nodding his head against Katsuki’s shoulder, where he had been leaning on for a while. The blond went to get up which got even more groans out of his friend, which made Katsuki sigh exasperatedly and flick Izuku’s forehead.

“’Zuku, if you help us gather our stuff, I will carry you home.”

Even more groans.

“And, I will let you have one of my puddings.”

The green-haired boy got up sluggishly, knowing that his brother’s offer wouldn’t get any better than that. In about five minutes they had everything packed and Izuku was already on Windex’s back, enjoying being carried piggy-back.

These past days might have been exhausting, but, at least, he got a pudding out of it.

~~~

“Ojiro-san, Sero-san. May I talk to you for a moment.”

The two boys turned towards their classmate, who had stopped them while they were getting ready to head to the cafeteria.

“Of course, man. What do you want to talk about?”

If they were being honest, they had no idea what Windex wanted to say to them. It’s not that they hadn’t spoken to him before, but the question was certainly out of the blue.

“I have noticed that the two of you have great mobility when it comes to using your quirks. I was wondering if we could train together for a bit, before the exam. I would be very grateful for any tips you could give me.”

Ojiro was baffled at the male’s words. Surely, he had to be joking. Why would he want help from them when it was already obvious how much stronger than them Windex was. He couldn’t really think of an appropriate way to articulate his thoughts, so he felt grateful that Sero replied before he had to.

“Sure thing, bro. But if you don’t mind me asking, why are you asking us? You already are pretty good at moving around.”

He worded it much better than my thoughts, the tailed teen thought before turning his attention to Windex’s answer.

“I am not that good at controlling my power level yet. So even though running in a straight line is relatively easy, I find it way harder to pivot or bounce against walls. I usually end up losing momentum because I crack the surface, or not land where I want to.”

Sero understood where his classmate was coming from. He had lost count of how many times he had found himself on the ground after smacking face-first against a wall, or his tape had missed, making him fall from the middle of the air.

Ojiro sympathized as well. Even though he had his tail since birth, that didn’t mean swinging around with it came naturally. He had to watch more than a couple videos on how some ape species moved on trees, before he had an idea on how to use it to his advantage.

The silence that fell over the three after Windex’s words made the teen nervous.

“Did I say something wrong? I don’t mean to take time from your own training so you two don’t have to agree if you don’t want to. If you do, I will try to help you as much as I can, as well. Again, only if you-“

“I am free this Friday, if you can. It never hurts to go over the basics. I would also like it if you gave me some advice on strength training. Sounds good?” The blond spoke up for the first time in the conversation, cutting his classmate’s anxious rambling off.

“Friday is good for me too. The school has many types of environment simulations so we could practice on more than one of them. Forests and cities are way too different if my experience has anything to say about it.”

Relief flooded Windex at how willing the two were to help him. He would do his best not to disappoint them.

After a few more words, mostly consisting of exchanging contact information and what the three wanted to work on the most, they said their goodbyes and sat at their respective tables.

“What took you so long? The seaweed was about to take your chicken nuggets.”

“Was not! Ni-chan, he’s lying!”

Windex shook his head and sat down to eat his lunch. But not before requesting if anyone had a piece of paper and a pen - bless Iida - so he could write down what Sero and Ojiro had asked of him. The sooner he answered their questions, at least the ones which didn’t need demonstration, the better.

~~~

The oldest of the Midoriya siblings had just finished his nightly shower. It was Sunday so he had been training for most of the day, this time with Iida. After what had happened at USJ, he wanted to get faster, and Iida was admittedly the best choice to train with. His legs were cramping up from all the running, so he felt thankful that Mondays were rest days. Katsuki would be coming to their house later, after he finished his own training, so they could have a movie night and finally relax. It had been an exhausting first week, and they couldn’t wait for the sports festival to end.

The sound of the doorbell snapped him out of his thoughts, and he quickly threw on some pajamas so he could greet his friend. When he got to the living room, Izuku, who had had a shower of his own earlier, was sitting in front of the TV, looking through their movie options. Katsuki, on the other hand, was already sprawled on the couch, clearly very tired, with Princess purring next to him. Their mom had a late shift so she would be coming home later than usual.

Since they felt too tired to cook anything extravagant, they decided on making egg fried rice with some tofu for extra protein. Windex did most of the cooking, with his brother helping prep the ingredients. Katsuki’s arms hurt too much from using his quirk, so the siblings did not allow him to help, although they did finally give in and let him assist in plating the food and taking it to the living room.

Once everything was ready, and Inko’s portion was safely wrapped and put into the microwave to keep warm, the trio settled on the couch and started the movie. Their next challenge was to resist Princess’s kitty eyes which were begging for extra food. And they wouldn’t be able to overcome it.

~~~

“Alright you two. We officially have less than a week left. Now it’s time for the most important part. Luigi! Are you listening to me?!”

Windex would have laughed at his brother’s nickname if he hadn’t been given the nickname Mario, as well. Izuku jolted out of his muttering and looked anxiously at his friend.

“Yes, sir!”

“Has Allmight given you any more info on how he got used to OFA?”

“No, sir!”

Katsuki exhaled in frustration at his friend’s response. Figures. I am starting to wonder what Nezu saw in him as a teacher, he thought as he looked back at the boys in front of him.

“So, we don’t have anything other than the pressure thing to start from, huh.”

“About that,” Windex started, “I was thinking about it, and what if we took his words a bit more literally.”

His suggestion caught the other two’s attention.

“Izu, you said that you can control at which parts of your body the quirk activates, right?”

Izuku nodded, starting to get where his brother was hinting at.

“If you applied it all throughout your body, then wouldn’t that-“

“-Minimize the pressure due to maximizing the surface area! Windex, you’re a genius!”

The green-haired boy finished Windex’s thoughts before the latter could. Katsuki was humming thoughtfully next to them, on board with the theory. They had already decided to stay on the school grounds, both to avoid damage to public property and have access to Recovery Girl’s infirmary, so they felt more comfortable with the idea of experimenting.

The hypothesis worked way better than expected. Sure, Izuku could feel many bruises forming already, but nothing was broken. With his quirk spread out, it was way easier to control the output, even though he still had to concentrate a great deal on it.

Although less than a week would not be nearly enough for him to get proficient, he now could be a bit less anxious about his handicap. For the rest of the time he had left, he would focus on getting used to this way of using it along with his usual training.

I guess I will have to rely on the shockwaves more than anything. Mobility training will sadly have to wait after the festival, he thought as he sipped some water on their way back home.

~~~

“Oh, Yaoyorozu-san. Are you here to study too? Mind if we join you?”

Yaoyorozu looked up from her book at the group in front of her. The Midoriya siblings, Katsuki and surprisingly enough, Koda, were all looking expectantly at the girl. She gave a kind smile and a nod at them, before looking back at the page she was reading.

Curiosity got the best of her, so she sneaked a quick glance at what the others were reading. Koji was engrossed in a book about animal behaviors, while Windex and Katsuki were going over what they had learned in class these past days.

When Yaoyorozu’s eyes fell on Izuku, she saw him peaking at what she was reading, as well. Both teens flushed at being caught red handed, but the awkwardness quickly went away when Izuku started asking about how her quirk worked.

During the next hours, the two had a very constructive conversation, both their voices becoming louder than a whisper more than a couple times. They had managed to come up with some useful items that Yaoyorozu could create, that she had never thought of before. The fact that she could create organic polymers and even dynamite confused Izuku since she couldn’t create things like food or flowers. Maybe the fact that those had much more complex molecular configurations, made it almost impossible to memorize everything. But what if she had a memorization quirk too? Would she be able to do it then?

The female student was not the only one who got something out of the conversation though. Izuku’s analytical skills had proven useful more than once during battles, so keeping his mind sharp was a huge plus during those two weeks.

When late evening came, the trio said their goodbyes to Yaoyorozu and left the library. Koda had left earlier, after checking some books out along with him and went to test out his new knowledge. And they too, had a long training session ahead of them.

~~~

Mina had also tagged along with Sero when she learned that he had planned a second training session with Windex and Ojiro. She felt pretty dejected for not being able to join them last time, when they asked her. Her quirk might not allow her to parkour on buildings, but it certainly aided her movements. Sliding around was not an easy task after all, and she too needed great precision to move accurately.

“No, Midoriya-kun! You must put more weight on your back foot.”

It was a nice experience for all four of them. Each had a very different way of using their quirks, so they gained quite a bit of insight on how they could improve. They decided on continuing these sessions even after the sports festival and thought of asking more of their classmates to join, if they wanted to. Katsuki, Izuku, Iida would certainly be on board. Maybe Todoroki would agree too, since he used his ice much like Mina did with her acid.

~~~

Windex reached the training grounds a bit earlier than Izuku. Katsuki could not be with them that day since he had some errands to run and would instead move his training more towards the late evening. Kirishima had heard their conversation and offered to tag along with him, so they could both train their quirks against each other, an offer that the blond could not refuse.

Not many students were in the collapse zone, which made it an even better choice for the siblings to try out their strength. From where he stood, he noticed Uraraka alongside Jirou and Aoyama. The brunette was using her quirk to float as many pieces of the fallen building as she could, while the other two used the floating pieces as targets. The male contemplated on speaking to them but ultimately decided on a friendly wave, before he started his usual stretches.

~~~

“Tokoyami-san? Are you here?”

The Asian Koel- from what Windex had recently learned- looking male waved at his classmate from inside a dimly lit room. Not all windows were covered, but from what Tokoyami had told him, they would be soon.

The shorter boy wanted to train his quirk when Dark Shadow was at her strongest. Since she was prone to going haywire the darker its environment was, Tokoyami had requested his classmate’s help. He trusted that he was plenty strong to help him if Dark Shadow decided to rampage, and if not, then Windex would just have to open the blinds so she would calm down.

“Are you ready? Bring forth the darkness.”

~~~

“Ugh. I think some of my bones might be broken.”

Kirishima’s words made Windex look at him with worry.

“Kirishima-kun, please go to Recovery Girl if you feel unwell. You shouldn’t strain yourself that much.”

The redhead did not have the heart to tell him that he was just being overly dramatic as a coping mechanism, so he quickly assured the taller male that he would visit her as soon as he could.

The desk in front of Kirishima was also occupied by Kaminari, who looked just as worn out as he muttered something about videogames destroying braincells being nothing in comparison to having to use his quirk so much.

Windex looked around the classroom and saw all the students in a similar situation. It was already the Saturday before the festival, and everyone looked like zombies. He was sure some would even train on Sunday, so he couldn’t help but worry about them all.

He had already made up his mind before the last bell rang, so after explaining to Izuku and Katsuki that he would be training later in the evening, he picked up his bag and sprinted to the nearest supermarket. Making treats for 20 classmates would be tedious but surely way less tiring than what they went through these past weeks.

Notes:

Yes, I did take time from my life to think about what the most efficient training program for them would be. No, I am not sound of mind, thank you very much. I hope you all enjoy the few interactions I prepared before the main event.
Have a great day, hydrate or diedrate and take care of yourselves you beautiful weebs~

Chapter 19: Anxiety is the best motivation

Notes:

I really believe that USA is a social experiment as I cannot comprehent some of the things going on there. My heart goes out to all the people who might be affected by the current president's future decisions. I hope that any and all readers who are going through a tough time, be it they are a USA citizen or anything else, soon find the security and happiness they need.
As always, I hope you all enjoy this chapter and that it can at least bring a smile to your faces in this trying times.

“I can see the light!”

Scoots over a bit

“Better?”

“Very much so, thank you.”

Inko laughed at the exchange between her children. Katsuki had decided to sleepover the night before the sports festival, so all three had slept in the living room, as they usually did when they had a sleepover. The above conversation was between a still sleepy Windex and an already wide-awake Katsuki. Izuku was currently being woken up by their cat, who had decided that sitting on him and pawing at his face was a good idea.

“You three better get ready if you don’t want to be late.”

A chorus of yeses came from the teens. The siblings trudged towards the bathroom to do their morning routines, while Katsuki, who was already done with his, helped pack any last necessities. Twenty minutes and 3 kisses on the cheek later, they were out the door and heading to the sports festival stadium- after a quick stop at Katsuki’s house to greet his parents, of course.

By the time they reached school, it was already overflowing with spectators, both civilians and pro heroes alike. Windex had left the other two for a bit, telling them that he would meet them in the changing room, since he had something to give to Shinso. Thankfully, they didn’t have to wait long before he joined them again, eager to share his hard work with the rest of his classmates. Katsuki and Izuku had already gotten theirs and decided to keep them as a snack for later.

Needless to say, the rest were touched by the thoughtful gift. Especially Yaoyorozu and Sato. Todoroki on the other hand, stared at the bag in his hand for a bit before looking up at the taller male and opening his mouth to speak.

“Midoriya-san. Both you and your brother.”

Izuku turned his attention to the boy who called out to them.

“Objectively speaking, I believe I am more experienced”, he said while staring Windex down, before turning his gaze to his brother, “and stronger than you.”

“OBJECTIVELY MY ASS!” Katsuki screamed as Kirishima tried to hold him back.

Todoroki continued what he was saying completely unphased by the blond’s outburst.

“But you both have some pretty big pros backing you. I won’t pry about that.”

I am here, from the future, and can say with 100 percent certainty that you will be prying about that.

“But I’m going to beat you both.”

The students could feel the temperature in the room drop, and some were not sure if Todoroki was using his quirk for dramatic effect. The siblings looked into the boy’s bi-coloured eyes for a moment more and gave him the biggest grin they could muster.

“Alright, Todoroki-san. We will also do our best and aim for the top,” Windex said, followed by Izuku’s, “It’s the least we can do, when everyone is giving it their all.”

Their kind smiles turned into matching smirks.

“Good luck. You will need it.”

~~~

“HEY! Every one pay attention because the event you have all been waiting for… is about to begin! Are you ready?!”

The crowd went wild at Present Mic’s announcement.

“It’s time for the first-year students to enter the stage! Let’s give it up for the hero courses, class 1-A and 1-B!”

The size of the arena wasn’t anything unusual for the students. What was a new experience was the number of people sitting in the stands. For some of them, it would certainly not help with their performance, but they had to admit that in a real-life situation, they wouldn’t have a say on who watched them during villain attacks.

“Next up, we have general studies, with classes C, D and E!”

Even more people poured into the arena from the side gates.

“Support course classes, F, G and H, are here, too!”

The support course mostly consisted of students wearing support gear, probably ones they had made themselves. They had everything, from armor-like items, to goggles, to belts with pockets that rattled with every step.

“And last but not least, the business course with classes I, J and K! All first years are now, here!”

The shouts from the crowd got louder and louder with each passing second, until the sound of a whip echoed through the stadium. Pro hero Midnight, and one of their teachers, stood on a podium in front of the students. She motioned everyone to be quiet, before starting.

“Time for the student pledge! Representing the students is Midoriya Windex from 1-A!”

Windex let out a yelp, surprised to be called to make a speech in front of everyone.

“Win-chan? I think she called you,” Izuku said, just as baffled.

Katsuki and Tsu, who were standing on each of his sides, gave the taller male a little push. Windex tried to keep a calm exterior, even if he was sweating buckets on the inside.

Once he reached the microphone and turned to face the crowd, he could feel his facade crumbling. Katsuki could not bear to see him in such distress, so he did the first thing that came to mind. And what else would it be, other than making a small explosion go off. The sound momentarily distracted the first years from Windex, who took the chance to gather his nerves. Katsuki, as was expected, pretended that he was just as confused as the rest as to where the sound came from.

“As a UA student, I pledge to compete with all I have, as I am certain the rest of the students will do. Give it your best shot, plus ultra!”

The viewers cheered along with some students. Surprisingly, many students from the other classes clapped, or at least gave approving nods. Midnight smiled at the teen and motioned for him to get back with the rest of his classmates. Once everyone had settled down, she continued.

“Now, let’s get started right away! The first game is what you’d call a qualifier! Let’s spin the wheel and see what it will be!”

A hologram appeared behind the pro, displaying a single, spinning slot.

“This year, it’s… an obstacle race!”

“Hey! That’s not fair! It’s almost as if you guys knew about it!”, Kaminari, who was playing with Ojiro’s tail to calm his nerves, whined. Mina had told him all about their training sessions and he had shown much enthusiasm about joining. Ojiro tried to give him a comforting smile, but it was quite hard when the electricity user was basically clinging to his tail. Windex offered a quick head pat, while Mina and Sero gave him teasing looks.

“The course will be the outer circumference of this stadium, about four kilometres! You are free to do anything as long as you stay on the course! Now, places everyone!”

All the courses gathered in front of the gate, ready to sprint as if their lives depended on it. Izuku, Katsuki and Windex gave one last nod to each other, before taking their places. From here on, they were on their own.

Everyone waited in anticipation for the last green light to turn off, and as soon as it did, all hell broke loose.

“Are you ready to do the commentary, mummy man?”

“Life is suffering.”

“That’s the spirit! What do you think the students should pay attention to?”

“This part right now.”

One would expect that at least a few people would have cleared the hallway by now, but everyone seemed too busy pushing each other, trying to get ahead. Windex was glad that he had chosen to stand on the very back, since he could have enough space to jump over the others. And that is what he did.

He landed a few meters in front of the crowd, seconds before ice covered the ground and immobilized most of them. It seemed like some other students, many of which being his classmates, had the same idea of jumping over the swarm. He didn’t waste any more time though and ran towards the next obstacle. He opted not to sprint so early during the race, wanting to reserve some energy for later.

Luckily, he didn’t have to run for long before the first obstacle appeared on his path. Todoroki was hot on his trail, so Windex decided not to engage with the zero pointer robots, which would hopefully slow down the rest of the runners. Instead, he decided to put into trial his training with Sero, Ojiro and Mina.

He crouched a bit and launched himself on one of the robotic arms reaching for him. He ran along it, before reaching his shoulder and jumping on the one nearest to it. He continued the pattern of jumping, running and jumping again, and he had soon cleared the obstacle. He had surely left some minor dents on them, but before training he might have toppled them over if he had tried to do the same thing. So yes, a huge improvement, if he might say so himself.

“Amazing! Midoriya just passed the robots before the second runner even reached it!”

Windex ignored Present Mic’s voice blaring from the hundreds of speakers around the stadium. He could see the second obstacle about 20 meters ahead and barely managed to formulate a plan before he reached it. Without a moment’s hesitation, he jumped over the cliff.

“What is your student doing, Eraser head?!”

“If you paid attention, maybe then you’d know.”

From the top, one could see some hearth columns vibrating, one at a time, further and further into the canyon.

“Wait! Is Midoriya-?!”

A few seconds later, Windex emerged from the other side and continued his run.

“Yes, he is everyone! He used the same logic as when passing the robots and cleared the obstacle right away!”

As the pro continued to commentate on how the other students were doing, Windex got himself ready for what came next in the course.

Heh. Isn’t it funny that all the first-year courses are competing in a course?

The boy chuckled and then promptly slapped himself mentally.

Windex, focus. You can’t get carried away now, he thought, thankfully snapping his head back in the game at the perfect time. He stopped in front of a minefield, less than two meters away from where a mine was obviously buried.

“And while we were looking at the rest of the competitors, Midoriya reached the final obstacle! The minefield!”

Carefully observing the ground, he noticed that there were way less mines along the perimeter. Sure, it would cost him some extra time, but it would be negated by the time gained from not having to avoid as many of them.

“Todoroki just cleared the second obstacle and is heading for the last one!”

Not wasting any more time, Windex made up his mind to go with the plan he had come up with. He was barely a few meters from finishing the field, when Todoroki, and if he had to guess from the shouts, Katsuki, arrived.

Panicked, he jumped the rest of the field and started sprinting. He was not really scared of losing the race, but if his 12-year friendship with the blond taught him anything, was that Katsuki plus any explosives were not a good combination, if his quirk being creating explosions and the dozens of old burn scars the trio had was any testament to that.

“And Midoriya cleared the last obstacle, still in first place! Look at him go! No, wait. Where did he go? He seems to have disappeared as soon as he touched the ground!”

Windex stood a couple meters in front of the finish line, awkwardly looking around. Everyone had been too busy looking at the screen recordings to notice him entering the stadium. He was not sure if he should announce himself, but fortunately, he didn’t have to.

Someone from the crowd yelled out in shock, when he finally noticed that the teen was there. The yell created a chain reaction of people turning their eyes back to the stadium, only to be equally as surprised. The previously deafening spectators were barely breathing.

“Uh…Hello?”

The people in the stands erupted into cheers once again. Izuku crossed the finish line about half a minute later, with Todoroki in third place and Katsuki in fourth.

“The Midoriya siblings took the first and second place, in an amazing showcase of both strength and intelligence! I am sure someone’s parents are very proud!”

~~~

Bakugo household

“WAAA! MY BABIES! I knew they could do it! All three of them did so GOOD!”

Mitsuki sighed at how emotional her friend was over the phone. She couldn’t really blame her though; her husband was in the exact same situation. Damn, even she was pretty close to tears.

“I know Inko-chan. We are also very proud of them.”

“I’m going to make them more food than they can possibly eat! I LOVE THOSE BOYS SO MUCH!” Inko wailed again.

The blond hung up the phone after some more words and turned to Masaru, who had already gone through half a box of tissues.

“Dear, reckon we can get to Inko’s house before the next event?”

~~~

“And now everyone is finishing one after another! We’ll make a list of the results but for now, GOOD WORK EVERYONE!”

“I don’t understand why they gave you a mic.”

“Oh, come on Eraser! Everyone loves my voice! Am I right, everyone!”

“I can think of at least one person who doesn’t.”

The banter between the teachers got drowned out by the students praising each other. Many came up to Windex to congratulate him, which made him feel a bit overwhelmed. Thankfully, his classmates had learned how anxious he could get around new people, so they tried to stay close to him and offer their support when strangers approached.

“Thank you for your patience, listeners! If you would pay attention to what Midnight has to say!”

“The first game of the sports festival is officially over!”

The crowd got louder before calming down again.

“Let’s take a look at the results!”

Pictures of the students with their placement appeared on the hologram from before. Out of the whole year, only the top 42 were pictured.

“The one’s on the board made it through to the next round. We’d like to thank everyone for their work so far and remind them not to despair! We have more chances for you to show yourselves today! Now, let’s see what the next event will be!”

The slot on the board started spinning again, before it stopped.

“It’s a … calvary battle!”

 

 

Chapter 20: Revenge is a dish best served while riding on your hommie's back

“Let’s explain how this event works.”

The image behind Midnight changed to a picture of Present Mic and Thirteen carrying Allmight.

“Did they really make them pose for that?”

“Did they take pictures for every event?”

“I bet they used Eraserhead-sensei for rhythmic gymnastics.”

Midnight snapped her whip to silence the students once again.

“You will each be given a headband with points according to your placement in the obstacle course. During the event you will work in teams consisting of a maximum of four people. The teams are worth the total of their members’ points, and the riders will wear a headband with that number on their foreheads!”

While the explanation went on, some teens were already looking around at their schoolmates and wondering what kind of teams they could form to maximize their chances of winning.

“You’ll have fifteen minutes to steal the other teams’ headbands! After you grab them, you must put the around your neck!”

A video of Allmight played on the projection, showing the hero’s face getting progressively covered by more and more headbands.

“That Velcro looks pretty wide. Couldn’t he just adjust them to overlap one another?”

Toshinori, not in his buff form, could feel a sweat drop forming beside his head. He had mistakenly believed that he would not be subjected to his students’ criticism during the sports festival. Being the number one hero didn’t help either.

“And don’t worry! If your rider falls or your headband gets stollen, you can keep competing!”

The students murmured amongst themselves, already coming up with some possible strategies.

“You can use your quirks however you like! Your fifteen minutes to build teams start… NOW!”

A timer started counting down the fifteen minutes they were given. Fifteen minutes were not nearly enough to both find a team and think of a full plan, but they would have to manage. Many students stuck close to their regular groups, with some trying to approach the students that ranked high during the previous event.

Windex already knew that Katsuki and Izuku would form teams of their own, which meant that people like Kirishima, Uraraka and Iida were probably out of the question. While in deep thought, he didn’t notice that the students walking towards him had stopped before they even reached him. The thing that snapped him back to reality was a hand touching his shoulder.

He turned around to the one who had touched him, only to come face to face with Shinso. The latter did not even get to open his mouth fully, and instead yelped slightly at Windex’s loud question.

“Shinso-kun! Do you want to team up?”

That went better than expected, the teen thought. He gave his friend a nod and pointed to two other boys standing a few meters away. Windex recognized one of them as one of the students who had been scouting his classroom after the USJ attack. Once they reached the two, he bowed slightly, thanking them for being accepted as a member of their team.

“Midoriya-kun, these two are my classmates, Monoma and Tetsutetsu,” Shinso said as he gestured to the two males. Tetsutetsu gave an acknowledging nod, while Monoma clicked his tongue in an annoyed way.

“Oh, how lucky we must be, that an esteemed 1-A student so kindly accepted to settle for our team. We truly have been graced with such an opportunity.”

The blond’s words were laced with obvious sarcasm making Windex feel anxious at the thought that he had already offended his new friend’s classmates without knowing. He really hoped it wasn’t too late to apologize for whatever he had done wrong.

Shinso knew that acting rash would not help the situation one bit. They had 11 minutes left and every second was precious. He also understood that if he attacked the blond right then and there, he would get disqualified. So, he settled for the next best thing.

“I know, right? Midoriya-kun surely had many requests from other teams, since he got first place during the obstacle race, so I am grateful that he accepted ours. I am glad that you see how fortunate we are, Monoma-san.”

Thankfully, that was enough to wipe the smirk off Monoma’s face. Tetsutetsu, on the other hand, was laughing at the flabbergasted look that replaced the previous, arrogant one residing on the blond’s face. Windex smiled at his friend, thankful for the help. He glanced at the timer and turned his attention back to his groupmates, which were busy either glaring, in Monoma’s case, or smirking at each other. With a small cough to draw their attention at him, he begun.

“Uhm, I might have a plan. I just need to know a bit more about your quirks.”

~~~

“Now then, it’s about time to get started!”

Shinso had no idea why he went along with the plan, but it was way too late to back down. Their team had a total of 10.000.265 points, way more than all other teams combined, so their safest plan would have been to try and protect it until the end, and not wasting extra energy on attacking. But none of the other three in his team would settle for merely defending themselves.

To think that the one-time Monoma would agree with a 1-A student would be now, Shinso thought as he looked at his three teammates below him. Windex tilted his head upwards to give the purple-haired teen a small smile, before turning back to observing the other teams. Well, I guess I can go along with their shenanigans, just this once, he mused, relaxing his tense muscles a bit.

“Counting down to the brutal battle royal! Three, two, one! Start!”

On second thought-

“Looks like everyone is aiming for the 10.000.000 headband! Wait?! There’s something strange about their team, is that allowed?!”

The whole stadium turned to look at what Present Mic was referring to. Shinso’s team had decided not to follow the standard four membered team configuration. They had thought of quite a few possible ones, but each came with its own set of disadvantages. If Windex had acted as one of the three horses, his size would have been a hindrance for the other two. On the other hand, that was also the reason he couldn’t be the rider. So they went with the best solution that came to mind.

Shinso sighed once again, looking down at the rest of his team. He was currently seated on Windex’s shoulders, while the other two were, well…

~10 minutes ago~

“Shinso, do you think this will annoy that blond friend of his?”

“Huh? Bakugo? I mean, probably.”

“Great, then we are going with this plan.”

~back to the present~

“It is allowed! Shinso’s and Mineta’s team asked about this during team formation. Each team can have up to four members with one rider and at least one horse, so it’s perfectly acceptable!”

As Midnight was explaining, Shinso’s team had managed to avoid the first onslaught of attacks, but that didn’t mean that they were in the clear yet. Their next big obstacle stood in front of them, in the form of a fuming Katsuki.

“Class 1-A is too simple minded. But I guess I could make one exception~”

Katsuki continued glaring at the student laying comfortably in Windex’s arms. Monoma smirked, relishing in how riled up his opponent was getting. Now for my next trick, he thought.

“I am sorry Midoriya-san. Would you mind if I held you a bit more closely? I really don’t want to fall.”

As he grasped the fabric of Windex’s T-shirt, he could see how aggravated the blond was getting. Just a bit more.

“Bakugo-san, Midoriya-san would have a way better time in our class, don’t you think? I feel like his potential is going to waste.”

As he said that, Monoma placed his hand on Windex’s cheek, which made the latter’s face turn red. The scene made something snap inside of Katsuki.

“Listen here you little-“

“Got you.”

~before the battle began~

“Monoma-san, can you copy more than one quirk at a time?”

“And why would a 1-A student want to know?”

“Monoma, we are literally on the same team, stop it,” Shinso said as he glared at his classmate. Monoma hmphed, but reluctantly answered the taller boy’s questions.

“Tetsutetsu-san will be defending us while hanging on my back, and you, Monoma-san, can copy his quirk to protect our front side. I was thinking that you could also copy Shinso-kun’s quirk, to make it easier for us to dwindle down our opponents. That leaves you with one more open slot for a quirk, right? Maybe something offensive would be good.”

That… is not a bad idea, the blond thought, already formulating his own plan in his mind.

~back to the present~

Yes, it’s a fool proof plan, but… why isn’t he stopping?!

Their team barely managed to get out of the way of Katsuki’s explosions. As they sidestepped the attack, Windex looked at his childhood friend, searching for something very specific.

“Of course he did,” the teen mumbled as he continued to evade the other team’s attacks. Thankfully, most other groups looked preoccupied with their own fights against each other, making it easier for Windex to focus on the battle at hand.

Shinso heard his friend’s quiet murmur and immediately understood what he was talking about. The purple-haired student might not have personally spoken with the blond, but he had learned quite a bit about him during the time he had spent talking with the older Midoriya. One of those things was that Bakugo wore hearing aids, since the repeated explosions impaired his hearing throughout the years. And he guessed that the blond had also found out about his quirk through Windex and had taken some preventative measures.

Windex looked around him, finding that he was in the perfect spot for the only plan he could think of to shake Katsuki off their trail.

“Guys, you have to trust me on this one.”

His teammates looked at him with determined expressions, not that they could actually do anything since Windex was the only one whose feet touched the ground. Their opponents took a few threatening steps towards them, before their rider lunged himself through the air while reaching for their headband. NOW, the older Midoriya thought as he steered clear of the attack at the last possible second and sprinted to the other side of the arena. Sero barely managed to catch Katsuki with his tape at the right time. Had he been even half a second late, then the blond would have crashed onto Izuku’s team, which happened to be behind Shinso’s. That doesn’t mean that he avoided a punch in the face from the green-haired boy, who almost had a heart attack from the sudden approach.

I am sorry you two, it’s every man for himself, Windex thought as he came to a stop, trying to tune out both his friends’ yelling.

“Phew, we can cool off a bit now. Wait, is it just me or is it getting too cool?”

In their hurry to get away from Katsuki, they had ended up in the area where Todoroki had trapped some of the other teams with his ice. The group had yet to notice them, so they came to a mutual agreement to get out of there as soon as possible. Well, at least that was the initial plan, until they noticed Kendo’s team frozen amidst a few others. Shinso gently pulled at Windex’s hair, to turn his attention towards him and subtly pointed at them. Monoma and Tetsutetsu immediately understood what the purple-haired student had on his mind and let matching smirks slip on their faces.

“Well, well, well. What do we have here?”

Kendo’s team momentarily stopped their struggle to look at the group approaching them. Being classmates with three of them had thankfully conditioned them to hold their tongue and not just reply on instinct. Kendo, who somehow still had their team’s headband around her forehead, glared at the four.

“Looks like you guys won’t be able to move for a while. How… unfortunate.”

Kendo’s teammates had been rendered completely immobile due to the ice encasing their bodies. Todoroki’s group must have missed them when grabbing the headbands from the others that had been trapped in his attack. Tokage couldn’t separate any of her body parts to attack, Komori’s mushrooms wouldn’t be able to grow in such a harsh environment and Yanagi couldn’t find anything to launch at them with her telekinesis. The only option left was for Kendo to try and attack with her enlarged fists, an attempt that was easily dodged by simply stepping outside of her reach.

“Ah, ah, ah~ Now, now, we just wanted to help,” Monoma said in mock offence. “There isn’t much time left for this event, and I doubt you four can get out of there in time.”

The group of female students continued to glare at Shinso’s team in suspicion. Suddenly, the temperature dropped even more, making the two groups turn their attention back to their surroundings. Team Todoroki was currently running towards them, with their rider getting ready to unleash another big scale attack. Monoma reached over to Kendo’s head with a swift movement and clasped their headband in his hand, as Windex sprinted as far away as he could go from the radius of the oncoming ice wave.

“Get back here you git!”

“That’s what you get! Justice, for Gotham!”

The older Midoriya sibling felt a bit bad for the girls, but he had to focus on getting them to safety first. On the contrary, the other three were grinning like kids on Christmas, thankful that they got a bit of revenge on Kendo for all those times she smacked the back of their heads.

“One minute left! Will there be a last-minute plot-twist?!”

Notes:

Hello my beautiful weebs~

I am here, unfortunately for you, with yet another chapter. This chapter is extra special because my incredible best friend, who I am blessed to have in my life, killua_best boi, has given me the massive honour of creating fanart for this chapter, which is also this story's very first fanart, other than my own drawings. I used their drawing as a refernce for my own (also under the same link), although I do not believe I managed to capture it well enough. I mean, they are a true master and did it on notebook paper, in under two minutes, while I pulled an allnighter. (If it isn't the consequences of my own actions T.T there are literally no refernces for what I had in mind so I had to trust in my anatomy knowledge)
No joke though, I am extremely grateful for their drawing and all the support they have given me. As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and I would like to hear your opinions on the story if possible~ Have a good one!

Chapter 21: Trauma dumping is the best bonding activity

Summary:

We've done it, we have reached 1000 hits (we are going to ignore the fact that 90% of those were from killua_bestboi ). I am so very grateful to everyone who has spared even a glance towards my fic. Here is a small chapter before the final event begins. I hope you all enjoy it and have a wonderful day~

“Holy cow, that last-minute plot twist was insane!”

The heroics classes exited the main arena in search of nourishment and hydration. They were given about an hour to replenish their energy, not counting the time during which the recreational activities would take place. Judging by the previous festivals, the last event would be some kind of one-on-one battles.

“Damn, I am really hoping it isn’t a rap battle,” Kaminari said while walking alongside Kirishima and Katsuki.

“Little Midoriya would be very good at it. I mean, have you seen how fast he can talk?”

Sero, who just popped in the conversation threw his arms around Kaminari’s shoulders before continuing, “Speaking of which, where are our resident chatter boxes?”

~Faculty and student entrance~

The brothers were currently with Todoroki, who had grabbed their hands and dragged them to an empty hallway, away from prying eyes.

“So… What did you want to talk about?”

The heterochromatic boy did not open his mouth to respond, and instead kept his gaze fixated on the two. The silent stare down went on for a few more seconds, before he sighed, finally snapping his eyes away from the nervous siblings.

“I was overpowered. I almost broke my pledge. That shouldn’t have happened, had it not been for the power I felt from Midoriya’s punch,” he said as his gaze fell back on Izuku, “I have only felt something similar once before.”

The brothers were nervously waiting for their classmate’s next words.

“Midoriya Izuku, are you… Allmight’s secret love child or something?”

Oh no, he found out about everything. No one else was supposed to know. I’m so dead- wait what, the shorter brother thought before his classmate’s question sunk in.

“Well, are you?”

It’s time for the acting skills you have built through the years to shine, don’t fumble it now.

“I-I, eh, y-you see… it’s n-not!”

Amazing job Izuku, I applaud you. Windex was really holding himself back from facepalming. Not that he would have done any better, but Katsuki would surely bite their ears off once they tell him what happened. He had to do some damage control for now.

“Why would you think so Todoroki-san? And why Izuku specifically?”

Todoroki took a big breath and answered.

“I understand, it came as a surprise to me as well. The two of you look so alike, but this was the only logical explanation I could think of. And as Endeavor’s son, this would be even more of a reason to defeat you.”

~Another random hallway~

“Long time, no see! Let’s have tea, Endeavor!”

“Allmight… You have no idea how much tea I have to spill.”

“What?”

“What?”

The top two pros stared at each other for a bit, before the number two hero coughed into his fist and averted his eyes.

“Well, I haven’t seen you since that talk we had with the press ten years ago, huh? I saw you, so I’d thought I’d say hi,” Allmight said, trying to avoid the awkward silence that had fallen between them.

“I see. Well, you’ve already done that. Leave me.” Endeavor turned his back towards the blond and continued descending the stairs. Or at least that is what he would have liked to do, if Allmight hadn’t summersaulted over him and blocked his way once again.

“Don’t be so cold!”

The number two hero did nothing but stare at his rival’s theatrics, which the latter took as an invitation to continue.

“Your son, young Shoto, did wonderfully without even using half his power. Is it because he was taught well?”

Now, Allmight had no way of knowing anything about Shoto’s circumstances, and even after having known the man in front of him for so many years, he would have never expected the next words that came out of that exact man’s mouth.

“I have no reason to tell you. But do know this, it’s all to make him into a hero that will surpass you. That is his purpose, why I created him. He might be in his rebellious phase right now, but he will come around. I’ll make sure of it.”

~Faculty and student entrance~

“My old man, he has done everything to rise to the top. Seeing Allmight still above him greatly bothers him. Since he, himself, isn’t enough, he moved on to his second plan.”

Both siblings had an inkling as to what that plan was. They didn’t say anything though. They waited with bated breath for their classmate to continue at his own pace, not wanting to make him say anything he might not be ready to reveal.

“I assume you both know about quirk marriages.”

Izuku tried not to visibly flinch.

“This form of eugenics, although it wasn’t recognized as such for a long time, still has victims. My mother… she had to suffer at the hands of Endeavor as only a means for him to accomplish his goal. I’m just-” he took a second to gather himself, deciding to not say  what he initially had in mind. Tears had started to sting his eyes, and he was not sure whether he should talk any more.

“I’m not sure if I have ever seen my mother’s smile.”

He risked a peek at his classmates’ eyes, which he had been avoiding so far. He was not sure what to expect nor did he know what reaction he was hoping for. It was the first time he talked to anyone about his situation, bar from his siblings. Todoroki quickly averted his gaze before he had the time to analyze the emotions in the teens’ eyes.

“Your left side is unsightly,” he said as he lifted his hand to cover the left side of his face, “that and the pain is what I remember from the day she poured boiling water on me.”

Scars like Todoroki’s were not unusual to come by. Not everyone was born with perfect control over their quirks, so accidents were bound to happen. Even so, to think that his had such a story behind it. And suddenly something clicked in Windex’s brain.

His right side. His mom poured water on the side with the fire quirk. The side that was immune to hot temperatures, so boiling water would have never caused such damage. The only other explanation was an ice burn. An ice burn from a mother who had barely come back into her senses after hearing her child’s cries. A mother who desperately wanted to stop her child’s pain. A woman who had learned that fire was bad, because look what it did to everyone around her. The only way for her to atone for how her quirk had been used so far was to extinguish those flames. But fire isn’t inherently harmful nor is ice alleviative. And both mother and son had to learn that the hard way.

“That is why I vowed to win this without using my right side. Without using him. I will not be like him.”

And with that, Todoroki turned around and walked towards where the rest of the students were supposed to be, leaving the brothers to look at his retreating figure. Izuku could not stand to let the conversation end without saying anything, so he opened his mouth to speak while the dual haired boy was still within earshot.

“I have always been supported by others. I thought that that was the only reason I got to be where I am, but that isn’t true. I chose to accept that support and what to do with it. My whole life, I’ve wanted to be a hero, so for everything I have been given and accomplished to not go to waste, I can’t lose either. I…”

Windex took a step forward as well and put a comforting hand on his brother’s shoulder. He knew that this moment would be vital for both Izuku’s and Todoroki’s development, but he could also see that the green-haired boy was quickly reaching his limit.

“What Izuku wants to say Todoroki-san, is that we accept your challenge. You can expect us to give it our all.”

~Back at the stadium, after the lunch break~

“Now that lunch time is over, it’s time for the planned recreational activities! We’ve even brought real cheerleaders from the USA to liven things up! WAIT, WHAT IS THAT!?”

~Lunchtime, about half an hour ago~

Windex, along with Katsuki had stumbled upon a conversation between some of his classmates while walking towards their changing rooms. Izuku had run off ahead of them to retrieve his analysis notebooks, which had information on some of his potential third round opponents. The two walked leisurely, not wanting to waste any extra energy.

“But Aizawa-sensei said so!”

“Why would sensei agree to this?”

Curiosity got the best of Windex, who approached the four teens having a very loud conversation.

“Is everything alright?”

Both Kaminari and Mineta jumped in surprise at their classmates’ sudden appearance. Denki thought of himself as a good judge of character, so he knew their plan to make the girls wear cheerleading uniforms was busted the moment Katsuki came around. If it were just Windex, then maybe it could have worked. Who knows, God might have been on their side, and they would have managed to convince Windex to dress up as a cheerleader as well, but not Katsuki. Katsuki always seemed indifferent at everything that happened around him. Yet, that didn’t mean that that was the case. In short, they were dead.

From the corner of his eye, he saw Mineta open his mouth to speak but he quickly covered his mouth. Yes, he was a fellow pervert, but purple-haired teen was in a league of his own. So much that he thought that all other males shared his viewpoint. And with Katsuki around, Denki didn’t want to be witness to a murder, nor a victim of one.

“Uhm, you see, funny story-“

~Back at the present~

“Some students look like they went through a mine field a bit later in the events!”

Windex could only look at his two classmates in pity.

“Alright! We will start the recreational games shortly, but before that let us explain the final event! As per tradition, it will be a one-on-one tournament-style event!”

The spectators started cheering even louder than before.

“The sixteen top participants from the previous events will be randomly assigned pairs and will have to beat their opponents to claim the number one place! These students can choose not to participate in the recreational games to conserve their power!”

Oh thank God, most students thought.

“Now, for the pairs!”

Chapter 22: Round 1: FIGHT!

“Hey guys, are you ready?!”

It was finally time.

“The finals you’ve all been waiting for are finally starting! Turn your eyes to our first competitors! On one side, he has won our hearts just as much as he has won all the events so far, it’s Midoriya Windex!”

Windex left the hallway he had been standing in and walked towards the arena Cementoss had created. His main objective? Not to let his nerves show.

“Up against him, will he be able to copy his opponent’s charisma? It’s Monoma Neito!”

Monoma looked way calmer, sporting a confident smirk along with a relaxed posture.

“The rules are simple. Force your opponent out of bounds, immobilize them or make them say they give up! Give it your all and do not worry about the injuries, we have our very own Recovery Girl on standby! Cementoss will stop you if you go too far! Now…BEGIN!”

Neito was confident. He had this in the bag. There was no way he would lose. He had copied three powerful quirks already, leaving one slot open. He had hidden the fact that he could copy four quirks instead of three during the previous event, giving him a slight edge and the element of surprise during the fight. Offense, defense, intelligence, he had everything. Now, he only had to copy Windex’s quirk and fight him on even ground. There were no holes whatsoever in his plan. This would be a piece of ca-

“Winner of the first match, MIDORIYA WINDEX!”

Huh? 

“Midoriya finishes this fight in less than a second by literally picking his opponent up and placing him outside the bounds!”

What Monoma had not accounted for, other than the sheer difference in power, was how much Windex detested being in the spotlight.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean to do that. Can we start again? I am very sorry Monoma-san!”

As soon as the match had begun, Windex panicked from all the noise the audience was creating. He wanted to give his opponents a chance to show off, but his fight or flight instincts kicked in before he could think about what he was doing. It is not that he thought of himself as better than others, viewing reactions like these as proof of his inexperience and lack of control. He would have to be way more careful during his next matches.

Truthfully, Monoma was not even mad, just confused. He would be lying if he said that he didn’t feel an ounce of envy, yet it was an experience that reminded him how far he still had to go. For now, he just walked back to the stands where his classmates were, with an almost invisible smile replacing his usual smirk.

~Class 1-A, on the stands~

“Great job man!”

“You did great! Save some glory for us too though!”

“Aha, yeah…”

Windex sat next to Izuku, who did not want to miss any second of the battles, sure that he could use the information he would gather during his own matches. Yet, as focused as he was, he spared a glance at his brother, having noticed the mental beating he was probably giving himself. It had always been like this. The older of the two was quick to congratulate and recognize everyone’s progress but struggled to do so when it came to himself.

Izuku reached over, grabbed Windex’s hand and started to fidget with it, a habit that he had developed before their middle school years. It had started as a way for Izuku to focus when he had nothing else to fidget with, but it had soon developed into a calming gesture for both siblings. Katsuki, on the other hand, could not hold hands with others for too long, since the heat and pressure sometimes caused small explosions to go off and hurt the other person. Especially when that person was the love of his life, making him sweat even more than usual. That, of course, didn’t stop him from trying his best to comfort his childhood friend by taking his mind off the matter.

“That 1-B guy you are friends with is next, right?”

“Shinso-kun?” Windex asked, “Oh yeah, he is. He came to ask me about his opponent before. He’s going against-”

“Now, for our second match! He hasn’t really done anything to stand out so far, Shinso Hitoshi!”

The teen looked as composed as ever. He had already questioned Windex whether the student he was up against knew of his quirk and thankfully he didn’t, giving him a higher chance of victory.

“Versus, sparkling killing boy! From the hero course, give it up for Kaminari Denki! Begin!”

Alright, sure, Denki should have learned a few things about his opponent beforehand, that he knew. Maybe then he wouldn’t be standing frozen in front of him with his mouth slightly agape and his brain short circuiting before either of them had used their quirks.

Shinso, on the other hand, felt extremely confused. He hadn’t activated his power, yet the blond in front of him already looked as if he was in a trance. Here goes nothing, the purple-haired teen thought.

“Can you-?”

Kaminari snapped back into reality as if he had been shocked. He took a big breath and composed himself before mustering the most flirtatious expression he could and brushing his bangs back with his hand.

“For you lovely, I can do anyth-“

The next moment the blond remembered was him standing out of bounds and Present Mic announcing Shinso’s win. Damn, I knew I was a simp, but not this much. This must be fate, he thought as he stared at the teen, who was currently waving at his screaming friends on the stands. The latter noticed his gaze on him and gave Kaminari a lopsided smile, which made the loss feel almost worth it.

~~~

“After two quick first matches, we are all certainly raring for some action. Let’s see! Will our next pair give the audience what they want?! Both from the hero course, Sero Hanta versus one of the top scorers so far, Todoroki Shoto!”

As soon as the match started, Sero wrapped his tape around Todoroki, effectively pinning his arms to his sides and his legs together. What the teen didn’t account for, was that his opponent could use his quirk even if his movements were restricted as such. And so, he found himself frozen in place by a giant ice glacier, which stood at about a third of the stadium’s full size.

“Sero, can you move?”

“Of course not.”

“Yet another overwhelming victory! This match’s winner, Todoroki Shoto!”

~~~

Iida’s match against Mina ended a while after, with Iida advancing to the second round. The female teen certainly put up a fight, making it way harder for the male to control his movement, both due to his own speed and lack of friction caused by her acid. It was a very close fight, which kept the audience on the edge of their seats, making the extra wait needed to clean up after the previous one worth it.

“And now, for our fifth match! From the heroics course, she has created a name for herself today, Yaoyorozu Momo! Going against someone fully equipped with support items. From the support course, it’s Hatsume Mei!”

Hatsume had already managed to reach the final event, making it a given that she would attract the attention of the support companies sitting on the stands. All that was left to do was put on a show to advertise her final babies. The hydraulic attachments would help with evasion, especially with the sensors’ help. The same went for the electro boots she wore.

So, when Yaoyorozu pulled a electromagnetic interferer along with a literal axe from her forearms, she felt both surprised and excited. The hero course student used the axe she had created to cut down the hydraulic poles, leaving Hatsume unable to use her gear.

“I give up.”

The pink-haired girl knew that she stood no chance at the moment, and she had already fulfilled her goal. As she walked off the platform, she looked back at Yaoyorozu, mentally noting to speak with her at a later time and get to know more about her quirk. Who knows, maybe she could help create those materials she had trouble finding.

~~~

“On to our next match! He has topped the charts so far, along with his brother, we have Midoriya Izuku!”

Izuku was trying with all his might not to look at the stands, where his brother and best friend stood. The reason? They both had decided to prepare a banner to cheer him on, which would not have been embarrassing on its own, had it not been for what was written on it. The fabric was littered with inspirational quotes such as “Believe in yourself and reach for the stars” or the entirety of Shia LaBeouf’s “Just do it” speech, complete with a picture of the actor.

I’ll have to get them back for this, he thought, but let a small smile slip on his face, already feeling his nerves settle down a bit.

“Against the dark samurai and his companion, Tokoyami Fumikage and Dark Shadow!”

Tokoyami, on the other hand, was trying to keep up his cool and mysterious demeanor, which was getting progressively harder due to Windex’s attempt at impersonating the aforementioned actor.

“Begin!”

As soon as the match started, Dark Shadow headed straight towards Izuku, who barely managed to dodge the head on attack. From then on, Tokoyami’s attacks were relentless, leaving the green-haired boy no chance to catch his breath. Between evading the hits and keeping an eye out for the border lines, Izuku had no time to put his plan into action yet.

“Tokoyami has Midoriya cornered! Will he manage to stay within bounds?!”

Alright Izuku, you’ve got this. Just do like you practiced, the boy thought as he finally got a few seconds to breathe. He lightly bent his knees, ready to spring into action the moment his classmate made his next move.

Not even a whole second later, Dark Shadow dove straight on him, changing her path to hit him from the side at the last possible moment, but she was met with empty space and a dust cloud. Izuku had jumped over the oncoming attack and turned 180 degrees in the air to face the back of Tokoyami, who hadn’t turned quickly enough towards him and was instead trying to shield his eyes from the debris Izuku’s overpowered jump had created.

Tokoyami trusted that even with his eyes closed, Dark Shadow would be able to protect him, especially since the dust did not allow as much light to reach her, therefore strengthening her even more. Izuku knew of the fact, but he had decided to take the gamble. His classmate was not the only one with an ace up his sleeve. The younger Midoriya put all his bets on him being faster than Tokoyami’s quirk. While still in the air, Izuku flicked his fingers towards his opponent, and hit the latter with a shock wave strong enough to make him lose his balance.

As soon as Tokoyami was out of balance, Izuku hit him with a second shockwave, sending him almost out of bounds, had it not been for Dark Shadow who caught him before he could cross them. That split second that it took for the shorter male to stabilize himself, was the last piece Izuku needed to end his plan. In that second, the green-haired boy had landed and immediately launched himself at his classmate, making Tokoyami fly back and cross the border line.

Izuku took advantage of the extra friction created by his initial jump, and sunk his hands into the destroyed floor, keeping him from exiting the arena as well. It took a couple more seconds for the debris to settle, before Present Mic’s voice blared from the speakers.

“And he managed to turn this match around! Midoriya Izuku is the winner!”

The screaming audience was mere background music compared to the thumping of his heart. I did it, I really did, did you guys see me? Izuku quickly turned his gaze upon the stands. Windex was yelling praises and clapping along with some of their classmates, while Katsuki sat with his arms crossed, proudly smiling at him. Where the teachers sat, Allmight looked to be struggling to keep his composure, visibly shaking from joy while clapping for his student.

He exited the main arena, joining Tokoyami in the hallway designated for the students. Both exchanged praises for each other’s skills and agreed to have a rematch at a later date. Izuku could feel the strain on his body, having become familiar with it by then, but felt extremely pleased with the fact that he hadn’t broken anything. What was left to do was relax and take some notes of his potential opponents before his next match.

~~~

“The seventh match is a matchup between redundant quirks! Manly and passionate steel! From the hero course, it’s Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu! Versus manly and passionate hardening! Also from the hero course, Kirishima Eijiro!”

“Kirishima-kun and Tetsutetsu-san both have very similar fighting styles. This could be a very interesting match,” Windex said while looking at the clashing teens.

Uraraka and Katsuki were getting ready since their match was up next. Both seemed a bit on edge, but it was normal in that kind of situation. Neither would hold back even a bit of their strength, and they not only knew but expected the other one to do the same.

They headed to their respective entrances, not waiting to see the outcome of the ongoing match, much preferring to focus on their upcoming battle. Not that it mattered anyway, whoever won would have to face one hundred percent of their abilities either way. Everyone was there to win, the least they could do was take on everything that came in their path.

“After a head-to-head fistfight both contestants are down! It’s a draw! The winner will be determined after they both recover!”

Kirishima and Tetsutetsu were taken away by medics, leaving the arena empty once again.

“The eighth and last match of the first round!”

The cheers from the audience got even louder, as this match would determine the eight students that would move on to the quarterfinals.

“He was kind of popular in middle school but this certainly isn’t the face of a regular person! From the hero course, Bakugo Katsuki!”

What is that supposed to mean, Katsuki thought, already imagining his childhood friends’ mocking laughter.

“Versus, she’s the one I am rooting for, also from the hero course, it’s Uraraka Ochaco! Start!”

Okay! First things first, have him blast the cement so I can float the chunks, the girl thought as she tried to avoid the brunt of her opponent’s attacks, which destroyed a good part of the floor each time they came into contact with it. As she ran around, she touched as many of the rocks as she could, being careful to conceal them with the help of the surrounding smoke.

Katsuki, on the other hand, barely moved from his spot. He knew that his classmate was up to something, he would expect nothing less from a hero student. Explosion after explosion made his forearms start to hurt, making his curiosity fight against his want to end this match as soon as possible.

As the smoke started to dissipate around them, the two stood opposite each other, one visibly more exhausted than the other.

“I would have tried floating you, but I am afraid your big head exceeds my limit. Thank you for falling for my plan.”

With those words, Ochaco released her quirk and the hundreds of rocks she had made float came crushing down on Katsuki. They covered the entirety of the arena, not leaving any safe space for the blond to stand, making exploding the oncoming debris his only feasible option left. The shock wave sent his classmate flying out of bounds, winning him the match and a place in the next round.

“The winner is Bakugo Katsuki!”

The audience was admittedly less enthusiastic about this win than the previous ones, the people being a bit torn on whether such destructive power was becoming of a hero, but soon the happy shouts of his classmates cut through the air, congratulating both of them on their abilities and, in turn, hyping up the people on the stands.

“Everyone get ready because after a short break we will be moving on to round two!”

Notes:

I just wanted to point out that I never understood some of the match ups in my hero academia. For example, in canon, Shiozaki vs Kaminari would have ended way differently if Denki had just activated his quirk while Shiozaki’s vines held him. Plants can conduct electricity, and the high-water content only makes it easier. Or if Momo had created a light of some kind (although here we can argue that she didn’t know Dark Shadow’s weakness).

Other than that, I do hope you all are having an enjoyable reading experience, and I would appreciate getting some comments on whether you find this story good or not.

Chapter 23: Extra chapter: A chemist's quirk analysis- Kaminari Denki edition

Kaminari Denki

Electrification: Denki's Quirk allows him to store and discharge electricity, along with him being able to cover his body in it. While he can also discharge this energy over a distance, Denki has little to no control over it, meaning it will go everywhere indiscriminately. Exceeding his wattage limit causes his brain to short-circuit, leaving him in a vulnerable state for 1 hour. He is also able to absorb and neutralize electricity and other lightning-based Quirks.

Analysis

First, we must make a very important distinction.

Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and motion of matter possessing an electric charge. Electric charge is a fundamental property of matter and is borne by elementary particles. In electricity the particle involved is the electron. Thus, the various manifestations of electricity are the result of the accumulation or motion of numbers of electrons.

Lightning is the visible discharge of electricity that occurs when a region of a cloud acquires an excess electrical charge, either positive or negative, that is sufficient to break down the resistance of air.

Plasma is one of four fundamental states of matter, characterized by the presence of a significant portion of charged particles in any combination of ions or electrons. It is the most abundant form of ordinary matter in the universe, mostly in stars (including the Sun). It can be artificially generated by heating a neutral gas or subjecting it to a strong electromagnetic field.

Now that we have gotten over the basic definitions, let’s get into it.

In the human body, there are Na+ and K+ ions moving in and out of the cells. This and other factors produce an unequal distribution of charge across our nerve cell membranes, so each nerve cell is like a little biological battery with a positive and a negative pole. Electrolytes such as those, perform functions like sending electrical impulses from the heart cells throughout the body. Healthy levels and an appropriate balance of electrolytes is crucial to keeping all systems and muscle functions healthy.

Of course, high amounts of electricity in the body had adverse health effects, ranging from spasms, to burns, to death. Denki’s quirk gives him either a resistance to it or neutralises it is some way. I will mostly go into the second case, since the first would imply that he has higher durability against anything that may potentially overheat or burn him, which is not the case from what we have seen.

If he does indeed neutralise it, then the excess energy must be converted to potential energy and stored for future use. Potential energy, or chemical energy in this instance, can be derived by the breakage of molecular bonds in metabolic paths. Metabolism refers to breaking down larger molecules, while the reverse process is called anabolism. So, it is possible for Denki to store the excess energy like he would with food.

The most common anabolic processes in the human body are amino acid biosynthesis, amino acids being the structure blocks for proteins, and glycogen storage. High amounts of protein can cause adverse health effects and while the same can be said for glucose as well, the latter might be a more likely theory. I later conclude that both can be used in combination for my current (Haha, get it? Current) theory.

When blood sugar is high, glucose is diverted from glycolysis to the glycogen storing pathway instead, the first part of it being glycogenesis. Glycogen is used as a primal energy source and is stored mainly in the skeletal muscles and liver. That being said, Denki would need a substantially larger glycogen storage. At this point we could argue that amino acid synthesis comes into play to reinforce the skeletal muscles and provide more storage, although, admittedly, only specific amino acids are created by this process, specifically 11 of the 20 used for protein production.

The above suggests that Denki eats a diet high in protein and carbohydrates to keep us with the amount of glycogen needed for his quirk.

And after discussing how to neutralise incoming electricity, the next step would be how to use it. At rest, our cells have a partially negative charge due to the slight imbalance between charged atoms located outside and inside the cell membrane. This phenomenon is best characterised as resting membrane potential, or RMP.

The ions are able to enter or exit the cell through pathways called ion channels. When experiencing specific stimuli, for the sake of simplicity, the movement of ions causes the inside of the cell to become more positively charged than the outside. This is the basis of how neurons work.

I will use some of my scientific liberty and theorise that there is a way to reroute the electricity passing through neurons in a way that allows Denki to discharge it outside of his body. As all the above are mere speculations, and they do not adequately explain how Denki’s quirk works nor the amount of electricity that he can harness, I would like to request a bit of lenience.

The initial definitions of electricity, lightning and plasma could suggest that it would be possible for Denki to use all three under the correct conditions, as plasma would require either very high temperatures or lower pressure.

The above being said, I do believe that Denki should not be using 2 million volts on people as anywhere above 42 volts can be lethal, although 42 is indeed a low estimate with many sources putting the lower limit at around 50. I will be slightly tolerant of the fact, because we generally see the move first directed towards the ground, which would severely lower the actual amount of electricity hitting the targets.

Overall rating 6/10

 

 

Notes:

I do love electric type powers but from a scientist’s point of view they can be very complicated to explain. I am in no way an expert on the matter(hehe, get it? cause I'm a chemist, and chemist literally study matter? I'll shup up now) so please take my theory with a grain of salt. I have much to learn still and there are many things that I might have missed during my research, but I still hope you enjoyed the fruits of my labour.

Chapter 24: Writing full fight scenes? In this economy?

Notes:

*Slicks back frizzy hair while obviously sleep deprived*
Hey, you there! The one with the nice taste. (No, I do not mean in literature) Since you are here, how about leaving a comment on this story to tell me your thoughts on it. If you are still pondering it, just know that I can be very... persuasive.
*inhale*
PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEA-

“I don’t think I can keep holding on man.”

“No bro, please don’t let go of me. You can do this; I know you can!”

“Promise me… that you will continue on for the both of us.”

“Don’t speak like that! We’ll get through this, together! I can’t accept anything else!”

“My strength… is leaving me,” the words trembled in the boy’s mouth, “you have to make a decision.”

“No! Not until there is no other option left!”

“…It’s time. Fight on…Kirishima.”

“And the winner of this tiebreaker is Kirishima Eijiro!”

The crowd’s cheers blended along with their tears, emotions so different yet very fitting after such a display of passion and manliness. Tetsutetsu and Eijiro had gotten closer during their wait for the arm-wrestling match, as was evident by how they spoke to one another. They shared many common interests and had even promised to train together at a later date. For the time being, they decided to go back to their seats and replenish some energy.   

The Midoriya siblings had about 15 minutes left until the second round started, so they headed towards the waiting rooms where they were sure Ochaco and Katsuki would be. Iida had told them to go ahead, as he wanted to stock up on orange juice. Unfortunately, their quiet walk was interrupted by running into the number two hero, Endeavor.

“Endeavor-sir, what are you doing here? This part of the building is for the students.”

The pro looked at the teens with the sternest gaze he could muster. It felt as if he was looking through their very being, which greatly unsettled the two.

“You are the Midoriya kids.”

“Sir, I think that you are mistaken. We are obviously not them.”

“Oh, I apologize. On you two go.”

The siblings walked past the man, continuing their merry way to the waiting rooms. Windex did not believe that such a dumb trick worked on the pro, and he was right, it didn’t. With their backs now towards Endeavor, they heard him open his mouth once again.

“If you see them, tell them this. Their quirks are strong, very strong. The strength and speed they possess are comparable to Allmight. Such skill must have been hard to cultivate, but there is always someone better out there.”

Both felt very uncomfortable by the man’s words. Even though he certainly knew it was them, he still talked as if he was just asking someone to pass on a message.

“If any of you fight him, it will be a very instructive test bed.”

The sudden change from third to second person child the two. They didn’t even have to ask who him referred to, the message was clear.

“Please don’t disgrace yourself in it.”

Like you are disgracing yourself right now, you mean, Windex thought but bit back his tongue from saying it out loud, afraid of the consequences it might have on his classmate’s already strained home life. Izuku was trembling next to him, so he discreetly grabbed the green-haired boy’s hand, not wanting to show any weakness in front of the pro hero. Distant cheers tore through the asphyxiating atmosphere that had been created. And given the fact that fire needed oxygen to burn, their difficulty breathing was probably not only due to the man’s intimidating presence.

“I see that I have held you for long enough. Goodbye.”

The teens left without another word, not wanting to let their bubbling anger, towards the man, control their actions. Once inside the waiting room, they bid a quick congratulations to their friends. Their one sided conversation had taken most of their time, so everyone apart from Windex left soon after, leaving the boy to get ready for his match.

~~~

“And we are back again after that small break! To start of the second round, we have the boy which has wiped his competition off the map, Midoriya Windex!”

Windex gave a small smile to his purple-haired friend, mouthing a few words of encouragement.

“Versus, someone who has hypnotized both his opponents and us with the clever use of his quirk. Give it up for Shinso Hitoshi!”

The boy offered back a grin of his own, mentally wishing him good luck.

“Begin!”

Shinso was aware of the gap in ability between them, and Windex had a general understanding of his hypnosis quirk, so catching him by surprise was not an option. He had not managed to come up with a solid plan before the match, but he didn’t let the fact discourage him too much. As he was contemplating his next move, his friend’s voice brought him back to the present.

“Watch out!”

He avoided the punch coming his way at the last possible second and jumped back, trying to create some distance again. Windex had probably expected him to block or avoid the attack and had put some decent power behind it. So, when Shinso didn’t move from his position, and looked to not be focused on the fight, he had wanted to make sure that his friend would not be too hurt by the fist coming his way.

Get your head in the game, the teen thought, mentally slapping himself for his almost slip-up. 

“What is this!? Midoriya is taking a huge risk by speaking while knowing his opponent’s quirk!”

“What are you doing?” Shinso asked, confused. Even if his target had to reply to a direct question of his for the hypnosis to work, most people avoided speaking altogether. Just in case, he activated his quirk, although he was sure that Windex wouldn’t fall for such a simple trick.

“Your hypnosis won’t work on me,” Windex replied, which made everyone hold their breath. All the conditions for Shinso’s quirk had been met, so it was now a matter of seconds to see whether the taller teen had been wrong or not.

Shinso hesitantly opened his mouth to order his friend to walk outside the bounds, but before he could utter a word, Windex rushed towards him once again, aiming another punch at his abdomen. That left the purple-haired boy no choice but to dodge the incoming attack and all the ones after it.

“You didn’t think I was lying, did you?” Windex asked with a mischievous smile playing on his lips.

“I would never do such a thing. What kind of person do you take me for?”

I have to be sure it wasn’t just a fluke, the teen thought while still evading the flurry of attacks coming his way and trying to find an opening to return some of his own.

“Not someone who doubts their friends for sure,” the 1-A student replied once again, not one bit bothered by his friend’s tries to put him under his quirk.

“Midoriya isn’t being affected by Shinso’s quirk, even after repeatedly answering his questions! How is this possible!”

Present Mic’s voice echoed all throughout the stadium, voicing the question on every viewer’s mind.

“Maybe if you were paying closer attention you would know,” came Aizawa’s exasperated voice, clearly tired after a whole day of his coworker screaming next to him. “Pay close attention to his arms as he speaks. The dust around him is moving unnaturally during those times.”

“You don’t mean…! I have only read about this technique before!”

Maybe explain it in the near future, Shinso thought, getting progressively more exhausted while defending himself and avoiding the border line, simultaneously.

“Midoriya is using the movement of his hands to disrupt the air around him in a way that mimics sound waves. But that takes both incredible speed and skill!”

“You have to be kidding me. That’s ridic-!”

The shorter teen had momentarily frozen in place, extremely bewildered by the revelation, and that moment proved to be his downfall as his opponent finally landed a hit on him and pushed him out of bounds.

“Midoriya Windex wins the match, securing him a place in the semifinals!”

~~~

Iida’s match versus Todoroki went as one would expect. The bespectacled teen tried his best to avoid his opponent’s continuous ice attacks, even coming close to landing a few hits of his own, but ultimately lost after having his leg pipes frozen.

Currently the spotlight was on Izuku, who was valiantly trying to evade the projectiles Yaoyorozu threw at him. In the beginning of the match, he had tried to stop them midair with the pressure created by flinging his fingers, but it turned out that the amount of OFA he could harness at the moment was not enough for that purpose.

“Neither side is yielding a centimeter so far! Who will be our winner this time!?”

~~~

In an alleyway somewhere

“Wealth. Fame. Power. The man who had everything in this world... the Pirate King, Gold R-“

CUT! Wrong lines. Someone, please give him the script again.

*Sound of footsteps and rusting paper*

…

Alright? Okay, places everyone! Rolling in three, two, one!

“Fame… Money… They’re all calling themselves heroes… But you bastards aren’t heroes… Just him. The only one I’ll let kill me is… Mr. Clean.”

CUT!

“Now what?”

It’s Allmight, Akaguro-san. All-might. Not Mr. Clean.

“But he is clearly better than Allmight.”

I do understand your view and although I do agree, we, unfortunately, will have to follow cannon this time. Am I understood? Great. Again, three, two, one!

“Fame… Money… They’re all calling themselves heroes… But you bastards aren’t heroes… Just him. The only one I’ll let kill me is… Allmight… Although he is not as good as Mr. Cle-“

CUT!

~~~

UA sports stadium

“Wow! Those last two matches sure went by fast! Lat’s recap the results once more for the viewers who might have missed it! Our last two students moving to the semifinals are Midoriya Izuku and Bakugo Katsuki! After those two suspenseful battles, full of plot twist after plot twist and moments that could move even the toughest of people to tears, we have finally reached our last three matches!”

Do you think that they caught on to the fact that we don’t have the budget for those fights?

“Author-san, everyone can hear you.”

Fu-

Notes:

Some of you might be wondering why did Hitoshi’s and Windex’s match drag on for so long when the latter could have easily won. My humble explanation, other than the fact that I had promised killua_bestboi to write this scene, is that Windex would never use his full power on another human and the precision needed for the secret technique.
On the power part, both momentum and surface area play an important role on the damage inflicted, hence bullets being able to pierce through many strong materials due their high speed, even though they are very small in size. (momentum= mass x velocity)
Given that Windex is strong, fast and a tank of a teenager, his hits would obliterate the average human since the human body is quite weaker than a building, which we have seen get destroyed by only a fraction of OFA’s power. Murder is not on his list for the time being.

Chapter 25: You are my friend, aa, ano hi no yume

Notes:

I did martial arts for more than half of my life, to the point where every move is engraved into my very being, even getting my black belt in wado ryuu style karate. That being said, why is writing fight scenes so hard? I really need to speak to the one responsible.

The sports festival is the first thing my best friend and I had started joking around about, so I am very happy that I finally got to write everything out. Once again, I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and maybe, probably, leave a comment so I know how I am doing? No pressure though. Have a great holiday season you beautiful weebs~

If one had asked the youngest Todoroki, in what condition he would be after the match, then the correct answer would have not even passed his mind. As he used his fire to dry himself up, he mentally replayed the whole battle.

~~~

“For our first semifinal match we have two incredibly formidable students! Midoriya Windex versus Todoroki Shoto! Let the battle BEGIN!”

As Windex had predicted, Todoroki’s first attack was similar to the one he had used against Sero. Avoiding it would be simple enough, but he didn’t want to let his opponent’s ice spread all throughout the arena, since it would put him at a disadvantage later. His best option, and what he ultimately decided to do, was crush any ice coming his way and send it flying out of bounds.

The same pattern, of Todoroki firing a big scale ice attack and Windex destroying it on its tracks, continued for a bit, neither of them looking the least bit phased by the fight. Well, the audience thought so, but to the two students it was evident that they were both getting more worn out by the minute. The taller one’s knuckles were bleeding a bit, and his pant legs had gotten torn as well, from some ice chucks that had grazed him. A few meters away, Todoroki stood with most of his right side covered by a thin layer of frost.

Even though Windex knew that they were supposed to be opponents, he couldn’t help but worry for the boy, who looked in pain and struggling to move his right limbs without shaking. Todoroki took advantage of the male’s hesitation and managed to encase the latter’s lower half in ice. With Windex partially immobilized, Todoroki felt a bit more at ease, having wanted to at least say a few things before he took complete victory.

“Midoriya-san, thank you for giving it your best. This will only prove to my damn old man that I don’t need him at all. Let’s finish this.”

Everyone watched the ice approaching Windex as if it was happening in slow motion. The boy knew that he had to move on to his next plan. Just as before, he punched the ice head on, making sure that the mixture of cold air and fine debris, which both their attacks had caused, hid him completely from his classmate’s vision.

As soon as the air cleared, Todoroki felt such confusion that he had never felt before. While hidden, Windex had managed to break the ice in a way that resembled a simple swing hanging from a tree branch. The boy sat sideways on the swing, a forlorn expression on his face.

“Todoroki, you and I are the same.”

The bi-color haired teen could hear “Sadness and sorrow” by Taylor Davies starting to play through the speakers that, until now, had only projected Present Mic’s commentary.

“I too had tried to reject the people that gave birth to me, for I had never recieved an ounce of love from them.”

“How would you know! You clearly-“

Windex stopped his classmate from speaking any further. Not because he didn’t want to listen to him, but he was sure that the boy would not want to reveal his feelings in front of so many people.

“You were right in your hypothesis that Izuku and I are not blood related.”

The revelation confused many of the students that knew the siblings. They would have never guessed that one was adopted. A collective gasp escaped the audience, who had gotten too immersed in the dramatic situation.

“Before coming into the Midoriya household, I had only been seen as an inconvenience. An object that was not of use, but could not be easily gotten rid of either.”

Todoroki felt at a loss. He could not understand where his classmate was getting to. So far, their situations sounded so very different. Windex started closing the distance between them, careful as to not seem hostile and make Todoroki step back. He stopped at a reasonable distance. Close enough for the other boy to be able to hear him without his voice carrying to the stands, but not as much as to have a close-range fight.

“Once free from my biological family, I felt even more angry than before. They are what had caused me so much pain, so I felt disgusted at myself for being a direct product of theirs. In my mind, it was unfathomable that anything good could have come from those people. I-” Windex swallowed, stopping himself from saying the words he wanted to. “I soon understood that only I could define myself. No matter what I had been given, it was in my hands to use them as needed for my goals. And goals like ours are not easy to achieve.”

The shorter male was not sure if overworking his quirk was to blame for his body’s uncontrollable shaking, or the storm of emotions currently rampaging inside him. He could feel the frost spreading, covering even more of his right side, but his face felt strangely hot, his eyes stinging in a way that he did not often feel.

“It’s your quirk. You are not an extension of anyone but your own choices.”

In that moment, flames enveloped Todoroki, melting any ice that had formed on him and making his previously frigid body feel alive once more.

“I can’t say that I didn’t expect this from the two of you brothers,” the boy said, a wide grin filled with determination playing on his lips, “I… will achieve my goals… no matter what it takes!”

“SHOT-cough cough!”

Endeavor stopped his shouting mid-word, having choked on his own spit. No one paid much attention to him, too engrossed in the fight that had now started heating up, pun intended.

“Midoriya… arigato.”

Todoroki did not waste another second before sending a large-scale attack of both ice and fire towards his opponent. There was no way for Windex to avoid it, as it spanned the entirety of the arena, leaving him with no other option than to use one of his secret weapons.

And that is how Todoroki found himself outside of bounds and doused in a fluid, that unmistakably smelled of the commonly used window cleaning fluid going by the same name as his classmate.

“MIDORIYA USED SPLASH! And although I had never expected to utter these next words in this context, it was SUPER EFFECTIVE! Winner of this match, Midoriya Windex!”

The two teens walked out of the main area of the stadium and towards the infirmary to treat the minor injuries they had sustained. The walk there was a silent one, none willing to break the atmosphere that enveloped them. Once they reached the nurse’s office, Todoroki paused in front of the door with his hand gripping the handle more tightly than would be normal.

“I… will become a hero worthy of my title.”

“I am sure you will Todoroki-san.”

The shorter teen inhaled deeply once more, carefully considering his next sentence.

“Shoto. You, Midoriyas, can call me Shoto.”

Windex smiled fondly at the boy in front of him, knowing that this took quite a bit of courage from his side.

“We will be very happy to do so. You can use our first names as well, if you wish so. I am sure Izuku will be delighted, Shoto.”

~~~

 “And with one of our finalists already decided, we’ll move on to the next match! They have both showed incredible skill so far, but who will secure his place in the finals!? Here they come, Midoriya Izuku versus Bakugo Katsuki!”

Needless to say, both teens felt extremely hyped up for their match. Izuku was glad that he had to chance to whoop his friend’s ass on national television, while Katsuki felt extremely riled up after all the teasing he had to endure during their time in the stands.

Whoever thinks that that broccoli is nice and innocent, has never spent a second with him, the blond thought while stretching his arms and glaring at his opponent.

“Now, START!”

Almost immediately, Katsuki started running towards Izuku, his boy positioned to use his usual opening move of a right hook. The green-haired boy knew it would not be as easy as that and luckily for him, his hunch was correct. While still with his arm drawn back, the blond created a small explosion to propel himself slightly to the side, aiming a kick at his friend’s stomach at the same time.

The impact sent Izuku back a few meters and he barely had any time to compose himself again before he had to fend off the onslaught of punches and kicks that came his way. Katsuki attempted to swipe his legs with a sweep kick, which the shorter teen easily avoided by jumping over it and doing a downwards kick on his opponent’s head. It missed by a hair’s breadth and the blond took the opportunity to use his quirk, creating some distance by generating a small explosion between the two.

This time, Izuku was the one to go first into the offensive. He flicked his fingers, generating a shockwave big enough to force his friend to lunge himself over it with the help of his quirk. At the same time, the younger Midoriya leapt to where Katsuki was with all the speed he could muster, hoping to catch the latter off guard, which he succeeded in.

Katsuki found himself falling to the ground at an angle. The impact would have surely left him with quite a few scrapes and bruises had it not been for his reflexes taking control and aiming a blast at the direction he was heading, cutting his momentum and changing his trajectory.

The teens stood opposite one another, trying to catch their breath for a moment. Their hearts pounded louder than the audience’s yelling, the movement reverberating inside of their tired bodies. Sure, they did not have any serious injuries from their previous fights, but the day had been exhausting so far. They had both opted out of visiting Recovery Girl, preferring to deal with their minor injuries by ignoring them for the time being, instead of draining their energy to heal them.

Their usual tactics would not work against each other, with the two being familiar with their opponent’s fighting style after so many years of sparring. Katsuki was much more used to fighting with his quirk, his maneuvering and fine movements being clearly more polished than his friend’s. On the other hand, Izuku made up for his physical shortcomings with the speed and strength given to him by OFA. The outcome came down to a battle of wits, which took into account both strategic thinking and experience.

In the end, although Izuku proved himself to be a great tactician, Katsuki’s experience proved to be superior. As many hits as the shorter of the two managed to land, the blond reciprocated twice as many, his body reacting fast even to hits that he had not been expecting. Even when immobilized, they found ways to get out of the position they were in, not willing to give up the fight while still conscious.

With a final kick, Katsuki sent Izuku out of bounds, a slight miscalculation on the latter’s part while trying to avoid this exact outcome. Heavy breaths escaped their mouths while the whole stadium seemed to have fallen silent.

“BAKUGO KATSUKI MOVES TO THE FINAL ROUND!”

Cheers erupted from the audience, making the two boys smile, one wider than the other, surprisingly that being Izuku. Even though he had lost, he still felt extremely proud of both his friend and brother for reaching the finals. He was a little saddened by his defeat, but he recognized that the two had trained hard for far longer than he had and if someone deserved the top two spots, it was surely them.

I guess mom and auntie will have to prepare a bigger feast than they initially planned, Izuku thought as he walked back to the stands, his stomach growling from the hunger and the thought of their cooking.

~~~

Now, it was very obvious to everyone just how much of a simp Katsuki was, even though he would never admit it out loud. He had grown up with Windex, having seen him in almost all states, and also sparred with him on a regular basis, but nothing could have prepared him for this fight.

“And now, for the match to decide this year’s winner! From class 1-A, we have Midoriya Windex and Bakugo Katsuki!”

Everyone held their breath while waiting for someone to make the first move.

Katsuki usually took the initiative in situations like this, but he knew better to do so this time as well. Seeing his unmoving friend, Windex heaved a sigh before getting into a running pose. A second later, he disappeared from his position and seemingly materialized above his opponent while aiming a punch at him.

The blond evaded the hit by doing a forward rollover and ending up behind the taller teen’s back. He took advantage of being in his friend’s blind spot by sending an explosion towards the latter’s legs, hoping to throw him off balance. Unfortunately for Katsuki, Windex jumped over the blast, turned 180 degrees to his right, still mid-air, while swinging his right leg in a spinning hook kick. The move created a shockwave strong enough to send the shorter boy quite a few meters back.

The moment Katsuki regained his balance, he propelled himself forward using his quirk, replying to the previous attack with a dropkick of his own. Windex blocked the hit with his forearms and swept the blond’s legs from under him the moment they touched the ground. The latter turned his fall momentum into a backwards somersault and aiming yet another explosion at his friend after completing the whole jump but still in the air. The pressure the blast created sent both back from their previous positions, adding considerable distance between the two.

Windex crouched down, trying to keep himself from sliding too far back. When he stopped, he lunged himself from his crouched position and tried to attack Katsuki before the latter could stabilize himself once more.

The collision ended with the two finding themselves in a peculiar position, with the blond lying on his back and Windex on top of him, straddling his lower half. The taller male did not think much of the situation, continuing his attempt to immobilize his opponent. It wasn’t difficult, since Katsuki seemed almost frozen in place, not struggling at all to escape his friend’s grip.

The audience’s cheering snapped him out of his trance, reminding him that the battle was still ongoing. He hooked his legs on Windex’s calves and reversed their positions before detaching himself and jumping back a couple meters. He immediately aimed an explosion at the still lying down Windex’s middle, which the latter avoided by doing a back roll and ending into a standing pose.

“It looked like the match had ended for a second there, but Bakugo hasn’t given up just yet! Who will be the one to take back the trophy!?”

As the fight went on, the two’s moves became less calculated, both focused more on getting the upper hand than showing off their abilities to the viewers. Well, that was until…

“I am being informed that we have broken a viewership record! Millions of eyes are focused on the battle happening right now!”

Katsuki surroundings became a blur as he suddenly found himself outside the arena’s borders, a very flustered Windex standing in front of him.

“And with that final move, Midoriya Windex has won first place in this year’s sports festival!”

The taller boy took a moment to realize what he had done and when he did, he started repeatedly apologizing. The blond, who understood the reason his friend was apologizing, stood speechless for a second before letting a smile take over his facial expression. He knew that Windex had been holding back, and although some would think of this as the teen looking down on him, the blond knew just how hard it could be for his friend to hold back his strength.

I guess I can let him have first place, just this once, Katsuki thought as he tried to bring Windex out of his anxious rambling.

~~~

“All the events for this year’s sports festival have been completed1 And now we will begin the award ceremony!”

Fireworks erupted all around the outside of the stadium, making the audience cheer even louder than before. A smoke screen went off behind Midnight, which revealed the podium with the year’s winners once it had dissipated.

In third place stood both Izuku and Shoto. They were proud of their accomplishment, although in Izuku’s case it was way more evident. In second place-

“HEY UA!”

Everyone turned their attention to the stands, where a girl with braided pink hair stood yelling.

“Bakugo Katsuki is NOT A MONSTER!”

“No one said he was…?”

“So, stop chaining him like he is one!” she continued, no paying any attention to the murmurs around her, consisting mostly of comments like “Who is she?” and “She doesn’t even go here.”.

“The only chain that guy has on him is from the leash Midoriya-san holds,” Kaminari whispered to his classmates, who stood around him. The comment made many of them chuckle, catching Katsuki’s attention. Even though he hadn’t heard what the battery had said, he was sure it was about him.

“HAGH!?”

Midnight snapped her whip to catch everyone’s attention, before she continued her speech.

“As I was saying! It’s time to award the medals! The honor of presenting them will be given to pro hero Allmight!”

The hero landed in front of the podium, having jumped from the top of the stadium in a characteristic display of non-normal behavior. He dusted himself off and turned to his co-worker, waiting for further instructions.

“Now then Allmight, please present the medals starting with third place.”

As instructed, he placed the medals on the students’ necks, offering his sincere congratulations and trying to give some profound wisdom which he had racked his brain to come up with for the past hour.

“I am very proud of, not only the students on this podium, but everyone who participated in this festival today! You have all shown great strength and determination, giving us all hope for the future of heroes. For my last words, I ask everyone to say it with me!”

“PLUS ULTRA!” the people screamed in unison. The one who initiated the yell had been the only one who had said something different, choosing to go with a “Thanks for your hard work!” instead.

~~~

After gathering back to the classroom for a brief conversation with their teachers, where they were informed of not having lessons for the next two days and some extra information about the festival’s results, the students were free for the day.

It was late evening when the trio arrived back at the Midoriya household. Katsuki’s parents had texted him at some point during the day that they were also at Inko’s house, having decided to watch the second and third event together. The three hadn’t even taken off their shoes, when they were assaulted by the tightest bearhugs they had ever gotten. Inko, Izuku and Masaru were crying enough for all six of them, while the rest just grinned proudly and laughed at their reactions.

The aroma of the food permeated the entirety of the house, making the teens salivate. They had previously been too preoccupied with other things to think about food, but the smell made them remember just how hungry they felt. Their parents saw their expressions and immediately ushered them inside, sending them off to the bathroom to wash their hands while they set up the table.

It took a while before anyone said anything, the adults being content with just watching their children devour the food they had prepared. Soon though, joyful banter filled the space that had previously been occupied by clinking utensils and eating sounds. Princess was enjoying the atmosphere, rubbing against the six from time to time and begging for some of the food they were eating.

The night was still young, the trio did not have school the next day and their adrenaline had not yet worn off completely, which led the celebration to drag on for quite a few hours. By the time the Bakugo’s decided to leave, the children were already nodding off, barely keeping their eyes open. The blond’s parents decided to let him sleepover, not wanting to make him walk all the way back, however small the distance was, under the condition that he would spend the next day with them.

While the three washed up and got themselves ready for bed, Inko cleaned the kitchen alone, after adamantly refusing any help from the exhausted teens. It was not long after that they were all finally under the covers and snoozing off in the living room, next to each other. Princess chose to lie down as close to all three as possible, silently looking over them. The siblings’ mom wished them a quiet goodnight, turned off the lights and went to her own room.

Finally, they could rest for a bit.

Notes:

As I have established in Katsuki’s quirk analysis, a primary part of his quirk is NO production which at some point reacts with O2 and turns into NO2. If one were to ask why didn’t Windex use splash against Katsuki to stop him from using his explosions, is that it would probably have the opposite effect, making them even stronger.
That is because NO2 could potentially react with the water in his sweat, forming small amounts of HNO3, which in turn could react with one of the main active ingredients found in windex fluid, that being ammonia. The product would be ammonium nitrate, a compound known to substitute part of nitroglycerin in some commonly used explosives, resulting in probably the most used one today, dynamite.
If I were to justify the move’s use on Shoto, even though windex fluid has irritant properties and can be toxic if ingested, I would point out the fact that a big quantity of both the fluid as a whole and the more volatile ingredients would be vaporized due to his flames before coming in contact with him while he still felt the pressure of the fluid stream.

Chapter 26: Sometimes you have to make hard decisions

Notes:

Damn, it's been *checks calendar for a prolonged period of time, while taking out a calculator* more that 3 days! Exam season sucks, I have no life left inside of me, but Windex will resume getting posted to your misfortune.
We are getting into the internships and hosu incident, so there's a lot to write, so buckle up my beautiful readers. I hope you all like the hero names that I chose, as I am basically Katsuki when it comes to this. Without further ado, let's get on with the chapter~

“I swear! It was that damn feather!”

“Look Jerry, we know you’ve been having a hard time lately with-" the post office manager looked at the frantic man in front of him for a second too long, “-whatever it is that you are going through, but there’s just so much that I can overlook.”

“I am telling the truth!”

“I don’t know whether to believe you, and as your superior, I have to make a choice.”

“Wait, no! What about as my friend Rob? We’ve known each other since we were children. Please-”

“Mr. Postu, please leave your hat at the reception as you are leaving.”

“BUT-”

“MR POSTU! I am not going to repeat myself!”

Rob swung his swivel chair around, not wanting to look at the man any longer. After a few seconds of silence, the shuffling of footsteps and characteristic click of his office door let him know that he was alone once more. He slowly turned his chair to the front again, trying very hard not to look at the picture sitting on his desk, fearing that if he did, he would break down. The phone rang, yet he didn’t pick it up. He had more urgent matters to attend to.

~~~

Bakugo Katsuki had always had an immense dislike for rain. He understood its importance for the environment and society but that still didn’t stop it from being a major hindrance for the use of his quirk. The only thing that consoled him during rainy days was the fact that he could purposeful- eh, I mean- completely by accident, leave his umbrella at home and share with his crush on their way to and from school.

One such occasion had been the first day of lessons after the sports festival. It was one of the rare days that they had not arrived at school earlier than most students, instead taking their time to casually stroll towards the campus. What was even more rare though, was stumbling upon a speed walking Iida. The bespectacled teen was usually the first one to arrive in class, believing it to be his duty as the class representative.

The boy had not replied to any of their messages over the last two days, which was understandable given what had transpired during the sports festival, but that only made their little group worry more. Even the short sentences they managed to exchange on their way to class were far too vague and dismissive. Nevertheless, the teens understood how sensitive the topic of the attack on his brother was and did not pressure him further. He would open up at his own pace.

~~~

“I had so many people talk to me on my way here!”

“Me too!”

“I knew that many people watch the sports festival, but I didn’t expect to be recognized.”

“Some groups stared at me. It was kind of embarrassing,” Hagakure said as she squirmed in her seat. Ojiro, who sat at the desk in front of her, turned his attention to the girl, ready to use one of the puns he had been preparing for a while. The two had gotten in a “punnie pun contest”, as they had decided to call it, after realizing that they shared a love for corny jokes.

“Well, you sure did take the stare-way to fame,” he teased, making the invisible girl almost snort from how bad the wordplay had been.

“I had some elementary schoolers tell me to not worry about it.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

“…You think you’re so smart, huh?”

Before a mini fight could break out, the classroom door opened to reveal their now, almost, bandage-free teacher.

“Morning. I want all of you to be quiet because I won’t say this twice. We’ll be having a special hero informatics class today.”

Nobody made a peep, which very much pleased Aizawa.

“You’ll be coming up with hero names.”

The chaos that was about to ensue stopped in its earliest possible stages with one look from the tired man.

“Various hero agencies have sent requests to have you intern with them for a week. This will set the stage for your future as pros. Here are the totals of those offers.”

A projection appeared on the blackboard, displaying about half of the 1-A students along with the number of internship offers in a standard bar chart. The students with the most requests were Katsuki, Shoto and Izuku, in that exact order, followed by the ones who had managed to qualify for the final event. Windex’s name was last with just the number one written next to his name.

“That’s bull! How did the electric outlet get more offers than Windex!?”

“HEY! But I do agree, how did that happen?”

Confused murmurs broke out around the classroom.

“Whether or not anyone asked you,” Aizawa started, getting more tired by the second, “you will all participate in these internships. Now, the one to take over today’s lesson-“

“Will be me.”

The classroom door opened swiftly to reveal pro hero Midnight.

That makes sense, what kind of hero name is Eraserhead, was the collective thought in the students’ minds.

“When you give yourself a name, you get a more concrete image of your future goal. This is what it means when they say that names and natures do often agree. Like Allmight’s name. All might question how a man like him is the number one pro, but he doesn’t let trivial things like not being able to understand basic social cues get in his way.”

The underground hero sure liked to jab at his colleague whenever he found the opportunity, but so did everyone else, so it wasn’t anything new. A minute later, small whiteboards had been handed to everyone, and silence fell over the classroom as the teens thought about their hero names.

~~~

“Can I be frank?”

“For the last time Todoroki-san. Your hero name has to be related to you or your quirk.”

“…I could ask Fuyumi if we have any Franks in our family tree.”

Midnight pinched her nose, pointing the teen back to his seat. The class had not been going as she had envisioned. What kind of name is King explosion murder? At least most made decent choices. It seemed like the strongest of them had the most peculiar tastes so far. The next one to be called on the podium was Windex, who took a second before turning around his board.

“The crime detergent hero- Ammonyx.”

The older Midoriya had decided on his hero name quite a few years back. “Crime detergent” was a play on “Grime detergent” and “Crime deterrent”, making their combined result mean something along the lines of “to stop crime and clean up after it”. Ammonyx, on the other hand, is a chemical compound, which among its other uses, is also a detergent and one of windex fluid’s ingredients.

“Excellent choice! Next student!”

Izuku walked to the front of the class, just as nervous as his brother had been before him.

“The mighty hero: Allke.”

“Midoriya, your handwriting is horrible.”

At the comment, Katsuki started silently laughing while discreetly mocking and pointing at his childhood friend, while Windex gave his brother a sympathetic smile, knowing that it was true. The green-haired boy had never really tried to better his handwriting and instead practiced writing faster and faster through the years, to match the speed of his thoughts.

Even so, the name he chose suited him perfectly. Alke was the personification of courage and battle strength in ancient Greece. The double L, as well as the adjective mighty, were a homage to his mentor, although most didn’t know that Allmight held that position.

“Seems like the Midoriya siblings are pretty good at this! Now, let’s see who is left. Bakugo and Todoroki, is any of you ready?”

Katsuki had never been good at coming up with names, although he generally chose to ignore the fact and stood by the ideas he came up with. Yet, after being told that “King Explosion Murder” was not an appropriate hero alias, he knew he had to be a bit more flexible.

“Lord Explosion Murder!”

Ringgg

“We will continue this after lunch period. There are still plenty more to explain so I expect you three to have found decent names by that time,” Aizawa said, his eyes already drooping at the thought of having a whole period to sleep.

The students got up from their desks and walked to the school cafeteria, idly chatting about what they could expect from the internships. Shoto, who usually ate alone, followed along the Midoriya siblingS and their group, not paying much attention to Katsuki’s grumbling.

“I can’t believe she rejected both names! Even after I toned it down from a king to a lord.”

“That is why I said you should have asked us to brainstorm with you Kacchan.”

“So, you’re saying that I can’t come up with anything good on my own, huh!?”

Izuku thought back to all those nicknames he had to endure over the years and just gave a deadpan expression, daring his friend to disagree with his statement. Katsuki tsked, knowing that he was in the wrong but did not want to admit defeat just yet.

“At least I’m better than candy cane over here.”

Shoto looked up at the rest of the teens around him for the first time since sitting down at the table. The two brothers, along with Katsuki, Iida and Uraraka were looking at him and waiting for whether he had any response.

“I just really like the name Frank.”

…

“That aside, we have about half an hour left to help you guys with your names, so we shouldn’t waste any more time,” Izuku said as he opened one of his notebooks, certain that he had noted down a few possible names for his friend through the years.

“How about-"

~~~

“Let’s get over and done with this quickly so we can move on. Bakugo, you’re up.”

Katsuki walked to the podium, much more confident than before, which was saying a lot given the fact that confidence was his default mode.

“The explosive hero: Dynamight.”

“Well, that was better than I expected. Next.”

The teen walked back to his chair, annoyed that his brilliant hero name had gotten such a backhanded compliment from their homeroom teacher. Unfortunately, Midnight was not able to join them after lunch, having to teach one of her classes, leaving the responsibility to fall onto Aizawa’s shoulders.

Shoto walked up to the podium and turned his board around for the class to read.

“Are you sure you want to go with that?”

The boy looked down for a brief second, before looking back up with a determined expression.

“Someone once told me, I am not anyone but an extension of my own choi-”

“That’s great and all kid, but we were all there when it happened and we are a bit pressed for time, so get back to your seat. So, about the internships.-”

~~~

“Hey, Allmight-san. Come look at this.”

Cementoss called his colleague over and pointed to the screen of his computer. There were quite a few open windows, among which, a list of students and the number of requests they had received, and some of the requests themselves. The number one pro still couldn’t believe that the festival’s winner only had one offer, and him being his protegee’s brother made it feel a bit more personal. On the other hand, he felt extremely proud of Izuku and how far he had come in the past year.

“Someone sent a request for Midoriya Izuku a couple minutes ago, but I am guessing Eraserhead already handed out the offers to his class. Could you pass this to him?”

“Of course, I’ll hand it to him personally. Who’s it from?” Allmight asked as he squinted at the words written on the monitor.

“Wait. That is-!”

 

 

 

Chapter 27: Tragic backstory noises

“Follow me, please”

Windex walked behind the hero sidekick, along the corridor leading to the agency’s chairman’s office. Unlike Izuku and Katsuki, who had chosen to intern relatively close to Musutafu, his only offer had been from an agency more than four hours away by train. They stopped at the end of the long hallway, where a grand pair of doors stood. The sidekick knocked thrice, the sound echoing around the halls’ walls, and informed the person within of their arrival.

“The chairman will see you now.”

Everything seemed way too professional to Windex, but he guessed that it was fit for a pro hero of that caliber. He stepped inside the room, the doors closing behind him and leaving him all alone with the agency’s chairman. He couldn’t see the hero’s face, as the man sat with the back of his chair facing the office’s door. Windex stood waiting for the swivel chair to turn all the way around and reveal the face of the one he would be interning under.

“I’m grateful that you accepted my proposal. It has certainly been a while, Windex-kun.”

This is not possible, it can’t be, the boy thought, beads of sweat forming on his forehead. He had been dreading a meeting like this one, yet here he was, put on the spot and having no idea who the person in front of him was, while they seemed to have a certain degree of familiarity with him. He really didn’t want to hurt the man’s feelings by admitting so, but he knew it would be better to do so to avoid future misconceptions.

“I see that you are struggling to say that you don’t remember me. You have not changed at all, even after all these years. Maybe this will… refresh your memory.”

Their surroundings swiftly changed into a hall, full of elegantly dressed adults. The sudden change of environment toon Windex by surprise, not really sure what had just happened.

“Did we teleport? Is this a quirk?”

The man chuckled, glad to see that the look of fascination on the teen’s face had barely changed from what he remembered.

“It’s cool, isn’t it? It’s actually one of my sidekick’s powers. They can create vivid illusions and even display memories specific to the person targeted. But you can ask them yourself later if you’d like,” he said, taking his eyes off Windex and looking around the room as well.

“Oh, there you are. You were so adorable back then.”

A three-year-old Windex stood next to the refreshment table, having a bit of difficulty with reaching the glasses placed on it. Since most guests preferred to drink alcohol, beverages like juice and water were placed further back, which meant that the vertically challenged, like himself, had a hard time getting something to drink. Amidst his struggling, he didn’t pay enough attention to his surroundings and ended up tripping on the way too long tablecloth that decorated the makeshift bar.

“Woah there, be careful,” a young boy said while wrapping his arms around Windex’s torso to stabilize him, “Here, let me help.”

Almost immediately, a cup of orange juice was handed to him by a red floating feather, seemingly controlled by the child in front of him.

“I’m Takami Keigo, what about you?”

“Windex,” the younger boy said, still pretty guarded. Not even twenty-four hours had passed since he was sold to the mafia leaders of the local werewolf pack, and being around so many new people made him feel on edge. “I don’t really have a last name.”

“Well, Windex-kun, it looks like we are the only children at this party, so we should stick together. How does that sound?”

Red feathers danced around the duo, helping them find the most efficient way through the crowd of adults. Once in a less crowded area, the two tried to get to know more about their companion for the night. They decided not to share too much for the time being, mostly focusing on their hobbies and musical preferences, and to their pleasant surprise, they shared quite a few common interests, even if they were almost 7 years apart.

The night soon came to a close, or rather the time seemed to flash by for the two since they enjoyed their conversation so much. When they had to leave the party, they agreed to contact each other in the future though their guardians.

“Do you remember me now?” Pro hero Hawks asked as he smiled cheekily towards the first person he had ever considered a friend.

“Kei-kun?” Windex asked uncertainly, not really believing what was happening.

“Ah, I’ve been waiting for a long time to hear you calling me that again, but please only do it when we are alone. Wouldn’t want to make you a target now, would we?” Keigo winked, speaking in a way more playful manner than when he was a child.

“But I don’t understand. I looked everywhere for you, but I sadly could not remember any discernible character design. Why were you even at that party?” So many questions came flooding into Windex’s mind, but there were the only ones he could manage to utter through the emotional turbulence that he currently was in.

“Yes, I understand, it must have been very hard. Well, let me show you why I was there.”

The man spoke into his earpiece, instructing the person on the other side of the line to change the illusion into the next scene they had talked about. The scenery melted off in a flurry of colours, being replaced by a much less extravagant one.

They stood inside a room, littered with garbage and broken glass, barely any light reaching in through the barred windows. A solemn child sat in the middle of the mess, a doll and the voices on the television as his only company. The news was displaying live footage of an disaster site with heaps of rubble and the so-called heroes scurrying over it, trying to help any civilians stuck under it. Young Keigo reached over to his right and grasped the remote, ready to close the TV that as usual only served as a means for him to be given false hope.

“It looks like pro hero, Mr. Clean has reached the area! Things are looking up for the people struck by this sudden disaster, with many of them having been evacuated already.”

Keigo’s hovered over the power button as he looked at the man the camera had focused on. He stuck out like a sore thumb with his sparkly white clothes, while the rest were covered by dirt and debris. He lifted his arms in front of him and placed them on the ground, the result being almost immediate. All the disaster around him, in about a 10-meter radius, seemed as if it slowly went back to how it had been before it got destroyed. He carefully moved from his position, still keeping his arms on the ground, but now gliding them along, and as he moved, the area that his quirk affected moved with him, almost like a sponge going over a dirty surface.

“His quirk, Restore, allows him to restore any non-living thing that he considers dirty, into its previous pristine condit-“

The young boy sighed deeply as he turned the TV off. Yeah right, as if it were that simple. This just proves that heroes are a piece of fiction. He picked himself off the ground and continued his daily chores. He wanted to be at his father’s good side after what had happened a few days ago, when he had gone into the city by himself. One would expect Keigo to be scolded because his parents were worried about him, but Keigo was not that one, for he had no idea what a parent-child relationship should be like and accepted his reality as the norm.

Soon after, the door to the room opened and an adult man walked in, clearly angry. He spared no glance at the child that was now trembling in his presence and plopped himself on the couch like furniture that sat in front of the TV. An older woman followed behind him, also looking tense but more so like a scared animal, although she hid it well enough. It did not take long for the two to get into an argument and entropy to take its course as the room became even more chaotic from the glass shards and garbage being thrown around.

Windex felt a terrible sense of familiarity at the scene in front of him, sure that Keigo was not taking it any better than him, it being his own traumatic childhood. The teen carefully reached towards the pro’s hand, not wanting to cross any lines between them, but also feeling the need to comfort him. He stopped his hand just short of grasping Hawk’s own, waiting for the man to notice and show any signs of how he felt towards the gesture.

Keigo felt the hand approach him before he saw it, mentally smiling at how his childhood friend’s gentle nature hadn’t seemed to change over the years. He blindly grasped it, gave a small squeeze and whispered into his earpiece once again, causing the scene to change.

This time, they stood outside a small house which had certainly seen better days. The woman from before, who Windex assumed was Keigo’s mother, was anxiously dragging young Keigo behind her, along with a small suitcase. The front door was wide open, allowing a full view of the dingy interior. The room in the previous memory seemed to have been almost the entirety of the house, with the teen easily being able to distinguish where all the previous events had taken place. Although the mother was ready to leave, she must have been in a great hurry since the TV was still open, the news channel displayed on the screen.

“The previously wanted criminal, Takami Warumono, was caught today by pro hero Endeavor. His past crimes include murder, -“

A picture of the man was shown next to the news anchor, unmistakably the same person that had been in Keigo’s previous memory.

A tap on the pro’s earpiece and their surroundings changed again, as they now were in a dark alley. A slightly older, but still very young, Keigo was glaring at a group of seven men, while his mother cowered behind him. She seemed to not care about her child’s safety, having chosen to use him as a shield instead of the reverse. One of the men opened his mouth, making the boy tense up even more as the adult’s sharp canines glistened in the dim light coming from God knows where.

“Anneyong, sarang.”

As the light hit their faces, Keigo immediately knew who they were. I mean, how could he not. The seven were the CEOs of the biggest coffee shop chain in the country, which few knew was also a front for one of the most notorious vampire gangs ever known. They went by the name Bite The Sleepiness, or BTS for short.

“We are here to make a proposal.”

They went on to explain that they had seen him among the other civilians, and he struck them as not being like other girl- I mean, other homeless children. Since then, they had been stalking- I mean secretly watching over him with the intention of kidnapping- I mean saving him from his current lifestyle. Damn, I am stumbling over my words a lot today.

“Wait! You can’t take him!”

Young Keigo felt a glimmer of hope in his chest, that his mother actually cared enough not to give him to these strange people. Maybe, just maybe, there had been even a second when he had been loved in his life, even though he didn’t know it. But that wish had been as futile as when he tried to keep away from his father’s wrath.

"How will I survive then!? I carried him for 9 months and took care of him for another 10 years! I need to be compensated!”

Compensated? Keigo thought. That one word broke something inside him, the shards scratching up his throat and tearing into his chest. His head pounded with a ferocity he had never experienced before, clouding any and all thoughts that he had up until that point and only allowing one emotion to guide him through the fog. Sheer, uncontrollable rage.

“It’s always about you, isn’t it? If I hadn’t been born, then your life would have been better. If I hadn’t dropped that plate, then that man wouldn’t have hit you. If I, a ten-year-old, had worked hard enough, then you wouldn’t be out in the streets.”

With every word, he felt as if he was one step closer to breaking down in tears, but he wouldn’t pass this opportunity to speak his mind. He didn’t care about the consequences, he had stopped doing so long ago, or so he told himself. Deep inside, he was still a scared, lonely child, wanting to hide from all danger, but even this reaction was similar to a cornered animal, desperate to change the situation he had been so unfairly thrust into.

“You’ve done all the right things, yet you’re being punished for the actions of others. Since you’re oh so benevolent, tell me one thing you have given to me, this child you claim to have done so much for.”

Silence fell all around the alley. No one dared to breathe too loudly, simply waiting for the woman’s answer. As the silence continued, with her not showing any signs of opening her mouth, Keigo spoke once more.

“Everything had been taken away from me before I could even comprehend what having something meant. I’ve never been loved as a son, protected like a child, respected as a human.  So, to ask for compensation for someone who has never had, who has never been anything, is a bit ironic, isn’t it?”

A drop of water fell down Windex’s face and for a moment he thought that it had started to rain, but the wetness of his eyes informed him that he was, in fact, crying. He quickly wiped his tears away, wanting to be strong for Keigo who stood next to him, looking at the scene with the steeliest expression the teen had ever seen. He gave Hawks’s hand a small squeeze, and the hero seemed to unfreeze from his spot. The latter taped his earpiece and the alley melted into an extravagant living room.

“This happened a few days after Jackson Wang's party.”

Ten-year-old Keigo sat at the sofa, surrounded by the men that had taken him on that night. He wasn’t listening to the conversation going on around him, until his name was specifically mentioned.

“Keigo-a, we have something very important to discuss with you, so please focus, alright?”

They explained to him that the hero commission had reached out to them, asking to transfer his parenting rights to the organization. They had been very interested after seeing how Keigo had been utilizing his quirk while living with BTS, and wanted to scout his talent, promising to turn him into the greatest hero the world had ever known.

The group were seriously considering the idea, since their way of life was not the healthiest, nor the safest for a child.

A hero, huh, Keigo thought, thinking over the pros and cons of accepting the offer. It’s not like he had formed a close bond with the vampire gang, but staying with them would certainly guarantee a financially comfortable future, even if he didn’t associate himself with their less legal activities. On the other hand, maybe becoming a hero would help him realize what all the fuss about them was. Even after his so-called father was caught, he had had minimal exchanges with them, but it was obvious how adored they were by everyone.

The word adored felt like a small jolt when it crossed his mind.

“I’ll do it.”

Notes:

Before anyone says that Hawks should have already been with the commission by then, I have to say that I don’t care. The literal protagonist of this story is an overpowered windex bottle. If I wanted to be canon accurate, I wouldn’t have written a crack-fic. Now let me go back to obsessively researching scientific theories and models so that I don’t accidentally break the laws of physics.
Now that that is out of the way, I hope you all have an enjoyable reading experience and please leave your thoughts in the comments if you want~

Chapter 28: Extra chapter: A chemist's quirk analysis- Toga Himiko edition

Notes:

The incredible, majestic and talented killua_bestboi agreed to share their half of the braincell for this analysis, so we finally got to use a whole one (1)! This is our combined effort to explain how Himiko’s quirk works. Hope you appreciate the fruits of the mental breakdown we had trying to come up with a theory.

Toga Himiko

Transform: Himiko's Quirk grants her the ability to transform into a physical lookalike of another individual, as well as copy their voice. She can duplicate a person's clothing, though, her own clothes overlap with the transformation, requiring her to get naked beforehand. She can only transform into people whose blood she has ingested with the time the transformation lasts being proportional to the amount of blood.

(E.g. 1 cup of blood allows her to transform for 18 hours)

She can switch between the appearances of multiple people if she drinks the blood of more than one person. Upon deactivating her Quirk or switching to another disguise, Himiko's disguise melts away into a gray viscous liquid.

Himiko's Quirk underwent an Awakening, giving her the ability to use the Quirks of the people into whom she's transformed. However, Himiko can only use another person's Quirk if she is fascinated by that person and holds that person close to her heart, and she must have sufficient information on their power. Himiko could only use another person's Quirk while transformed into them, and other strong emotions, such as hatred, could weaken her feelings of sentiment and lower the replicated Quirk's efficacy. Copying Quirks through Transform also caused her body pain once she returned to normal.

Analysis

We will start by explaining the life circle of Calyptra thalictri, more commonly known as the vampire moth. Moths are a group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies. All members of the order have a similar life circle which is as follows.

The moment the moth or butterfly hatches from the egg, it becomes a larva (caterpillar form). It has bundles of cells called imaginal discs for each of the adult body parts it will need as a mature moth or butterfly —discs for its eyes, for its wings, its legs and so on. In some species, these imaginal discs remain dormant throughout the caterpillar's life; in other species, the discs begin to take the shape of adult body parts even before the caterpillar forms a chrysalis or cocoon. However, the imaginal discs are prevented from growing by a constant source of juvenile hormones. These hormones will eventually trigger the third stage.

Once the caterpillar is done eating and growing, there is a lack of juvenile hormones, which causes the caterpillar to form a silk cocoon or shiny chrysalis around itself and begin radically transforming into a moth/butterfly. The caterpillar dissolves into a soup-like substance using enzymes. Lowe et al. 2013, using CT imaging, found that not everything disintegrates in the chrysalis. Among them specific organs and certain highly organized groups of cells known as imaginal discs survive the digestive process. Once a caterpillar has disintegrated all other tissues, those discs use the protein-rich soup all around them to fuel the rapid cell division required to form the wings, antennae, legs, eyes, genitalia and all other features of an adult butterfly or moth. The discs move to their correct positions, and the caterpillar starts taking on its moth form.

Once adult, the vampire moth, as per its name, feeds on blood for unspecified reasons, although it is commonly believed they do so to absorb the salt it contains. Many lepidoptera species, which are able to intake food after their metamorphosis, need salt (and minerals in general) for their overall health, most of it being used for their reproduction. It is important to note that only male vampire moths drink blood, which we will ignore for this analysis, given that we don’t exactly know how DNA was recombined for people to be able to express other species’ characteristics. 

Now that this is out of the way, we’ll move on to both our initial proposals.

Killua_bestboi

Given the fact that Himiko only transforms after ingesting blood, it is highly likely that her body recognises a specific ingredient that acts as an activation requirement for her quirk. Possible ‘culprits’ include the target’s stem cells, which are primarily found in blood and bone marrow, or antigens and antibodies found on and around the red blood cells. The red blood cells themselves cannot be used since they lack a nucleus and therefore DNA.

Himiko either creates new cells that replace her own, based on the DNA in the target’s blood cells, or transforms her own cells into the target’s by halting the expression of her original genes to express the DNA she has consumed instead. In either case, she changes her whole body to match her target’s, based on the DNA in their blood.

Additionally, since she is able to duplicate a person's clothing, the clothes (fabrics, plastic etc.) would have to be made by organic polymers that her cells are able to produce.

Assuming that she replaces all her cells, she’ll have to keep at least some, like the imaginal discs in butterflies, to serve as blueprints to remake her original body afterwards. When her quirk deactivates, it gradually recedes towards an exoskeleton which ‘melts off’ into a grey, viscous liquid. It’s akin to when reptiles shed their skin. She also duplicates the target’s clothing, and since it is not a part of her original body, it melts off as well.

On the other hand, if her cells just halt expression of her original genes to express the DNA from the blood cells she has consumed instead, the goo could be the cell byproducts that are no longer needed by her actual body when they change back into their original form. Either way, when she transforms back, all the byproducts and dead cells and stuff just melt off.

The time-limit she has for each transformation is based on the amount of blood she drinks, and she needs the target’s DNA as blueprint to remake her cells or create new ones. However, the average cell lives about 7 to 10 years, so they wouldn't die before she reaches said time limit. If she just transforms her own cells, maybe her own cells want to expel the foreign DNA and that’s why she uses it up from the blood cells she consumes.

DawnDEve

Himiko possesses “bundles” of pluripotent cells all over her body. They act like a secondary immune system, able to recognize foreign human DNA or antibodies/antigens. These cells divide much faster than the average human cell, incredibly so, which in turn, gives them a shorter life span as well. The above requires a significant amount of energy so it is likely that Himiko would need to eat more than the average person.

The cells are similar to bacterial ones, in the sense that they do not just have nucleic and ribosomal DNA, but satellite-like genomes, able to replicate semi-autonomously. The plasmid-like DNA contains all the necessary information for the cell’s life (division, structure, recognition factors etc), but not the rest of the chromosomal genome which differs greatly from person to person.

They are initially created by selective replication of Himiko’s stem cells, or through a mechanism similar to post-transcriptional RNA changes.

When Himiko consumes blood, these cells identify a specific factor and absorb the foreign DNA, after lysing the foreign cells, akin to phagocytosis. They are then able to express the DNA, while also producing an extra enzyme that halts the expression of her own genes.

The blood she ingests acts as a stimulus for this “immune” response, which stops after the entirety of the blood is “metabolized”. This, of course, doesn’t explain the blood to time-limit ratio completely, since there is a huge difference in genome quantities. After her quirk loses its effect or is deactivated, the dead cells and byproducts are excreted through the grey, goo-like substance.

Discussion

As is obvious from the above, our suggestions follow a similar basis and focus on different aspects without necessarily debunking each other. After our initial hypotheses, we focused on refining what we had in mind so far.

How is the blood absorbed?

First and foremost, we had to think of a way for her to actually absorb the blood and not have it destroyed by her stomach acid before it could be used. We came up with a few different possibilities, with the most prevalent two being:

1. It is absorbed directly into the esophagus, which is coated with special receptors like the intestines, thus it not reaching the stomach cavity.
2. A smaller organ precedes the stomach as food travels through the gastrointestinal tract. Inside it, the blood is recognized and absorbed.

What acts as the recognition factor?

Next, we had to settle on which blood component Himiko’s body would recognize. Main suspects include antigens and antibodies, or the DNA itself.

DNA is an obvious outlier compared to the other two, since Himiko’s body would have to recognize that it belongs to a human which raises quite a few questions as to how that would be possible.

As for the antigens and antibodies, we have to explain a few stuff before continuing.

Antigens, in immunology, are substances, or parts of a substance, that can stimulate an immune response. They can be proteins, carbohydrates, lipids, specific parts of a molecule or nucleic acids. Blood group antigens are either sugars or proteins found on the cell membrane of red blood cells. The simple ABO system (no, not that one you heathens) uses antigens in the form of carbohydrates to differentiate between blood types, while Rhesus antigens are proteins.

Antibodies are protein structures essential in identifying and neutralizing antigens. In the blood, they are found in the plasma. It is important to differentiate between the antibodies produced to protect from general outside infections, and the ones produced only to protect from transfused blood of a non-compatible donor.

On to how blood is classified according to the ABO system.

A-type blood has A-type antigens on the red blood cells and Anti-B antibodies in the plasma.

B-type blood has B-type antigens on the red blood cells and Anti-A antibodies in the plasma.

AB-type blood has both A-type and B-type antigens on the red blood cells and lacks antibodies in the plasma.

O-type blood lacks antigens on the red blood cells and has both Anti-A and Anti-B antibodies in the plasma.

We quickly came to the conclusion that none of the above would be viable since Himiko would not be able to transform to any person that has the same blood type as her. So, we moved on to other classification systems, mainly the Rhesus one.

As of 2023, the Rh blood group system consists of over 50 defined antigens, among which D, C, c, E, and e are among the most prominent. Rh(D) status of an individual is normally described with a positive (+) or negative (−) suffix after the ABO type (e.g., someone who is A+ has the A antigen and Rh(D) antigen, whereas someone who is A− has the A antigen but lacks the Rh(D) antigen). The terms Rh factor, Rh positive, and Rh negative refer to the Rh(D) antigen only.

During our research, we stumbled upon the existence of the rarest blood type. Rh null or “golden blood” is characterized by complete absence of Rh antigens on the person’s red blood cells. So, this makes the Rh antigens the most probable suspect for Himiko’s “secondary immune system” to recognize, given that she has this specific blood type.

Also, we have to note that the above is based on our current knowledge and biology, since we have no idea how quirks have affected human DNA.

What happens to her cells and gene expression while her quirk is activated?

We are leaning more towards the specialised cell type theory, instead of transforming her already existing cells. If the above is true, we argue that her own cells act as bacterial cells do under stressful conditions, turning into endospores. The ‘stressful’ conditions can be the recognition of the Rhesus antigens, since her body doesn’t naturally have them and wants to “expel” them in some way.

An endospore is a dormant, tough, and non-reproductive structure produced by some bacteria in the phylum Bacillota. Endospores enable bacteria to lie dormant for extended periods of time. They consist of the bacterium's DNA, ribosomes and large amounts of dipicolinic acid, which is a spore-specific chemical that appears to help in the endospores’s ability to maintain dormancy. Up to 20% of their dry weight consists of calcium dipicolinate within the core, which is thought to stabilize the DNA.

Dipicolinic acid could also be responsible for the heat resistance of the spore, and calcium may aid in resistance to heat and oxidizing agents. However, mutants resistant to heat but lacking dipicolinic acid have been isolated, suggesting other mechanisms contributing to heat resistance are also at work.

Heat resistance in crucial for our theory to work since Himiko’s cell production must be insanely fast, thus producing high amount of heat.

After her original cells transform into endospores, they occupy much less space and reside alongside the “immune” cells. Everything else, from water to general inorganic compounds, are used by her quirk to express the foreign DNA.

How does the time limit work?

We know that the amount of blood consumed is proportional to the time Himiko is able to transform. But according to the canon stats, one cup of blood doesn’t contain nearly enough DNA for her to build the entirety of an average human body, much less do so for 18 hours straight.

That is where her accelerated cell replication comes into play once again. Each chromosome has specific structures with negligible genetic value. Telomers, as their name suggests, occupy the end regions of linear chromosomes and play a huge rule in the life cycle of a cell. Simply put, when they reach a specific length, shorter than what they started with, the cell dies, as to not potentially degrade vital genetic material.

So, we can assume that the foreign DNA is replicated normally into these “immune” cells but gets quickly degraded to such a degree that it is no longer usable after a set period of time.

Her own cells would have to have a mechanism to combat telomere degradation, if they also divide quicker than the average.

The death of the cells and subsequent excretion of waste signify the end of the immune response, with her body going back to normal.

End notes

The above theory has many holes as to how Himiko would be able to replicate bodily alterations, as simple as hair length, or melanin levels, to ones like piercings, tattoos, scars etc. And the above is not even taking into account the clothes worn by the individual.

It is by no means complete, but the closest we could get to a scientific explanation based on our knowledge as a doctor and a chemist. Any questions are welcome.

Chapter 29: Greatest conspiracy theorist™

Notes:

We have almost done it. 2000 hits is fast approaching and I couldn’t be more thankful. This chapter will mostly focus on stuff happening to the other students, as a way for me to apologize for the slight angst in the previous one. I love writing random shenanigans, so I hope you all enjoy~

Akaguro Chizome, better known by his alias as the Hero Killer: Stain, was going on about his day, engaging in legal activities for once. He had a scheduled meeting with the League of Villains later in the day, and that meant that he had to go into waiting mode until then. He sat at a fairly secluded spot, away from prying eyes and those who could recognize him and looked at his surroundings once more.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, a man was falling to his death after slipping on a banana peel while juggling ducks on top of a ten-story building. Just an average Monday. Wait-

Stain did a double take and let his reflexes take over his body as he lunged himself at the falling person, barely managing to catch the man before he met the ground. Thankfully, no one was around to witness the rescue, but he still felt like he had to take the now unconscious from shock man somewhere to get treated. Allmight would not be proud of him, if he didn’t. On the other hand, if he did so, he risked getting recognized by the police, something he wanted to avoid at all costs.

As he contemplated his next actions, and made sure the man would stay unconscious for a little while longer –

“Wha- did I fall-“

Bang

Thud

−he failed to notice a new presence standing a few meters away from him. That was, at least, until the sound of someone drinking from a straw shook him out of his thoughts.

A boy with two different colored hair was looking at him while slurping down a boba cup, the teen’s expression not giving away any of his thoughts. The fact that his eyes were also different colors only added to the intensity of his stare.

You have to be kidding me, Stain sighed internally, not sure how to approach the situation, nor how much the boy had seen.

“Uh… how long have you been the-“

“You are impossibly fast and strong.”

Stain tugged at the hood he wore, which had fortunately not fallen off during his earlier maneuvers. Still, his cover could easily be blown, and he really didn’t want that to happen. Getting out of this conversation and away from the public eye was his priority at the moment.

“Yeah, it comes with my quirk. Look kid, I gotta go, maybe you could take this man to the-“

But the teen didn’t stop there.

“Your skin is pale white and ice cold. Your eyes change color, and sometimes you speak like… like you're from a different time.”

Did he touch me? When did he get a chance? Is it his quirk? Can he see under my hood? Now, I really need to get out of here, the Hero Killer thought as he felt his body go into defense mode. This situation had the potential to turn really bad if he wasn’t careful.

“You never eat or drink anything. You don't go out in the sunlight.”

Stain tried to conceal himself even more, taking advantage of any shadow around, not really helping his case in the eyes of the teen. Being a wanted criminal doesn’t pay much for sure, but how did a mere teen know that? He had said so himself, Stain barely stepped foot outside during the day, so how did he have so much information on him. His urge to just run away right then and there battled against the curiosity eating away at his chest.

“How old are you?”

The older man looked at Shoto with a narrowed gaze, both confused and suspicious of his question. Maybe he was part of the police force and was trying to profile him? Did the police know his age? Did the kid recognize him from the news and wanted to get more information on him? Screw it, he thought.

“Thirty-one.”

“How long have you been thirty-one?”

This must be some kind of mind game, Stain theorized as the dual-haired teen’s questions got more and more perplexing. He had to be more careful with his answers.

“A while.”

The younger male inhaled sharply before staring straight at the man’s figure way more intensely than he already had.

“I know what you are,” Shoto said, in almost a whisper.

Hundreds of alarms went off inside the criminal’s head. He subtly reached inside his pocket, where he always kept a small knife for emergencies. Since it had come to this, he had no other choice.

“Say it, out loud. I want to hear you.”

His right hand grasped the knife’s handle as tightly as he could, ready to attack at a moment’s notice. He was afraid that the pounding of his heart against his ribcage would cover the sound of the teen’s words.

“A vampire.”

“That’s righ- NO! I’m not a vampire!”

“That’s what a vampire would say.”

Stain looked at the hero student in bewilderment, which was quickly replaced by exasperation.

“I’m Stain! The infamous hero killer!”

Confusion was evident in Shoto’s face, but mock understanding soon took its place.

“Ah yes, Pain, the infamous ninja killer.”

“How are you so stup-” the man stopped mid-sentence, not wanting to attract any more attention on himself. If this boy was there, then that meant this place was not as secluded as he thought. He had to get out of there. Wasting no more time, he took the teen’s obliviousness as a chance to escape.

“Okay kid, you got me. I’m actually- Random distraction!”

Shoto turned his gaze to where Stain was pointing at. The latter took the opportunity to push the teen’s boba off his hand, before sprinting towards the closest alley. The boy turned his eyes back on the man’s retreating figure, and then to his fallen drink.

“…”

After a few more seconds of silence, the teen gave a deep sigh and walked towards the previously unconscious man that had just started to regain his senses, carefully supporting him as he walked them both to the nearest medical facility.

~~~

“Frankly enough, I don’t like you.”

“What did I ever do to you, you damn old man?”

Best Jeanist looked at the blond boy in front of him with an exasperated look, daring Katsuki to question his opinion further.

“You have shown great control over your quirk and are able to utilize it effectively during battle. You are already at the level of an average sidekick, even though you are merely a first year, but you have one fatal flaw that keeps you from unlocking your full potential.”

The blond didn’t open his mouth to respond to the hero’s comment, wanting to listen to the man’s words. He knew that he was strong, not just because of flimsy things like genetic advantage or talent, but because he had shed blood, sweat and tears during countless training sessions throughout his life. His dream to become the number one hero required his absolute best, and he would be damned if he didn’t give it.

“You have your parents as your fashion guides.”

…

“Huh?”

“The Bakugo’s and I have been rivals for many years. When I found out that they have a son, I could not help but worry about your upbringing and after looking into you, I knew that my worries were well founded. Just look at your hero costume.”

Katsuki was not sure whether he should feel offended or not. Sure, style was a personal preference, but Best Jeanist was directly criticizing his parents’ work. The same people who had fought tooth and nail to get where they were in the fashion world. And what the fuck was wrong with his hero costume anyway.

“It’s part of my work to correct people like you. A week is not nearly enough, but I will show you why I am so famous, both as a hero and a fashion icon.”

~~~

“This is a very important part of your training, so you better pay attention, ya hear?”

“Yes, Gran Torino-san!”

Beep beep

“Uhm, Gran Torino-san, what am I supposed to be looking at?”

The older man did not respond to Izuku, and instead just opened the door of his new microwave. The last one had mysteriously broken while he was calmy conversing with his new intern, on the previous day. He took out a plate of taiyaki, something he should probably not be eating so early in the morning, especially at his age. He took a bite of the fish-shaped treat and promptly put it back on the plate and into the microwave once again. It seemed that even after so many years of technological advancement, humanity had not yet managed to solve the one problem that plagued most households during the 21st century. How is it that this devious machine could heat a plate to the average temperature of the sun’s core while keeping the food close to absolute zero? The world may never know. It could not be as easy as heat diffusion and conductivity, so it will just remain a mystery.

Hmmmmm…

Izuku kept staring at the man who was supposed to be mentoring him during his internship, not understanding what the purpose of looking at a revolving microwave was.

Beep beep

Gran Torino took the plate in his hands and took another bite of the taiyaki he had tried to bite into earlier. It could have still used some heating, but he honestly felt way too lazy to put it back in for a third time. Good enough, he thought as he carried the food and set it down on the small table he owned.

“So…?”

“You are telling me, that you didn’t understand what I was trying to say through this extremely vague situation?”

“No…?”

“You youngsters need to be told everything in a concise manner. It’s like you are looking at the older generations for advice based on life experience. Back in my day we just fucked around and found out.”

“Gran Torino-san, I don’t think that was in the script.”

CUT

~~~

You’ve got this, just like they showed you.

Uraraka felt sweat dripping down her arms as she tried to keep them steady in a defensive position. One of Gunhead’s sidekicks stood opposite her in a similar manner, waiting for the girl to catch her breath. They had been sparring for a while, putting into practice the moves they had taught her so far.

As soon as Uraraka straightened herself completely, her opponent threw a punch at her face, stopping it midway and instead aiming a hit to the stomach with his other arm. The teen reacted in time to block the actual attack, one arm protecting her head, while the other her mid-section. She quickly went through a mental checklist of what her next moves could be based on their positions. A stomach punch required closer proximity and made the one who threw it lower their height while they bend their knees, meaning that a hit from above or on the head in general, had greater chances of landing. She had also made sure that instead of just blocking to the side, to redirect the hit downwards as well. With that thought in mind, she tried to elbow the sidekick in the face, not forgetting to cover her now exposed side, especially since her opponent was so close.

The hit would have been easy to evade based on their difference in skill and experience, but her opponent let it go through his defenses, wanting the girl to get used to the full range of the movement before making the exercise level higher. Gunhead stood off to the side, carefully watching the ongoing spar and noting down some pointers to give to both his intern and sidekick later. A few moments later, Uraraka lay like a starfish on the tatami mats of the agency’s dojo, both begging any deity that might be listening to end her suffering and feeling extremely accomplished at her progress during the past couple days.

“That’s it for today guys, you all did great. Hit the showers and get ready for evening patrol,” Gunhead said, as he handed everyone a water bottle. The UA student eagerly accepted it and barely resisted the urge to down it all in one go. After a few pats on the back and some congratulatory comments, she finally reached the changing room and headed straight to the shower.

The cold water stung against the fresh bruises, but also helped bring her body temperature down. She gradually raised the water temperature, allowing her sore muscles to relax bit by bit, sure that come tomorrow, she would have trouble moving at all. It had been the same routine for the past four days, each training session being harder than the last, but Uraraka had come to welcome the aching that they brought. It proved that she had surpassed her body’s limits, forcing it to break down and rebuild itself stronger than before.

Her thoughts were already filled with future training plans, what she would need and who she could ask for help. While Aizawa would certainly be a great help in close combat, she knew that her fighting style would have to evolve in a way that incorporated her quirk. The only person she could think of that might be able to help was their class’s resident porcupine and she knew just the way to get him to agree.

Once outside the shower and dry, she walked to the agency’s cafeteria, phone in hand and already typing out a message to Katsuki. The blond’s contact had been purposefully saved as ‘The ultimate simp™’ with a bunch of hearts and sparkles around it, since Ochaco had taken a liking to teasing the boy for his crush on their classmate. She would be lying if she said that she didn’t often take advantage of Windex’s friendship and caring nature, to relentlessly make fun of the blond without any consequences. And she would be using that metaphorical armor once again to make Katsuki accept her request.

“Oooh, are you talking to a boyfriend? Or maybe a girlfriend? Gasp! Maybe a-“

Gunhead’s question startled the girl, who had not noticed him walking alongside her. The absurdity of being in a relationship with the blond made her chuckle almost as much as seeing the pro’s expression, blush markings having appeared over his mark. Once she recovered from the surprise, she smiled at her mentor and started walking towards the cafeteria again, this time beside the older man. If she had learned something other than martial arts during this internship, it would be that everyone in the agency were always up for a gossip session.

“Do you remember the one’s who took first and second place in the sport’s festival? Well, the blond-“

Oh, she had so much tea to spill.

Chapter 30: Where Stain has one hell of a picnic

Notes:

So, uhm, good news, I am not dead. Bad news, I am not dead. Depression has really been kicking my ass these past few moths and uni exams weren't really helping, but I am now officially a chemist with a bachelor's degree. My quirk analysis can now be cited as scientific papers (no they can't but please bear with me)
I barely wrote anything these past few months but I am hoping to get back into it since I don't want to let bestboi wait any longer. For anyone who is reading this, thank you for taking time to read my work. I sincerely hope it brings you even a bit of joy.

“Damn. You got the hang of it faster than I expected,” Keigo said as he watched Windex gliding around the room.

The first day of the internship had been pretty uneventful, not counting the two’s reunion. It mostly focused on presenting Windex with what they would be doing during the week and establishing some rules for how he would have to act during patrols. The second day though, had been much more interesting.

Keigo had decided to start the day by training on some stuff he had noticed the younger male struggled with during the sports festival. He certainly had not kept a detailed journal of his observations and whoever says the opposite is lying. After going over the basics, noon had come to pass, but patrol hours were still far away. With that in mind, the pro decided to test one of the theories he had come up with.

It was no secret that Keigo relied a lot on his flying ability to carry out his hero duties, be it flying to the crime scenes, aerial battles or saving civilians from harm. Flight was extremely useful, but few had the luck of having a quirk that allowed it, and support gear usually came with downsides. Soaring through the air would most likely remain just a dream to the average person, and yet, Windex was anything but average.

“So, this is just a prototype for now but bear with me for a bit.”

He waited outside of the dressing room as Windex changed into the top the pro had given him.

Much research had gone into the his theory, but there would surely be a lot of things to look over again, and that is if it even worked. Keigo’s hypothesis was simple. Windex lacked wings, which are an extremely important feature of most birds, but he certainly had strong enough upper body muscles to aid in take-off. Although his arms were more muscular than the average person, they were still not wide enough, so they had to experiment with a batwing-like top, which would still allow him full range of motion. The result would be more akin to a glider bird than flapping ones, certainly helpful for long distances but not nearly as much for close combat.

Windex had managed to exceed any and all expectations Keigo had. It took them a few tries, originally having the teen get used to the gliding itself by jumping from a high point in one side of the room to the other. But the results were promising, for the time being at least.

Next, Keigo had him practice take off by instructing him on how to flap his makeshift wings to create the difference in pressure needed to lift him in the air. A few hours later, Windex was able to glide around the room and keep himself in the air by pumping his arms when he got too close to the ground. His steering needed a bit more work-

CRASH

Though, the fact remained that Windex would now be able to fly alongside Keigo, just as the latter had imagined for so many years.

~~~

UA lounge room

“Sorry to intrude so suddenly, All Might.”

The hero assured his long-time friend that he had no reason to apologize. Tsukauchi had decided to visit All might during the latter’s working hours, since the latter’s schedule had become considerably lighter due to the internship week. For a moment, the rustling of papers was the only sound that could be heard inside the room, as the blond man held his breath, eager yet scared to know the police officer’s findings.

“During the USJ attack, you fought with what they had called a Nomu, correct?”

Tsukauchi waited for a sign of confirmation, before continuing.

“We run some tests to figure out who, or it would be better to say, what we have to deal with.”

Sudden chills run down All might’s back, as he clearly recalled the Nomu’s stare. It had been deeply unsettling and had continued to plague his thoughts since the incident. He still kept his mouth shut.

“Any attempt at interrogation yielded no results. There were no signs of reaction to stimuli and brain scans only further supported our observations. All brain functions, other than the absolutely necessary ones, had ceased. As for DNA testing…”

The detective slipped a mugshot towards the hero and gave him a couple seconds to look it over.

“The man on the picture had a criminal record of assault and extortion, though nothing too major compared to one would expect. The thing is… the tests showed DNA findings from at least four different people. Although there have been instances of human chimeras, this is a completely different case. We have come to believe that this creature is the result of illegal human experimentation. The fact that it is able to use multiple quirks is the very concerning as well.”

Gears moved inside Allmight’s head, the words multiple quirks scratching a part of his brain that he had hoped to bury along with his past regrets.

"You don’t mean…?”

A silent stare was the only thing the officer could muster to give as a response. He feared that any obvious sign of confirmation would be the final piece that would make the situation at hand all the more real. Tsukauchi despised lying, he really did. Yet, for once, he felt so scared of the truth, that not saying it out loud felt like the safest choice.

~~~

LOV hideout

“So, to get this straight, you want me to join you in your quest to kill All might, one of the two heroes that I actually respect and have no intention of harming.”

“Pretty much.”

Stain could not hide his confusion as the man sitting at the bar continued staring at him through the hand gripping his face.

“You see that there is something wrong with your proposal, right?” Stain asked, his confusion slowly being replaced by irritation. Shigaraki seemed to have no idea what the vigilante was very obviously stating hinting at.

“Look, why do you even want to kill him?” He brought his hand to rub his face, trying to keep his composure for at least a bit longer.

“I want to break everything that I don’t like.”

Is he serious, Stain wondered, feeling his patience grow a bit too thin. With his hand wrapped around the hilt of his knife, he carefully debated whether attacking Shigaraki and potentially getting killed in the process would be the wise choice. On the other hand, whether he killed the villain or was killed by him, he would at least not have to speak to him anymore, which sounded very tempting.

“Master, is it alright to let this continue?” Kurogiri asked the man listening through the monitor next to the bar.

“This is necessary for his growth,” came the man’s voice.

“Master, I know that you really liked that parenting book we got you but Tomura can’t grow if he’s dea-“

*Broadcast cut*

We will be back shortly

*Jazzy music playing*

~~~

Manual hero agency

Iida Tenya knew that he had been spending too much time watching Law and Order, when he found himself standing in front of a board filled with pictures and newspaper clippings, trying and failing to tie a string tight enough on the board pins. He was sure that his choice to intern in Hosu had been right, yet the wait was eating him up from the inside.

“He will appear, and when he does, I will dispos-“

“I have been calling you for a wh- are you alright Tenya?

The excess light and voice that flooded the room more than startled the teen, making him stumble over the spare thread lying at his feet. In his daze, he barely remembered to cover up as much of his board as he could, not wanting to give away any of his plans to the heroes working at the agency.

“I am very sorry of my actions! It is very unbecoming of a UA hero student!” Tenya said as he waved his hands around, hoping that his habit would prove useful in hiding more of the wall behind him.

“…Okay… I came to tell you to get ready for evening patrol.” Pro hero Manual’s voice sounded a bit concerned, probably for Tenya’s mental stability, yet he left the room without any further questions, his last words being a simple “We’ll meet you at the entrance in 15 minutes.”

With the door closed, Tenya felt like he could breathe normally. He spared a glance at the board, feeling more determined than ever. A knock on the door interrupted his dramatic moment, Manual popping his head in once again.

“Look kid. It’s kind of hard to ask, but… did you choose our agency to extract revenge on the Hero killer?”

“…No…”

Excellent response, you could not have come up with a better one, Tenya thought, mentally berating himself over how obvious he was being. His hero costume covered everything that could give away his true intentions, yet his awful lying skills betrayed him.

“… I’ll pretend to believe you for now. Stay close to me out there.”

But Tenya did not stay close to him out there.

~~~

A random roof

And we are back

…

“Hosu city looks nicer than I expected.”

“Why, what did you expect?”

“I don’t know, that’s what my script says.”

“What?”

“What?”

Stain stared at Shigaraki for a few more seconds before turning his gaze back to the city’s landscape, without saying a word. The latter could not stand the awkward silence, but he had already decided to follow the vigilante out of boredom, and he would look like a loser if he backed out now. AFO had been adamant that the two spent some time together, ignoring the fact that they had almost killed each other mere minutes ago.

“So, what are you going to do… bro?”

…

“I will reform this city. In order to do so, I require more victims. The title of a hero should be received after accomplishing great deeds! There are too many who desecrate their positions, putting money and fame over helping civilians.”

“Chill a bit over there, Punisher.”

“Exactly, I am a punisher. And until this world realizes its mistake, I won’t stop,” Stain said, as he jumped down the water tower and ran off into the late evening.

Honestly, Shigaraki’s next words were mostly motivated by how annoyed he felt that the vigilante had not picked up on his reference, but he still chose to say them.

“Kurogiri, bring out the Nomus.”

~~~

1^st year hero internships- Day 3

Hawk’s Agency

“Rise and shine my little fledgling! We have a long day ahead of us!”

Granted, Keigo was not being very professional by barging into his intern’s room at the break of dawn, nor by using his feathers to tickle the teen into waking up but cut him some slack. He had been waiting to reunite with his childhood friend for over a decade, so he didn’t want to waste a second.

And so did Windex’s day begin, with an overexcited rooste- I mean, hawk, dragging him out of the agency and into the city streets. Well, more like roofs, since the pro hero had insisted on the teen trying to fly around the city with him. It had certainly been fun, and he had managed not to crash into more than 11 buildings all day, so that was a plus.

The sun had just started to set, giving the sky a more orange hue, when the two found themselves on top of a KFC restaurant. A full day of flying around had made them both very hungry, and they still had to get ready for night patrol, so they decided to get some much-needed sustenance. With their legs dangling over the roof’s edge, they basked into each other’s company.

“Hey,” Keigo said, making Windex turn his attention on him. The man closed his eyes, enjoying the moment and continued, “if you listen carefully at this very spot over the roof, you’ll hear a melody.”

The bustling streets really did create a unique melody, which one could only listen if they focused hard enough. It hid stories of happiness and love, anger and excitement, joy and sorrow. They all came together in a beautiful song that could only be described as the feeling of being alive.

“Are you the strongest because you're Satoru Gojo? Or are you Satoru Gojo because you're the strongest?”

Truly, only something one could hear if they listened close enough, Keigo though as he tried to discreetly eavesdrop on the couple arguing in front of the restaurant.

“You know, I never knew my father.”

The pro turned back to Windex, not really surprised by the new information but wanting to hear what his friend had to say.

“He was never there, and if he was then I must have been too young to remember him. I don’t really blame that woman for despising him, can’t say I didn’t either,” Windex said as he looked over the city’s landscape. “But I am kind of thankful.”

The teen took a deep breath, slowly getting up, before extending his hand at Keigo.

“I might not have met you, nor my family otherwise, and I think that is worth way more thank whatever he could have done if he hadn’t left.”

“Win-kun-“

Beep beep

“Calling out to all available pros. A Nomu attack has just taken place in Hosu. Anyone who is currently available to fight and in close vicinity, should head over there immediately. Over”

Keigo swallowed back the words he had wanted to say. Instead, a sigh left his lips as he took his friend’s hand and got up from his sitting position.

“Looks like we have somewhere to be kiddo.”

~~~

Hosu city- Manual office patrol time

“Stay back to help evacuate the cit- aaand he’s gone to enact his revenge, hasn’t he? Damn it.”

~~~

Gran Torino’s residence

“I don’t think this will do anymore,” the retired pro said as he looked at Izuku. The teen lay upside down against the wall, after unsuccessfully trying to land a hit on him as he had been instructed to. He had made great progress but continuing to train in such an enclosed space, against someone he held no animosity towards was not an ideal growth environment.

“Change into your costume, we are going out.”

Izuku’s vision went black, and he briefly wondered whether he had passed out after hitting his head too hard, before realizing that Gran Torino had thrown his hero costume over him. He turned himself upright again, absentmindedly rubbing the back of his neck, which felt sore after staying in his previous position for a full minute.

“Where did you get this Gran Torino-san? Did you go through my stu-”

“No time to dilly daddle. We’re going to fight some villains!”

There’s no getting through to him, Izuku thought. He had given up on trying to understand how the old man’s brain worked, appointing it as one of the world’s greatest mysteries. He had thankfully become an expert in quick changes after all those little speed-changing competitions he had had with Windex and Katsuki. Neither Izuku nor Katsuki were even close to beating Windex’s personal best time, but they refused to give up.

Thankfully the train station was fairly close via taxi, but the trip to Shibuya would be a long one. As he looked at the station’s map, the name Hosu caught his eyes, reminding him of Iida’s predicament. It had not been too difficult to figure out that the teen had chosen Manual’s office because of his brother’s recent attack so their little group, apart from Iida- had agreed to keep an eye on their friend. They texted the group chat as often as possible or sent him direct messages questioning about his day, but Iida’s replies seemed more curt than usual.

The train’s arrival snapped Izuku out of his thoughts for a second, before he decided to take out his phone and check on their messages one more time.

“Hey, look at that! A cat juggling knives!”

“Where? Where?”

“Huh, that’s pretty cool… Did that building just explode?!”

“Dear passengers, please hold onto your seats- OH MY GOD WHAT IS THA-“

The whole side of their railcar caved in, thankfully not harming any civilians in the process. From the gap that had been created, in came something Izuku had hoped not to come across again.

“Nomu!”

“Kid, sit down!”

The retired pro sprang into action at once, jumping over the passengers and tackling the Nomu back out of the train. Izuku had no idea what was going on, but if the flaming buildings in the distance were any indication, things were not good. He ignored the train instructor’s words, and jumped outside as well, his eyes set on the building he had seen Gran Torino land on. He had to do something.

~~~

Hosu alleyway

“So noisy. That idiot is probably throwing a tantrum,” Stain said, already regretting having not left the city earlier. He should have known things would not go smoothly from the moment he had saved that guy from falling off a building.

“My body… won’t move…”

Oh yeah, he thought, turning his attention back towards the hero he had pinned against the wall. He had almost forgotten about him, since the pro wasn’t able to struggle against his grip.

“Now, where was I-”

His body went into reflex mode as he countered a kick coming from the side. Stain’s katana hit something hard but easily sent his attacker flying back. He focused his gaze on the culprit, kind of surprised to see a child wearing a hero suit.

Iida slowly got back up, not taking his eyes off the vigilante.

“A scarf as red as blood, carrying blades all over your body… You must be the hero killer, Stain!”, Iida said while getting into a defensive position.

“No, I’m not.”

“Huh?”

“I’m not the guy you just mentioned. Ninja killer, Pain, what’s his name. You got the wrong guy.”

“My apologies, sir. Please carry on with what you were doing,” the teen said, bowing deeply in apology.

Hey, that was easier than I thought, Stain thought as he waited for the boy to leave the alley.

“At least that is what I would have said if I was so easily fooled, you fiend!”

Stain easily evaded the teen’s oncoming attacks. Iida certainly lacked the combat experience most pros had, and it showed in his sloppy movements, which might have been more precise had they not been fueled by pure rage.

“You are weak,” the vigilante said, avoiding yet another kick. He had already lost interest in the fight, but he was still pondering how much to harm a mere child. Stain pinned Iida down, not wanting to deal with him anymore, and stabbed through the teen’s shoulder with his katana.

“You and your brother both. Nothing but fakes.”

“Cease your speech, villain!”

Iida tried not to acknowledge the shearing pain coursing through his shoulder and instead focused on the anger he felt.

“Tensei, he- he can’t work as a hero anymore!”

Stain scoffed, not really caring about the teen’s shouts. The district was already in chaos, so the extra noise shouldn’t be a problem.

“It’s not like he ever was one-“

“Who are you to decide that!” Iida could barely feel his upper torso at that point. Yet, the thumping of his heart against his ribcage was undeniably what kept him anchored. “He is a hero to me! He is one to all those people he saved! He put his life on the line for each and everyone of them! Who are you to discard all that!”

“And who are you to take revenge on his behalf, huh? It would not be very heroic for either of you to kill me now, would it?”

Stain lifted his katana to his mouth, ready to lick the teen’s blood off of it, unaware of the overpowered punch aimed right on his cheek.

“Smash!”

The vigilante ended up tasting his own blood, as he flew backwards from the force of the hit. He had bitten his tongue so hard, that he was almost sure he must have cut a whole piece off with his teeth.

“Mi…Midoriya?”

“Are you alright?! Can you get up? Is there anybody else here?” Izuku did not take his eyes off of Stain, knowing that barging in the middle of a fight left him at a disadvantage, so he tried to get as much information as possible from his fallen friend.

“I can still move. You have to get out of here! This has nothing to do with you!”

Sluuurp

The two students and the vigilante turned towards the sound, only to find Shoto looking at them. He was drinking boba with one hand and holding his phone on the other, a confused look on his face.

“…Should I not have come?” he asked, showing his phone screen, which displayed their location on Google Maps.

Oh no, Stain thought, of course it had to be him. His previous interaction with the teen had certainly left an impression on him. Not a good one nor a bad one, but truly an impression.

“You two, get away! This is something I have to do on my own! I don’t want you to get hurt!” Tenya shouted, the dramatic background music starting once again.

“Is this not a good time to say that I am here as well?”

Record scratch

Windex came out of the shadows, also holding his phone up.

“Great, just great. Is this some kind of picnic for you kids?! How many more are coming?!”

“Considering ‘zuku sent the location to the group ch-“

“It was a rhetorical question!” Stain yelled, getting more and more annoyed by the second. Not wasting any more time, he threw one of his knives at the student closest to him, who just happened to be Izuku. It barely grazed his cheek, drawing a few drops of blood, yet the actual danger had yet to come. Almost as if he had been in the knife’s shadow, Stain appeared in front of Izuku, their faces mere inches from each other.

That had been a dumb move on Stain’s part. Over the years, Izuku, had become an expert at hitting anything that came close to his face, courtesy of Windex’s and Katsuki’s “training” as they liked to call it. It had all started back in kindergarten. The two had tried to convince him that throwing almost any small thing they could find at his head was a sure way for him to train his reflexes. Surely not at all because they wanted to see if the things would get caught and lost in the mess of curls that has always been his hair. Unfortunately, Stain had to find out the hard way just how great the teen’s reflexes were.

I never expected to taste my own blood so much during a fight, he thought as he spit out the metallic liquid that had gathered in his mouth. These kids must already know about his quir-

“Be careful! Don’t let him drink your blood, he’s a vampire!”

The vigilante opened his mouth to protest but instead got hit in the face by a flying object. His eyes adjusted just as the smell of garlic and butter hit his nose, a loaf of bread now resting on the pavement in front of him.

“Wha-“

“I’m sorry, I panicked!” Windex shouted, setting aside the KFC bag he had been holding this whole time.

Pure rage coursed through Stain’s entire body, trying to burn away any bit of rationality left.

“You brats-!”

Splash

The fire went out immediately. This time, the vigilante found himself covered in liquid, which smelled suspiciously sweet. Everyone turned to look at Shoto, who still stood in a throwing position, now without the boba cup he had been drinking from. After a couple seconds, he went back to standing normally, a slightly embarrassed look on his face. No one said anything.

The vigilante sighed, taking a moment to collect himself. For his remaining sanity’s sake, he chose to ignore what had happened up until that point and instead got in a fighting position once more.

The sight made the students get in to defense mode, keeping Tenya and the unconscious pro behind them for safety.

“Guys, we have to be careful. Iida, can you get up?”

“No, not yet,” he said, still not completely in control of his body but the feeling was slowly coming back to his limbs. He decided to hide the fact just for a bit longer and look for an opening for a surprise attack.

The three students focused on defending themselves from any incoming attack, since the vigilante was now solely focused on bringing them down. They were careful not to use their quirks and instead stalled for time for any nearby pros to notice the commotion.

Iida was glad that he was partially hidden from Stain’s view, as his hands reached into his costume’s utility belt. He grasped the rectangular object, mentally calculating his next move. He only had one chance to make this work. He kept his gaze on the fight, as he slowly got up. He was grateful he had thought of asking for engine silencers to be included in his hero costume, otherwise him getting ready for a recipro burst would have made too much noise.

“Recipro… KICK!”

Not even a second later, Stain had fallen to the ground unmoving. The force of Tenya’s orange juice box hitting his head had been enough to knock him out cold. Hopefully, he didn’t sustain any brain damage from the attack but that was a problem for later.

Silence fell over the alley, no one exactly sure about what had happened. A few seconds later the silence was broken by the vigilante’s groans. Izuku and Windex, who had been standing closest to him shared a quick look before picking up a nearby trash can lid and hitting him on the head once again.

Not wanting to waste any more time, the quickly got to work. They made sure to remove the endless number of weapons the vigilante had on him, which admittedly took a while.

“Ngh.. what hap-“

BANG

They tied him up, using the rope and handcuffs the previously unconscious pro hero had on him. He had come to his senses around the time Stain got covered in milk tea and it took him a while to understand what exactly was going on.

When he had all his senses back, he had contacted the nearby pro heroes through his earpiece, wanting to make sure that Stain would be taken into custody as soon as possible.

“Now we just have to wait-“

Unfortunately, the pro got a kick right in the face before he even finished his sentence. It had been originally directed towards Izuku, who was standing next to him, but the teen managed to redirect it at the last possible moment.

Maybe Windex and Katsuki were onto something, the teen thought as he looked down at a very angry Gran Torino.

“Do the youngsters not listen at all these days?! I told you to sit down!”

“You didn’t say where-“

“Imagine my surprise when I saw you next to an unconscious criminal! I am speechless!”

He was not speechless.

“Out of all the things you could have taken after Toshinori, you had to take his recklessness. At least you all seem okay. But that doesn’t mean that you won’t be getting an earful when we get back! I can’t believe the nerve of teenagers!”

The approaching sidekicks, thankfully, cut his rant short.

“We got a help call from here, what are we dealing with- wait, who is that?”

The newcomers stood dumbfounded at the scene in front of them. I mean, they had never seen a person so goodlooking, as if sculpted by the gods themselves. Beautiful could not encompass all the emotions Windex’s appearance brought to them. Oh, and I guess the notorious hero killer, who they had been trying to capture for months, was also unconscious and tied up next to them.

Wait.

“Somebody call the police immediately!”

Because Windex stole their hearts, okay okay, I am stopping now.

“Todoroki-kun, Izuku-kun, Windex-kun. I sincerely apologize for how blind my anger had made me.” Iida bowed down, feeling awful about endangering his classmates, no, his friends, in an attempt to win a fight he already knew he never stood a chance in.  

“No Iida-kun, we must apologize,” Izuku begun, “we should have noticed what you were going through earlier.”

“Not that your plan wasn’t extremely obvious, but- ahem, I mean, you shouldn’t let yourself be consumed by revenge, you should be an example for our class,” Todoroki continued, feeling a bit awkward about having to comfort a crying person.

Windex didn’t say anything and instead gently nudged Iida out of his bowing position. His hand lingered on Tenya’s shoulder for a few more seconds, silently offering his support.

The fight against the hero killer probably only took about then minutes. But to us, it felt like a very long fight-

Izuku’s attempt at dramatically closing the episode ended in failure as he was whisked into the air by a flying nomu. Almost instantaneously, Stain broke out of his binds and launched himself at the creature, successfully slashing one of its legs. While still in the air, he licked the blood off his knife, causing the nomu to rapidly fall towards the ground, immobilized. Windex had already sprinted after his brother, catching the falling vigilante while on his way to save Izuku from hitting the ground.

And that is how Stain found himself being supported in a semi-bridal carry by Windex, with Izuku in the exact same position on the teen’s other arm. He looked up at his savior, his heart beating erratically and almost unable to beath. The air left his lungs, and the teen’s touch felt like a blazing hot iron against his skin.

Thankfully, Akaguro Chizome was not attracted to minors, and the reaction was merely because one of his broken ribs was currently piercing his lung. With a final unsteady breath, he passed out cold which was obvious to the bystanders because he suddenly went limp while still in Windex’s arms.

“Uhm… got’im?”