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twilighteve-writes · 7 years ago

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Blooming Gladiolus, Fall to the Ground -- Ch. 2

Summary: When Midoriya Hisashi finally comes home from years-long work outside the country, Izuku expected to have some family down time that he hadn’t ever had with him since… well, forever. Catching-up talk, maybe. Chatting while drinking coffee or eating ice cream at some fancy outdoor patio. Definitely fumbling around for an explanation about him developing a Quirk pretty much out of nowhere.

His expectations were turned upside down, because apparently, his father isn’t what he seems, and Izuku doesn’t know what to expect anymore.

What Izuku knows is that the appearance of Midoriya Hisashi triggers a domino effect that sends his whole world toppling down. And honestly, being accused of turning around and becoming a villain is just a bonus. When have life ever passed the chance to fuck him over, anyway?

Can also be read in AO3 or FF.net.

Chapter 1: AO3 or FF.net.

“You’re going home today?”

Izuku nodded at the question Iida gave him, hoisting his backpack up. “My father’s home after going abroad for work. My mom thought we should get a family dinner, at least. I’ll be back here by tomorrow, don’t worry.”

“Wait, the shithead’s back home?” Bakugou’s question thundered from across the room. “Now, of all times?”

“Bakugou, that’s not nice!” Ashido exclaimed. “It’s impolite to say someone’s dad is a shithead!”

“Well don’t blame me for doing that! The shithead’s the one who’s been gone for years with no word to his family at all!”

“Wait, really?” Kirishima turned to Izuku. “Midoriya, is that true?”

Izuku shrugged. “Honestly, I don’t even remember what he looks like.”

Uraraka looked both disturbed and pitiful. “Are you sure you’re related to him, Deku-kun?”

“I am, according to my birth certificate,” Izuku answered with another shrug. At Uraraka’s disbelieving gaze, he sent a helpless smile. “I mean, I’m pretty sure the last time I actually saw him was when I was three. I can barely remember his face.”

“Are you sure you’re related to him, Deku-kun?” Uraraka repeated, worry lacing her voice. Izuku could only laugh awkwardly as a response and bid his friends goodbye before walking out of the school grounds.

It was nice, to be out for a family outing for once, even if he had to wear the tracking bracelet to monitor where he was so U.A could track him if anything happened. For so long, going out of school meant doing internships and heroics, and as much as he loved it things could get tiring after a while. It wasn’t often that he could actually walk around outside to take a breather, so Izuku intended to enjoy it while it lasted.

He should’ve known things wouldn’t go smoothly, though. As he exited the train station nearest to his house, he bumped into someone harshly. His eyes widened in horror when he saw that the woman he bumped into held a cup of coffee in her hand and the bump had her spilling the coffee all over her pale blue shirt – and what made Izuku felt even more guilty was the fact that not a drop had been spilled on him.

“I’m sorry!” he apologized automatically. “I didn’t mean – are you okay?”

“I’m fine,” she answered blandly, looking down at her shirt as she lowered the now-empty cup of coffee. Her voice was surprisingly melodious, bell-like, and it chimed through the air prettily despite the almost deadpan tone. “I wasn’t looking, either.”

“Still… wasn’t the coffee hot? Are you hurt?” Izuku pressed.

She pressed the coffee stain until her finger met the skin through the fabric. She shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. It wasn’t that hot. I’m perfectly fine.”

“Your shirt is ruined, though.” With a gulp, his hand reached for his pocket to take his wallet. “At least let me pay for it. Or the laundry cost.”

The stranger’s white wood eyes widened in surprise. “Oh no, please don’t,” she hurriedly shook her head. “I’m the one who’s at fault. I wasn’t looking where I was going. You don’t have to pay for anything.”

Izuku chewed his lip. As relieving as that was, considering that he didn’t have that much money to begin with, it still felt wrong to just leave her be. “Let me lend you my jacket at least, to cover the stain,” he bargained.

She opened her mouth and paused, looking down at her shirt once more, and sighed. “That would be wonderful,” she reluctantly agreed. As Izuku slipped his jacket off to offer to her, she took out her phone and asked, “Can I have your contact information, so I can give you back your jacket? I’m sure you’ll need it back.”

“Oh, sure!” Izuku rattled his phone number to her, confirmed it when she read it back to him, and gave her the jacket. She did the same with her phone number.

“What’s your name?” she asked as she slipped the jacket on.

“It’s Midoriya,” he answered. “Midoriya Izuku.”

She paused and stared at him, something akin to surprise and recognition in her eyes. “Midoriya…?”

He blinked at her and blushed. “I, um. I’m a U.A student. You probably know me from the sports festival. I know it was pretty scary; I wrecked my hands really badly.”

“That’s not – um.” She shuffled awkwardly. “Um, yes, sports festival. I think you did well enough.”

That was sort of a weird response, but Izuku was too busy being embarrassed to think about it. Instead he asked her, “Sorry, I didn’t catch your name…?”

“It’s Yuki,” she answered promptly, clearly as eager as he was to leave the topic behind. “Yuki Koemi. Um, thanks for the jacket. I’ll give you a call when I’ve gotten it washed.”

“You don’t have to – “ Izuku clamped his mouth shut. “Uh, yes, um. Thank you.”

She smiled at that, and it didn’t look awkward. “No, thank you. See you later, Midoriya-san,” she waved as she walked ahead.

“Ah – s-see you later,” Izuku nodded at her, but she was long gone, turning to enter the train station as she tossed the empty coffee cup into a trash bin.

Well. Izuku just hoped nothing would happen during the rest of the walk home. Hopefully, Mom had prepared katsudon for dinner.

There was a really specific feeling about meeting your practical boss’ kid and she was fairly sure she could find a name of it in German – because the Germans had word for pretty much everything – but Koemi sure as heck wouldn’t waste any time looking for it, especially not with a meeting looming over her head. She wasn’t about to come to a meeting late.

She’d just have to make do with the shirt. At least the jacket would do well to hide the stain.

She walked to the venue of the meeting, making sure to keep her head held high so exude an air of confidence and authority. The hostess at the front casted a dubious look at her that she covered quickly with a neutral smile, but she expected it – it was a fancy fine dining restaurant, and a cup of simple green tea could probably land her in debt. Not to mention she wasn’t exactly dressed to fit in. A combination of coffee-stained shirt, All Might jacket, knee-length skirt, and worn sneakers that wouldn’t be out of place in a dumpster didn’t exactly scream wealthy, after all.

“Welcome,” the hostess greeted. There was a glint of reluctance in her eyes, but that too was well within the expected range of skepticism. “What can I do for you?”

She flashed the hostess her most winning smile. “Well, I have an appointment with Kinjo-san. Kinjo Yutaka? He should have booked a private room.”

The hostess’ eyes widened, almost to a comical proportion, and she had to suppress a smile at it. She loved it when she managed to throw people off. The hostess cleared her throat and composed herself. “Yes – a-hem – he booked a private room. Two of your companions have already gotten here, although Kinjo-san himself hasn’t arrived just yet. Let me show you to the room.”

Koemi nodded at let the hostess lead her deep into the restaurant, into one of the soundproof private dining room at the back. She thanked the hostess when she opened the door for her and stepped in, looking around.

“Oh, you’re here,” her companion greeted her. He grinned brightly at her, and she blinked at him wordlessly.

“You’re dressed up,” she noted at last. “Aki, what in the world. I didn’t even know you had a suit.”

“Oh, no, I borrowed this from an acquaintance,” the man assured. He straightened the blazer he wore and preened. “I would’ve taken the tie, but I thought a casual look would suit me better.”

“Of course it does, we don’t want a repeat of that tux disaster,” her other companion chimed from one of the seats. She herself wore a black casual formal dress that made her white hair look even brighter. “Why do you dress so casually? You look so out of place here.”

“I was too lazy to get a more formal attire,” Koemi admitted. She pulled at the jacket to show the coffee stain. “Also, this. I bumped into a kid and he offered his jacket to hide the stain. Pretty sure it was the boss’ kid.”

“Midoriya Izuku?” Aki asked curiously. “How’s the kid?”

“He’s nice,” Koemi admitted. “Plain. Pretty cute for a teen.”

“Cute? Don’t tell me you’re into kids, Koemi,” Aki teased.

Koemi glared at him. “I swear to god, Aki, I’m this close to making you jump off a cliff. He’s, I don’t know, fifteen, or sixteen. Himoyo would be a better match.”

The other girl hmphed. “No thanks. I’m not into younger guys.” She glanced at the door. “By the way, I’ve been monitoring the security cameras. Looks like the client is finally here.” She reached down to the floor and unplugged the cable that trailed from her head.

Koemi nodded. Himoyo’s quirk, living computer, basically made her a human with computer-like constitution, complete with USB ports and plugs. Unfortunately, it made her vulnerable to both biological sickness and computer virus, so she had to install antivirus on herself. She had also learned to hack, if only to protect herself from some hackers and crackers who thought she was a regular computer with interesting security instead of a human being whose body also happened to double as a computer.

She sure ended up using the hacking part a lot to do a recon mission, though.

True to her words, the door opened and a man in a pressed, clearly expensive suit walked in. His hair was still thick on his head, but starting to gray. Age had etched lines into his angular face, and he stared at the three of them with calculating piercing eyes before he nodded at them. “Good evening. I apologize for coming late.”

“Don’t worry, we didn’t have to wait long,” Aki replied easily. “Can we start, Kinjo-san?”

Kinjo’s lips pressed thin. “I was under the impression that Trailblaze would be here as well.”

“It doesn’t matter if he’s here or not since our group doesn’t really have any formal hierarchy,” Aki argued. “He will be notified later. Besides, if you really want the exact hierarchy or something, Trailblaze left me in charge.”

Kinjo’s gaze seemed to wither then and there.

Aki shrugged. “Well, it’s either me or Siren, and we’re all aware that most people aren’t keen with talking with her.”

Koemi smiled sweetly. She tamped down the urge to give a witty comment, knowing that her silence was needed to build Kinjo’s trust.

Kinjo met her gaze silently before glancing to Himoyo. “And her?”

“Access is the resident tech specialist and isn’t exactly the best when it comes to socializing,” Aki explained. “Moreover, she’s young and inexperienced. Trailblaze doesn’t really trust her to handle contracts and such.”

“Also, just for the record,” Himoyo piped up, “I hold grudges and I won’t hesitate to dig up dirt on you.”

“Access, not the time,” Koemi sighed softly to her, earning a nonchalant shrug in return. None of them missed how Kinjo stiffened when Koemi spoke. She decided to lean back and keep her mouth closed, knowing full well that her voice wasn’t an asset in this situation. Rather, it was a liability.

Aki recovered quickly, thankfully, by gesturing to Himoyo. “See? She just demonstrated why Trailblaze doesn’t trust her with contracts. Anyway, point is, we’ll be fine without Trailblaze. Can we start?”

Kinjo spared him an unreadable look before smiling that annoying impossible-to-read smile all politicians seemed to have in their arsenal. “In a bit. I thought lunch before discussion would be a good idea. My treat, of course.”

Koemi made sure that her smile could convey her internal of course with as much sarcasm as possible. Kinjo glanced at her and looked away. He probably didn’t get the totally sarcastic of course, but oh well.

As Koemi expected, Kinjo purposefully ordered the most lavish and expensive dishes around. It was ridiculous, of course; there was no reason why a bunch of asparagus could cost so much, but eh. It wasn’t her money. She clapped softly and gave her thanks aloud before taking her chopsticks and picked on the asparagus. Well, alright, it did taste really good.

Koemi made sure to eat elegantly, as did Aki to a certain degree, but Himoyo had no such qualms. As soon as she offered her thanks her chopsticks flashed around the table freely and quickly, taking samples from each and every dish. She looked about ready to lick the plates clean if Aki didn’t pull on her elbow and gave a stern shake.

All the while, Kinjo stared at them with that unreadable look in his face, only it wasn’t as unreadable now. Koemi could recognize it, because she’d seen it before in the face of other bigwig people who thought they owned the world because they had much money. She smiled blandly at him and spoke at him directly for the first time, “It won’t work, you know.”

Her tone was calm, but Kinjo tensed at her voice all the same. He looked at her warily. “I beg your pardon?”

“If you plan to deter us somehow by showing that you have more cash so you could make a contract that benefit you more somehow, it won’t work,” Koemi elaborated. “You’re not the first to pull that card. We’re pretty much immune by now. So… I don’t know about you, but I think you could stop hoping we’ll turn over and show you our throats.” She pointed at Himoyo. “Also, Access? She doesn’t care how much money you just pulled out of your pocket for the lunch. For her free food is free food. If you chose to bring her the most expensive lobster, that’s on you.” Her smile turned a tad softer. “And please stop tensing whenever I speak. I promise I won’t use my quirk on you. Doing so in public would be illegal, after all.”

“We’re not exactly in public right now,” Kinjo pointed out.

“That’s true, but I’m here with my colleagues so we could establish a work contract,” Koemi said. “I’m not going to use my quirk on you. Besides, if I were, you’d have no way to stop it. Please, can we start?”

Kinjo glanced to Himoyo. “Your friend doesn’t seem to be finished.”

“She won’t stop eating until there’s nothing left to eat, so we might as well start now,” Aki shifted in his seat, pointedly ignoring how Himoyo picked one of the lobster’s feet and began sucking on it. “Trailblaze mentioned that you talked about public use of quirks?”

Kinjo’s eyes glinted. There was steel in his gaze. “Yes, about that. It’s not exactly public use of quirks. It’s more of the heroes’ use of quirks in public.”

Koemi sat back and let Aki take over the conversation. Kinjo explained everything; how heroes’ use of quirks destroyed public spaces just as much as villains’, using Mt. Lady as an example. Apparently, another politician didn’t like how heroes were wrecking things as much as villains and decided that heroes should be banned, giving the reins in dealing with villains to the police. The police should be authorized on using quirks, and any other individuals wanting to use their quirks for the society should turn to military.

It was… a lot to take in. Heroes helped upkeep the peace in society, and it was hard to believe that anyone would look at them and thought ‘nope, better get them into the army’.

Apparently, Kinjo thought the same and hoped to stop the idea from even being brought up within the political circles, and if it did get brought up it should be met with extreme disdain. He wanted them to arrange something to showcase that heroes’ use of quirks was vital while making sure the heroes wouldn’t break anything of public use.

“Why hire us?” Himoyo spoke up for the first time as she poked at the lobster’s head. “Society at large would dislike the idea already.”

“This slimy little snake is good at convincing others to see things in his perspective,” Kinjo explained. “He might be able to persuade enough people. Moreover, I’m going to admit that I’m petty and I want to see him eat dirt.”

The steel in his eyes had turned into sharp blades that threatened to cut through any obstacles in his way. It was the sort of look that screamed of quiet danger, because this man may not have a combat-oriented quirk but he knew how to make use of his resources, and he had many resources.

Aki, refusing to be one-upped, activated his quirk – probably unconsciously, by the way he grinned and looked at Kinjo with open interest. The room dimmed considerably before the light flared out again, almost blinding. Normally, whenever Aki did it, their clients showed alarm in their gaze, most of them already knowing his quirk but not expecting how dramatic he could be with it. Kinjo, however, simply blinked at him.

Koemi shared a glance with Himoyo, who had stopped picking on the lobster’s head in favor of studying Kinjo’s face. Both decided that Kinjo was probably their most interesting client so far.

After all, not many would so openly declare their contempt for their supposed coworker, not even in a controlled environment, least of all the slimy politicians who made it their business to keep things with themselves in fear of retribution.

Mom didn’t cook katsudon. She cooked nabe instead – which was kind of weird because it wasn’t even cold yet – but it looked nice and it smelled heavenly, and the miso soup practically caressed his face and whispered sweet promises of a comforting meal, and his stomach growled loud enough to wake the dead.

Dinner, however, was as awkward as Izuku had predicted, and seeing his mom smooch a practical stranger in front of his face made him stiffen and stare as he screamed internally for the stranger to move away even though he logically knew that it was his own father.

Perks of not having seen him since he was basically a toddler, he guessed.

“Is something wrong, Izu?” Hisashi asked, not unkindly, and Izuku tensed. Izu. It was a nickname he used to refer to him, and one he apparently used a lot when Izuku was a child. Still, it felt like a stranger was being overly friendly with him, and years of bullying had taught Izuku that it meant pain and ridicule even though he knew it wouldn’t happen, not in his own house, not from his… father.

“No, nothing’s wrong,” he assured instead. “Um. Wh-what did you say you were? An engineer?”

Hisashi let out a huff of laugh that made it look like he was amused by some joke Izuku wasn’t in on. “Heh. Yeah, more or less. I work for a hero support company called Shine Supports. It’s a small company, and I end up taking the mantle of the leader as well as the engineer. We got dragged to do some work in America for a while, and I guess we just got so engrossed in our work that time just flies. I’m sorry about that.”

“So… uh, you’re the boss?”

“I wouldn’t say so,” Hisashi shrugged. “It’s more a four-person job all the time and we don’t really have any clear hierarchy, but I do end up being referred to as the leader more often than not, partly because I’m the oldest.” He smiled. “The youngest in my team is only nineteen. If I ever introduced you to her, I hope you could be friends.”

A nineteen-year-old really seemed kind of intimidating, especially if she was good enough to work in a support company at that age, but Izuku nodded.

“Anyway, your mom told me you got into U.A,” Hisashi grinned, finally bringing up the subject Izuku had been dreading to approach. “That’s great for you! You’re in general studies, right?”

Izuku felt heat creeping at his face and shook his head, looking down at his plate. Next to Hisashi, Inko giggled into her hand.

“Oh, support then?”

“I’m.” Izuku gulped when he heard himself squeak and forced himself to steady. When he spoke again, his voice sounded much calmer than he actually felt. “I’m actually in heroics.”

There was a tense beat of silence, during which Izuku felt like a pin would make a sound like a gong. And then Hisashi turned to Inko, licks of flames climbing out between his lips without harm, yelling, “Inko! I asked you before, why didn’t you tell me?!”

Inko laughed freely, then. “I thought you’d want to hear it for yourself.”

“Of course I do!” Hisashi’s eyes sparkled. Then the sparkles dimmed. “Wait. Without a quirk?”

Izuku tensed. “Well, uh. It’s kind of complicated, but… basically, there was some sort of freak mutation or something. The quirk manifested really, really late.”

“How late?”

“It manifested on the day of the entrance exam.”

Hisashi stared at Izuku incredulously. Inko, having heard the story before, once again hid her giggles behind her hand and openly enjoyed how Hisashi tried to understand, to grasp and absorb the story.

Izuku ducked his head. “Like I said. Really late.”

“…wow,” Hisashi grinned, open pride in his eyes. “What’s your quirk like? Is it anything like your mom’s, or mine? Or is it a mix of both?”

Izuku swallowed his guilt and smiled. Suddenly the nabe didn’t taste so great anymore. “Ah… it’s completely different, actually. I have a strength-enhancement quirk.” He shrugged. “I’m not exactly sure how, either. Anyway, I had to learn to control it really fast, and I got some wounds at first, but now I think I’m pretty good at controlling it.”

“You broke your arm and legs quite a lot, Izuku,” Inko deadpanned, and Izuku winced.

“Well, um. I don’t anymore?”

“It’s great, though,” Hisashi said, a bright smile at his lips. “I know you’ve wanted to become a hero since you were still a little kid. Heck, you’ve prattled about being a hero since you learned how to talk! I’m glad you could go for it now.”

Izuku offered him a tentative smile, still unsure of how he should act around him. Still, it made Hisashi beam happily.

It was then that Hisashi’s phone trilled loudly, and he mumbled apologies as he stood up and answered the call. It didn’t take long. Izuku caught the word contract spoken in the conversation, as well as quickly and flashy. Soon it ended, and he turned to walk back to the table, but then his phone trilled again. He sighed as he answered the call.

This time it was even shorter. He listened, narrowed his eyes, and huffed a quiet laugh. “Explosive, huh?” he said into the phone, clear enough for Izuku to hear. He then listened again, confirmed an affirmative, and ended the call.

He returned to the table with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, that was work. We get more request here than expected.”

“Will you go abroad again after they’re all done?” Inko asked as she pushed Hisashi’s half-full bowl of rice, silently nudging him to eat more. “It gets lonely here, with Izuku at the dorms.”

Hisashi smiled apologetically. “Well, I can’t say for sure if I’ll get another request from abroad,” he began. “People tend to want our group to do our job nearer to the heroes we’re helping, since it’s more practical that way. Still, I’m going to make sure to stay here as long as I can.” His eyes glinted again, and he glanced at Izuku as if he was telling a joke no one in the room was in on except for himself. “Plus, I don’t know. We might see something really interesting around here.”

Izuku didn’t know why, but the smile Hisashi sent his way felt unsettlng.

#bnha #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #midoriya inko #midoriya hisashi #villain midoriya hisashi #villain midoriya izuku #if you could call it that #fanfic #my fic #bnha fic #blooming gladiolus fall to the ground

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twilighteve-writes · 7 years ago

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Blooming Gladiolus, Fall to the Ground -- Ch. 3

His expectations were turned upside down, because apparently, his father isn’t what he seems, and Izuku doesn’t know what to expect anymore.

Can also be read in AO3 or FF.net.

Chapter 1: AO3 or FF.net.

When Izuku went back to U.A the next day, his head was noisy with his thoughts. Not enough to launch him into a mumbling spree, but enough to keep him occupied.

He still wasn’t sure of what he thought about Midoriya Hisashi.

If he took a purely logical sense, it was easy. Hisashi was his father. Estranged as he was, he clearly showed that he wanted to reconnect, and Izuku would happily give him the chance to. He was away because of his work, and Izuku and Inko had basically lived off the money he sent (along with the money Inko got from her own job, but still), and he had apologized and was willing to be around. On surface level, there was no reason not to accept him as he was. And yet…

And yet, there was something about him that made Izuku curl into himself, unsure and uncomfortable. At first he thought it was the unfamiliarity, since Hisashi was basically a stranger claiming to be his father. If he thought about it, though, it was more than that. There was no detail about what exactly he did in his work, which heroes had his gadgets, or even the exact places he worked – not necessarily the office, but the towns he’d visited to meet clients. In fact, “here and there” had been the place he pointed.

Inko showed him unconditional trust. Izuku just… couldn’t. Inko had known Hisashi, at least, but Izuku hadn’t, and his hero work had pounded to him that sometimes, first impressions could be deceiving. There was something about Hisashi, but he didn’t know what, and he wasn’t sure if he even should feel this way with his own family.

He was so absorbed in his thoughts that he collided into someone on his way to class. He yelped in surprise, apologies hurtling off his tongue, when he realized who it was that he collided into.

“All Might! I’m so sorry, I should’ve paid attention to where I’m going!” he apologized profusely.

All Might, in all his tall, gangly limbs glory, smiled and patted his shoulder comfortingly. “Don’t worry, Midoriya, my boy. We all get lost in thoughts sometimes. Though, it is true you should pay more attention to your surroundings.”

Izuku felt his face burn bright red and stammered another apology.

All Might waved it off. “Is there anything weighing your mind, my boy? I don’t know if I can help, but I can listen.”

“No, no, it’s not – “ Izuku’s flailed arms slowed and dropped to his sides. “Well, um. It’s not nothing. It may be nothing? I don’t know. It’s probably not important.”

“It’s enough to make you zone out; I’d say it’s important,” All Might commented.

“Well, uh,” Izuku fiddled with his thumbs and considered. It wouldn’t hurt getting All Might’s opinion, honestly. “If… if there’s a person that should have a big role in your life but is never there suddenly comes back, and it makes you feel uncomfortable for some reason, what would you do?”

All Might hummed. “Hm. I suppose the lack of familiarity could make you uncomfortable. Perhaps some bonding time, then?”

Izuku shook his head. “It’s not the lack of familiarity that makes me uncomfortable.”

“Oh?”

“No. I can’t put my finger on it. I don’t know why, but I’m just… wary, for some reason.”

Another hum. “If my years of doing hero work tells me anything, it’s that sometimes your gut feelings can be more accurate than your own head,” All Might said at last. “It may not always be accurate, but when it is, it is. Listen to it as much as you listen to your head, Young Midoriya. Maybe there’s something it’s trying to tell you.”

Izuku stared at the ground incredulously for the sole reason of being unable to fix the same look at All Might. It made sense, in a way, but his own father? Then again he was more like a stranger than actual father. But he was still his father.

The whole semantics was starting to give Izuku a headache.

“Is there a reason for this, my boy?” All Might asked, and Izuku startled. “You were very deep in thought. I don’t think you would react this way if it wasn’t serious.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Izuku forced a laugh, “but don’t worry about it! I can handle it on my own.”

All Might stared at him and nodded. “Well, just tell me if you want to talk. I’ll listen.”

Izuku nodded appreciatively and turned to look at the teacher. “By the way, All Might… what will we do in today’s Heroics course?”

“I’m not going to tell you, Young Midoriya, because then it would be unfair to your classmates,” All Might said, amusement glinting in his eyes.

“Not even a little bit? Just a hint?”

All Might laughed, genuine and free. He pushed Izuku gently. “No, not even a little bit. Go on, now, don’t get late to class. I still have to go to the teachers’ lounge.”

Izuku nodded and bid All Might goodbye, walking faster to class. The conversation had managed to put his mind at ease, though not completely. But enough so he could concentrate on his studies, for sure.

When he opened his classroom’s door and chimed a good morning, though he found that his class were loudly discussing topics that he wasn’t aware even existed.

“Barrier Maiden did what?” Jirou’s voice rang loudly.

“That’s so petty!” Ashido yelled, a tone of disgust edging in her voice. “Who’d do that?”

“I know heroics these days is all about popularity, but come on,” Kaminari groaned.

“Um, what’s going on?” Izuku asked to no one in particular as he put his bag down on his chair.

“Haven’t you heard, Deku?” Uraraka asked back, blinking at him. “Well, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me if you haven’t. The news went online just a few minutes ago and you probably wasn’t looking at your phone when you were walking…”

“Wait, is it hero news?” Izuku asked again, already reaching for his phone and looking up updates on hero news. Immediately, an article caught his attention: Newly Debuted Hero Sabotages Another’s.

“Barrier Maiden, a hero who debuted just a few days ago, is reportedly seen sabotaging another hero from her agency’s debut,” Izuku mumbled. “This new hero, Papercraft, has said that he is more confused than anything because Barrier Maiden has always been friendly with him… something is weird.”

“Yeah, if they’re friendly with each other I don’t see why Barrier Maiden would sabotage Papercraft,” Uraraka agreed. “It’s made even muddier by the fact that Barrier Maiden refuses to say anything and the agency doesn’t put up any press release, either.”

“It’s still early. Maybe they haven’t had time to release a statement,” Iida added. “Regardless, gossiping so early in the morning is not a heroic behavior, everyone! Class is going to commence in a few minutes! Please go back to your seat!”

Homeroom started just a few minutes after. When Aizawa revealed that they were going to do a small, brief training downtown – as in the actual town – where they would patrol in teams of four or five in a few days, the class exploded in cheers.

“Oh, look,” Himoyo pointed out at the computer screen in front of her, to which she had plugged herself into so she could work as a sort of CPU for it. “Barrier Maiden’s been told. She’s mad.”

“What a surprise,” Koemi sardonically commented.

“She’s pretty extreme, though, right?” Aki asked. “I mean, we did stage something for Papercraft, but I didn’t think she’d put him in a barrier to stop him from dealing with the villain.”

Koemi shrugged. “I guess some people would react badly.”

“Try most people,” Himoyo snorted. “The archetypal heroes would blow a gasket over having their debuts staged, don’t you think?” She paused and frowned, closing her eyes and tilting her head, pressing a palm to her temple.

“Himoyo? Is something wrong?” Aki leaned to the girl.

She shook her head. “Hnn. Someone’s trying to hack me again. They’ve been poking me on and off since a few days ago.” She blinked a few times. “It’s okay, though. My defense system is pretty good.”

“If you say so,” Aki relented. “Do you need anything? Should we get you more sugary food?”

“I’ll be fine for now. I’ll ask if I need something.” She blinked, a glint flashing in her eyes as the computer flashed into a news report stating that there were rumors of Barrier Maiden terminating contract with her current agency. “Wow, she’s even madder than I thought.”

“The conversation must’ve gone really poorly if this is how she reacts,” Koemi commented.

“Guys, what even is all this clamoring about?” a voice rang out, and all three of them turned to see a tuft of curly hair peeking from the wall. Soon the man in question walked in.

“Hi, Hisashi-san,” Aki greeted. “We were just looking at the news. Barrier Maiden got mad, as we suspected.”

Hisashi paused and sighed. “I told them she would be, but did they listen? Nooo…” He straightened and met them each in the eye. “Anyways. How’s the preparation for Kinjo’s request?”

“It’s coming along just fine,” Himoyo answered. The monitor in front of her flickered to show several different photos of several different people – villains, all powerful, and all with a debt to the Enablers. “We’ve gotten a hold with five people. Is that enough?”

Hisashi hummed as he considered the photos, handing Himoyo a pack of Pocky which she took happily. “It should be enough, I think. Unless one of you disagrees?”

“I think that’s enough, too,” Aki chimed. “They should pack enough of a punch. It’s going to be hard to manage them all as it is.”

“And my quirk doesn’t work well against many people, so let’s not recruit too many,” Koemi added, reaching for Himoyo’s Pocky. The younger girl scowled, but let her take one, though afterwards she held the pack close to her.

“What about the place?” Hisashi asked.

“We thought downtown Musutafu should do it,” Aki answered. “Since it’s close to U.A, heroes in training who already have licenses would be able to dive into the fray, too, and they tend to hold back from structural damage, or if they don’t they’re forgiven more easily because they’re still in training. Also, the heroes who patrol in that area tend to be the ones who are more careful about their surroundings when fighting or have quirks that don’t really wreck things. Or, in Cementoss’ case, can wreck things but can just as easily return things to normal. It should showcase how heroes are needed around here.”

“In that case, throw in that guy who can make metals disappear in our villains list,” Hisashi said. “Since he can do it through walls, he should be able to collapse a few buildings. That should make a memorable showdown.”

Himoyo stared at him as she bit down on a Pocky. “We don’t have any more favors we can pull from him, though.”

“Tell him we’ll owe him one, then,” Hisashi shrugged. “And tell him that we’re going to guarantee he wouldn’t get arrested.”

“And the rest?”

“Well, we’ll try to keep them safe. We’ll bail them out. If they actually harm any civilian on purpose, though, they’re on their own.”

“Like usual, then,” Koemi said. She eyed the Pocky pack Himoyo still had, and the girl scowled at her, putting two Pocky sticks into her mouth and chewing loudly. Koemi rolled her eyes.

“Except they probably will get arrested, considering that it is downtown Musutafu,” Hisashi shrugged. “This place never changes. It’s like the capital city of heroics.”

Koemi perked up. “Speaking of heroics. Your son is a student at U.A, right?”

“How’d you know?” Hisashi asked back, brow rising.

“I met him yesterday,” Koemi explained. “We bumped and it made me spill coffee on my shirt. He lent me his jacket to hide the stain.”

“Oh,” Hisashi stared at the jacket Koemi draped on her chair. “I was wondering about that jacket. You were never really an All Might fan. That’s Izu’s, then?”

Koemi nodded. “I promised him to return it after I have it washed. Did you know he wrecked his hands pretty badly during the U.A sports festival? He said it looked scary.”

“He did what to his what?” Hisashi’s gaze snapped back to Koemi’s face.

“He said he wrecked his hands badly,” Koemi shrugged. “I don’t know how bad, though. I haven’t checked the U.A sports festival footage.”

Hisashi blinked and groaned. “So that’s why he has that awful scar on his hand,” he said, sounding exasperated. He shook his head. “Anyway. About that job from Kinjo?”

“Right,” Aki cleared his throat. The lights overhead flickered and settled. “Well, we still need to contact the villains and try to lobby them, but I doubt it’ll take too long. We’ll probably be able to put it to work in a few days.”

“A few days,” Hisashi repeated thoughtfully, before he nodded in approval. “Alright, that sounds good enough. Well, then. Himoyo can try to dig some incentives for these people in the meantime if they’re not persuaded. Koemi, can you survey the town to look for vantage points, possible escape routes if needed, so on and so forth?”

“Sure, I can do that,” Koemi answered, already making a mental note to pin several locations in her phone’s map apps.

“What about me?” Aki asked.

“Back and forth between helping Koemi and helping me contact these people,” Hisashi answered. He reached and took Himoyo’s Pocky, earning himself a betrayed look from the girl. “You’re better at doing legwork, but…” He glanced at Koemi.

She bit the inside of her cheek. “Yeah, I know. People don’t like me.”

“It’s their loss, honestly,” Himoyo piped up. Koemi blinked at her in surprise and let loose a small smile.

“Aw, look at that,” Aki grinned and poked at Koemi’s arm. “Someone’s getting sappy.”

The smile vanished instantly, replaced instead with a scowl. “Boss, can I get him to walk off a cliff?”

“No, we need him,” Hisashi answered immediately. “You can smack him if he gets too annoying, though.”

Aki laughed nervously. “Please don’t, I was just joking. Um. Should we go downtown now?”

Koemi thought and shook her head. “No, you stay and help Hisashi-san. I think I should make a detour to the hospital for a bit.”

“Ah.” Aki nodded in understanding. “All right, then. Have a safe trip.”

“Say hello to little Kazu for us,” Hisashi chimed in.

“Tell him to cut back on the pudding,” Himoyo added. At the weird look Koemi sent her, she shrugged. “I’ve been looking at the surveillance footage. Someone’s been smuggling pudding for Kazuki. How they know his favorite is beyond me.”

Koemi groaned. “What are those nurses doing?” She began shoving her things into a sling back and slipped it around her shoulders. “Alright then, I’m off. See you later.”

“Find us some good spots!” Aki chimed before she was out of the door. She didn’t respond, but it did draw an eyeroll from her.

Patrol was pretty much just them walking around town with no exact purpose in particular. Just… walk around. See if something happened. Throw punches to stop crimes, or maybe stop the fights before fights even begun.

That was a familiar lesson for Izuku. He knew for a fact that actual villain attack didn’t happen as much as the news would lead one to believe, thought when it hit, it hit hard. For now though, he was just walking around in town with his friends. While wearing their hero costumes. And also looking for signs of possible crime, villain attack, or otherwise. Though, things were quiet for once. It was probably going to be a boring patrol.

“I’m wondering why we have to patrol on ourselves,” Uraraka piped up. “We patrolled together with the heroes we interned under. Isn’t that supposed to be enough?”

“Maybe they’re trying to get us more accustomed to doing things solo,” Todoroki shrugged. “Besides, this is U.A and Aizawa-sensei. I wouldn’t be surprised if he somehow arranged so something would fall to us and we have to deal with situation accordingly.”

“Logical ruses again,” Izuku gave a small laugh. “I won’t be surprised either if it turns out into one of those.”

“Logical ruse or not, as aspiring heroes we should always take patrol seriously!” Iida chose that moment to make his presence known, hand chopping at nothing in the air. “After all, we should always be prepared for any situation. I’m sure that’s what U.A is trying to do to us.”

“Doesn’t hurt to get a slow day or two, though,” Uraraka commented, and even though no one said it Izuku knew everyone agreed with the sentiment. He knew he did.

The walk continued for a while, with the four of them chatting amiably and keeping their eyes out for any possible trouble. So far, it seemed like nothing would happen. Downtown Musutafu seemed to be stretching its legs out and relaxing under the sun. Even the bustling crowd seemed to be subdued, affected with the city’s sleepy atmosphere.

“Should we head back to where Aizawa-sensei is waiting?” Izuku asked after a while. “We’re almost done with our route.”

“As soon as it’s done I think we can come back,” Todoroki said.

“I wonder how the others are faring,” Uraraka said with a grin. “If their routes are as boring as ours, I think they’d be wishing for something interesting to happen.”

“I hope they didn’t, because they should always remember the saying be careful what you wish for,” Iida said drily.

“Oh, calm down,” Uraraka laughed. “What are the odds of something happening as soon as someone asks, what’s the worst that could happen?”

As if on cue, an explosion rocked the air. A building nearby shuddered and crumbled to the ground. From the settling dust, they could see a man – tall, easily rivaling All Might, though not as buff – emerging and stretching. He laughed, clearly pleased with his handiwork, and kicked the rubble as if it was a ball.

“Been a while since I’m out,” he yelled loudly, his voice carrying over to the length of the street despite the buzz of panicked crowd that hurried to get away from the scene. He scanned the crowd, and his gaze landed at the group of heroes-in-training. He grinned, silently taunting. Izuku stared, feeling chills running down his spine. This person seemed to want to wreak havoc for the sake of wreaking havoc. That meant he would be more difficult to detain, because he most likely wouldn’t care all that much about casualties or structural damage, as proven by the destroyed building under his feet. He just hoped the villain worked alone, because if he had others with him with the same mindset…

There was another boom, and they could see smoke rising from afar. The villain laughed when he heard it. “Come on, kids. Better act now. My friends have already started wrecking the city, you know.”

Well, there went that hope.

Todoroki spared Uraraka a deadpan look. “Sure, Uraraka, what’s the worst that could happen?”

#bnha #boku no hero academia #midoriya izuku #midoriya hisashi #villain midoriya hisashi #villain midoriya izuku #if you could call it that #fanfic #my fic #ao3 #FF.net #blooming gladiolus fall to the ground'

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