Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mirai disliked jaywalkers, vandals and criminals. He disliked bullies, corrupt bosses and lazy workers. He despised pessimists and was positively enraged by bribery. He disliked a lot of things, actually. He was simple to please, once you knew what you were doing, but it was a long and slippery path of dodging all that he hated until you got to that point. Bubble Girl, his newest intern was fresh to the road, and, as a result, Mirai’s mood had turned positively sour. After a certain set of events had left the girl in tears, the pro had quietly asked Centipeder to console her and then went out for a walk.

It wasn’t that he had wanted to make Bubble Girl cry. She was a promising Sidekick with a lot of heart and a kind touch to boot. Both traits Mirai valued enormously. But he had never had interns or employees or sidekicks before. He had always been a sidekick, religiously following Allmight’s orders and he had gotten used to things being a certain way. He had to be nicer. Warmer. Gentler. He had to think more like Bubble Girl. He wanted to be just like AllMight.

The fresh air was good. Calming. It was a bright sunny day, poking out after a light rain and there were still puddles dotted here and there. The sky was so blue Mirai’s heart ached and the streets hummed with civilians going about their daily lives, smiling at him as they passed. Slowly he felt himself relax. His mind’s busy train relaxed to a more rational array of patterns and he began considering heading back to the office to apologise. And then he saw the papers.

One by one, they drifted out of a random alley. Fluttering uncaringly on the cool breeze and out to the streets.

Mirai’s heart constricted. His eyes saw crimson.

Litterers.

As soon as the dots connected, a gang of rowdy schoolboys burst out of the alley laughing and reaching for the sheets of paper, stamping it into the ground, ripping sheets in their hands, throwing it like confetti. Mirai’s step quickened but they saw him approaching  and shot off like bullets. Soft curses were heard as he stooped to pick up some of the litter. Exactly what he needed. Delinquent little devils to disregard all respect and dignity, leaving far nobler people to clean up after them. Honestly, what were they teaching children these-

Thud!

He felt a crash clumsily in his side. He quickly grabbed the boy’s collar before he could crash to the muddy ground and twisted it, allowing him to totter unsteadily back onto his feet. Once he was stable, the boy wriggled as if expecting Mirai to let him go, but he merely shifted the boy so that the pro could examine him better.

His hair was fluffy, but ruffled, a mossy colour with black roots. Plain face, the only notable attribute being a wide scattering of freckles and a scrape on his cheek. His school uniform matched that of the gang before him, it was muddied and the knees were torn off. On a closer look, Mirai could spot similar scrapes on the palms of the boys hands.

The boy’s wide, grass-coloured eyes widened and he reached for the papers in Mirai’s hands.

‘I’m sorry!’ he gasped. ‘That’s mine.’

Indeed. Mirai could see a heap of scrunched and dirty papers clutched tight into the boys chest.

‘It’s all over the street’ Mirai replied coolly. ‘It’s unseemly.’

‘I know, I know, I dropped it. Can you let me go, I need to pick it up. It’s my maths homework, it’s important.’

He glanced at the papers he’d picked up. True to the boy’s word, there were equations scrolled across them in a neat, shaky hand. He let the boy go.

‘Here.’ He offered. ‘Let me help you.’

The boy gaped at him for a second and then bowed, before hopping around to pick up as much of the loose scraps as he could. Meanwhile, as Mirai daintily lifted the bigger sheets and shuffled them together, he did what he did best. Analysed and slotted together the points.

1: A gang of schoolboys spread around sheets of paper, laughing, before running off when an adult approached them.

2: That paper was this boy’s maths homework.

3: The boy in question had scraped knees, hands, cheek and his uniform had mud on it, like he’d fallen face-first into a puddle.

4: The boy in question had felt compelled to lie about how the paper had ended up on the street.

‘What’s your name?’

The boy stared at him, in fright.

‘My- my name is Midoriya Izuku, sir.’

‘Pleasant to meet you. I’m-‘

‘I know who you are’ Midoriya supplied. ‘You’re Sir Nighteye, AllMight’s best sidekick!’

Yes, this, this was good. Talking to an excited fan, soothing him after an obvious bullying incident- no matter what he’d said- stretching his pro-hero muscles, connecting with the civilians the way AllMight always had. He’d missed this.

‘Ah. You’re a fan then?’

Midoriya beamed at him.

‘AllMight is my favourite hero! He’s the best hero!’

Mirai smiled in spite of himself.

‘You have good taste.’

The boy shuffled his feet a little, as if on the verge of saying something but then burst out-

‘Can I ask you a few questions about your quirk? I do hero analysis see-‘ he took off his backpack and pulled a rather battered notebook from it. ‘And you don’t have to, but it’d be really great for my notes and-‘

‘Hero analysis?’ Mirai had only heard that phrase uttered in dull paperwork meetings. To hear it spill from the mouth of this enthusiastic child threw him wildly off-rhythm.

Midoriya nodded. ‘Yes. So I can become a hero someday. A good one. As good as AllMight.’

Mirai was officially enchanted now.

‘Can I see what you’ve written?’

Tentatively, he handed the notebook over. There were a few singe and tear marks on it, though the way Midoriya had held it didn’t indicate much rough use. Perhaps his quirk was difficult to control, though by his colouring, the pro would have guessed a plant-based quirk or something gentler. Mirai opened the notebook, keeping light conversation with Midoriya as he did so.

‘As good as Allmight huh? A lofty ambition. What’s your quirk like?’

Mt Lady, Rock Lock, Eraserhead.

Dead silence.

Mirai looked up.

Midoriya was looking at the ground defeatedly, knuckles clutching tightly to his backpack.

‘I haven’t got one.’

He focused his attention back onto the notebook.

‘Oh, I see.’

Midnight, Endeavor . . . The Hero Killer?

‘Do . . . do you think I could still be a hero? Even without a quirk?’

Mirai scoffed. Toshinori had been quirkless, hadn’t he? And look at him now. ‘Of course you can. Don’t be ridiculous.’

So engrossed was he, studying a page about Monstra, that he didn’t notice Izuku’s expression, staring at Mirai like he’d handed Izuku the world on a platter.

‘Really?’

‘Yes.’

Monstra had been difficult to pin down so far, due to his volatile shadow-based quirk, that turned the darkness into wicked spikes of pain. But a scribbled note on his page in Izuku’s notebook caught his eye.

He never attacks at night. Why? Uncontrollable quirk?

Mirai pointed it out to him ‘You caught this?’

Midoriya nodded.

‘That’s interesting. I wonder if Mt Lady could-‘ He shook his head and closed the notebook with a snap. ‘Would you mind if I took this back to my office and had a look at it? Your theory might prove helpful. And- tell you what. Come visit my office in a week to pick it up and I can schedule a time to answer some of your questions in return for the loan.’

Mirai didn’t like the idea of opening up about his quirk. He kept it under wraps for a reason. But he needed to offer something in return for the notebook and Midoriya had asked nicely after all.

‘Of course you can have my notes! I hope- I hope that they’re helpful. And you would really do that for me? That’s so nice-‘

‘Wonderful.’ Mirai tore a fresh page out and quickly wrote a note before handing it to Midoriya.

‘There, that’s my office's address. Come around next Tuesday at 3:30- just knock on the back door, Centipeder will be expecting you and let you in. Good luck with your homework.’

Mirai strode off, heading purposefully back to his agency. Once there, he would give Bubble Girl the role of intelligence collation- such an important job would make her feel useful and give her a chance to prove herself- and he would have the afternoon off to study this fascinating little book.

Chapter Text

Midoriya lied a lot. He didn’t want to lie, he didn’t purposefully go out of his way to be a deceiving or manipulative person; it was just that, well. He didn’t want his mother to worry. There had been a period- an adjustment time of around two years- two years where he had begun coming home with burns and bruises and tattered uniforms and broken belongings where his mother had tried desperately, phone call after phone call, teacher meeting after teacher meeting, even going so far as to call at the Bakugo household just to get the bullying to stop. After he started coming home blacker and bluer especially after that incident, watching his mother break down into tears with frustration, he simply decided not to tell her. He would endure. She could live calmly. Everybody won.

The truth was that he felt guilty. She deserved a better son than him, someone she could be proud of and egg on. He did his best, he really did! He tried to win awards in school for writing and science and math. After Kacchan punched him so hard he saw stars and tore up the little paper certificate in front of him, he concluded that venture of thought. Instead he focused all his energy on two things.

Surviving and hero analysis.

                                                        _______________________________________________________________________________________

Inko Midoriya just wanted her son to be happy. And whatever, he thought, she was a not a stupid woman. She noticed the way he treasured and took careful care of those notebooks and only asked to read them once. When he refused, she smiled softly and acquiesced. But she was more than happy to buy as many notebooks as he wanted or needed, was gentle and respectful of them when they were left lying around the house. After all that she’d failed, it was the last thing she could do. So, when Izuku came home that afternoon without his notebook, she worried. That thing was his pride and joy, more so than the thirty-thousand-yen Allmight action figure he had saved up for a year to buy.

‘Izuku’ she asked tentatively. ‘Where’s your book? Aren’t you going to take notes today?’

Every afternoon there was a simple test of Izuku’s mood. If it had been a bad day, he would come home, brush her off with a lie, lock himself in his room and watch his favourite Allmight video. If it had been a good day, he would sit in the lounge, turn on the television, and take notes. What for, she didn’t know. But it made him happy and that was enough. Izuku might have been a liar but he wasn’t a very good one. The boy was as transparent as window pane in a glass-cleaner’s house. So, when he smiled at her and breezily answered

‘Oh, I loaned it to someone for the week.’

Normally, Inko would have taken this as code for

‘Someone stole it but I won’t say who.’

But Izuku wasn’t acting like she thought he would have in that situation. He was sunshiney and smiley, rushing in and out, dressed in his new favourite Allmight merch, offering to help her with the grocery shopping and yapping her ear off about some new bird hero that was rocketing onto the billboard at record speed.

Maybe Izuku had suddenly become better at lying. That would be a cause for her worrying to reach new heights and time for some more drastic action.

Or . . . maybe. Maybe Izuku had made a friend. Maybe things were finally looking up. 

Inko decided to give it time.

                                                         _______________________________________________________________________________

Izuku suffered terribly without his notebook. Without his usual hyper-fixation, the lonely reality of his school life hit him harder than usual. He tried to focus on his schoolwork, but he generally managed to get average grades without too much effort and getting really good grades was painting a target on his face saying, ‘Bullies hit me here.’

Speaking of, they seemed to pick on his drab mood and didn’t bother him badly throughout most of the week. Physical violence was laid aside for the time-being, and he pushed through the much gentler torment of snide whispers, sideways glances and being totally ignored. They were sorted into pairs for a history project. The very pretty girl who got stuck with him was heard complaining about the humiliation very loudly at lunch, but it was all same-old same-old. He let her complain and spent the weekend finishing most of the project himself.

Quirk classes were a horror. Without knowing what else to do with Midoriya- beside letting him sit and read for the entire lesson which all of the students protested loudly-

‘Why does he get extra study time because he’s quirkless?’

‘We have to sit and watch everyone else go, he should as well.’

‘This is so unfair’

Or just having him stand uselessly there, the teachers opted to use him as sort of a guinea pig for the other students to test their quirks against. There was the pretence of consent- Midoriya couldn’t really say no, he didn’t want the teachers to hate him more than they already did- and honestly he was just happy to be included.

Thankfully Kacchan opted out of using him that week- but he did get floated, experienced extreme dizziness and had a very bright light shone directly into his eyes. None of which he complained about.

It was all very same-old same-old.

Finally, it was Tuesday.
Midoriya smiled when he heard his alarm go off. It was Tuesday and he was going to go visit Sir Nighteye- the Sir Nighteye- he was going to get his journal back, it was Tuesday!!

He got out of bed.

It was raining like someone up there was trying to wash Japan away.

But even weather couldn’t dampen his spirits. His mother noticed his mood as he vacuumed down breakfast and smiled at him happily.

‘Big day?’ she asked.

He nodded vehemently.

‘Well then. I’ll have to pack a big lunch.’

And Inko delivered. All of his favourite vegetables were packed in with soft, buttery rice and hot pork dumplings. And Izuku knew, no matter what, this was going to be a good day.

An amazing day.

Perhaps- just maybe, the best day of his life.

                                                                    ___________________________________________________________________________

‘Get him!’

Kacchan was in a bad mood. Maybe it was because Izuku slipped up and did better on the history project than him. Maybe he’d noticed Izuku’s better mood. Maybe the rain had soured his temper. No matter the reason, someone was going to get the worse end of it today, and no-one wanted it to be them. Which was why, when Midoriya stepped outside and Bakugo gave the order, a majority of boys hastened to spring to action. And none of the girls whispered anything about ‘unnecessary bullying’ like they sometimes did.

The water had left the ground a muddy mess and Midoriya was picking through it carefully, trying to get to the rain shelter to eat lunch. He kept his eyes on his shoes as the gang surrounded him- not touching- not yet, but hanging, on the edge, hemming him in. Just waiting for their next order.

‘Good afternoon Kacchan’ he mumbled.

The remark was ignored. Bakugo looked at him thoughtfully- then.

‘Pin him. Pin him to the ground.’

The effect was instantaneous. All four of his limbs were immediately grabbed and he flew backwards, hitting the ground with a wet squelch. At the movement, his box of food spilled out of his hands and onto the muddy ground.

Midoriya could have cried. He really had been looking forward to that lunch. And it hurt his heart to think of his poor mother, cooking such love into food he didn’t eat.

He struggled against the grip on his arms and legs, fruitlessly. Bakugo towering over him, grinning at him twitching.

‘Let go of me’ he gasped. The bully shook his head.

Someone was sitting on his arm. The bony feel of their knees hurt and it was twisted at an odd angle that made him feel very uncomfortable.

‘Let go’ he insisted. Bakugo knelt and kicked at the Allmight themed lunchbox with contempt.

‘What a waste’ he sneered.

Then an idea seemed to strike. The gang all watched him, panting with the suspension as he picked up a discarded pair of chopsticks and carefully moved all of the spilled rice and vegetables back into the bowl. Then he stirred it, watching the good food turn brown with the majority of mud that had been moved in with it. He turned back to Midoriya.

‘Open wide, Deku’ he sing-songed.

Midoriya shook his head, terrified.  This was worse than the many, many times they’d pushed his head down the school toilets.

Bakugo punched him roughly in the eye, then opened his palm so that he could feel the heat rising from it.

‘I said, open wide’ he growled.

Midoriya gritted his teeth.

‘Open his mouth’ Bakugo commanded.

Yamada, one of Bakugo’s best friends, quirks allowed his fingers to grow longer, sharper and stronger. When they were shoved roughly into Midoriya’s mouth, they forced between his teeth and opened them easily. He and a few other boys used their knuckles to keep Midoriya from closing it at all, and giggled mischievously as Bakugo picked up a dripping mud ball with the chopsticks and held it over the gaping mouth.

Midoriya whined.

Bakugo dropped it in.

The gang of boys all laughed as he thrashed, and pinned him down as Bakugo added two more portions in. At that point, Midoriya was sure he was choking, didn’t know how much more he could handle this-

When suddenly, Bakugo dropped the lunchbox and ran, his gang pursuing.

Their homeroom teacher walked into the playground, an imposing black umbrella held over him. He stopped at the spilled rice particles, looking at Midoriya’s discarded form down his nose, scrunched slightly as though the child smelt bad.

‘Honestly Midoriya’ he reprimanded. ‘Spilling all your lunch? Have you no respect for your mother’s hard work at all?’ 

Izuku shut his mouth.

‘Pick it up.’ he commanded and swept off.

Midoriya waited until the teacher was safely back in the building before spitting out the mud.

Despite washing out his mouth several hundred times in the bathroom during lunch, he could still feel the gritty particles lingering all throughout afternoon classes.

He really hoped Sir Nighteye wouldn’t ask about his black eye.

                                              ____________________________________________________________________________

Centipeder was having an excellent week. Their newest intern was glowing after successfully completing a volley of responsibilities handed to her. Their agency had single-handedly taken down one of the slipperiest villains of the month and Sir Nighteye had calmed down an extraordinary amount, focused on some new piece of intelligence or other. Speaking of the man, he was hovering in Centipeder’s office door, his face pressed in its usual formal expression.

‘Centipeder’ he said. ‘I’m expecting an appointment at half-past. They’ll be coming in the back door. You wouldn’t mind being around to let them in, would you?’

‘Not at all.’ Centipeder answered. Sir nodded.

‘I’ll be in my office.’ And he disappeared.

The pro-hero took his task as an opportunity to take a quick break. He headed down to hover around the back door, where, conveniently enough, the building kitchen resided. Humming as he stirred himself a coffee and wondering how the rest of the day would pan out, he turned around to see bubble Girl enter.

‘Hello!’ she said brightly. ‘How’s things?’

‘Pretty well. I’m just waiting to let in Sir’s appointment before I get back to work’ he explained.

‘At the back door?’

Centipeder shrugged.

‘That’s what he said.’

‘Huh. That’s odd. I wonder if it’s personal then?’

‘I doubt it. I’ve never seen Sir mix any of his personal life with his professional.’

‘In fact’ Bubble Girl mocked with a spooky-sounding voice ‘Legends whisper if he even has any.’

They chuckled sensibly. Soon after, there was a tentative knock. Centipeder got up and stretched his legs.

‘That’d be it.’

He opened the door.

A tiny boy stood nervously on the step. A crisp white Allmight t-shirt crinkling under the weight of a large yellow backpack. A smack of freckles was splattered across his cheeks and a troubling bruise was printed on his left eye.

Centipeder looked at him confusedly.

‘Um, I’m here to see Sir Nighteye? I think I have the right address . . .’ the boy’s voice was soft and his hands lifted a note toward the pro. Centipeder could make out the neat handwriting of Sir written across it.

‘Yes, yes, you’re right.’ he replied smoothly. ‘Sir is expecting you. Come in.’

Chapter Text

Centipeder and Bubble Girl looked at each other as the boy stepped inside. They both shared a singular thread of confusion.

Did Sir have a son?????

Nevertheless, Centipeder lead the boy up like the dutiful employee he was. He heard soft footsteps padding behind him, and noted that Bubble Girl was following them up.

‘I’m Awata Kaoruko’ he heard her explain. ‘Bubble Girl, Sir Nighteye’s newest sidekick!’

Centipeder turned around. The boy was nodding, suitably impressed but apparently too nervous to speak. He kept craning his neck and looking around, as if trying to drink in as much of this new environment as possible. Centipeder supposed that he should say something, to put him at ease, but in his confusion, nothing came to his head. It did not help that he was not much of a children-person. They had the tendency to be frightened by his terrifying and alien-looking form, and as such, he had the tendency to avoid them. Maybe that was why Sir had never brought him around before. Thank the heavens for Bubble Girl.

‘That’s a nasty-looking bruise? What’d do to yourself.’

‘Oh!’ The boy started. ‘I fell over and hit a bannister running down the stairs.’ He scratched the back of his neck. ‘I’m sort of a clumsy person.’

Bubble Girl laughed. ‘Me too! Once I accidentally knocked myself out by running into a building.’  Finally, the boy giggled too.

‘Were you fighting a villain?’ he asked.

‘Not even. I was out on a coffee run! Centipeder had to come and find me.’

‘At least you had coffee to bid you over until I came’ he rumbled, finally joining in. ‘And I managed to pick up a petty thief while I was out.’

The boy’s eyes widened.

‘I haven’t heard of you much’ he mumbled. ‘You’re not an underground hero, are you?’

‘Not exactly’ Centipeder explained patiently. ‘Nighteye agency specifies in Intelligence and Analytics. We help to pick up information that’s floating around the streets and collaborate with heroes to take villains down.’

‘Oh, I see! You’d be very good at that then, you’re very friendly and polite’ he blushed. ‘And of course . . . you’d have a lot of experience and work very hard too.’

Centipeder was flattered.

‘Thank-you very much. Sir Nighteye has a high standard for the decorum of all his workers that I work to maintain. And how about you, what do you get up to?’

‘Oh, I um . . . I’m just a student. I crashed into Sir Nighteye accidentally on the street and he invited me over so I could ask questions!’

‘Ah, a fan?’

‘Mm-hm.’

Not his son then. So why . . .

Centipeder’s mind stopped short suddenly. He knew there was that type of hero- the awful kind. There was a reason Nezu investigated every single hero agency very, very carefully, before allowing them to take on students as Interns or Work Studies. There was a reason that only those with pro-hero licenses were allowed to be taken on as Sidekicks and not just any person off the street. Sir Nighteye himself had exposed a few of the slimy sort, who had trickled past numerous inspections and then spent hours ranting angrily about the disrepute of it all to Centipeder with obscene words. Hero work was a rewarding profession, which gave even the lowest of its workers unmitigated power over very vulnerable people.

Sir Nighteye did not strike him as that sort of hero.

But you never knew, did you? That was the danger of it.

Centipeder decided to keep a close eye on proceedings from then on. Not only for the boy’s sake, but for Sir’s. Even a false accusation could damage his career forever.

Bubble Girl hadn’t noticed where Centipeder’s train of thought had lead him, and was still chatting happily to the boy as they reached Sir Nighteye’s office.

‘This is it’ he announced. ‘Bubble Girl I have a job for you, if you don’t mind?’

She nodded happily.

‘It’s time someone inspected the security cameras. Head down to the basement and be sure they’re all recording and operating smoothly for me?’

Bubble Girl beamed like sunlight and bounced off to do as he said.

He opened the door for the boy, and then stepped into the office after him.

Sir Nighteye looked up as Midoriya came in.

‘Ah, welcome’ he waved them both further inside. ‘Centipeder, this is Izuku Midoriya. He’s who we have to thank for taking Monstra down this week.’

He relished in Centipeder’s look of abject surprise.

‘Really?’

He waved the notebook at him.

‘Midoriya has a surprising hand at quirk analysis. He’s training to become a hero, and, if I’m not wrong, applying the information to his own training. Is that correct?’

The boy nodded, somewhat lost. Something in Centipeder relaxed slightly, Sir Nighteye could read it in his body language.

‘Do you mind if Centipeder has a look at this book? I’ve been studying it all week, it’s absolutely fascinating.’

The bug hero stepped over to take a look, once Midoriya had gestured his permission and murmured surprised praise as he looked at the efficiency of what had been transcribed. Sir Nighteye looked to Midoriya.

‘And you pick all this up just by watching hero fights from the sidelines?’

‘Yes, although I watch the livestreams and documentaries too. The Legend of Allmight is the best film for his quirk use, but Almighty Hero has some really good fight strategies as well. I’ve watched them both about fifty times. Oh! And, The Village That Raised Number One, which is all about his sidekicks and friends. You’re in that one, but it still doesn’t say what your quirk is.’

Sir Nighteye didn’t speak to journalists.

‘Yes, well you should ask about Centipeder’s quirk. He’s got a fascinating one.’

Centipeder raised an eyebrow at him and lowered the book. Sir Nighteye shot a look at him, then turned to Midoriya, leaning back in his chair.

‘Actually, why don’t we see what you can tell us just from what you’ve picked up so far? It could be a fun little exercise.’

Midoriya turned to the pro, frowning.

‘Can I have my book?’

Centipeder passed it to him.

Midoriya’s pencil rapidly spun through the page, taking quick notes around the periphery, muttering loudly as he did so.

‘It’s mutant-based, evolved from an existing species, so your quirk is either taken directly from the attributes of the species or an evolved form of those attributes, Centipeder, so the the species is probably Centipede, unless you’re deliberately trying to throw enemies off, which would be smart: Insect class, which means you’ve got an exoskeleton, making it difficult to land a damaging hit, you’d aim for the chinks, or better, the eyes, probably some sort of night vision and slightly enhanced hearing, I wouldn’t say enhanced strength but the exoskeleton would even out your body weight meaning it’s easier for you to hold heavier things for longer-‘

‘You . . . can . . . breath. If you want.’ Centipeder interrupted, dumbfounded. Also, Sir Nighteye thought, probably slightly disturbed that this child had labeled and pointed out Centipeder’s weak ‘chinks’ that he took great pains to conceal.

Midoriya lowered the book and looked at him.

‘Sorry, sometimes I get carried away.’

‘But is he wrong?” Sir Nighteye pointed out. Centipeder shook his head.

‘Although you wouldn’t have any way to know about it, you left something out. My limbs can grow’ he demonstrated, ‘and constrict my enemies.’

‘Multiple limbs?’

‘I have exactly a hundred.’

Midoriya dutifully wrote this information down. ‘You could take down multiple people at once. As well as multitask. It’d also be good for rescue work because you could lift rubble and evacuate civilians at the same time.’

‘I was a rescue hero before I came to this agency.’

Centipeder was suitably impressed. Then they both caught a glance at the page Midoriya was writing on, covered in all the details he had shared, and plenty more to boot.

At this point, Sir Nighteye realised the backfire of having a random notebook that was filled to the brim of the weaknesses of different heroes. Some of them very powerful and notable heroes indeed.

Fuck.

Midoriya left an hour later, with Sir Nighteye’s phone number, and his notebook with Centipeder who promised to fill the page with anything Midoriya left out, and handing it on to Bubble Girl as well. Once the boy had skipped out of the office, Centipeder turned to the man he respected and venerated above all else and gave him the most poisonous, exasperated glare he could.

Sir Nighteye ignored him, staring at the door Midoriya had exited through.

‘We’re going to have to keep him, aren’t we?’ he murmured.

Centipeder sighed.

‘We are. We are going to have to. But please, put it any other way other than that.’

Sir Nighteye stared at him. ‘Have I offended you? I should have asked before I let him analyse your quirk.’

‘He would have anyway. Was. And I volunteered my information. But you scared me.’

‘How?’

‘Inviting a random, hero-obsessed child off the street and into your office without informing me at all? What was I supposed to think, Mirai?’

Sir Nighteye processed this statement for a beat, before catching on.

‘You know that I don’t hold with that kind of scum’ he hissed.

‘That’s not a defence!’

‘Juuzou, I-‘ Sir Nighteye stopped, his face falling into a glum expression. ‘No, you’re right. I got ahead of myself.’

He stood up from his desk and moved over to the window.

‘Thank-you for keeping me in check, Centipeder.’

Centipeder looked at him, quietly and thoughtfully.

‘So.

What are we going to do with Midoriya?’

Chapter Text

Inko jumped when she saw the pro-hero on her doorstep.

She thought it was a normal day. She’d cooked Izuku breakfast, sent him to school with a black eye and a packed lunch, done a few chores around the house, vacuumed, dusted, so on. She had just put on her nice casual clothes, was about to head out to get the groceries and opened the door to find Sir Nighteye, his hand held out, about to knock.

‘Argh!’

He blinked at her.

He was very tall. Frighteningly tall.

‘Oh, I’m so sorry’ Inko choked out. ‘You- you surprised me is all.’

She’d caught enough glimpses of that documentary Izuku liked to know the man at a glance. But she was still at a loss as to why he was . . . here.

It’s a shame Izuku isn’t home she thought sorrowfully.

‘Hello’ the man said. ‘My name is Sir Nighteye. Is this a good moment for me to come in and talk, or were you just about to head out?’

Inko stared at him.

‘No, no. Now is fine. Come in.’

And just like that, she had a pro-hero in her house.

She bustled him through, blessing whatever generous deity had her clean the house this morning and sat him on the small couch. He accepted a cup of tea and waited graciously where he was placed until she came out of the kitchen with two steaming mugs. Knees popping up from the small seat, giraffe-like form dwarfing the chair beneath him, he looked almost as out of place in the tiny apartment as Inko felt having him there. Balancing the mug in his spindly hand and staring at the very lost woman sitting across from him, Sir Nighteye was the first to speak.

‘You have a lovely apartment Mrs Midoriya.’

‘Thank-you’

. . .

‘You know my name?’

‘You’re Izuku Midoriya’s mother? You two look very similar.’

Inko almost spat out her tea.

‘You know my son?’

‘Yes . . .?’

She stared at him. He stared at her.

Sir Nighteye almost never dealt with civilians. Back in the day it had been Allmight’s job, and now that he was the head of an agency, he delegated these kinds of tasks to Centipeder and Bubble Girl. Well. He had tried to delegate this task to Centipeder. The man had given him another exasperated glare and frankly refused.

‘You got yourself into this Mirai and I’m not digging you out this time. Though I’d pay to see you walk into that house and try to explain what we’re doing.’

‘And what are we doing exactly?’

‘I don’t know!’

There had been a long beat of silence then, as they stared at the profile and address of Izuku Midoriya. It looked like someone had put a gun to his head to take the school ID photo.

‘What’ said Mirai finally, ‘if we just . . . ghosted him?’

‘That’s a terrible plan.’

‘At least it’s a plan.’

‘You know he would just buy another notebook and fill it up exactly the same way. And though I hate to say it, there is nothing illegal about what he’s doing. That I can tell.’

‘Maybe we should make it illegal.’

‘Yes! Let’s make it illegal and then arrest a child! That’s ethical, right? That’s exactly what Allmight would do!’

They had then had a lengthy quarrel about that particular choice of words, ending with Sir Nighteye storming off and the long and short of it being, he had absolutely no idea what he was doing.

But Inko Midoriya didn’t know that, did she?

‘He’s a big fan of Allmight. And you.’

‘Yes, I noticed.’

‘Hm.’

Finally, something came to him. He’d turned over this idea in his head, over and over, from every angle and found it was the best plan he had.

‘Mrs Midoriya, I would like to extend an offer.’

‘An offer?’

‘Exactly. An offer of work experience. At Nighteye agency. Izuku Midoriya has expressed interest in becoming a hero.’ 

‘Work experience at a hero agency?’

‘At Nighteye agency.’

‘Working . . . as a hero?’

‘More or less.’

‘Fighting on the street?’

‘Oh, no no no no, nothing like that. In the office generally. Paperwork, coffee runs, things of that kind. Really get an insight into how the hero industry works. It would be very beneficial to his future.’

Inko’s mouth was gaping wide open. Maybe he’d done something wrong.

‘But . . . I don’t understand. Why Izuku?’

It’s definitely not because he knows very sensitive information that I’m not sure how he picks up on and would rather keep an eye on him and that knowledge.

‘I . . . find him interesting.’ Sir Nighteye finally decided.

‘Even though he . . . well.’

He stared at her blankly.

‘You know’ she prompted. ‘His quirklessness?’

Fuck, he’d forgotten about that.

‘Yes.’ he stated boldly. He had no idea what the yes implied, exactly, but if he said it confidently enough then maybe she wouldn’t notice.

The woman looked even more lost then when he had first come in.

‘I uh, well. You promise he wouldn’t be in any danger?’

‘The hero commission would have my head if he got hurt under my care. Scratch that, I’d take my head. I’m very serious about the safety of civilians and children, Ma’am.’

Inko looked a little more sure now.

‘Just in the office . . . well. Izuku would love something like that, I know. It would be wonderful, if you’re willing to take him in.’ 

‘Marvellous. I’ll be around tomorrow, same time, with some of the proper paperwork. Izuku can come around . . . when is he free?’

‘Oh! Well not school hours-‘

‘Obviously’

‘But weekends and afternoons he could. He’s free most of the time.’

‘Well how about Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons then? Or is that too much?’

‘No, no. That’s fine. We can always change it if he falls behind in school or gets too tired.’

‘Yes, it’s all very flexible. Well, that’s the plan then and I’ll see you tomorrow.’

Sir Nighteye nodded as he stepped out the door.

He hadn’t finished his tea either.

And Inko had completely forgotten to ask how he had met her son in the first place.

Still, she went to the grocery like she planned and bought everything she needed. Then she went home and wrote emails for the bank she worked for. Though she received some government benefits for Izuku, and quite a bit more from Hisashi- wherever he was, Inko didn’t particularly care- she still took the job, just to fill up her long spare hours and add a little extra money to the house. Then, she began cooking dinner and waited.

Before long, Izuku got home. A quick inspection didn’t reveal any physical injuries . . . but he only mumbled a quick greeting before heading to his room, and locking the door.

Inko nibbled her lip and waited.

She finished dinner.

Taking up two plates, she carried one to Izuku’s room and knocked on the door. When she received no answer, she opened it tentatively and saw her son, crouched tightly in his chair and watching that damned video again.

‘Do not give up hope! BECAUSE I AM HERE’

‘Izuku’ she whispered.

He paused the video and turned around.

‘Oh! Sorry’ he smiled, deceptively cheery. ‘I didn’t hear you calling me.’

‘I didn’t call’ she said simply, handing him a plate. ‘Izuku . . . we need to have a talk.’

He looked at her, frightened.

‘It’s not dad is it?’ he asked quickly.

‘No no’ she reassured. ‘It’s just, I was wondering, well. How would you feel about doing a work experience?’

She got a blank look.

‘Work experience. As in, spending a few weeks working maybe, just to get a feel for it, but no pay. You can put it on your resume when you apply for jobs later in life.’

‘At the bank?’ he asked confusedly.

Inko took a deep breath.

‘I had a visitor today’ she spoke. ‘Who offered you a work experience at his agency. He said you’d met. A Sir Nighteye.’

Izuku’s eyes grew wide and he uncurled from the chair slightly.

‘He wants me to do a work experience with him? Can I? Can I please?’

She held her hand up. ‘I said you could. But you must keep your grades up and’ she didn’t give him the time to speak over her. ‘You must tell me how you met the man.’

And before he could begin babbling on about how thankful he was and how happy he was, she pushed them both to the kitchen so they could eat their dinner normally. So, she sat, and listened to the entire tale, that fateful crash and everything that happened since, wondering, not for the first time, what on earth Izuku was writing in his little notebooks.

Chapter Text

After two weeks of Izuku ducking in and out of their offices, Centipeder and Bubble Girl picked up on the same thing Inko Midoriya knew after thirteen years of living with him.

The boy couldn’t lie.

Here’s the thing: Bubble Girl was clumsy. She fell over, stumbled, tripped, dropped things that were handed to her and ran into walls. She often had a sprained ankle, or a random bruise or a minor scrape. She’d pick herself up, laugh and go about her day. Centipeder knew what clumsy looked like.

Izuku said he was clumsy. But he was always so careful. Sticking out his tongue carrying hot mugs between offices so he didn’t spill anything, holding papers like they contained government secrets and not dull statistics, first to catch Bubble Girl when she wobbled on her stilettos again.

But he came in with far more frequent and far major injuries than Bubble Girl ever did. Bruises on his face, cuts on his chest, ripped skin on his knees and every time he was questioned it was always-

‘Oh, I fell down the stairs’

‘Oh, I tripped on a rock’

‘Oh, I fell on a pair of scissors’ multiple times???

‘Oh, we were using the bunsen burner in school and I got a little overexcited’

Centipeder wondered if Izuku was a science enthusiast. Or an arsonist. He came in with burns an awful lot and that was just the injuries they could see.

Centipeder decided to have a conversation with Sir about it, later. At present, they were studying the profile of one Jin Bubaigawara. 

‘I thought Fatgum picked him up?’ Izuku questioned.

Sir Nighteye shook his head. ‘He tried. The villain slipped through his fingers.’

‘Did he use a clone of himself?’

‘No. Snuck down a sewer pipe Fatgum couldn’t fit through. We’ve lost the trail from there. This was about five months ago by the way, so any evidence in that tunnel has been wiped clean.’

‘Well, why didn’t he use a clone of himself. Can’t he?’

‘Maybe . . . quirks often don’t effect the user, it’s an evolutionary trait.’

Izuku scribbled something in his notebook. It had been worked out for the boy to have it while he was in the office and hand it to Centipeder at the end of his shift.

Sir Nighteye shifted in his chair and yawned.

‘I might use my quirk on it later’ he mumbled. ‘Right now, I need a break. Are you coming Midoriya?’

The boy closed his book and nodded fervently.

‘Lunch’ Mirai decided.

‘It’s 3:20’ Midoriya giggled. Mirai frowned at him.

‘Well, I haven’t eaten.’

‘Well, you should have. Mom says lunch is important.’

‘That’s why I’m heading out now to go and eat it.’ Mirai stood up. ‘Centipeder, you’re in charge while I’m gone.’

They headed out to the streets together. Midoriya trotting quickly to keep up with Nighteye’s brisk, easy pace.

I could have just gone out and bought you lunch, if you preferred.’

‘Yes, well, I wanted a few moments of rest. Sushi or ramen?’

‘I don’t mind.’

‘Hm. There’s a nice sushi place down the road.’

While they walked, Sir Nighteye began talking about the benefits of patrol. He figured it was the easiest time to bring it up, since he was hesitant to take Midoriya on any kind of public hero work.

‘It’s not really to keep an eye out for villains- we have reconnaissance for that. The hero will be called from their office by the police if they’re needed for an attack. Patrol is for the everyday civilian. It helps them to feel cared for, gives them security. And it is important for the heroes themselves to interact with civilians daily, to keep them down-to-earth, remind them of what they seek to protect.’

‘I haven’t seen you out on patrol much.’

‘You are my civilian interaction. This is the place.’

Midoriya frowned a little at this odd definition of himself but they went in. A server, noticing Mirai’s precise uniform, found them a table quickly and they sat down, with a good view of the busy streets outside.

Midoriya asked for the cheapest thing off the menu- teriyaki chicken- not wanting to pull on Sir’s wallet too much. Mirai scanned the menu carefully, before ordering the vegetarian option. Midoriya stared at him curiously. 

‘Are you a vegetarian?’

‘I’m a vegan’ he answered, folding his hands together. ‘I aim to be the cause of as little bloodshed as possible over my lifetime.’

Midoriya nodded solemnly.

‘How long?’

‘Oh, er. Going on seven- eight years now.’

‘Wow! That’s dedication.’

‘I do my best’ he answered modestly but then frowned. ‘I don’t want you to try anything though. Someone growing like you needs plenty of protein and I’d despise giving any more work to your mother than I already am.’ 

‘I’d hardly say I’m growing’ Midoriya sighed. ‘I’ve been short for so long.’

Their meals arrived and they tucked in happily.

‘More muscle on your form would help, I suspect’ Mirai pointed out. ‘You don’t take any form of extracurricular exercise, do you? Martial arts of some kind would be very beneficial to your hero training, alongside the notes you’re taking.’ 

Izuku blushed and ducked his head.

‘I, um, I thought so too’ he said. ‘But all the dojos in my area- they don’t take quirkless. It would be unfair in any matches, they said. Of course some do! But they’re all a two-hour transport time or more and my mother can’t to drive me back and forth and she’d prefer I not go on public transport at night- and well- it’s just easier not to, I suppose.’

Mirai nodded ‘I see. I can teach you’

‘Really!’

‘Of course. My quirk isn’t really, well, physical so I trained my body in order to take part in certain raids. It was a fixture of my time at UA but it wouldn’t hurt for you to get a head start.’

‘Thank-you sir. That means a lot to me.’

‘Well’ Sir Nighteye grimly thought about the notebook he wasn’t going to give back. ‘Anything I can do.’

A hand landed next to him with a loud SMACK and he flinched in the most undignified way. Midoriya jumped.
‘Mirai!’ Came the jolly voice. ‘You never told me you had a son?’

The hero in question gave a long sigh.

‘Midoriya, this is Detective Tsukauchi. He’s a good asset for many of cases. And You’ he turned to face the intrusion. ‘I don’t, and I don’t appreciate the assumption. This is Izuku Midoriya, he’s doing work experience at my agency.’

The officer nodded and offered his hand.

‘Lovely to meet you, Izuku Midoriya. You must have some connection to be given such a prestigious offer?’

‘Um’

‘He. is. not. related. to. me.’ Sir Nighteye said through gritted teeth. Tsukauchi smiled widely and leaned on the table.

‘Interesting quirk, then?’

‘Oh, uh. Um. I’m quirkless’ he added, in a voice so soft they barely heard it, ‘Sorry.’

‘Ah, I see. Quite a few good quirkless officers in my division. Police are lucky. They get all the good options UA is snobby enough to turn their noses up at.’ 

Midoriya gulped. Sir Nighteye noticed. Tsukauchi continued.

‘Your parents must be quirkless too then?’

‘Fire breath and minor levitation’ Midoriya whispered.

‘Stop interrogating’ Mirai snapped. ‘I’m trying to have a peaceful lunch.’

‘Ah, young Izuku, be careful with this one. Ever since he was a teen he’s had a stick up his-‘

‘Wrack off’ Mirai said angrily.

Tsukauchi gave a cheery wave and did as he was told. Sir Nighteye stabbed his sushi angrily.

‘Don’t let him question you’ he grumbled. ‘It’s a bad habit of his.’

Midoriya nodded, smiling softly.

‘Now, about training-‘

It was arranged that Midoriya would come back the next week with more practical workout clothes. Sir Nighteye watched him leave as Centipeder sidled up next to him.

‘Have you noticed’ he said. ‘How easily Midoriya gets hurt?’

‘I have’ Nighteye acknowledged.

‘Do you think it’s because he’s as clumsy as he claims?’

They looked at each other. ‘I don’t. And you don’t either, do you?’

Centipeder didn’t answer ‘Do you know why-‘

‘I have a theory.’ Nighteye moved over to his desk and began shuffling some of the papers on it.

‘You’ve met his mother. is she the type-‘

‘I wouldn’t present it in court’ he answered tiredly. ‘I met some of his “friends” the first time we ran into each other and-‘

‘Do any of them have heat quirks that you know of? He gets burns an awful lot.’

Sir Nighteye hummed. ‘I haven’t investigated them. To be honest, I’d rather have the boy tell me when he’s ready, instead of trying to-‘ and then a thought struck him.

‘His father’ he said slowly. ‘Has Fire Breath.’

Chapter Text

It was a fairly boring lesson, all things considered. The teacher was going on and on about things Midoriya already knew. Bakugo was listening carefully instead of lounging back in his seat and antagonising Izuku like he normally did, which meant he was probably having trouble with it. Kacchan was amazing at schoolwork, whip-smart and top of class. But it was contributed with persistent studying and dedicated note-taking, Izuku knew. He also knew it wasn’t worth the pain of the blasts he’d get offering to help. So, he just sort of daydreamed, thinking about Allmight and his cool new Alaska Smash move, which when applied to specific pressure points dealt massive damage while also conserving energy which could then be dealt out in a more aggressive style smash, finishing off enemies completely which so cool and I wonder if he picked it up from a specific form of fighting because it’s unlikely that he’d instinctively learn or know about pressure-points by himself and-

‘Midoriya!’

‘Ah?’ His hand slipped off the desk at the sudden intrusion.

He heard snickers from the other students.

‘Is the window more amusing than my lesson? Or do you intend on failing your upcoming assignment?’

‘I- I’m sorry Sir, I’ll pay more attention from now on.’

‘And how far along with the assignment are you, Midoriya?’

He gulped. Kacchan was going to kill him for sure.

‘I- I’ve um, I-‘

‘Stop stuttering and speak with a clear mouth.’

‘I’ve finished it, Sir.’

He’d written the conclusion in the bathroom this lunch. It was easier than sitting by himself in the garden. The teacher looked momentarily shaken and then continued.

‘Well, I look forward to having you hand it in after the lesson.’

Midoriya groaned internally. He’d wanted time to spell-check it and let Bakugo hand his in first. The teacher turned his attention to the star-student.

‘Bakugo, what about you? Have you decided on a topic?’

‘Nuclear physics in Quirk theory’ he declared. The teacher smiled.

‘An excellent choice, as always.’

Midoriya listened to him praise the student a little more and then zoned out again. Until his name was called.

‘And since Midoriya has so much free time, I’m sure he’ll be the first to volunteer.’

What were they talking about? Oh right, some charity event or other. He could volunteer- no. It was the same time as his first martial arts lesson with Sir Nighteye. Next week, perhaps. But the teacher was looking at him now.

‘I’m sorry sir’ he said quietly. ‘I can’t-‘

‘Oh! You need the extra time to play video games, perhaps?’

‘No, no. It’s just. I have extracurriculars now’ he finished lamely. The teacher raised an eyebrow.

‘How interesting’ he said slowly. ‘This is the first time I’m ever hearing of it.’

‘It’s recent! My mother- I was offered a work experience. At an agency. I go every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon. But only if my grades keep up. That’s why I wanted to finish the assignment early.’

The teacher looked at him.

‘Which agency? For what?’

‘Nighteye agency, sir. Under Sir Nighteye.’

‘Come here’

Midoriya obeyed. The teacher stood and held him by the scruff of his collar, the same way Sir Nighteye had. But his expression was so different. He looked at him down his nose and his face was twisted into a sneer.

‘You lazy little liar’ he hissed.

_____________________________________

‘Deku’

Midoriya looked up. This wasn’t good.

‘Good afternoon Kacchan.’

‘Good afternoon Deku. How did your assignment go?’

‘It was alright’ he mumbled. ‘I did mutation and quirk theory.’

They trod along together, headed for the school gate.

‘You know Deku, I’m really sorry that I spilt your lunch the other day.’

‘That’s quite alright’

‘It’s just, I didn’t know you were the student of The Sir Nighteye.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘That’s really cool, you know. That he chose shitty, good-for-nothing Deku out of anybody’

‘Thank-you.’

‘And I’m gonna make it up to you.’

‘You don’t have to’

‘I’m gonna make it up to you with a free lunch.’

‘You really don’t have to’

All of Bakugo’s friends were surrounding them now. Midoriya just wanted to get to the agency quickly. But he was grabbed by the arms and marched off to a different section of the schoolyard.

‘Well come on. Lunch is right this way. And I’m being so nice- it’s an all-you-can-eat buffet!’

Laughter chorused all around them and Midoriya stumbled.

‘No no no’ he protested ‘Not the dumpster again.’

The last time they’d done this, he’d barely been able to get out. He was lucky there’d been a thrown out desk to stand on so he could reliably open the lid. Not knowing any of this, they went up and threw him in, closing the dumpster just an inch so that a crack of light was only just visible from within. Bakugo’s hand snaked through it.

‘Hey Deku!’ he taunted. ‘Here’s your starter!’

And an explosion lit the smelly box before the lid slammed shut.

_________________________________

Patrol had finished up at the same time school did, which made Bubble Girl sad. She liked seeing all the kids stream out, seeing them point at her and whisper, ask questions. But she had to hurry back now. Then a thought came to her. It was Midoriya’s afternoon to come to the agency! She could walk to his school- and then they could head to the agency together. That would be much more fun. Settling on this plan, she set off. Aldera right? She remembered Midoriya saying that multiple times. And she could tell him about the case she was working on, with Monstra and his gang and it could be really fun.

She had just come into the Aldera area and, seeing the small stream of students turn into a big one was satisfied that she’d arrived before Midoriya had left. She kept heading inwards and inwards, hoping she’d spot him the closer she got to the school but to no avail. Once she had the school gate in sight, empty and desolate, she sadly concluded that he must have left already and turned off to continue on to the agency. She’d just reached the school wall and was passing by a dumpster against it when she heard the noise. A soft tapping.

She stopped.

First rule of hero training.

The smallest details tell the biggest story.

Bubble Girl tensed, waiting to be attacked. She took stock of her surroundings- all potential entrances, exits, weapons- cocked her head, listening to the sound.

It was coming from the dumpster.

She relaxed slightly. Perhaps some poor animal got stuck or rubbish was moving around inside. Approaching the container cautiously, she opened the lid.

‘Motherfucker!’

It dropped with a loud clang. Well, she hadn’t been expecting that.

Busying herself, she wiggled her fingers under the rim again, hearing a soft voice to match.

‘Bubble Girl, can you help me out please? I can’t lift it by myself’

But between the two of them, they managed to get him out. She lifted the lid as far as she could go while Izuku hopped up and wriggled uncomfortably through the tight gap, almost landing on his face. Bubble Girl could see that he looked awful. There was an acrid-smelling cloud wafting from the wet stain on his shoulder, his shoes were covered in coffee grounds and to top it off, the tops of his forearms were burnt, like-

Like he’d lifted them over his head, ducking a blast of flame.

‘Are you okay?’ she asked hurriedly, helping him off the ground. Izuku nodded fervently.

‘Yes, I just erm, fell in throwing my rubbish out. It’s fine, I’m fine- I promise. You don’t need to worry.’

‘And your arms?’

‘Oh! Yes, uh. Bunsen burner. Again?’

Bubble Girl’s eyebrows furrowed as she contemplated the situation. None of the details added up.

‘Really?’

Izuku didn’t answer. Just nodded slowly.

She waited for more. He shivered slightly underneath her questioning, concerned gaze.

‘Well, I was going to ask if you wanted to walk to the agency with me?’

Izuku fumbled with his backpack straps ‘Oh, well erm. I normally go home and freshen up a bit before . . .’

‘That’s okay. We’ve got clean uniforms for martial arts training at the agency- they’ll be a little big on you, but you can work with it. And you need to get your arms checked out.’

‘Oh, no, it’s fine, I promise!’

Bubble Girl wanted to encourage him to join her but she was going to be late if they argued any further.

‘Alright’ she relented frustratedly. ‘I’ll see you soon!’

‘See you soon Bubble Girl. Thank-you for helping me!’

So, she ran back to the agency and related all that she had seen to Centipeder.

__________________________________________

The first thing they did was go through stretches together carefully.

‘Think of your muscles as like a new rubber band’ Sir Nighteye told him, voice steady, body calm. ‘If you pull it too far on the first try, it will snap and be useless. You need to stretch it gently before you can utilise it to its full potential. That’s right, but straighten your legs more.’

Midoriya did quietly as he was told.

‘Good. And now we will stretch our arms and shoulders. We won’t fight today. I’ll be teaching you two basic moves, and you will spend the rest of the lesson practicing them.’

‘Only two?’

“I fear not the man who knows three-thousand kicks, but the man who has practised one kick three-thousand times.” Fluidity is proficiency, is victory.’

‘Sir . . . now that you’re teaching me to fight, may I call you Sensei?’

‘I think that would be appropriate. Chin raised. Good.’

They went through the rest of the stretches and then they went through the moves. One to punch and one to block. Sir Nighteye taught him the movement and then left him to practise while he did some office work, where he met Centipeder who relayed a strange incident that had befallen Bubble Girl while she was out on patrol. Then he returned to the gym, where he found Midoriya, still practising diligently.

‘Teaching is over for today, but you can practice those moves in your bedroom at home. Building stamina will take time and effort.’

Midoriya nodded, body covered in sweat and went to go pick up his water bottle.

‘I heard you met Bubble Girl out on patrol today.’

‘Yes. She helped out of a bin. It was a little embarrassing actually.’

‘Well we all need help sometimes. And we are all more than prepared to assist if you should want it.’

The green-haired child did not pick up the hint.

‘How are your arms?

‘Pretty good. I ran them under cold water and bandaged them while I was home.’

‘Burn cream will help, also.’

‘I know but we’ve run out. I go through it pretty quickly, if you couldn’t tell.’

Sir Nighteye could. That was what worried him.

‘How’s the case with Monstra’s gang coming along?’

‘Pretty well. We’ve picked up most of its members but we’ve yet to find their central location of drugs. We’ve searched mostly in poorer areas of the city, but nothing yet.’

‘Why poorer areas?’

‘More buildings clustered together means less light, better for Monstra’s quirk.’

‘But more buildings clustered together would also mean more light is shed during night hours. You said that most of the drug-running happened at night?’

‘Very much so.’

‘Jin Bubaigawara slipped through a secret tunnel in the sewers shortly before the police confiscated drugs that turned out to be fakes. Maybe-‘

‘He’s in on it’ Nighteye finished. ‘Or was in on it. And they’re doing business in the larger sewer pipes, where Monstra’s quirk could go wild. Good dot-connecting. I’ll have Bubble Girl look into this.’

They set off down the hall of the agency together. Bubble Girl’s job had become busier and far more dangerous since Midoriya had arrived. He was able to take on more of the easier, boring tasks that usually took up her time and she was free to help Sir Nighteye in more practical areas. He could almost take on a second sidekick. Come to think of it, UA had sent him a list of third-years requesting internships . . .

‘Sir? I mean, Sensei?’

‘Oh. Yes, Midoriya?’

‘You still haven’t answered any questions I have about your quirk. I know Centipeder’s quirk, and Bubble Girl’s quirk and Miss Receptionist’s quirk and Private Yamada’s quirk. but not yours.’

‘Do you remember Tsukauchi? He has a fascinating ability I think-‘

‘You’re running out of people to deflect onto.’

Sir Nighteye sighed. Midoriya was too smart.

‘Tell you what’ he finally replied. ‘I’ll tell you everything about my quirk- leaving no detail unspoken- when you’re able to knock me down in training.’

‘Deal’ Midoriya answered and they smiled at each other.

‘Wonderful. I’ll be able to answer all of your questions- oh. Two or three years from now.’

‘Don’t be mean Mirai.’

Centipeder appeared from behind a door. Sir Nighteye entered his office and sat down, peering at the papers his second-in-command gave him.

I have the addresses of Monstra’s extended family if you want them.’

‘Thank-you, Centipeder.’

‘Sensei, can I ask you a question? Not quirk related, but you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.’

It was time for Midoriya to go home, but he lingered at the desk, a little nervously.

‘Well, I’ll only know if you ask.’

‘Did something happen? Between you and Allmight, I mean. Because your office is still covered in posters and you still talk like you like him but . . . you never work together.’

Midoriya was naturally gifted at analysing. And under Nighteye’s teachings, he was learning to connect threads of information together.

‘That’s a good question Midoriya. And per your caveat, I will not be answering it today.’

‘Oh. Okay. Thank-you for the lesson Sensei and I hope you have a good evening!’

‘Ask Centipeder for some burn cream on your way out. He always has some in his emergency kit.’ 

Looking at the paperwork, he wasn’t able to watch Midoriya as he bounced happily out, and sighed. He’d almost been able to put it out of his mind. But the seven years were almost up. It was almost time. And he knew Allmight hadn’t chosen a successor. He watched the hero far too closely for that.

He wondered if they would get along. Toshinori and Midoriya. Wondered if Midoriya’s constant questions would bother him, or if he would find them endearing. Toshinori had always been a very secretive man, but he always told Mirai everything.

Mirai pulled out his phone and pressed ring gently, on the contact of his speed-dial. It had been a year and a half since he had done this, but maybe Toshinori would finally be ready.

He only got a cold voice message.

The number you are trying to reach has been disconnected and is no longer in use. Thank-you for your time.

He gave up. On everything. On Allmight, on hero work, on trying to figure out what on earth was going to happen and reached out to someone else he’d been ignoring calls from.

Tsukauchi. Midoriya thinks the Jin case and Monstra’s case might be connected. Care to discuss this over dinner? For professional reasons only, of course.

The reply came back quickly. Too quickly.

Fascinating. I did wonder why you were taking him on. I would love to have dinner with you. Professionally, of course ;)

Chapter Text

Midoriya woke up on Sunday to a string of messages.

SIR NIGHTEYE:

9:00pm: Bubble Girl and Tsukauchi used your theory to find the gang HQ. Will keep you updated.

10:36pm: Got the warrant.

12:05am: Putting a team together now. Raid takes place later this evening.

1:42am: Going now.

4:00am: Raid is done. Majority if not all members have been arrested and drugs have been confiscated. Couldn’t have done it without your help. I’ll see you Monday afternoon. Lots of processing to do.

_______________________________________

He sprinted straight from the classroom door, not even giving Kacchan the opportunity to talk to him. Through the school, through the garden, through the gates, a strange figure looming by them. The man standing there raised his hands as Midoriya passed, as if wanting to stop him, but Izuku was too furiously excited to take notice and ran all the way to Sir Nighteye’s.

When he arrived at the agency, he found Tsukauchi lounging in the office with Bubble Girl and Centipeder typing comfortably at laptops as sir Nighteye transcribed. He paced up and down, turning around as Midoriya burst in, dumping his backpack in its usual spot.

‘How was it? Did you get shot at? Was Jin there? Were the drugs real? Are you alright? Can I help? What are you doing now?’

‘Geez, cowboy take a breath’ Tsukauchi chuckled. Mirai threw him a sour look but Centipeder smiled.

‘If you came here more often’ he rumbled. ‘You would know the full power of Izuku’s lungs dictate his ability to speak in paragraphs.’

‘Ah, Midoriya, I’m glad you’re here.’ Sir Nighteye said smoothly. ‘Pick a up a laptop and I’ll tell you what to write. Bubble Girl, you’ll listen to Tsukauchi and Centipeder, you can begin writing your debrief.’ He waited until Midoriya was seated and ready before he started up again.

Despite the workload, the atmosphere was sunny and peaceful as Bubble Girl hummed happily and Tsukauchi threw out occasional cheeky jokes. Even Sir Nighteye laughed at them, harder than anyone which surprised Midoriya. He also wondered if Sir might not be more comfortable sitting down, and voiced this into a relaxed pause.

‘Sensei?’ he asked. ‘Were you hurt in the raid?’

‘Hm? No, though quite a few officers were. Why do you ask?’

‘You’re limping’ he pointed out.

Sir Nighteye stiffened and looked faintly mortified. Tsukauchi, for some reason, found a poster on the wall directly opposite Midoriya’s face very interesting.

‘Ah. Yes. I . . . I did get a small injury during the raid, but you don’t need to worry about it.’

Bubble Girl snorted. Centipeder kicked her discreetly.

‘You both have work to do’ Mirai snapped at them.

Tsukauchi left, mumbling that he needed a coffee.

‘More like a cold cup of water’ Bubble Girl snickered and Centipeder kicked her again. Thankfully, Midoriya had started up typing again once he’d been assured his sensei was alright. Bubble Girl swung her legs gently, waiting for Tsukauchi to return. Ten minuted passed. Then twenty. She looked at Sir Nighteye confusedly and he stared back. They all halted as they stared at the clock.

‘Perhaps he got lost coming back up’ Mirai joked poorly. ‘Bubble Girl, perhaps you should-‘

He was interrupted when the detective appeared at the door, a grim look on his face.

‘We have a problem’ he stated.

‘What’s the issue?’ Mirai replied.

‘Active shooter in the building. Quirk activated too.’

‘Rating? Do we need to get other heroes in?’

‘I’d give him a six out of ten, nothing your workers can’t handle.’

‘Do we know why he’s here?’ Centipeder rumbled calmly. Bubble Girl had put away her laptop and was standing up, tensed and ready for action.

‘Brother of Monstra. Basic revenge. Do you remember interviewing him Mirai?’

‘Quirk?’

‘I was hoping you’d remember. Shadow-related that’s all I know.’

‘Where is he now?’ Centipeder asked, standing as well.

‘I left him in reception, though he may have gotten further by now. Honestly, he’s a bit of an idiot, trying to attack a building full of trained heroes and officers-‘

‘And one civilian’ Sir Nighteye interrupted.

They all turned to look at Midoriya, watching them with wide, tense eyes.

Tsukauchi swore softly.

Sir Nighteye raised himself to his full height and covered himself in the scariest attitude he could muster.

‘Centipeder. You’re to stay with Midoriya and stay here, until you deem it unsafe. Protect him, you hear me?’

The bug hero nodded, assuming his position. Mirai turned to the child.

‘Izuku, no matter what, you listen to Centipeder. You do what he says, the second he says it and you do not argue. You do not engage, you do not interact. This is not a fun funny game. This is not training. This is life and death, and you are untrained and a child. Do you understand?’

‘Yes sir’ said Izuku softly.

Sir Nighteye drew back.

‘Bubble Girl, Tsukauchi, with me’ he commanded and swept out the door, into the hall. They hurried down the stairs toward reception until they ran into an officer around a corner.

‘Report’ he demanded.

‘Still on the loose, sir. Weapon seems to be your average pistol, nothing too fancy.’

‘Does he have a moustache?’ Nighteye asked. The officer looked at him confusedly.

‘Answer the damned question!’

‘No sir!’ The officer gasped. ‘He’s clean shaven.’

Sir Nighteye nodded and explained himself. ‘Monstra has two brothers. The first, Tatsuki Takahashi has a moustache and a weak shadow-manipulation quirk. The second, Taiga Takahashi has the ability to warp through shadows and into other shadowed areas.’

Bubble Girl breathed sharply ‘He could be anywhere.’

Tsukauchi turned to him quickly ‘Mirai your quirk-‘

But the hero was far ahead of him and had already activated it, focusing on the man he had interviewed, thirty seconds into the future.

Broom closet, second floor, pacing up and down. Big black cloak, handsome angled face, angry eyes, pale complexion. Pistol held loosely in hand, he looks upwards, activates his quirk- flash-new-location- neat office, Izuku is backed up against a desk nervously facing the door, Taiga appears underneath it, behind Midoriya- BEHIND IZUKU-

Without saying a word, he whipped around smacking into his sidekick as he did so, Mirai sprinted up the way he had come, Tsukauchi hot on his heels. They were too late. Of course they were too late. They heard the sound of Centipeder’s surprised shout and Izuku’s terrified yelp just before they burst through the door and the gun went off.

The first bullet ricocheted off of Centipeder’s leg and into Mirai’s favourite poster. He didn’t care. He was fixated on the picture in front of him.

Taiga had wrapped his arm around Midoriya’s chest, holding him tightly in place while the other pressed the barrel to the side of his head.

‘One movement’ he threatened. ‘One little twitch, one whisper, and I end him.’

Bubble Girl, Tsukauchi, Centipeder and Sir Nighteye all surrounded him. None of them were willing to risk it. Midoriya took in a sudden, shuddering, terrified gasp of air. It cut off when Taiga gripped him tighter and wiggled the barrel.

Tsukauchi raised his hands slowly.

‘Come now’ he reasoned. ‘There’s no need for all that. Just lower the gun and we can discuss things like calm, rational men. Nicely.’

Taiga leered.

‘Nah. I’d rather kill the brat’

Tsukauchi threw a sideways glance at Mirai. The man was frozen, petrified, eyes glued to Izuku’s terrified own- scratch that- eyes glued to the weapon pressed into his skull.

‘I’ll tell you why, as well. You took him. You took my brother. I know it was you, you came and told me so, like an idiot. I almost killed you then and there- but- I figured. No, that’s too easy for you isn’t it? Bang and it’s over. I should take something like you took from me. Like your son.’

Taiga shook the boy a little in his grasp. Midoriya gasped as he stumbled.

‘Say hi to daddy’ Taiga taunted. ‘Say hi to daddy. Say hi daddy.’  The last part came out as a snarl, as he slammed the pistol in harder. Midoriya locked eyes with Centipeder hurriedly.

Centipeder nodded, imperceptibly. Now was not the time to correct the villain’s assumption.

‘Hi- hi dad’ Midoriya gasped, and Taiga relaxed. Bubble Girl had taken the short distraction to sneak around a little bit, so that she was now standing behind the situation.

‘I wanted to steal you from your little school’ he mumbled. ‘But you ran away from me, didn’t you? Didn’t even stop to say hi. I would have taken you. I would have made you hurt’ he hissed. ‘Swapped you in for my family but I ran out of patience and now I have to improvise. I’m not going to shoot you in the head- too quick.’

Taiga moved the pistol and Tsukauchi flinched. But he merely tousled it through Midoriya’s curls.

‘The heart, perhaps? Still too quick for me. Maybe I’ll shoot your leg, or your arm but that’s not lethal, is it? So, you know what I’m gonna do?’

Izuku whimpered.

‘I’m gonna shoot you in the lung.’

‘Hey now’ Tsukauchi said sharply. ‘You don’t have to do this. Why don’t you-‘

‘Shut up!’

The wail of sirens sounded outside the building. Someone had called more police in.

Tsukauchi closed his eyes frustratedly.

Then everything happened at once.

Taiga turned, just a fraction, at the sudden noise. Midoriya pulled out a spare arm, grabbed Taiga’s wrist and pushed it sharply upwards in one fluid motion.

The second bullet hit a window and shattered it.

Bubble Girl and Sir Nighteye moved at the same time. Bubble Girl tackled him from behind taking the full brunt of his attention, as Sir Nighteye took advantage of it, moving two steps forward, yanking Midoriya’s other wrist and out of Taiga’s grip.

Mirai couldn’t tell where the third bullet went as he pulled Izuku into him, but he gave a grim guess by the piercing scream from Bubble Girl.

Centipeder had the gun out of his hand in another instant and Tsukauchi quickly cuffed and pushed Taiga out of the room. He could hear the halls outside swarming with officers and could tell everything would be handled. Just another day doing dangerous work at the hero agency.

Sir Nighteye knelt on the floor, keeping a close eye on all the glass, pushing Midoriya’s head into his shoulder. Centipeder went to Bubble Girl, who was sobbing from the pain.

Mirai looked at them both.

‘It went through her thigh’ Centipeder confirmed. ‘She’s in no critical condition.’

Sir Nighteye sighed. He watched as the bug hero lifted the intern gently up and out, hopefully to a waiting medic. He waited until they had left before following them, squeezing Izuku’s wrist tightly, making sure he was still there, was still fine.

They had to sit through some procedures together.

Chapter Text

Forty biscuits on a white platter, sliced almonds scattered on top and baked until they would be crispy and golden. They had been wrapped in grey tissue paper with a red ribbon curled tightly around it. Next to the platter was a little white box, packed with more of the biscuits and a handwritten card tied to the top which Centipeder would deliver to Bubble Girl when he visited her in the hospital later that afternoon. That was what Inko Midoriya  brought to Nighteye agency, the following morning after Taiga’s visit. As thanks.

‘For looking after my son so well’ she said. ‘He told me everything that happened.’

Sir Nighteye looked at her softly. ‘I would do it again, for Izuku.  It was my fault he was in-‘

‘If Izuku told the truth’ Inko interrupted. ‘Takahashi was a crazy man, who wanted revenge after you had done your job. It would disservice you to blame yourself.’

Mirai smiled. ‘I’m surprised he told you so much.’

‘Well, he had to, didn’t he? After he came home with bruises-‘

‘He got injured? I didn’t see- I would have-‘

‘No, no no no. Nothing like- well. His wrist was bruised after you held onto it so tightly after what happened.’

Sir Nighteye sat.

‘I didn’t notice.’

‘I made him tell me. He gets hurt enough as it is without coming home from work experience with scrapes.’

He hesitated, slightly. Mirai wanted to talk about this Inko, but also. He didn’t want to offend her.

‘That villain, Taiga. He mistook Izuku for my son and went after him to get to me. I hope your husband takes no offence?’

She laughed almost bitterly. ‘You are, in all respects, a better father to my son than my husband is.’ 

There was a beat of silence.

‘Izuku he- he gets burned a lot, doesn’t he? I know your husband has fire breath, he doesn’t-‘

‘Hisashi Midoriya has not been in Japan for the last seven years, so no. You’re thinking of one Katsuki Bakugo, the son of my friend- ex-friend- Mitsuki Bakugo.’

‘Ah. A walkout. I understand. Unable to understand the worth of what he left behind.’

Inko smiled, sadly.

‘You could say that . . . I- I don’t tell this story often. But I think that you-‘ Inko sighed and steeled herself imperceptibly.

Sir Nighteye took a biscuit.

‘Hisashi was always very proud of his quirk. He used to say ‘a quirk defines a man’ and when he spoke about having the baby, he always imagined it with a little jet of fire breath, like he had when he was a child. Izuku was an accident you know. We were such a young couple, and not really ready for long-term commitment yet- I don’t think Hishashi was ready for commitment at all to be honest. But we married, to save face.

His diagnosis is official. Medically, Izuku is behind in evolution, he lacks the toe joints that mark the next stage of development. There’s no confusion that it’s hidden, or complicated to activate. He’s quirkless.

When I let him know, I thought he took it well. He went out for a walk. I comforted Izuku. He came back, pretended everything was alright. But he wouldn’t look his son in the eye. His own child. Izuku didn’t notice. He was distraught.

I guess pretending got old for Hisashi. He came in one day with a bunch of flowers for me and a new toy for Izuku, spun us around and told us he’d been promoted. He took Izu to his room, said they going to play together.  I thought he’d finally moved on. When he came back into the kitchen he was sheepish and skittish . . .’

‘Hey little lovely, how are you feeling?’

‘So much better. Things are finally looking up.’

‘Um, honey . . . I should let you know. This new job, it’s good, it’s really good. Shorter hours, higher pay, position of leadership.’

‘I know. Is everything alright?’

‘Ah, well. There’s just a few conditions attached is all.’

‘Conditions? What conditions?’

‘It’s in America, little lovely. We’d have to move.’

‘America . . . It’s so far away, and the language- You know what? We can move to America. We can do anything, so long as we’re together and a family.’

‘That’s the spirit! Just you and me in a tiny apartment in New York.’

‘And Izuku, Hisashi.’

‘Izuku couldn’t come, little lovely, the apartment’s so ducky-snug it won’t fit more than two. But look, we’ll find a nice foster-family for Izuku, there’s an agency I’ve rung up who can do half the work for us! They’ll be able to love him so much more than we could. Izuku agrees. He’s more than happy to go. You and me, it’ll be like old times again. And see, we can always try again. Make a better one.’

‘What did you say?’ Mirai asked, in a hushed voice.

‘Hisashi gave me an ultimatum; my husband or my child. I told him he only needed to buy one plane ticket. We did argue, back and forth, over a couple of hours, while he packed, but he left and I haven’t seen him since then. I found Izuku sobbing in his room, stuffing his backpack with clothes and his new toy. Hisashi had told him he’d be leaving.’

Sir Nighteye shook his head, dumbfounded at the cruelty. Then, realising Inko was awash with pain at the reawakened memories, placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

‘I think you made the right decision. Izuku will prove to be more successful man than his father ever was.’

Inko slapped the hand off of her with stinging force and faced him head-on, shaking with fury.

‘How dare you’ she hissed. ‘How. dare. you. Izuku is my son, he doesn’t have to prove a damned thing to me! For me to love him!’

Then she burst out into tears.

‘Oh dear’ said Mirai in a small voice. ‘I didn’t mean it like that.’

He patted her on the back awkwardly and offered her a biscuit and after a couple of minutes she calmed down and patted her face with a handkerchief he produced.

‘I just don’t understand him. I don’t think quirklessness disqualifies any potential a person has. I don’t understand why anyone would think that.’

Inko sniffed.

‘You’re a diamond among men, Mirai.’

Then she left, rather quickly.

‘Huh’ came a voice from the door. ‘If that’s the effect you have on women, I understand why you swung hard the other way.’

Sir Nighteye turned around. Tsukauchi was lounging in the doorway, grinning mischievously. Mirai shook his head and stepped to enter his office.

‘That is not why.’

Tsukauchi blocked his entrance, and raised his eyebrow.

‘Oh, then maybe there’s another reason? Something to do with how good it feels to have a-‘

Mirai cleared his throat ‘After everything that happened these past few days, I never properly thanked you for that lovely Monday morning we celebrated together.’

Tsukauchi allowed him to pass and he went about looking for a report Centipeder had put together for him.

‘Lovely then?’

‘Enchanting. I might even say ravishing.’

‘Well, care to have a proper dinner?’

‘No, I don’t think so.’

Sir Nighteye raised his head. Tsukauchi was looking at him disappointedly.

‘That’s it then? Done, right here? Really?’

‘Yes. Do you want me to make myself clearer?’

‘No, I understand your meaning quite clearly. What I don’t understand is why.’

‘Because I don’t want to, Tsukauchi. It’s too unpredictable and I can’t make choices properly and things get out of control.’

Tsukauchi sat down.

‘I never meant to make you feel out-of-control.’

Mirai sighed. ‘It’s not that you make me feel that way it’s just- I feel out of control with you.’

The detective stared at him.

‘You’re an idiot.’

‘Get out of my office.’

‘I can’t, I’m working at your agency.’

‘Go and do some work then’ Nighteye snapped.

Tsukauchi left, sulking.

                                                                          ____________________________________

At lunch, Bakugo approached him in the schoolyard.

‘What happened to your arm?’ he demanded. Midoriya looked quickly at his wrist, the bruises evident, but he was so often bruised he didn’t feel the point of hiding them.

‘I didn’t do that’ Bakugo continued. ‘Who did it? Who hurt you?’

‘Uh, um, no-one’ Midoriya stuttered.

Bakugo quivered with rage.

‘That’s not an answer! Tell me who did it!’

‘I- it got hurt during work experience.’

The blonde fell back, scowling and then ran off, he and his gang, into the building.

Midoriya got the feeling that this wasn’t the end of it.

And that it wouldn’t end well.

Chapter Text

The door of the office opened, only a very little, and Tsukauchi saw the vibrant green hair of Izuku Midoriya peek through it. His eyes were shining, with a wet look in them and his goal seemed to be to get through the agency while attracting as little attention as possible.

Well.

Tsukauchi couldn’t have that, could he?

‘Midoriya, good to see you again!’

The child whipped around, jumping to see him lounging there. He was sitting in the waiting room, outside of Nighteye’s office, feet on the couch and a hot mug on the coffee table. Midoriya ducked his head, not looking him in the eye. 

Tsukauchi generously guessed it was because they didn’t know each other very well.

‘Nighteye’s busy at the moment, he’ll be with you in a sec’ he lied. ‘Come on, sit down, while you wait.’

Midoriya gulped but came over and perched on a little couch near him, hands clasped tightly in his lap.

‘I like your gloves.’

‘Thank-you, my- my mom knitted them.’

Truth.

‘Isn’t it a bit warm for gloves?’

‘My hands get cold easily’

Lie.

‘Ah, I see. I’ll turn the heater up.’

‘It’s fine.’

‘No really, it must be uncomfortable. Unless you’re hiding something from me?’

‘No- ‘

Lie.

‘-Nothing like that, I just- your coat looks heavy. I wouldn’t want you to go to any trouble.’

‘Ah, alright. How was school?’

‘Good’

Lie.

‘Get up to much?’

‘A little. I helped to clean up afterwards.’

Partial Truth.

‘A good boy then. Don’t get into much trouble?’

‘I get into a little trouble.’

Partial Truth.

‘But that’s not your fault, I bet.’

‘I, uh- erm. I try to be good-‘

Truth.

‘But I mess up sometimes.’

Subject believes it to be true.

Centipeder walked past them and into Nighteye’s office, giving Tsukauchi a funny look as he did so.

‘No, no I bet it’s your friends. Dragging you into their messes right?’

‘No! They’re- they’re good friends.’

Lie.

‘And the teachers are good teachers, right? They take care of you? Help you out?’

‘Yes.’

Lie.

‘They don’t hurt you?’

SLAM!

Sir Nighteye threw his door open furiously and scowled at the detective like he was trying to send him to hell with looks alone.
‘Tsukauchi! I told you- not to interrogate him!’

The Detective rolled his eyes, not taking much notice. What he’d uncovered was worth Mirai’s wrath and more. Midoriya looked back and forth between the two men, quivering.

‘It’s, it’s fine Sensei.’

‘No. No it is not fine. Tsukauchi, you’d better explain yourself and apologise. And then get the hell out.’

Tsukauchi grinned wickedly. ‘I hear you’re into quirk analysis.’ he drawled. ‘I have a fascinating one. It’s called Lie Detector. Very useful for investigation. The way it works is when I talk to someone, a little sensor in my brain tells me if what they’re saying is true or not.’

Midoriya’s eyes opened wide as he processed this statement.

‘So’ he continued. ‘Why are you wearing gloves today?’

Mirai threw a stamp at him.

‘Get out’ he hissed. ‘I’ll speak with you later.’

Tsukauchi shrugged. He pulled himself from the couch and rose with as much dignity as possible, before waving his hand goodbye, and adjourning.

Midoriya looked back at his sensei, pleadingly.

‘Rascal’ he muttered. ‘He knows he should have warned you about his quirk before speaking with you. I should have warned you too but I forgot. Don’t mind him. We had a fight earlier.’

Centipeder cleared his throat. They all stepped inside the office and Sir Nighteye settled on his desk and turned to Izuku.

‘How are you?’ he asked. ‘After the incident on Monday?’

‘Fine!’ said Midoriya quickly. ‘Honestly, it was exciting.’

‘Hm. Well, I’m sorry to call you in when it’s not your afternoon but I wanted your help with this particular task. I thought it might interest you. It concerns UA, and if you get accepted’ leaving out the unspoken which you will ‘this will be a major component of your studies there. Centipeder and I have chosen a second-year from UA to invite on a Work Studies at this agency in the absence of Bubble Girl. Work Studies are much like Work Experience, except the participant in question has a provisional hero license, so they can partake in more on-field roles.’

‘I see’ said Midoriya slowly.

‘We’ve chosen to invite a promising candidate from his licensing exam- Mirio Togata-‘

‘I know him!’ Midoriya said excitedly. ‘I watched his sports festival this year! His quirk is permeation right? It’s so powerful!’

‘No’ said Nighteye. ‘It’s very fiddly. He’s done a lot to train and shape it, the way Tsukauchi and I have. The way you, no doubt would have, if the facilities had been available to you.’

‘But . . . but I don’t have anything to train, Sensei.’

‘Yes, you do. Have you ever read The Little Prince by Antoine De St Exupery?’

‘Um, I read the translation. For school.’

‘Good. Then you’d remember. What’s essential is invisible to the eye. Power is not just about strength, it is also about passion and discipline, two things you have demonstrated remarkably during your time here. If you train your body and your academic skills I have no doubt you’ll be able to enrol at UA without trouble. And you do have a power, on par with that of many of your peers, and not a power to be scoffed at.’

Midoriya looked at him confusedly.

‘What’s that?’

‘Good connections.’

Centipeder, finally, spoke up.

‘Sir and I have to write up our statements for the Takahashi incident. Would you mind doing Togata’s acceptance letter?’

The boy smiled happily and got to work.

______________________________________

When Tsukuachi sauntered back into the agency, it was dark and Midoriya had left. Sir Nighteye was still working in his office and did not look up as Tsukauchi entered.

‘That was an awful trick you pulled today’ he said, dangerously quiet. ‘And you still need to apologise.’ 

‘I know’ Tsukauchi waved. ‘I will. But, look, I did some investing around today and I found something I thought you might be interested in.’

‘Investigating?’ Mirai said sharply. ‘I thought you were just finishing paperwork on the Takahashi drug bust?’

‘Oh, I was but I found something much more fascinating and well, I just couldn’t help myself.’

‘I see. And where did this investigation lead you?’

‘To one Aldera Middle School.’

‘You didn’t-‘

‘I did.’

Mirai pushed a flurry of folders off his desk.

‘I’m so angry at you.’

‘Mirai. Just watch the video I found in security.’

‘I have more respect for his privacy than that. I . . . I want him to trust me. I want him to come to me on his own.’

‘Mirai. Mirai, watch the video.’

‘Fuck you!’

He grabbed the phone angrily and sat down.

The Afternoon Previously.

Midoriya entered the classroom, slightly apprehensively. The teacher was already in, and so were Bakugo and his gang- and they were all staring at Midoriya’s desk.

It had been graffitied, horribly.

Crude sentences had been written, as well as a few crude pictures. All in thick black pen. And it was there plain for all the world to see. Izuku stood there, despairing for a moment. And then he pulled his backpack off and sat down. Very soon, class started.

‘Midoriya’ the teacher said, in a terrible voice. ‘Do you respect the school?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Do you respect school property?’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Then, explain to me, Midoriya what happened to your desk?’

‘I didn’t do it sir.’

‘Don’t lie’ he hissed. ‘You’ve done quite enough for yourself.’

Midoriya looked down at his books. Don’tcrydon’tcrydon’tcrydon’tcry.

‘Come here.’

He did so. He didn’t know how his wobbly legs carried him all that long and weary way, but he did.

The teacher pulled out a long, thin, brown stick.

Something in Kacchan’s eyes flashed- surprise? Shame? Regret? Izuku couldn’t tell before the blonde pulled his head down sharply, so he wouldn’t have to watch any more.

Midoriya’s stomach sunk suddenly as he realised he didn’t get the same choice.

‘I regret deeply having to do this, but you leave me no choice.’ The teacher continued, rising to his feet. ‘You’ve been warned, multiple times but this behaviour continues.’

Don’tcrydon’tcrydon’tcry.

‘Place your hands, palms turned upwards, on the side of the desk please.’

Midoriya raised his hands and unfolded them. They were shaking, he realised. They looked so soft, so . . . gentle.

He did as he was told.

Izuku forgot to close his eyes before it happened.

Swish-smack!

The force of it was so strong that the sting didn’t quite settle in straight away. But when it did, it did so with a strength that brought tears to his eyes, and instinctively he clutched his hands to his chest, trying to induce a pressure that would mitigate that awful, awful pain.

‘Did I say I was done?’ The teacher snapped. ‘Put your hands back.’

He had no choice. No-one was going to stick up for him. Kacchan still wasn’t watching.

Four more blows landed, criss-crossing his palms with pulsing red stripes. Midoriya could almost feel his heart beating along the lines.

‘You’ll stay after class and clean that mess off’ the teacher commanded, coolly. ‘And don’t think you won’t get marked down for poor handwriting, just because your fingers are a little sore.’

Midoriya nodded.

‘Yes sir.’

He stumbled back to his desk and pulled open the textbook, watching his tears drip, drip, dripping onto the wood.

He hadn’t noticed he’d started crying.

The video ended and Sir Nighteye put down the empty screen quietly.

‘So’ Tsukauchi said casually. ‘What are you thinking about, love?’

Mirai looked back at him before speaking plainly.

‘Bloody fucking murder.’

Chapter Text

Inko was a little more prepared to find the pro-hero on her doorstep this time, mostly because he’d been able to knock before she opened the door. What surprised her was the man standing next to him, a mischievous grin stretched across his twinkling face, while Sir Nighteye stood straight as a ruler, face stock-serious and grim. Inko welcomed them both in and offered them tea- Tsukauchi, as he introduced himself, requested a black coffee instead which Inko was more than happy to provide. Then, they all sat down in the lounge room together and Tsukauchi showed Inko the video.

If she was honest with herself, Inko was not surprised by the content. What she was, was horrified and saddened that things had descended to such a level and unsure of how to proceed.

With video evidence she could hire a lawyer, perhaps, though she knew Aldera had good money saved for legal situations like this. Realising that she hadn’t said anything for a while now, she turned to the guests who had been watching her patiently.

‘Thank-you’ Inko quavered slightly ‘For bringing this to my attention. I’ll have Izuku removed immediately of course and then . . . Well, I’ll do somethi-‘

‘Oh, no no no’ Tsukauchi interrupted. ‘You misunderstand.’

‘We’re not here to show you the video.’ Nighteye explained. ‘We’re here because we’re going to kill him, and we thought you might want to help.’

There was a long, deep, rather awkward silence before Inko gave a soft gasp of realisation.

‘Oh, you’re serious!’

‘Yes, deadly so.’

‘Okay, well let me put my good coat on and I’ll be right with you.’

Fairly soon they were all headed out of the apartment and towards a tiny red automobile. Inko feeling very small and slightly apprehensive accompanying such officials.

‘I’m driving’ Sir Nighteye stated.

‘It’s my car!’ Tsukauchi squawked.

‘I know it’s your car and I’m driving it.’ There was no room in his voice for argument so Tsukauchi sighed.

‘Shotgun?’ He offered Inko.

‘No, no. It’s fine. I’ll be fine.’

They climbed in, and there was very little space in such a small car. Inko understood why Sir Nighteye wanted to drive, his legs barely fit. He turned to her as she buckled her seatbelt.

‘We’ll get to the school soon, there’s just one more person we have to pick up.’

Surprisingly, Sir Nighteye was a rather good driver. He followed all the road rules, managed to beat all of the red lights and knew all the best routes. Before long they had pulled up outside the legendary UA school- the one Izuku had been talking about all his life.

‘Um . . . ‘ Inko asked timidly ‘Is there really enough room in here for one more?’

Tsukauchi smiled at her.

‘Don’t worry. There’s plenty of space for Nezu.’

Standing outside the gates was a tiny little mouse with a rather cute grin on his face, dressed in a well-tailored suit and waving at them as Nighteye parked. Tsukuachi opened his door and the mouse (Nezu, Inko assumed) jumped up onto the dashboard. And then they were off again, weaving through the streets at an elegant pace.

‘Thank-you again for coming along Principal Nezu’ Sir Nighteye said.

‘Well how could I resist!’ Nezu grinned, rubbing his paws together. ‘Any chance to ethically cause chaos and spread MISERY!’

Tsukauchi and Nighteye nodded like this was perfectly normal behaviour.

‘So, what’s our plan of attack? And what’s my part in it?’

‘I need you to find a way to legally burn down a school’ Nighteye explained, dodging a truck.

‘Hmm. Have they done anything unlawful that we know of?’

‘They caned a child.’

‘Wonderful! We can do whatever we like and I’ll fix the image of it afterwards’ Nezu cackled.

Inko began to feel something grow in her stomach. It was hot, relentlessly so, but also it felt like ecstasy. She hadn’t felt wild like this, even when Hisashi had started courting her, even before she’d settled with monotony. Suddenly, she labeled the feeling.

Excitement.

‘Welcome to Aldera’ Sir Nighteye said flatly. Inko, who was still curled in the back gave him a worried look.

‘If we are burning it down, won’t Izuku-‘

‘Oh I had Izuku pulled out of school early this morning. It was the first task I gave to my new Work Studies, Mirio. Izuku’s showing him around the agency, Centipeder’s watching them both.’

‘Ah’ Inko settled slightly, and then got out of the car.

Nezu scurried off somewhere pre-determined, into the deeper depths of the school, while the rest of the team trudged purposefully towards the reception. Once there, the nicely done-up secretary smiled at them cheerily.

‘I believe I had an appointment booked with one Mr Ishida and one principal Matsuo’ Nighteye offered.  The secretary typed something into her computer and then nodded.

‘Head right up. They’ll both be with you in a moment.’

They did as they were told and were then ushered into a large neat office. Before long Izuku’s homeroom teacher and his principal shuffled in. They both shot very disdainful looks at Inko and then sunny looks at Tsukauchi.

‘Mrs Midoriya. Good afternoon Detective. Did you find anything helpful in our security footage yesterday evening?’

‘Oh, I found something alright’ Tsukauchi said mildly. ‘This is my partner, Sir Nighteye. You might have heard him.’

The hero saw how Mr Ishido paled at the name, marked it. And then he grinned like a monster.

‘Good afternoon teachers.’ he said. ‘I’m sure Midoriya told you that he’s doing some work experience at my agency. A credit to Aldera’s name, I’m sure.’

Ishido nodded like a silent chicken.

‘Sir Nighteye- you should know- Mi-Midoriya has a-a bit of a track record with dishonesty in our establishment- so, so- I’m sure anything you’ve heard about his treatment-‘

‘How convenient!’ Tsukauchi boomed. ‘My quirk is Lie Detector. And you know what-‘ he put both of his feet on the desk. ‘You’re right. He kept on talking how nice it was here, and how well he was treated and when it all registered as lies- well’ he battered, big innocent eyes at them. ‘I thought I should investigate.’

‘The Detective brought something to my attention’ Nighteye continued. ‘Captured on your security footage in yesterday’s classes. Take a look at this.’

Both men inclined their heads to watch the video and sorrowed at the contents.

‘Now’ he said warmly. ‘As a pro-hero, I take my accusations very seriously. I make sure I have evidence, before I bring somebody in for punishment. Mr Ishido, in that video it is very very evident, that Izuku could not have ruined the desk. It is laughable how clear it is that it isn’t him. So, why then, was he caned?’

The teacher stuttered something about Izuku’s track record.

‘Oh, yes.’ Tsukauchi drawled. ‘Speaking of track records. I found so much evidence of discrimination it was difficult to know what to take. Including, but not limited to, the fact that you allowed other children to practise their quirks on him, during standard quirk classes!’

Inko gasped angrily and slammed her hands down on the desk. ’You used him as a guinea pig? You bastards! You told me he was doing Quiet Study!’ 

She made as if to leave, but Ishido grabbed her sharply by the wrist.

‘Mrs Midoriya, you must understand-‘

He stopped at the looks on Tsukauchi and Sir Nighteye’s faces.

It was exulted and joyous triumph.

‘Mrs Midoriya’ Nighteye said quietly. ‘Now that this scum has deigned fit to lay hands on you, as a pro-hero and officially knighted man, I am giving you permission to engage in self-defence.’

Inko looked Ishido.

Ishido looked at Inko.

‘Mr Ishido’ Inko said slowly. ‘You’re about to learn how many organs count as small objects!’

The man trembled like a lamb and fell over, where the enraged mother began kicking him without mercy. Ten years of pent-up rage, injustice and frustration spilled over with the sound of yelping as the soothing backdrop.

Tsukauchi watched this display appreciatively while the principal edged up to the pro-hero.

‘Shouldn’t- Shouldn’t you stop her- them?’

‘Oh, I can’t, I’m afraid. I’m too busy saving children from a burning school.’

‘But . . . but the schools not-‘

‘Wait’ Nighteye snapped.

Nezu was having a delightful time in the science laboratory. After scaring some children out into the schoolyard and pushing the alarm that alerted the rest to evacuate, he had quickly downloaded the remainder of damning security footage while quickly deleting the unwanted footage- namely, what was currently happening in the principals office. Now, he was mucking about with a bunsen burner.

‘I’ve never tried arson before’ he whispered excitedly, before activating every device to maximum power.

Principal Matsuo tried to stop Inko himself, activating ‘Sticky Fingers’ as he latched onto her hair and began tugging on it.

‘Enough of that’ Nighteye ordered.

He aimed a sharp blow to the stomach while Tsukauchi quickly dislocated his wrist, de-activating the quirk. Ishido took the small distraction to try scratching Tsukauchi’s ankles but Inko slapped his face quickly and that finished that.

‘Mirai! Mirai! Let’s throw the principal out a window!’

‘Oh, he’ll break some bones certainly but at least we’ve saved him from perishing in the fire!’

Centipeder hummed as a column of smoke rose in the distance, looking at a report on his iPad.

‘Izuku’ he said ‘It looks like your school caught fire.’

The boy stopped his activity to look at him with wide, frightened eyes.

‘Oh no! Is everyone alright?’

‘Sir Nighteye’s in the area’ Centipeder assured him ‘I’m sure he’s got perfect control of the situation.’

‘It’s a good thing you weren’t there today’ Mirio smiled.

The team watched from a distance as the flames rose and danced.

‘Such a shame’ said Nighteye. ‘That most firefighters are currently enjoying a lovely dinner in the Musutfu area.’

The rest of the group murmured agreements.

‘I thought it would be a nice gift. I really did. How could anyone foresee something like this happening?’

A motorbike rolled up suddenly, with a threatening dark figure riding on top of it, a satchel pulled tightly over his chest. As the figure hopped off, and moved towards them, he removed his helmet, revealing a tired but slightly amused face.

‘Eraserhead’ Sir Nighteye greeted. ‘Do you have the goods?’

Shouta Aizawa nodded and silently proffered a bag of marshmallows.

Chapter Text

The firefighters, who just so happened to be at Musutfu enjoying an enchanting lunch reserved and paid for by an anonymous sponsor were not able to reach the school in time. It burned to the ground, and everything in it. Thankfully, no-one was hurt severely. The majority of children had been out in the yard, due to a teacher spotting a rat in the classroom and moving the students. When the call came to evacuate, they had already moved a safe distance away. The few that were left and stuck were thankfully rescued by pro-heroes Sir Nighteye and Eraserhead, although they both suffered injuries as a result of falling rubble.

Complaints of quirk discrimination were filed against Aldera middle school after this tragedy by Inko Midoriya and two other parents. Nezu, the principal of UA personally investigated the case himself and declared Aldera guilty. It was not able to re-open.

The students were given two weeks off for their troubles, while administrations found means to transfer them to new schools. Izuku spent those two weeks dutifully training under Sir Nighteye, growing in martial arts skill and in his powers of deduction.

Helping out was Mirio Togata, who was much fascinated by Midoriya’s wishes to enter the hero course. He had at first been very doubtful of the idea, but a few cold frowns sent his way from Nighteye caused him to re-evaluate. He was more than happy to spar against the boy when he was not patrolling, noting quickly that many heroes in the building would drop in to encourage and critique them both. He also took well in stride Midoriya’s interest in his quirk, and after explaining how he had trained and refined it, received many excellent tips on where to continue, ensuring that they were both growing in prowess as time passed.

Centipeder also may, or may not have teased the new help by implying that the child was Nighteye’s own. He didn’t say anything, necessarily. He just may not have refuted some of Mirio’s assumptions.

Interns were fun.

During the excursion that hadn’t, officially, happened, Nezu took the time to impart some interesting news to Sir Nighteye.

‘Toshinori has applied for a position at the school in the new semester. He tells me he’s looking for a successor.’

‘He talked to you?’

‘Yes . . . did he not . . . inform you?’

‘No.’ His stomach didn’t tighten sickly, not even a little. It was the s’mores, if it was anything. Damned vegetarian marshmallows.

‘Did you recommend any particular students?’

‘Well, Mirai, let’s just say great minds think alike, and leave it at that.’

So, Mirio then. The next successor of One For All. A new smile, a new quirk, a new golden-headed hero for a new golden age. He had enough pride not to ask Nezu for Toshinori’s phone number but couldn’t help wishing his mentor would reach out to him. Mirai only wanted the best for Toshinori. Wanted him to retire peacefully, knowing the future was safe and in good hands.

Mirai only wanted to talk about what had happened, who had done what wrong, apologise if he needed to, he only wanted to move forward, he only wanted-

Tsukauchi.

That was how Tsukauchi felt, wasn’t it?

Damn it, he was stupid.

But twenty seconds after he sent the text, he remembered why things had started with this man in the first place.

I’d love to spend lunch with you. Same place again? Just as long as we don’t burn it down ;)

It was the sushi diner, where Tsukauchi and Midoriya had first met. Mirai ordered the vegetarian dish and sat while Tsukauchi ordered the same.

‘Are you going vegetarian as well?’

‘Ah, well. When in Rome and all that.’

‘I see.’

Pro-hero Fatgum passed by the window, with his new wife Artiste by his side, both of them patrolling together.

They looked happy.

‘So, are you thanking me or scolding me?’

‘I beg your pardon?’

‘You’re the one who cut things off, remember? So, are you here to thank-you, for getting Midoriya out of that cesspit or scold me for stalking him in the first place?’

Mirai gave a small laugh. ‘I can’t exactly scold you for stalking him.’

‘Oh, I see.’

‘But still. I really did want him to come to me first.’

‘They train them young.  He was conditioned to sit there and take it, he never would have come to you of his own.’

‘I thought that if I-‘

‘I’ve been in this business for years, Mirai. Domestic, professional, they give it different names but all abuse has the same face. And what we’re talking about here are the most vulnerable members of society. The- quite literally- powerless. Quirks, quirks, quirks, that’s all anyone talks about- politicians, teachers, whoever. Who has the most powerful quirk, who has the most useful quirk, how can we utilise this quirk? Our society is structured for the enabled and no-one is looking to the most human of us, not even to lend a hand.’

Tsukauchi leaned back in his chair.

‘Most of them don’t even make it into the police academy, anymore. Every generation that passes, they get treated worse. I keep hearing that they’ll be bred out one day, and there’ll be no more. Well that’s damn eugenics and I don’t hold with it. If I can stop quirkless discrimination - even in just the tiniest form- I will. Damn your ethics.’

A sort of idea began sprouting in Nighteye’s mind. Not a fully-formed one, not yet. Right now, in its conception, it was just a question, nothing more.

‘I always thought culture was progressive, moving forward to equality. But what does it mean, if we aren’t?

‘I understand. I admire your ability to take direct action. What I’m trying to avoid is infantilising him. You say he’s been trained to sit there and take it. What then, I cannot do, is train him to sit and take it from me. That is what I will not hold with, you understand?’

‘So, you’d leave him in that environment?’

‘I will confess, I didn’t know how bad it truly was- so, to answer your original question- I am here to scold you, for misleading Midoriya about your quirk and interrogating him under false circumstances, like a common criminal. And I’m thanking you for bringing things to my attention that I should have investigated myself.’

‘Is that an apology or a lecture?’

‘I don’t know- Naomasa . . . I’m not good at people.’

Tsukauchi stared at him in surprise.

‘All you ever talk about is how important it is to-‘

‘I know I do. I idolise traits in people I can never quite muster in myself. I try to be kind and warm and fix everything perfectly, but I never quite get it right. I’m not- I’m not Allmight. Not even close.’

‘Well . . . I always thought he was overrated, anyway.’

‘How dare you!’

Naomasa’s laugh rang around the diner.

‘Only because I thought his sidekick was cooler.’

‘You- you-

Wait, you what?’

‘I like you Mirai.’

‘But- but why?’

‘Fuck Mirai, you want a list? I’m not the type of person to interrogate every single one of my feelings- I just- well I just feel them! And you give me good feelings.’

‘I . . . Naomasa.’

Mirai took a deep breath and clasped his hands on the table.

‘I would like to express my intentions clearly. And my intentions for this outing are purely romantic, have been from the outset. Forgive me, if I’m misreading this but do you- want to enter into a romantic relationship- with me?’

Tsukauchi stared at him blankly.

‘Are you trying to ask me to be your boyfriend?’

‘I am.’

‘That’s the weirdest way I’ve ever heard anyone ask that.’

‘Oh. Did I say it wrong?’

‘No’ Naomasa said, shaking his head. ‘You said it absolutely, perfectly, correct. May I kiss you?’

‘You may.’

They did.

Hina and Taishiro saw them, and smiled at each other. 

When it was finished, their sushi was sitting ready on the table.

‘So . . . ‘ said Mirai. ‘We’re boyfriends now.’

‘We are.’ Naomasa acknowledged.

There was a pause, as they looked at each other, grinning.

‘You know what? I actually do want that list.’

‘Oh easily. Actually, a new one came to me while we were eating s’mores at Aldera.’

‘And what was it that day, that you loved about me?’

Naomasa grinned.

‘Your thoroughness.’

Chapter Text

Izuku dodged a punch. He was envious of Mirio, as the student didn’t even bother to block the responding throw, merely using permeation. Midoriya’s hand passed right through and he snarled frustratedly. In the middle of his swing, Mirio de-activated his quirk, trapping his opposition, now able to tap him in the stomach smartly. Midoriya was down for the count once the quirk turned back on and slipped backwards.   

He groaned on the training mat, holding his guts.

‘Urgh, cheater’

Mirio raised an eyebrow at him.

‘You’re the one who asked to train with quirks on today.’

‘I know, I know it’s just- if I can’t even fight against someone with quirks now, how am I supposed to even pass the entrance exam?’

Mirio shrugged, stepping aside to grab a bottle of water and towel. ‘I don’t think it will be as hard. Even top students at UA can’t defeat me! You’d be out of your league even with a quirk.’

The student turned to face him.

‘And you managed to land some really good hits this session, look.’ He lifted up his uniform, revealing a mark that would soon bloom into a beautiful bruise.

‘You got me, just as I powered down to swing at you. You took advantage of my weakness and exploited it, just like a good hero does in a fight! You’ll be amazing at UA, if you can get in.’

‘Thanks Mirio.’

‘Oh, and if you do end up coming to UA, I could introduce you to Tamaki! He’s my best friend, he’s amazing. Oh, and his quirk is great too- Manifest!’

‘Oooh, what does it do?’

‘Well-‘

His volley was cut short by Centipeder walking into the room.

‘Training is over for today, Mirio- Midoriya? I didn’t expect to see you here today.’

‘Oh, uh. I had a thought on Sir’s new case with with the Shie Hissekai and I couldn’t wait-‘

‘Well, I have a surprise for you.’

Behind Centipeder peeked the slim blue frame of Bubble Girl, who bounced into the room joyously to embrace him.

‘You’re out of the hospital!’

‘Yes! They finally managed to get someone with a healing quirk in, and I’m able to get back to work!’

Midoriya blushed as she cuddled him.

‘Sorry- I’m a little sweaty.’

‘That’s alright. How are you, how have you been? I haven’t seen you since your school burned down, that was strange, wasn’t it?’

‘It was. It was so sudden!’

‘But you had your first day back at your new school today, didn’t you?’ Mirio interrupted, looking a bit left out.

‘Oh, yeah, how was that?’

‘It um- uh. It was okay, I’d better get back into my normal clothes. I might be late for dinner.’

The sidekick nodded, satisfied by the answer. Centipeder looked at the boy worriedly. After everything that had happened, he decided it was best to check up on him verbally.

‘Is everything alright?’

One of the flaws of Izuku Midoriya was that he was completely unable to lie, in any way, in any form. The hero didn’t need Tsukauchi in to know what was pretence. But today, the boy looked at him with sad, honest green eyes that twinkled like the emeralds Centipeder had once seen on display in a brown museum case.

‘It will be’ he said.

____________________________________

When Midoriya came in to say goodnight, Sir Nighteye was looking at pictures of Kai Chisaki, their newest case. He looked up as Izuku entered, familiar yellow backpack and familiar shy smile, despite how long it had been.

‘How is it going?’

‘Good. I’m expecting his quirk registration results in tomorrow. If anything comes of this, we can study them together. How was school?’

‘Pretty good. The teacher is much nicer.’

‘And?’

‘Oh . . . well. Kacchan and I ended up in the same class again.’

‘Hm. And who is Kacchan?’

‘Oh, um, Katsuki Bakugo. We went to Aldera together and he was, uh, a little mean sometimes.’

Nighteye sighed inwardly.

‘He’s planning to enter UA as well! He’s got this really great quirk, Explosion, plus he’s really smart and super determined! We were good friends before.’

‘Before what?’

‘Before my diagnosis. Before I was quirkless.’

Again, that little idea in Nighteye’s brain itched. He didn’t examine it, not right away. He was still working. Time for silly theories later.

‘Well, if he’s ever ever bothering you, you know you can always talk to me about it.’

Midoriya giggled.

‘It’s not like you could do much. I don’t think you’d look very good fighting a middle-schooler.’

‘I don’t think the middle-schooler would have much fun either.’

‘You don’t know Bakugo. He loves fighting.’

‘Love of war does not a hero make. Nor does petty bullying, mind you.’

Mirai turned around to pin the picture onto a cork board. He carefully wound a red string around the pin, connecting it to a batch of new drugs that were circling around the underworld.

‘I have some news for you, as well.’

‘Oh?’

‘You remember Detective Tsukauchi?’

‘Yes, he gave me that new Allmight poster, to apologise for scaring me! He’s so nice!’

‘Well, we have officially started dating. He’s my boyfriend now.’

Midoriya’s nodded importantly.

‘That makes sense. You two worked really well together when Taiga Takahashi attacked the agency.’

‘Thank-you. Speaking of apologies. I have one of my own to make.’

Nighteye reached under the desk and pulled out a gift he’d commissioned for his student. It was a new notebook with a shiny Allmight figure printed on it and golden lock holding the covers tightly together.

‘I . . . I don’t understand. What do you have to apologise for?’

‘Do you know why I invited you to my agency to begin with?’

‘I thought- I thought it might have been pity. For the quirkless boy.’

‘That is incorrect. To be frank, I was scared of you.’

Midoriya’s eyes widened in confusion.

‘Huh?’

‘Your quirk analysis was good. Too good. If that notebook of yours had fallen into the wrong hands, I fear that many excellent heroes could have been taken down without mercy. That’s one of the reasons I’ve procrastinated on handing it back to you- but with this- you’ll be able to keep any confidential information to yourself and to the people that only you choose. The lock is a speciality. It’s made so it can only be turned with your specific fingerprint fitting into the minuscule grooves.’

Izuku ignored the notebook entirely, sinking into a chair in complete dazedness.

‘Scared . . . of me?’

‘Don’t be offended- that’s not any-‘

‘You didn’t think I would do it on purpose, did you, take heroes down?’

‘Never-‘

‘I’m not a villain-‘

‘Midoriya, I care about you.’

That quietened him down, very quickly.

‘I care very very deeply about you. Not because you’re quirkless but because you are you. One of the most extraordinary people I’ve ever met. Yes, originally, the work experience was meant to be mere repayment for misleading you and stealing your notes. And you need to understand that this is a matter of national security.’

‘National security’ Midoriya repeated quietly.

‘But now . . . I’d rather get impaled on a spike than see you be hurt by my actions.’

‘I understand’ he said rather shakily. ‘I . . . I don’t mind about the notebook, either. Thank-you for my present.’

Nighteye looked at him.

‘I didn’t mean to insult you. And I never pitied you.’

‘If you have, that’s alright. I’m used to it.’

‘Pity or insults?’

‘Either.’

‘Well, then that’s not acceptable. You’re a person, you deserve to be treated with respect.’

‘I didn’t mean it, ignore me. I was never treated that badly.’

‘Don’t lie to me! You were caned, it was a crime below animal cruelty.’

‘It wasn’t- how do you know about that?’

There was a sudden deep and awful silence.

‘Not even my mum knows about that! I didn’t tell anyone.’

‘You should have told me. And your mother does know. Your homeroom teacher somewhat laments that fact.’

Nighteye needed him to understand that they were there, that they would stand up for him. That there were adults who cared.

‘I don’t have to- what? What are you talking about? How could he lament it, he was in the hospital after the school burnt down.  Mum said she was out getting groceries, she saw the smoke. The day right after . . . Sensei, why were you in the Aldera area that day?’

Sweet mercy, those connecting threads.

‘I don’t make a habit of burning down schools Midoriya but-‘

‘You didn’t talk to him did you?- wait-  I’m sorry?’

‘It was a special, special case.’

‘You burned down my school?’

‘I didn’t technically. I may have arranged it, aided and abetted it, but when push comes to shove I did not fire up every single bunsen burner at the same time.’ 

‘You can’t just burn down schools!’

‘Hm, well the evidence-‘

‘Oh no, and Kacchan- you asked about Kacchan- no, no, what were you planning?’

‘I wasn’t planning anything! I was just going to talk to-‘

‘Just talk! You can barely make conversation with Bubble Girl, just talk.’

‘Izuku-‘

‘Don’t you dare! You’re supposed to be a hero!’

Nighteye looked at him, sadly, strangely.

‘Heroes do bad things too.’

Midoriya left.

Chapter Text

Dust motes floated in the afternoon sun as Bakugo and Midoriya’s new teacher placed her chalk down and turned to face her class.

‘So, now I’m going to take some time to talk about your applications for high school. I know that some of you haven’t been here very long and won’t have been able to think about it as much, so there’s a two-day extension for all applications. It might be that you’re not sure where you want to go yet . . . if that’s the case I can offer some career aptitude tests but then again, I know that most of you will be hoping to get into UA!’

There was a rumble of murmured agreements. Bakugo snorted and made a bold statement.

‘These extras will be lucky if they end up a sidekick to some third-rate, but I’m the real deal! I’m going to be the greatest hero there ever was and surpass even Allmight!’

The teacher frowned at this outburst but she spoke calmly. ‘Hm. You did very well in the mock exams and trials. And your quirk is truly something to behold . . . Midoriya, you’ve applied to the hero course as well, haven’t you?’

The boy shifted, uncomfortable at being singled out, especially being compared to Kacchan. He didn’t blame his new teacher, she wasn’t exactly up-to-date on their relationship and his behaviour but it didn’t make the situation any better for him.

‘Um, yeah. I took the mock exams too, I went okay.’

‘Midoriya, do you really think it’s realistic to expect to get in the hero course? Especially regarding your condition. There’s a physical exam as well, you know.’

‘I know, but- but there’s no precedent, I checked!’

‘Make sure you look into other options.’

The statement was delivered coldly and sternly, the same way Sir had talked him when Taiga had gotten into the agency. Midoriya bent his head down in shame as the humoured snickers and barely muffled laughter rang from the other classmates.

________________________________________________

Bakugo cornered him after class, waiting until the teacher had left to approach his desk while Midoriya was still packing up.

While he was carefully placing his pencil case away, his hand brushed against something unfamiliar. The notebook. The notebook that Sir Nighteye had given him. He looked at it, the shiny smiley Allmight on the cover, giving a huge thumbs up at him.

’To be frank . . . I was scared of you.’

Izuku bit his lip and placed his thumb into the fingerprint lock, one of the most complex devices he’d ever seen. Trust Sensei to be thorough. When he opened the first page, there was a little note in beautiful handwritten calligraphy, much nicer than Midoriya’s neat chicken-scratch

Hero Analysis For The Future: Vol #15

What’s Essential To Becoming A Hero Is Invisible To The Eye.

Suddenly, a rough hand wrenched it from his grasp.

‘Kacchan give it back! That was a gift.’

‘Hero analysis? Are you stalking us, dumb Deku?’

‘Please!’

‘Alright, tell you what. I’ll give your stalker-diary back if you promise me something.’

‘What is it?’

‘Don’t apply to UA. And if you do, I’ll kill you. What are you gonna do, stop me, defenceless Izuku?’

‘Give me my notebook back!’

With one little flick it was set alight before Midoriya’s eyes. He gasped, tears beginning to leak already. This was supposed to have finished.

‘You don’t need this.’

He threw it quickly out the open window.

‘Why would you do that? Why are you so mean?’

‘Because I can be.’ Bakugo stalked past Midoriya and to the door, turning to look at him just before he left. ‘But hey. If you really do want to be a hero, I have some advice. Just pray you’ll be born with a quirk in your next life- and throw yourself off the roof of the building!’

Midoriya stood there, shaking for a moment, and then grabbed his backpack, hurrying out.

He passed his new teacher on the way, standing by the open door.

She didn’t say anything.

_______________________________

‘Idiot.’ Midoriya mumbled. ‘What if I did it? What would you do then?’

Even if he was planning to commit suicide, he couldn’t do it after Kacchan said something like that. It might go on his record, and then how would he get into UA? Midoriya hurried toward the schoolyard, trying to find the spot where his special gift would have fallen. Hopefully it wouldn’t have been too damaged, just a little dirty perhaps where it hit-

A fishpond.

He just had to have been born with the worst fucking luck didn’t he? A cursed child, no good to anyone. Maybe he should kill himself and do the world a favour. But even as he thought it, the bright encouraging smile of Mirio flashed at him in the pond.

‘It won’t be AS hard to pass the Entrance Exam.’

The bruise on Mirio’s torso.

The bullet that flew just above his head as Taiga turned.

Monstra, in custody, his gang disbanded and his drugs confiscated.

What’s Essential To Being A Hero Is Invisible To The Eye.

But if it wasn’t a flashy quirk that made a hero, what was it? And how did Midoriya obtain it?

____________________________

He was thinking about it, mulling it over as he held the soggy notebook in his hands. Walking home through the unfamiliar streets, he saw Bakugo walking and laughing ahead of him, and dropped back a bit, not wanting to antagonise the boy further.

He kept a close eye on them, making sure they weren’t going to spot him. They were just about to pass by a corner shop, where an elderly-looking man, holding two bags of groceries was standing at the door, waiting for them to pass so he could walk peaceably out. His face was somewhat thoughtful watching the children play as they crossed his field of vision.

Then, the panicked shouts started behind them.

They all turned, Bakugo, Midoriya, the stranger, to see a villain rushing up behind them like a flood, his body oily and formless. With him, he carried a volley of cash that had apparently been stolen, given the shouts of an angry shopkeeper chasing him. Waiting for no-one, he slid down the street, faster than light and went straight for-

And went straight for-

And went straight for Kacchan.

Bakugo stumbled as the sludge began to pool around his ankles, face twisted in sudden terror. The man reached for him, but he was too small, too gaunt, too thin. He didn’t have the strength it would take, scrawny and sick-looking to pull Bakugo from the villain’s grasp, even as his groceries crashed to the ground.

Besides he was too far away.

Midoriya didn’t think. The world blurred around him like a watercolour painting and his body moved on its own.

Jumping, the same way he had seen Mirio jump a thousand times before, he pressed his arms tight onto Kacchan’s chest and shoved him with all the force he had. Their eyes met in that moment of adrenaline and panic. It was the first time Midoriya had ever shoved back.

Midoriya jumped between Bakugo and the elderly man, pushing them both out of the way of the villain as he passed by the store and taking the small, quirkless boy with him.

_____________________

Sir Nighteye was looking Chisaki’s registration results when the call came in. A police radio, he could hear the chaos in the background, even as Naomasa’s voice came through, calm and grounding.

‘Mirai, there’s a call out for an incident in Corinthian avenue, two blocks from you. Get here quick.’

‘I’m on my way. Quirk?’

‘It’s a villain. Sludge Monster.’

‘Only petty thievery in the past. What’s the deal now?’

‘He has a hostage.’

‘Have negotiations begun?’

‘There’s no time. The victim is being carried within the sludge. He’s doing a good job standing up for his own so far, but he’s going to suffocate if we don’t get him out soon.’

‘What’s the victim’s quirk? Is there any way we can use it to our advantage?’

‘Mirai.’

‘We’re on a time crunch, just tell me.’

‘Mirai, the hostage is quirkless.’

No. No no no, not again.

‘An adult?’

‘Babe. You know who it is.

Allmight is on the scene right now. He’s asking for backup.’

Chapter Text

Midoriya had never thought that oxygen was so precious. He’d thought that there was a whole world of it, floating around, just waiting for him to breathe it in. He could almost taste it, just a few metres away, just a few inches away from the thick gag of oily and acrid slime that covered his nose and mouth. He kicked again. And again and again and again, desperately trying to maintain his position, held in midair. If he could just struggle a little harder, reach a little higher, he could wrench himself from his position, free his body from the endlessly moving all-encompassing sludge. Everything would be right again. He kicked harder, only just gaining enough traction to breathe before he sunk down again. The blue sky above him only seemed to climb higher and higher.

Mirai rounded the corner to see him standing there, the glorious one himself, smile unfaltering. He felt something stir in him, at that smile. In the past it had meant hope, it had meant home. Now he just wanted the man to take this damned disaster seriously! Midoriya was in danger.

‘Where is he?’ he said breathlessly.

He could see Naomasa waving at him from behind a police car and then jogging up to see him. Allmight didn’t the answer the question quickly enough, so Mirai redirected it to the love of his life. ‘Where is he?’

‘Sir Nighteye’ Toshinori said gruffly. ‘It’s good to work with you again.’

Mirai stared at Naomasa.

‘Come on’ said the Detective. ‘We’ve started hostage negotiations, you’ll want to see the situation for yourself.’

They turned the corner together and Nighteye beheld it with a horrified sort of hopelessness. The villain had blockaded the entire street, an armful of cash waving in a shifting hand. But the worst part was Izuku, body suspended in the middle of the pile of dirty-looking slime, struggling and shaking as he desperately tried to pull the villain off him. A gag of sorts was pulled tightly around his head, keeping him in place, so basically all Mirai could see of him, of this child he’d promised to train and protect was his panicked, frightened eyes.

In the distance, Midoriya could see him. Sir Nighteye was here! Sir Nighteye would help and a figure standing beside him, frighteningly familiar and horrifyingly strange at the same time. But that didn’t matter, not in the slightest, not when Sensei was here. Not when Bakugo was standing just a few meters away, safe behind a quickly constructed ‘keep out’ line. With all of the distractions his focus flittered for a moment and he slipped a few meters down, and he writhed with all his strength just so he could climb back up and see his Sensei again.

Mirai watched as Midoriya disappeared from his view, and a panicked shout was heard from the officer with a megaphone.

‘RELEASE THE CHILD AND NO HARM WILL COME TO YOU. YOU ARE 

SURROUNDED. THERE IS NOWHERE TO RUN.’

With a gasp, Midoriya swam back into view and continued his determined struggling, his eyes narrowed in determination.

‘What does he want?’

‘Free getaway.’

‘Well, give it to him! Midoriya can’t be harmed.’

The officer was right. Heroes surrounded the villain on every side, the likes of Kamui Woods, Rock Lock and Mt Lady. It was Kamui Woods who spoke, with a deep calm voice.

‘Sludge has been avoiding us for months. We can’t drop an opportunity like this.’

‘I can’t hit him with any kind of dangerous smash, the boy might get hurt.’

‘Can you minimise it to smaller damage like a few broken bones?’ Kamui Woods was intent on getting the villain in, it seemed.

‘You’re actively advocating for me to hurt him?’ Toshinori asked, dumbfounded.

‘He’s only a quirkless.’

Mirai was fortunately absolved from snapping his neck by Rock Lock.

‘Ay, shut your fuck of a mouth. He’s just a kid.’

‘If we don’t do something he’ll suffocate!’

Woods muttered something unflattering under his breath. Nighteye took command.

‘Mt Lady, you behind the villain in the wider area and that way we’ll minimise collateral damage. Kamui, Rock Lock and left and right of him. Allmight and I will negotiate from the front and the minute we remove Midoriya Izuku, you go in for the attack. Is that clear?’

They nodded, and dashed to their assigned positions. Allmight turned to look at his former sidekick, his glasses flashing with righteous fury.

‘You’ve grown up’ he said, almost sadly. ‘We’re going to save that child. He did something- something extraordinary. I want to thank him.’

‘We are going to save him’ Nighteye snapped. ‘And we’re going to save him without a single scratch on his damn fucking body.’

‘Well, I can’t promise that-‘

‘No. You are. You are going to promise that. You’ll save him, and he’ll live and he’ll grow up because he’s mine. He’s my child, Toshinori!’

And his hero, the man he loved and respected more than anyone else-

The man he had loved and respected more than anything else, looked at him with something like abject shock.

Kacchan, why did Kacchan look so scared? Was the villain close to him? Was he in danger? No, Kacchan was scared for- Kacchan was scared for him. Something flickered in Midoriya, something warm, as stars flickered at the edge of his vision, oxygen running out. And his energy.

In what was to be last minutes of his life it was Mirio that came to him, his smiling encouraging face-

No why Mirio? Couldn’t it have been someone a little more important, like his mother? Or Sir Nighteye? But then, if it was Mirio, that must be important too. What was it again?

‘You took advantage of my weakness and exploited it, just like a good hero does in a fight!’

A weakness, the quirk, the villain- All of his training, months of analysing, weeks of sparring, hours of tutoring. This is exactly the kind of situation it was for.

Analyse the quirk, find the weakness, draw the dots- Sludge, goo, think. Reference? Quirks were rarely independent drawing on the forces of nature around them, like Centipeder’s mutant quirk, or Bakugo’s mimicking nitroglycerin.

Reference. Mud, goo, sludge. Quicksand. How do you fight quicksand? You don’t struggle. You even out your bodyweight across the surface. Connect the threads. All of Sludge’s victims struggled. They writhed. He always placed a gag over their mouths for seemingly no reason- other than to rile up the watching forces. Quicksand it was then.

Midoriya decided to test his theory.

With one last mighty kick, he grabbed the biggest breath of oxygen then stilled allowing the body of the villain to slowly wash over him. Overtake him. There was nothing but darkness. A scream.

‘IZUKU’

And then he rolled, right out of the bottom and onto dependable concrete. He wasn’t there for long. The quick branches of Kamui Woods snatched him up as Allmight rocketed toward the villain, delivering a Canadian smash.

Nighteye and Tsukauchi fussed over Midoriya, making sure he was okay and unhurt. Allmight looked between them both as they hugged, frowning. Tsukauchi knew that he was doing multiplications in his head. He also realised that Mirai let him. Mirai had just, accepted it. Let it be true.

Izuku looked around for Kacchan, but the boy had slunk away. They would meet again later.

They listened to Midoriya’s excited rendition of how he had used analysis to defeat the villain, giving a blow-by-blow rundown of his process. Tsukauchi chuckled as the boy quaked in the presence of his hero and positively vibrated when he asked to walk the student home.

‘Your limit-’

‘Go back to the office, Mirai. You must have a lot of paperwork to do. Besides’ Toshinori added. ‘There’s something I want to ask him.’

___________________________________________________________

In this universe, when Toshinori reveals himself, Midoriya still cries. He still sobs like the sun won’t rise tomorrow, in joy, in excitement and in relief.

But in this universe, he doesn’t kneel.

_____________________________________________________________

It was late at night when Allmight walked back to Nighteye’s agency.

‘I need to talk with you.’

Chapter Text

‘Absolutely not.’

‘Mirai-‘

‘I refuse.’

‘You can’t just pass up-‘

‘I can, I will and I am.’

‘He already accepted.’

‘Well, make him un-accept it, because I, explicitly. Refuse.’

‘Why?’

Because he’s mine.

Because you’re dying.

Because no One-For-All user has ever lived to be old and Izuku deserves better than that.

‘Because he doesn’t need your fucking power!’ Mirai chose. ‘Because he has suffered and worked and trained and I will not have you come in with a magical fairy wand to pretend you’ve solved all of his problems!’

‘That is not what’s happening, you’re not listening! You never listen!’

‘Choose someone else. Choose Mirio.’

‘Oh, for fucks sake!’

There was an awkward pause. Nighteye stood up and stalked around his desk, not looking at the hero in his office.

‘Do you remember what it was like to be quirkless?’

‘I remember standing on the ground, watching my peers fly above me. I remember how frustrating that was- I remember Nana Shimura telling me I had a smile that would save lives.’

‘What was it like in your day, was it as bad as it is now?’

‘Is it bad, now?’

‘Well, you heard Kamui Woods, didn’t you?’

‘Ah.’

That idea, that thought had stirred within him again. The one he kept procrastinating on looking at. The idea was this.

If treatment of the quirkless is becoming worse, that means society does not necessarily continually move forward to equity. If that is the case, then that means the world that Allmight has created is not perfect, not golden as he once thought. And that means that Allmight, the smiling hero has made mistakes, is-

And there he was, standing quietly in that dark and empty office, in a suit that was too big for him. And there were dark circles under his eyes and a scrape on his left fist.

And Allmight was a human.

That’s all.

Just someone who was trying his best. Atlas, trying to hold the world on his shoulders and beginning to collapse under the weight.

‘Mirai, don’t you think I’d notice that Mirio looks exactly like me?’

‘I know. That’s the point. A new symbol for a new age.’

Sir Nighteye was beginning to realise how cruel it was to make symbols out of people.

‘An age where quirkless people are treated this way? I’ve forgotten my roots, little sidekick, haven’t I?’

‘I just want Midoriya to be happy.’

‘Of course you do. But the world doesn’t need another Allmight.’

Mirai was silent for a few minutes.

‘No’ he said finally. ‘It doesn’t.’

‘I want my successor to be someone kind and smart and analytical. Someone who can think things through before he does them, and not necessarily just the short-term consequences either. Someone to build a new age.’

‘Choose Mirio. Please.’

‘Mirio will save a million people when he’s older. He’ll become a great hero in his own right. He doesn’t need my power.’

‘Toshinori- how are you?’

The man was taken aback.

‘I’m . . . I’m fine.’

‘No, you’re not. You’re dying. Every week your limit is getting shorter and shorter. Are you alright? Are you in pain?’

‘You sound like Recovery Girl.’

‘Is she the only person left to care about you?’

‘What’s your point Mirai?’

‘I’m glad that you came to talk with me. I didn’t want you to die silent, with all these huge unspoken words between us.’

Toshinori looked at him.

‘If I hadn’t looked- Was it something I did? Was there a way that I offended you?’

‘No, Mirai. I just didn’t want you to watch me wilt. I don’t want anyone to watch me wilt. If I’m going out, I want to go smiling, with dignity.’

‘Alone’

‘No, I just didn’t want to make you sad.’

So, you shoved me away because you couldn’t see me weeping?

Midoriya, the crybaby, successor to Allmight, the one who never stops smiling.

A New Hero for a New Age.

Mirai sighed, deeply. He returned to the desk and faced Allmight.

‘If you do this, you must be honest with him. He has to be aware of all the risks. Nana, All For One, Torino, none of your secrecy bullshit that you pull with everyone else, do you understand?’

‘I do.’

‘And you’ll train him, you’ll take responsibility for him?’

‘I will. I promise.’

‘Then you have my blessing. Don’t abuse it.’

‘Mirai . . . thank-you. I’ll look after him.’

‘If he gets hurt, I will not hesitate to go to Hero News Daily and spill all of your secrets. And don’t underestimate me either. For Midoriya, I’ve done much worse.’

Toshinori threw his head back and laughed, deep, jolly and booming like it was back in the old days.

‘I missed you, don’t you know that?’

‘You never had to. And you don’t have to.’

‘Now, tell me a little bit more about this Tsukauchi Naomasa, I need to know he’s good enough for my sidekick. Did you two adopt Midoriya together?’

Mirai, blushed. ‘Er, no. He’s not legally adopted either, he has a mother you know. I just, um. Take care of him.’

Toshinori nodded, picking up his bag on his way out.

‘That makes sense. Even back in the old days it was the kids you loved saving the best. You liked to help them smile again.’

Chapter Text

‘Are you ready?’

‘More than I’ve ever been in my entire life. Are you ready?’

‘Absolutely not. Let’s do this.’

Mirai clicked the call button, and the screen lit up, whirring into action, showing them the image of a shy little girl, Sir Nighteye plushie held tightly in one arm and dark blue hair falling into her eyes.

‘Hi!’ she said, a little hesitantly. Around her thumb.

‘Hello Madeleine.’

It’s nice to see you!’ Tsukauchi said cheerfully. ‘I like your doll.’

‘Amy got him for me’ Madeleine replied. ‘It looks like him.’

‘It certainly does’ Naomasa agreed.

The plan had been to wait another year, but once Mirai had read the story he quietly insisted.

‘I’m Sasaki Mirai’ he said, calm and steadily. ‘And this is my partner, Detective Naomasa Tsukauchi. We’re going to fly all the way over to America to see you, and become your dads, your real forever dads. If that’s what you want.’ 

Madeleine blinked.

‘Even though I don’t have a quirk?’ she asked quietly, looking at them with something like confusion and worry.

‘Even though you don’t have a quirk.’ Mirai assured. ‘I know a lot of people who don’t have quirks and I can tell you that they’re the coolest people on earth!’

Madeleine finally smiled, brightly. Fuck, Tsukauchi loved her already.

‘Heroes?’ she asked. Mirai nodded.

‘Do you have a favourite hero?’

Madeleine squirmed a little, excitedly.

‘Uh-huh. I like The Janitor because he says lots of silly things . . . he was American but now he’s in Japan. Like I’m going to be!’

‘Wow’ Mirai replied. ‘My favourite hero is Allmight. He originally came from America too!’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. That’s why he wears Red, White and Blue!’

Madeleine’s face looked like Mirai had given her the entire world on a silver platter. Tsukauchi loved him. He turned to the screen.

‘Madeleine’ he said. ‘We’ll be getting on a plane in one, two, three, four, five days and flying to America to meet you. Then, once we’ve spent a couple of days getting to know each other, you’re going to come on a big plane with us and move into our home. Just in time to celebrate your sixth birthday, two weeks later! How does that sound?’

She nodded importantly.

‘And I’ll make sure Mirai brings his big Allmight plushie that matches yours!’

Madeleine gasped excitedly and a warm voice from behind her- Amy- called out.

‘You have to go now Maddie, say goodbye!’

‘Bye-bye!’ the girl said excitedly and hung up.

The detective and the hero looked at each other, smiling and crying, happy as the sun. They cuddled for a bit, on the couch, in front of the computer, before Mirai stood up, all seven foot of him and pulled a picnic basket out from behind his office desk.

‘I’m sorry, love’ he said. ‘I have a prior engagement.’

‘Absolute baloney, it’s your afternoon off.’

‘It is. What I do have then,  is a very educated guess.’

A small rumbling was heard from behind the office door, growing louder and louder until the very floorboards rattled with it as a very excited green ball of energy burst in, almost smashing the door on his way through.

‘I GOT IN!’ he shouted.

Mirai smiled.

‘Really? I never would have known.’

‘I GOT IN, I GOT IN, I GOT IN, I GOT IN, I GOT IN, I GOT IN’ Izuku chanted, pumping his fists and jumping around the office. Centipeder peeked his head in through the door, smiling.

There had not been a single doubt around the agency as to this result. Combined training from Toshinori and Nighteye, as well as a little string-pulling from Nezu had gotten him into the recommendation trials, which he had promptly exceeded with skill. He broke both his arms in the process, but still. It would be avoided in the future, Toshinori had assured them. Midoriya had worried over his performance, in between gushing over a spectacular ice quirk used in the trials and was waiting with baited breath for the letter to come. So, Mirai had packed the picnic basket in anticipation and now picked up the unruly boy by the back of the collar.

‘Come on you hooligan’ he said brusquely. ‘Take your celebrations out of my agency before you destroy it.’

And they did, walking out of the office and through the sunny town while Midoriya danced and shouted and smiled, until they got to their destination, a beach that, until about five weeks before had been deemed unsuitable for public use.

‘You did a good job here’ Nighteye complimented. ‘It’s almost pretty now.’

They set out the picnic together, little boxes of sushi and sandwiches with cream cakes for dessert. Once they had sat down, Midoriya turned to Mirai.

‘How did your meeting with Madeleine go?’

‘She’s wonderful. I can’t wait to see her. I don’t understand how anyone could ever give her up.’

‘I’d hate to see anyone who lays hands on her, they’d get their school burned down.’

Mirai shot him a sharp, disapproving look. Izuku looked back at him teasingly.

He’d never let that go, Mirai knew it.

‘No’ he mused. ‘I’ll just teach her to punch bullies in the face, and then Karen her out of detention afterwards.’

Izuku smiled.

And then shoved him down a sand dune.

Down he went, in a ridiculous little ball of tangled legs and arms until he hit the bottom and spit out a mouthful of sand with an angry huff.

‘The hell was that for?’

‘Remember our deal?’ Izuku shouted back smugly. ‘You said if I managed to knock you down, you’d tell me about your quirk’

‘In sparring!’

‘You didn’t specify, did you?’

Mirai walked back up, grumpy as a bitter cat and collapsed back next to him. ‘Fine. It’s Prophetic Eye. When I activate it on a certain subject I can see into their future for as long as I choose. I can only do one subject over twenty-four hours and then I can pick a new one.’

Midoriya’s eyes widened in excitement and his hands twitched. Mirai smiled fondly.

‘Shall I demonstrate it for you?’

‘Really?’

‘Yes. We’ll make it a getting-in treat.’

‘That’s so cool. What shall we look at?’

‘Hmm . . . why don’t you decide?’

There was a silence, just the sound of the wind in the grass as Midoriya mulled it over.

‘You’ he said finally. ‘What will you be doing in . . . five years!’

Mirai felt tight, nervous panic clench in his gut- the last time he’d done this- looked so far.

But Midoriya’s bright, shining face was looking at him and everything was going to be alright.

He activated the quirk.

‘I’m looking now. I see it like a movie. It’s early evening. I’m in my house . . . good to know I won’t be moving soon. Tsukauchi is in the kitchen, and for some reason Mic and Eraserhead are at the dining table. I can see, Madeleine running around and around the couch with another little girl- I think she must be Shouta and Mic’s daughter, she’s got white hair- and I’m kneeling in front of the tv, turning it on- because the hero billboards are on- Aaaah, I see why we’ve gathered tonight. There’s a very special hero being presented.’

Midoriya flopped back sighing happily. He didn’t catch Mirai’s hint and Mirai didn’t want him to, leaving some things to be a special, wonderful surprise.

‘And all because of you.’

‘Yeah . . . just to think of everything that happened just because I accidentally ran into you one day!’

‘Imagine. I don’t get to see things that might have been. Only what will.

I wonder what we would be?

What do you think would have happened,

.

.

.

.

.

.

If we had never met?’