Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"Guys! Guys, look! I-I got my Quirk! I got my Quirk!"

"Woah, really?"

"It's about time!"

"What is it? What is it?"

The young boy beamed with pride, moving his hand so his friends could see-

"Is... that a rabbit?"

The miniature creature in the boy's hands somewhat resembled an infant bunny rabbit... albeit blue, covered in thin down over what appeared to be scales. It had a small nub on the top of its forehead, and its large ears drooped downward and seemed made out of a solid shell.

"That's the ugliest rabbit I've ever seen!"

"Your Quirk's a weird rabbit? That's weird!"

The boy shook his head. "No- Well... kinda? I-It's more like... my Quirk called the rabbit to me! H-Here, let me show you!"

With hands shaking from excitement, the boy placed the little fuzzball on the ground, and took several steps away from it. He then brought two fingers to his mouth, letting out a short whistle.

For a moment nothing happened, but after a few seconds the small rabbit pushed itself up on its little legs, and took a step forward. The another, its tiny legs trembling from the stress. When it took the third step, it flopped back down on the ground with a tired huff.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"THAT'S THE LAMEST QUIRK I'VE EVER SEEN!"

"Bwahahah! Look at that thing! It's so pathetic! It can't even walk!"

The boy flinched. This wasn't what he expected to hear right after he just got his Quirk! "I-It's not pathetic! It's just tired, that's all!

"So what? Even if it could walk more than two steps, what use would that thing have anyway? All you have is an ugly rabbit! That kind of Quirk will never amount to anything!"

The boy pouted, puffing up his cheeks as his wet eyes betrayed whatever anger he was trying to show. "Th-That's not true! Y-You'll see! M-My Quirk's going to be awesome when I grow up! And I'll be th-the best Hero ever!"

"Faaaaaat chance! You're just always going to be a Deku no matter what!"

"Yyyaaaaaaawwwwnnn..."

"Tokage Setsuna! Am I boring you, by any chance?"

The green-haired girl flinched as she got singled out (her teacher already knew her name right on the first day?) just for yawning. "N-No, Sensei!"

"Then what's the matter?" huffed the imposing Pro Hero, Vlad King, that would be their homeroom teacher for the rest of the year. "Let me guess, did you spend the night gossiping with your friends online, and that's why you're tired!?"

Another flinch. "H-Hey! It wasn't gossiping..." she defended herself with a pout. Arguing about whether an Acrocanthosaurus could beat up a Giganotosaurus was serious academic discussion! Her cheeks flushed a bit as she heard the snickering coming from some of her new classmates. "B-Besides, what are we even doing out here anyway? It's the first day of school; shouldn't be introducing ourselves, or something?" certainly she wasn't the only one who hadn't expected to be dragged out of the entrance ceremony, and straight into their gym clothes.

"Hmph! If you expect the road to becoming a Hero to be one spent on something so banal then you won't get very far in this school; recommendations or not!" her teacher shouted back, cutting her down a few more inches. "The only reason we didn't do this earlier in the day is because your colleagues at Class A had reserved the fields already. You know what that means? that means they already have a head start on all of you! You're going to have to work extra hard if you're to catch up! And we'll start with some basic physical exercises; stuff I'm sure you've no doubt gone through in middle school, but here, there's going to be a big difference: you're perfectly free to use your Quirks to aid you however you want!"

This brought a whole new level of excitement to the class, and Setsuna was no different. She'd easily ace each exercise, and show everyone she didn't get those recommendations for nothing!

Sit-ups? Piece of cake!

Seated toe-touching? Easy as pie!

50 meter dash? In her sleep!

The exercises unfurled, and she made short work of any challenge placed in her way! When it came time for the softball throwing, she nearly laughed at how easy this one would be. Her hand detached from her arm, and casually floated farther and farther, earning her a cool 700 meters or so; far ahead of the rest of her class. She doubted anyone there could even hope to match that; her only competitors were Big Hand Lady and Spooky Ghost Girl, and even they didn't get that far! She was feeling pretty confident in her status as Number One of Class B!

"Next up: Midoriya Izuku."

She glanced as the nervous boy rushed to the circle. Out of everyone in the class, he'd had the least impressive showing up to this point; he was as stiff as a rod, awkward when running, and didn't have much in the way of grip strength. She hadn't seem him use anything that resembled a Quirk for some reason (even Mushroom Girl had used her Quirk to whip up some energy-filled mushrooms for herself), so she had to wonder just what he was waiting for.

The green-haired, freckled boy stood in the center of the circle, and looked back at his teacher.

"Uhm... you might wanna step back a little, Sensei..."

Hah! There was a bit of spice in that salad after all, Setsuna thought to herself. Now she had to see what he was cooking!

Instead of preparing to throw the ball, the boy instead raised his other hand up to his mouth... and whistled.

Setsuna blinked as nothing really happened after that, the whole class left staring.

...toom...!

And then, there was something.

Toom...!

It was a bit distant at first, but-

Toom...!

There was no mistaking it, as it quickly grew louder.

Toom...!

Everyone turned their heads to a section of the school grounds that was covered in trees, and the noise was clearly coming from there.

TOOM...!

"Are those..." wondered a plain-looking boy with brown hair, "...footsteps...?"

TOOM!

And then, from amidst the trees, emerged a thing.

"KIIIGHWRROOOOOORRR!!" roared the beast as it stomped its way towards the field. The monster was big; every centimeter's worth of three meters in height, and possibly even taller than that! The jagged scales on its body were blue, except for the white underbelly of the beast. Huge, imposing scythe-like claws stretched from its fingers, along with menacing spikes that emerged from its forearms; its back also had a row of large spikes which stretched down to a lengthy and flexible tail, ending in a dangerous spiked mace. Its mouth was equipped with menacing fangs, its lower canines jutting out like tusks; its eyes were wide and glowed a fearsome yellow. On the sides of its head were two "ears" covered in bone-like armor, which flanked a huge horn that was as long as the creature's head and neck.

Needless to say, a bit of panic washed over the class as the monster drew nearer, but Setsuna could only stare with wide eyes filled with awe. This monster was as tall as an elephant, and like something straight out of a science fiction manga! Animals with Quirks weren't exactly an alien concept, but holy cow!

The monster halted its advance once it got close to Izuku, lowering its head slightly... so the boy could give its snout a gentle pet.

"Here you go, Kelbim!" Izuku said to the beast, before he tossed up the ball, the monster clamping its mouth shut around it. The monster stood up to its full height once more, rearing its head back as its "ears" raised up, before launching a potent ball of fire that shot through the air, carrying the softball with it. It landed with a flaming explosion, but the sturdy UA equipment survived the abuse.

"...709.3 meters." Vlad King announced, firmly nonplussed by the entire event.

The whole class erupted in questions and befuddlement, some even wondering if that was a legal move, with other arguing that of course it was. The boy only seemed to shrink and wilt at the attention, while his monster, Kelbim, snorted with feigned indifference, trying to act like the attention didn't get to it.

Only Setsuna remained silent, still staring ahead of her with wide eyes.

She didn't even care that her record had been surpassed.

She just gained a wild, manic grin on her face when she looked back at Izuku.

She had to know more!

Chapter Text

I heard he doesn't have a Quirk.

How lame.

He's such a loser!

And he always will be!

A young boy sat on the grass in the playground, staring blankly at the ground as he waited for his mother to come pick him up. All the other kids were heading home. Nobody really waved him goodbye.

With nothing else to do, the young boy decided... he could at least practice his whistling.

And when he did so... he heard a rustle...

"Here you go! I brought you a carrot!" the little boy said, holding out the vegetable to the small critter in the box. "Mom can't know about this, OK? It'll be our secret!"

(Midoriya Izuku, age 5.)

Building this little shelter behind the apartment building he lived in was the best idea he ever had! He didn't know if his mom would ever let him keep a pet, so this way, he could keep his little friend and take care of him without having to tell her! Inside the cardboard box was the small blue rabbit, who weakly crawled closer to the offered food to begin nibbling on it.

"That's right, I should name you, shouldn't I?" he hummed in thought. "If we're gonna grow up and be strong Heroes, then you need a really cool and fierce name! Something like... Dangeror! Or, or... Fearsogon!"

The rabbit only continued to take small nibbles at the carrot, not paying any attention.

"Hmm... but those might sound too scary, right? We're going to be Heroes who bring smiles to everyone's faces... If I could be Mighty Boy some day, then you would be Mighty Bunny! But that's a bit cutesy now, isn't it?" he hummed again, and then blinked as he noticed the feebly little bunny had already chewed his way through half the carrot. "Wow, you were really hungry, huh?"

Stopping its feeding, the bunny letting out a little burp in response.

Izuku giggled as the animal went back to eating its lunch. "Oh! I think I got it! Your name's gonna be..."

"A-AAAYYIIIIIIII!!"

(Less than three days later.)

"W-Wait! Wait, mom! D-Don't be scared!"

"I-Izuku, get away! M-Mommy's got this!" shrieked Midoriya Inko as she held the broom in her trembling hands.

"M-Mom, listen to me! Kelbim's friendly! He's-"

"Izuku, get away from that rat! He could bite you!!"

"K-Kelbim's not a rat! He's a bunny!"

Inko blinked, the fact finally penetrating her frightened brain. "Kelb-... it has a name!?"

"Y-Yes, I named it!" Izuku said, picking up the small rabbit in his tiny hands off the kitchen floor. "He must've been lonely and followed me inside..."

"Izuku... how long have you been hiding this-" what did she even call it? It didn't look like any rabbit she'd ever seen!

"Uhm... since Friday..." Izuku shrunk a bit in shame. "I'm sorry, mom... I-I didn't know if you'd let me keep it..."

The woman still looked at the little creature suspiciously, but on closer inspection, she could kinda, almost, maybe see the rabbit-like features beneath all the Quirk-induced mutations. Finally she just sighed, kneeling down before her worried son, and giving him a gentle smile. "Izuku, I really wish you would've told me sooner. It's not nice to lie, you know that."

"I-I know... I'm sorry..."

"It's OK, I'm not mad." she placed a hand on his shoulder. "But where did you even find this thin- uhm... Kelbim?"

"I called him!" Izuku's eyes quickly light up. "I think- I think it might be my Quirk!"

"Your-!?" Inko gasped, as memories of that awful diagnosis came back to her. That had been months ago, and now-... could it really be true? "Izuku... are you sure...?"

The boy quickly nodded his head "Kelbim always comes when I whistle! That has to be my Quirk! I can control Kelbim! Maybe- Maybe even other animals! I can't wait to show this to Kacchan and everyone else!"

Inko tried her best to smile at her son; she wanted to be happy for him, to cry tears of pure joy that the diagnosis was wrong after all... but there was a nagging voice in the back of her head, wondering if that was even possible. She did her best to bury it as deep as she could when she saw Izuku's worried face again.

"Can we... keep Kelbim...?"

"Izuku, a pet is a lot of responsibility." Inko said, but she quickly grew back her smile. "You have to promise me you'll be a big boy, OK?"

"I-I promise!"

"You won't just leave everything to me, OK? You're going to have to feed it, wash it, clean after its mess-"

"I promise, I promise, I promise!"

Inko's smile grew more radiant to match her son's. "In that case, we'll head to the pet shop tomorrow, and get little Kelbim a proper cage, OK?"

Izuku's smile could rival the Sun itself.

"Oh! I know! Let's take a picture and send it to your father!" Inko suggested as she fished out her phone. "He's going to be thrilled with these news!"

Izuku squealed with joy, squeezing himself close to his mom, holding up Kelbim with a face of pure pride and joy.

"Hmm... I'm not sure about this..." the boy hummed as he looked at his own notes.

(Midoriya Izuku, age 10.)

"What do you think, Kelbim?" he swiveled on his chair, holding up the two nearly-identical doodles of All Might's face on cardboard for his homemade mask.

The rabbit sleeping atop the boy's bed raised his head, wide glowing eyes looking over at Izuku's call.

"Which one do you think is better? This one on the left is of All Might during last month's charity telethon, but the one on the right is All Might during his cameo appearance in Godzillo Versus The Babylonian Mummy. I think the former is probably closer to what people think of when they picture All Might; since he was put under a lot of makeup for the movie, I'm kinda worried people will ask all kinds of questions why he looks so different! But I really like that movie too, and I'd like to pay tribute to it..."

Kelbim just stared at his owner for a few seconds.

"...left? Or right?" Izuku repeated the question, genuinely curious.

The rabbit answered with a strange bloopy noise from its throat.

"You're right! Even if people ask me why my All Might mask looks different, that only gives me more chances to talk about All Might! You're a genius, Kelbim!"

Kelbim just snorted, letting his head droop back down on the fluffy bed.

"Oh, that reminds me." Izuku set his things aside, and quickly grabbed the measuring tape. "I almost forgot to take your measurements for the month." he stood up and walked over to the bed, easily maneuvering the lazy pet around the bed with his hands.

Kelbim offered zero resistance, practically a stuffed animal as Izuku propped him up on his hind legs to measure him. Over the course of six years, the rabbit had grown quite considerably from the little fluff ball it used to be; it was now about the size of an average house cat, and lost all of the downy fur it once had. With the research he'd made, he knew that some of the largest rabbit species could reach up to 8kg, but Kelbim was just a bit heavier than that (about 9.3kg and 66cm in length, not counting the horn and tail). The years had only made Kelbi's mutations that much more apparent, as his nubby tail had grown rather lengthy, and ending in a thick club that could make some damage (as his desk's leg could attest when Kelbim bumped into it); the nub on top of his forehead had also grown into a sharp horn, and his ears had only grown more sturdy as the carapace surrounding them hardened; even his paws seemed to be growing lengthy sharp claws. One look at Kelbim's mouth and you wouldn't really be able to tell it was a rabbit, as instead of the expected front teeth, Kelbim seemed to actually be growing tusks in a mouth full of sharp, carnivorous-looking teeth; he had lived just fine on vegetables up to now, although Kelbim had shown himself to have no trouble snatching away meat from Izuku's plate from time to time.

Needless to say, the extent of Kelbim's mutations were as fascinating for the young Izuku as any Pro Hero's Quirk, and he had made the habit of detailing everything about his pet down on his own personal notebook. Much of the earlier pages were filled with facts and suggestions on how to take care of domesticated rabbits, although a lot of that information ended up being crossed out as it didn't seem to apply to Kelbim, leading Izuku to just write down his own notes on how to take care of such a strange creature.

Certainly he'd been faced with the question many times, from others as well as his own thoughts: was Kelbim even actually a rabbit in the first place? Nobody could say with absolute certainty, although their veterinarian seemed to be at least content with treating Kelbim as such, so why should Izuku doubt it if it was working.

Of course, the dream of being an intrepid owner-pet Hero duo was an idea he'd put behind him a year or so ago. Rabbits didn't exactly have the longest of lifespans; you could technically call Kelbim middle-aged by this point. By the time Izuku turned fifteen, well... he didn't like to dwell on it when he still had a good number of years with his scaly friend.

But Izuku hadn't given up on being a Hero, however. Sure, his constant experimentation had shown him he didn't have any kind of animal-controlling Quirk, and it seemed to be Kelbim, and only Kelbim, that he could control/would listen to him, but that was no reason to throw in the towel! Even if his Quirk was useless less than optimal, he'd find another way! He'd be a Hero no matter what!

"Alright, now that that's done! How about we go on a jog, Kelbim?"

The rabbit's ears perked up as he stood on his hind legs by himself (another oddity of his mutations; Kelbim much preferred walking on two legs than on four), and quickly hopped to the floor to get ready at the prospect of walkies.

"OK! Let's go!"

"DEKU! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU FOLLOWING ME!?"

(Katsuki Bakugou, age 13.)

The other boy flinched as he walked a good eight or nine feet behind the blonde. "I-I'm not following you, Kacchan! It's just that... th-the vet is this way..."

(Midoriya Izuku, age 12.)

"W-We just happen to be heading the same way-"

"YOU THINK THAT'S A GOOD ENOUGH EXCUSE!?" Katsuki practically snorted fire from his nostrils. "Having that stupid mongrel of yours staring at my back is freaking me out!" he aimed a finger at the mutated rabbit. Or what was still assumed to be a rabbit. "Why's it gotten so damn big anyway!? That doesn't look like a damn rabbit to me!"

In the span of two years, Kelbim had grown considerably, crossing the 100cm mark, everything about it only growing bigger in return: the horn was now close to 30cm in length and quite sharp; his tusks were much more pronounced; there were spikes now growing down the length of his spine, as well as the club-like end of his lengthy tail.

"Uhm... w-well... s-some species of hare actually grow as large as this, s-so it is still possible-"

"FORGET IT!" the blonde gruffly said. "You think I actually care about that little freak you call a pet!? Just don't walk behind me, you damn nerd! Cross the street if you have to!"

"O-OK, Kacchan, w-we'll just-" he stopped when Katsuki, distracted by glaring back at him, ended up bumping right into someone.

"Hey! Hey! What the heck, ya little brat!" the older man, decked out with various piercings on his ears and nose, spat out. "Ya nearly made me spill my drink on my ride!" he said, motioning to his car parked right next to him.

"So what!? You shouldn't have been idling in my way, Metal Face!" growled Katsuki, much to Izuku's growing terror.

"Hhhhheeeeeeehhhhhh!?" the pierced man glared. "You think you can talk to me like that, you little piece of stool!?" just then, the car doors opened to reveal two more dangerous-looking men to flanked Katsuki.

"This kid's got some mouth on him!" one of the man said.

"Brats like you oughta know to show your superiors respect!" the third man said, cracking his knuckles for emphasis.

"K-Kacchan, we should-"

"DON'T MAKE ME LAUGH!" Katsuki defiantly shouted. "Respect!? To some nameless extras!? Get real!"

As tensions grew, Izuku only grew more and more fearful. Sure, he'd seen Katsuki get in brawls since they were five, even with older kids, but these guys seemed too much even for him to handle! He saw the men grow angrier at Katsuki's taunts, and a fight would definitely break out, he had to find a way to save his friend(?), but how could he do-

"Kiiighwroor..."

Everyone there stopped and looked over at the sound of Kelbim's bark.

And Izuku's blood ran so cold, his face turns a ghostly white as he saw his pet with a raised hind leg, and the side of the car growing wetter.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...WHAT THE FREAKIN' HELL!?" the first man shouted, "THAT STINKIN' DOG IS P-P-P-P-PEEING ON MY RIDE!?"

"U-Uhm, he might be a hare, actu-"

"Hey, kid... Do YOU own that mutt!?" the man asked with a very dangerous tone in his voice.

"U-Uhhh... w-w-well, y-y-y-yes, a-a-and I'm so, so sorry for that!"

"OH, YOU BETTER BE SORRY!" the man shouted as he grabbed Izuku by the collar of his school uniform. "And you're gonna clean that up!"

"Y-Yes, yes, o-of course I will-"

"And you're gonna do it with your tongue!"

Izuku yelped. "W-W-W-What!?"

"Maybe that'll teach you and that mutt to have better-YOWCH!" the man yelled as he let go of Izuku, and took a brief moment for the boy to realize what had happened.

The man was holding his foot, right after Kelbim had slammed the prickly mace at the end of his tail down on it.

"G-GET THAT MUTT!!" the man ordered the other goons, who quickly stepped forward.

"No, wait- D-Don't hurt him-!!" Izuku threw himself in front of the two thugs to try and stop them from hurting his pet, but they easily shoved him aside and threw him to the ground.

"KIIIGHWROOOORR!!" which urged Kelbim to roar and lunge forward, swiping his tail to strike one of the men, then swipe his long, sharp claws to force the other one to step backwards. The creature then spun around, his tail viciously lashing out, smashing against the car with such force that it left an imprint on the door.

The owner of the car shrieked at the damage. "Th-That's it, YOU ARE SO DEAD-!!" before he could charge, however, Kelbim faced the man with growl, his ears lifting up before a ball of flame was spat out from his mouth, landing on the floor right at the man's feet. The thugs all yelped, jumping at the attack, their bravery soon vanishing when Kelbim shot out another ball of fire at their feet which finally convinced them to start running out of there as fast as they could.

Izuku could only stare wide-eyed at his pet. "K-...Kelbim, that was... incredible!" he immediately pulled out his notebook to start taking notes. "S-Since when did you manage to spit fire like that!? Is it something you produce naturally, it must be part of your Quirk too, so mutation and emitter types, could there be even more different effects, how deep does your control over your fire even go, we're going to have to test this out when blah blah blah blah..."

"Kiiighwroor..." Kelbim responded to his owner's muttering with a lazy snort, looking quite proud of himself for his victory.

Meanwhile, Katsuki only stared at the duo, clicking his tongue with a quiet. "What a bunch of freaks..."

"Phew!" he let out a breath of relief as he placed down the wooden box.

(Midoriya Izuku, age 14.)

"Here you go, Kelbim! Dinner is served!" he opened up the lid, revealing a heavy number of vegetables.

"KIIIIGHWROOR!" the monster cheerfully barked, quickly stuffing his face with the feast set before him. Sometimes it was crazy to think that, at some point, Kelbim could have fit inside a small cardboard box; now he was over 3m tall, and couldn't even live with them inside the apartment anymore. Luckily the spot behind the building was still open for him; it didn't take as much convincing the other tenants as he and his mom were afraid it would, as a slight incident with a would-be thief a week before had proven that Kelbim served as a pretty effective guard for the whole building.

"This is fine for now, right?" Izuku mainly wondered out loud, looking at the pile of old bed sheets that would have to serve as Kelbim's bed for now on. "It's summer, so the nights should be pretty warm. But during the weekend, I'll see if I can find some wood and build you a proper shelter. Obviously I'm not leaving you out in the rain when summer ends." he chuckled as Kelbim happily dug through his food.

At this point in his life, Izuku had no idea what to think about Kelbim anymore. Was he a rabbit? Was he some other type of Quirked animal? He didn't know anymore, and he couldn't quite bring himself to care either.

Kelbim was Kelbim.

His lovable pet.

Trusted companion.

Best friend.

"Alright Kelbim, starting next week, we'll have to give it our all!" he said with a closed fist. "We've only got a few months to prepare, but... you and me are getting into UA! That much is a promise!"

"KIIGHWROOR!" the monster let out a short roar of (he assumed) triumphant confidence.

"That's right! We're going to ace the entrance exam no matter what!"

"KIIGHWROOR!"

"And we're going to become the Number 1 Heroes in the country!"

"KIIIGHWROOOR!"

"And we're gonna-"

"KIIGHWROOOOOR!!"

"Eh?" Izuku blinked, seeing Kelbim start to fidget. "...oh! W-Wait, n-not here! Th-They'll definitely kick you out if you make a mess here! Wait, Kelbim-!"

"I-It's... even bigger than I remembered!" he said as he stood ramrod straight at the gates of UA High.

(Midoriya Izuku, age 15.)

"I-i can't believe it, I'm actually here, I'm actually at All Might's alma mater, I'm actually going to train to be a Hero, I feel my heart's ready to bounce off my chest, I wonder who'll be my teacher, and what about my classmates, I hope I'm not put in the same class as Kacchan or that guy with glasses, but everyone's going to be good I just know it, what if there's more scary people like blah blah blah blah blah..."

Kelbim just stared for a moment, looking quite pleased with how spacious the UA grounds seemed to be. "Kiighwroor...!"

"O-Oh! Right!" Izuku realized, "I guess you would get kinda bored being cooped up inside a classroom, huh? It should be fine for you to wait outside, I think? There's a lot of space, and I see a forest even! J-Just... try not to scare anyone, OK?"

"Kiighwroor!"

"That tone doesn't give me much confidence, you know..." he then glanced at his phone to realize-" Ah! I'm going to be late! I-I'll see you later, alright?" he rushed towards the building, waving back at Kelbim, who offered a fist pump to give his owner strength.

Chapter Text

"Kelbim! Over here!" the boy called as he exited UA's main building. The ground shook slightly, causing some of the other students to flinch as the creature cut through the crowd to reunite with its owner.

"Kiighwroor!"

"It's nice to see you too again, big guy!"

"Kighwroor!"

"It was great! Thanks for the help earlier!"

"Kiighwroor!!" Kelbim proudly said, raising an arm in a bit of a flex.

"Everyone else seemed really impressed to. I think you made a great first impress-"

"HAAAYAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!!"

"Ghhek-!!" Izuku squeaked out as he was nearly bulldozed by a flying girl from out of nowhere.

"Hiya." she said with a big toothy grin that rivaled even Kelbim's.

"Uhm... h-h-h-hel-...o...?" his voice trailed off as the green-haired girl seemed to immediately ignore him and start pacing around Kelbim.

"Hmm... hmm... I seeeee..." she said with a thought hum, hand on her chin as she carefully analyzed the beast. "Body structure seems similar to a therizinosaurus, but the teeth imply a primarily carnivorous diet..." she looked over at the boy, "Do you live in a farm and feed it livestock, or something?"

"Wha-...?" Izuku blinked. "N-No, no! He mainly eats vegetables!"

"An omnivore then! That'd be a first among dinosaurs, I think."

"K-Kelbim's not a dinosaur... he's a rabbit."

"..." the girl looked at him like he'd grown a third head, and then up at the giant rabbit. "...freakiest-lookin' rabbit I ever saw."

"W-Well, he's-"

"I love it!" she said with a sunny grin. "Does he do tricks? Shake!" she immediately said, holding out her hand.

And dutifully, the monster brought up his hand to shake hers.

"Now, roll over!"

And sure enough, the monster threw himself on the ground and rolled onto his back.

"No, play dead!"

And at that, the monster slumped, tongue hanging limply from his mouth, as well as-

"Sniff... Eww, gross! Monster farts!" Setsuna said while holding her nose.

"K-Kelbim! You don't have to get that committed!" he turned to her. "I-I'm sorry about that-"

"Sorry? What's there to be sorry about; Kelbim is AWESOME! Your name's Midoriya, right? Name's Tokage. Tokage Setsuna, but just Setsuna's fine."

"Uhm... i-it's nice to meet you, Tokage-san. We're-"

Before he could finish, Setsuna had already jabbed a finger right in his face. "You!" she said with a thoroughly manic look in her eyes. "I wanna know all about you!"

"Wh-What!?" Izuku flinched, his face quickly growing red from the proximity. "Y-Y-You do...? B-B-But, why...!?"

"You seem interesting. Like, it's not every day you see someone walkin' around with a pet kaiju, right? How could I not be interested! So, c'mon! Out with it! I wanna know all the deets! How did you and Kelbim meet? Where does he live? How much you spend on feedin' him!?"

Izuku was a bit overwhelmed by suddenly having this girl bury him with endless questions, and he couldn't help but wonder if this was how Heroes at greet-and-meets felt. "W-Well, yeah, uh..." before he could really answer her though, he felt a pair of eyes on the back of his neck. A cold chill ran up his spine and he glanced behind him, seeing a girl with black hair and cerulean eyes staring at him with a dispassionate look on her face.

He looked at her.

She looked at him.

She looked at Kelbim.

And then silently walked away.

"Creepy chick..." said Setsuna.

"Sh-She was in our class too, wasn't she? Kodai... something...?"

"Think so." she shrugged, and then regained her grin right away. "Now, c'mon! You're walkin' this beauty home, and regale her with stories of your big ass bunny!"

Izuku slowly nodded in agreement... before suddenly realizing he was walking home a girl for the first time ever in his life, and thus, proceeded to nearly explode out of embarrassment.

"No way! He peed on the dude's car!?" Setsuna cackled. "That's hilarious!"

"Yeah, he did. I think I felt my heart stop beating for a minute there too." Izuku said, but with a hint of amusement at the story as well. "If Kelbim wasn't able to scare them off with his fireballs, I don't know what we'd do..."

The trip back home was far less strenuous than Izuku had imagined, as they passed by a sleepy residential area. He wasn't even thinking about how he was walking in the opposite direction from his own home; he was having too much fun by actually having someone willing to listen to him. Most people were too creeped out by Kelbim to even give him the time of day, but this girl seemed fascinated by just about anything they did.

"Hey, you think it'd be cool if I rode on Kel-chan's back? Because that'd be awesome!"

"Oh, well... if he's OK with it, then sure!"

"Kiighwroor!" the beast bent down, making it perfectly clear that he had no issues with Setsuna hopping on. She quickly accepted the offer, climbing onto Kelbim's shoulders just as he stood up to full height.

"Holy frickin' crap, this is so cool!" she excitedly squealed. "Hold up, I gotta take a picture of this!" she reached into her bag to pull out her phone, and get the best selfie of her whole damn life! "Say cheese, Kel-chan!"

Izuku could only chuckle at how well the two seemed to get along. Once you got past his intimidating exterior, Kelbim would always get along well with folks if they just gave him the opportunity to-

"...!?" Izuku felt something. A familiar cold chill running down his spine, as if he was suddenly being watched.

"Yo, Midoriya-kun, come on up and take a selfie with-" Setsuna paused, noticing the boy's sudden serious demeanor. "Midoriya? You zoning out there, dude?"

Izuku didn't react, his senses suddenly overwhelmed by something else. It was a familiar sensation. All too familiar. And it was drawing nearer-

"TOKAGE-SAN, WATCH OUT!"

He didn't think it through; his body just moved on its own as he jumped up and grabbed Setsuna, yanking her off of Kelbim's shoulders just in time.

The ground beneath Kelbim crackled and crumbled, sending the monster tumbling down into a sinkhole as he screeched.

The two students tumbled to the street, Izuku immediately raising his head to check on his friend. Kelbim didn't seem hurt, merely having his lower body stuck underground. Kelbim shook his head to get his senses back to him, having only been startled by the suddenness of his fall.

Unfortunately, it was the cause of that fall that worried Izuku.

The pavement cracked and split down the street, before the ground rose up as a monster burrowed out from underneath. Its body was segmented like an earthworm, but this was no ordinary annelid: it had power arms and legs, and its head ended on a viciously sharp beak, serrated by small but fearsome teeth.

—TELESDON—
-Subterranean Monster-

ATK - 700
DEF - 700
SPD - 500

"Kelbim!!" Izuku cried out, but there wasn't much he could do to stop the Telesdon as it emerged from the ground, and loomed over the trapped Kelbim.

With astounding speed for a creature its size, Telesdon stabbed its sharp beak onto Kelbim's shoulder, causing the rabbit to let out a pained howl. The attack was followed by another vicious stab in the same place, drawing blood from Kelbim's shoulder.

With another roar, Kelbim's ears raised as he tried to launch a fireball in Telesdon's face, but the subterranean monster swiftly avoided the telegraphed attack, and slithered behind Kelbim to take away his best chance at battling it. Telesdon began slamming its powers arms onto the back of Kelbim's neck, before grabbing hold of Kelbim's ears and begin to pull in an attempt to rip them off his head.

"NO!! Kelbim!!" Izuku cried out, rushing head first towards the monster trying to disfigure his friend without so much as a plan of attack. He simply slammed his shoulder against Telesdon's thick leg, getting the four meter tall creature's attention, but without so much as making it flinch.

Telesdon let out a short screech, swiping its leg to kick Izuku away and get rid of this pesky nuisance. The interruption was a foolhardy move, but it gave Kelbim a brief respite from the attack, allowing him to reach up with the sharp claws on his hand and stab them into Telesdon's arms. The enemy monster shrieked, letting go of Kelbim's ears in shock, but it didn't take long before it began taking out its frustration by stomping onto Kelbim's head repeatedly.

Despite the pain from the earlier kick, Izuku still scrambled to his hands and feet, desperately trying to think of a solution to-

"Midoriya!" he felt Setsuna grab his arm. "We have to get away from here!"

"I can't leave Kelbim behind!"

She paused, hearing the desperation in Izuku's voice, but there was more than that. There was a fiery determination in his eyes that didn't at all match his trembling form. He was scared, but he wasn't willing to back down while his friend was in danger.

"...OK... but I'm not letting you pull another dumb stunt like that on your own!" she said with just as much confidence. She placed her hands on her hips, and with a bit of effort, she tore off her upper body from her lower one in a clean chunk. "Early bird gets the worm; that's what victory's all about! And this worm's going on a plate!" she flew up into the air, over Telesdon, before she tore off her own hand to send it flying at the monster. Caught unprepared, Telesdon didn't even see the hand coming until it stabbed three fingers right into its sensitive eye.

The monster shrieked in pain, stumbling around half blind as it swatted at the air towards its new foe. Setsuna kept her distance in Telesdon's blind spot, grinning maniacally as she taunted the beast. "C'mon, ya overgrown dung-eater! You couldn't hit the broad side of a bank; that's how far you are from hitting me!"

While Setsuna distracted the raging monster, Izuku ran over to Kelbim and grabbed his arm, putting all his strength into trying to pry his friend from the trap hole he found himself in. It was a slow and rather painful process, but with both of their strength, slowly but surely, Kelbim began his escape.

Unfortunately, Telesdon had just enough senses to it that it noticed this. With a shriek, it reared its head back, flames gathering in its mouth before it launched a powerful fireball at their direction.

"KELBIM! SWAT YOUR TAIL!"

At his owner's desperate cry, Kelbim swatted blindly behind himself, the thick spiky club at the end of his tail colliding against the fireball, and sending it hurtling back against the one who fired it. Telesdon let out a cry as the fireball exploded in its face and forced it to stumble backwards, the dazed monster buying the two just enough time that Kelbim was finally set free.

"KIIIGHWROOOORR!!" with a furious roar, Kelbim rapidly turned his body to swing his tail once again, slamming the spiked club against Telesdon to send it tumbling into a wall. Raising his ears, Kelbim reared his head and launched a fireball of his own, which set off a mighty explosion as it connected with Telesdon's body. With a frail howl, Telesdon's body began decomposing into ghostly yellow particles, the creature vanishing into thin air as if it were never there at all.

Letting out a very relieved sigh, Izuku dropped to his knees, as Kelbim plopped his butt on the ground to rest alongside his owner.

"What the hell was that all about!?" Setsuna's cry quickly snapped them back to reality. Her body floated over to the boy and his pet, her face showing fear more than anything. "You've got some explaining to do!"

"Y-Yes... well..." before Izuku could reply, however, he could already them approaching. The sound of screeching breaks made themselves heard, as pitch-black SUVs with tinted windows soon surrounded the trio; men and woman in black suits and shades emerged from their vehicles, and immediately set about cordoning off the area in the most suspicious way possible for anyone watching.

Setsuna slowly turned her head to stare at Izuku.

"Oh, you have so much explaining to do!"

-

Meanwhile, a pair of disinterest cerulean eyes watched the proceedings, before vanishing into the shadows of the setting Sun...

Chapter Text

"Hey, I know my rights! You can't keep us in here!" Setsuna shouted at the closed door, as her and Izuku were being kept in a featureless pastel room. "I demand to see my lawyer! Do you know who my parents are!?"

"Tokage-san, your parents are that important?"

"No, I just always wanted to say that." Setsuna answered with a shrug, before walking over to the vending machine in the room. "How 'bout you? You don't seem too worried about them taking Kelbim away from you."

"Oh, it's OK. I kinda know them; they'd never do anything to hurt Kelbim. They have a big courtyard where he likes to play."

"A giant monster at your beck and call, and chummy with some shady government group... you're one mysterious guy, Midoriya." she said with a chuckle. "So, what's the 'sitch? Why did that other weird monster attack us? How did you even know it was coming?"

"Well, it's a bit-"

Suddenly the door SLAMMED open!

"TROUBLE KID!!" a woman with flaming green hair dressed in a black suit came storming in, stomping over to Izuku and immediately pinching his cheeks to yank on them as she got all up in his face. "What in high hell were you thinking!? Charging at a kaiju!? You could've gotten yourself killed with that kind of stunt! Worse, you can risk exposing this whole operation! I knew this was a bad idea, I knew all along! We should've never given you permission to go to UA! We should've locked you up and keep you well under our eye!!"

Setsuna just watched as the woman tormented poor Izuku, and he feebly struggled against her iron grip. "I take it you two know each other?"

The woman quickly turned her head to look at Setsuna, then back at Izuku. "Worser still, YOU GOT A CIVILIAN INVOLVED!! WHAT HAVE YOU GOT TO SAY FOR YOURSELF!?"

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-sorry! I-I didn't mean t-t-to...!!"

Then, a second figure walked into the room. "Ha ha. Come now, Kamiji-kun, give the poor boy a break." the older man just exuded the aura of a kind grandpa, his bald head looking quite shiny and smooth despite his advanced age.

The woman let out a snort, still refusing to let go of Izuku. "Kurouji-san, we can't give punks like him an inch! He needs to learn there's consequences!"

"I think the boy understood this already." the older man, Kurouji, patted the woman on the shoulder, finally getting her to release the boy. "It's nice to see you again, Midoriya-kun."

"I-It's nice to see you too, Shirou-san, Kamiji-san..."

"Hey, uhh..." Setsuna raised her hand. "Sorry to interrupt the reunion, but is anybody going to explain to me what's the deal with this whole deal? Are we under arrest or somethin'?"

"Ah, yes, pardon me." the older man said. "I must apologize for the suddenness of this all, Tokage-kun. I assure you, neither of you are in any sort of trouble."

"Except this guy totally is!" the woman said as she grabbed hold of Izuku in a headlock. "Kelbim could've gotten killed, you bonehead!"

"My name is Shirou Kurouji, and this is my partner, Kamiji Moe. If you have any questions, feel free to ask us." Kurouji said.

"Well, I guess the most pertinent question is: where are we, and why are we here?"

Kurouji nodded. "You are currently in the MIB's Japanese branch Headquarters."

"MIB? Holy crap, you mean-"

"Correct! The Monster Investigation Bureau!"

That's not what I was gonna say... Setsuna thought to herself, but still. "So, wait, this is all about Kelbim then? Are you here to take him away from Midoriya?"

"No way!" Moe spoke up, still holding the boy in a headlock. "Keeping a monster away from the person they've bonded with only makes them freak out; they become stressed out and unpredictable, and thus, more dangerous!"

"Ah, I see..." Setsuna nodded, before slowly realizing. "Wait... this stuff's happened more than once!?"

"Perceptive young lady." Kurouji chuckled. "Why don't we continue this conversation outside? It's too lovely of a sunset to be spent in this stuffy room."

The MIB's headquarters was one large solid building arranged in a square, giving them ample privacy to any goings on in the central courtyard. And what was going on was that Kelbim was currently chasing around the tire of a truck he rolled around, as he played some kind of of game with another freaky-looking beasty: it looked like an overgrown chicken, slightly taller than Kelbim, its body fully red and spiky. Most noticeable however was the fact that the beast had two twin heads at the end of its two necks.

—KING PANDON—
-Twin-Headed Monster Weapon-

ATK - 800
DEF - 700
SPD - 700

Despite the odd sight, both monsters seemed to be having fun playing together in the wide-open courtyard, which housed a few other "toys" for them to play with, such as beaten up trucks, a busted jungle gym, and a large sandbank to burrow. It was like a kiddie park, only if the kids destroyed every thing they touched.

So it was exactly like a kiddie park.

"What do you mean, aliens!?" Setsuna said as she leaned over the railing that surrounded the courtyard. "I thought Kelbim was a rabbit!"

"W-Well... that's what I thought for the longest time too." Izuku sighed. "But that's the truth. Kelbim came from space, like most monsters these days."

"That's freakin' wild, dude! How am I even supposed to process that!?"

"It ain't that wild." shrugged Moe. "Monsters used to live all over the Earth, so of course there'd be monsters on other planets."

"That's really not as obvious as you make it sound!" Setsuna barked back. "We're still not even sure if there's life on other planets!"

"I can assure you, Tokage-kun, there most definitely are." said Kurouji.

"Well, I think- NYEKHH!" Setsuna jolted when she looked at the kindly grandpa, whose form had now completely changed: his body was now split between white and black colors, his facial features completely gone and replaced by armor-like growths, inlucing a purple one in the center of his face, and from his right shoulder emerged a large shell-like protrusion.

"I apologize for startling you, but this is my native form. I am an Alien Kyulia, you see, but please, call me Kurouji anyway."

"Oh Goooood..." Setsuna groaned as her whole body flopped over the metal railing. "I can't believe all those weird documentaries on TV were right..."

"You give 'em too much credit." scoffed Moe. "Only about 30% right."

"You see, Tokage-kun..." Kurouji continued, "As stated by Kamiji-kun, monsters such as these have long been extinct on your planet. As for the monsters who still occasionally invade it, we count on the help of a small but trusted number of Heroes who are most equipped to deal with them."

"They're called Kaiju Busters, and there's less than thirty members across the world!" Izuku said, letting his inner otaku out. "Some of them aren't even that well known public figures, but the most famous one is probably the King Of Heroes: Godzillo, he's been deployed to a total of 28 missions, the most out of any of the Busters, I know that doesn't sound very impressive at first, but fully-grown Kaiju scale in the natural cataclysm, and to have faced off against 28 of them and lived is-"

"OI!" Moe quickly grabbed hold of Izuku, putting him in an abdominal stretch. "We didn't let you trawl through our library so you could spit out confidential information however ya want!!"

"O-O-Ow-ow-ow! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I tap! I tap!!"

Setsuna blinked, still slowly soaking in all this crazy new world of information. "OK, I think I follow... so, like, how common is it for one of these monsters to 'bond' with someone, like you said?"

This earned a slight hum from Kurouji. "That's the thing, Tokage-kun..."

"It's never happened." Moe bluntly concluded. "At least, not until the last decade or so. Monsters have just started popping up all over the place, and we don't really know why. We're not even sure where they're coming from!"

"Well, space, I'd imagine, right?" asked Setsuna.

"It's not that simple." Kurouji answered. "While monsters such as Kelbim are well known invasive species on multiple planets, others aren't so easily explained. Especially those monsters who, by all right should be long extinct, reemerging without an explanation. It's as if something has suddenly decided to repopulate the Earth with these ancient beasts... I can tell ya, it certainly gave us a lot more work than we've had in decades!" he chuckled.

Setsuna slowly nodded along with the explanation, and it became obvious even the big shady organization meant to handle this stuff still had many questions regarding the very thing they had to handle. "OK, so... what about the monster from earlier? Why did it attack us?"

Kurouji and Moe shared an uncomfortable look between each other.

"We... can't say for sure yet."

"What we know is, this ain't a unique event." Moe continued. "There's been reports of folks who've bonded with monsters suddenly being attacked by other monsters. And, on most occasions, it doesn't end well..."

Setsuna flinched at the implication, but kept herself quiet.

"This punk here's been lucky." she said, pointing at Izuku. "This is the second time he was attacked. Most people don't make it past the first."

"It was thanks to Kelbim." Izuku said. "I didn't really do anything."

"Even a powerful monster can only reach so high, Midoriya-kun." Kurouji said. "Sometimes they need a good tamer to propel them to greater heights." he then sighed. "Unfortunately, there is still much we don't know about this phenomena. All we know is, people like Midoriya-kun need to be careful. There's no telling when the next attack might come."

Setsuna frowned, suddenly realizing there was way more danger in this than simply having to deal with a big clumsy buddy. She looked over at Izuku, who clearly felt the weight of the danger on his shoulders... and yet, his facial expression seemed almost guilty...

The car pulled up in front of the HQ, Setsuna stepping up.

"We realize we've brought you a bit far from your route home; please accept our apologies." Kurouji (back in his human disguise) said with a short bow.

"Hey, it's cool. You're giving me a ride home anyway." she looked back at Izuku. "Ain't you comin'?"

"Ah-! No, I'm going to stay a while. Kelbim was due for a medical checkup anyway." he said. "...b-besides... I imagine you... wouldn't really want me to come with you..."

At this, Setsuna blinked. "What in blazes gave you that idea!?"

"B-Because... because I'm dangerous to be around with!"

"So!?" she snorted. "You think I'm training to be a Hero to shy away from danger? Get real!" she aimed a finger at him. "You can't introduce me to a world of monsters and space aliens and expect me to sit in the sidelines, buddy! I'll be latching on to you, and your pet monster, like ants on ice cream!"

Izuku was left speechless, just staring at Setsuna with no idea what to say.

"Kiighwroor!" so Kelbim replied for him.

"Glad you agree, Kelbim-chan!" she smirked up at the monster, letting her hand pop out from her wrist to give the monster a pet on the nose, a gesture he clearly enjoyed.

With that, Setsuna got in the car and was driven back home, her brain full of whimsical thoughts about this brand new world she's just stepped foot in entirely by accident.

Back at the courtyard, Kurouji approached Moe as she leaned against the railing.

"You're worried."

"Yes, I am." answered Kurouji. "If our hypothesis is true, and this is no random attack... then all who bond with monsters are in danger of being targeted. Not only civilians, but also our own agents."

"Sounds like it." Moe said with a dismissive tone. "Well, I say, if they want to test their chops, then let 'em come." she reached down, grabbing two apples off of a nearby box of them.

Kurouji didn't seem more at ease by her response. "I wish you would treat this more seriously, Moe-kun. This could mean-"

"That I could be targeted. I know." she raised the apple, getting King Pandon to cheerfully approach her. "And I say, it's fine! King Pandon and I can take on any lowlife who tries to come at us!"

She tossed the apples, which were swiftly gobbled up by her partner monster.

"And... if it gets me closer to the bastard that killed my family... that'll just be the cherry on the cake."

Chapter Text

"So, this is Chateau du Izuku, then?" Setsuna chuckled as she lay her eyes on the humble abode. A simple two-story, blocky house that was snuggled between two much larger buildings, and quite old from the looks of it; a concrete wall ran around it to the back, where it had a cozy little backyard.

"Yeah. Well, it actually belongs to a friend of my grandfather, and he agreed to rent it since it was much closer to UA than my parents' home." Izuku explained as he fished for his keys. "It isn't much, but it has a place for Kelbim to stay, and that's what matters."

Setsuna hummed. "So you're all by yourself, smack dab in the middle of Musutafu..." her grin turned mischievous as she teased: "What sort of hijinks do you get up to, Midoriya-san...~?"

"Gh- F- Bw- N-NOTHING LIKE THAT!!" Izuku quickly protested as he grew visibly red, much to Setsuna's amusement. The door opened to reveal the inside didn't look much more modern than the outside, but it had its homely charm. Much of Izuku's personal items were still in their boxes, but the house seemed to have all the commodities for modern living: a fully stocked kitchen, and a living area with a small modern TV. "S-So, yeah... this is our home."

"Pretty cool, if ya ask me!" Setsuna waltzed inside like she owned the place, ooh-ing and aah-ing as she marveled at the humble abode. When she reached the kitchen area, she noticed Kelbim peeking in from the window and gave him a short pet on the nose. "Man, I kinda envy ya! I don't think my parents would ever even consider giving me this much independence."

"Yeah, well... it took some convincing on my part." Izuku chuckled a bit, setting down the groceries he'd gotten on his way home from school. "My mom was against it at first, but I managed to talk her into it. It's the best for my studies, and... well, y'know..."

"...?"

"It's safer."

"Ah." Setsuna said, quickly remembering that Izuku's life was maybe, possibly being targeted by angry kaiju. "About that, I've been meaning to ask... the black suits said yesterday was the second time you were attacked. What happened the first time?"

"Well... there isn't much to tell, really." Izuku sighed. "I was out with my mom shopping, and on our trip back home, it started to snow. It was the middle of December, two months before the entrance exam, so it wasn't that out of the ordinary at first... but then the snow picked up and turned into a snowstorm. It was so violent, and there hadn't been anything reported about it in the weather forecast."

"I think I remember hearing about that." Setsuna hummed. "They called it a freak weather phenomena that only hit a specific section of the city, right?" she then blinked, putting the pieces together. "Wait... you're telling me a monster did that!?"

"It's possible..." Izuku nodded. "I know I saw something in the blizzard, at least. It started chasing after me, and I tried to run as fast as I could, but it was difficult under that weather."

"What about Kelbim?"

"He'd stayed at home that day. He couldn't fit on the train." Izuku sighed. "I thought I was a goner, but that's when the MIB showed up. That seemed to be enough to get the monster to back away, and the blizzard ended up clearing not long after. That's when I got the same talk you did. Since I never ran into any other monster, I was starting to believe they'd exaggerated things a bit, but... I can see now, I'm not that lucky."

"Kiighwroooor..." Kelbim huffed as he peeked through the window.

"Kelbim still feels bad he wasn't there to help me." Izuku chuckled lightly, walking over to give his friend a small pat. "Even though I've told him it wasn't his fault a hundred times."

"I bet if Kelbim were there, he'd whoop some monster butt without breakin' a sweat!" Setsuna pumped her fist. "Ain't that right, Kel-chan?"

"Kiighwrooor!!" Kelbim roared proudly.

"Well, I'd rather he just didn't have to fight any other monsters for a very long time..." sighed Izuku, as he began putting away the groceries.

"Hey, yo! What's a guy gotta do to get a refill over here!?" the loud young man ordered as he set his feet on top of the table.

The manager of the coffee shop had just about enough of this rowdy troublemaker, and stepped in to take the place of his intimidated waitress in handling this customer. "Sir, you have been warned multiple times on your conduct! You are disturbing our other guests, so I'm afraid I must ask you to pay your bill, and leave."

"Huuuuuhh!?" the man with the bleached blonde pompadour said. "What 'chu talkin' about? I can't understand ya over that penguin suit ya got!" he snorted at the man's suit, actually spitting on the manager's jacket. "You expect me to pay for this watered-down crap ya call coffee? You couldn't even wake up a baby back in America with this sludge!"

The manager was flabbergasted at the foreigner's sheer lack of common courtesy, his hair frizzled and his temper all but gone. "Very well, then! Have it your way! Kintaro-kun!"

And from deeper in the coffee shop emerged a very large man; much taller than anyone in the store at that moment, bearing four arms and somewhat-clashing cat ears on his head, which didn't make him any less intimidating as he loomed over the troublesome foreigner.

"This gentleman refuses to pay. Feel free to show him why that is a poor move." the manager said with a wicked grin, which was mimicked by Kintaro-kun.

The blonde man, however, didn't seem at all phased by this threatening display, as he simply reached for his... phone? "That's a pretty big friend ya got there..." then, he grinned. "How about I introduce you to mine...~?"

And not ten seconds later-

KRAAAASH!!

The entire front half of the store would be shattered, and Kintaro-kun and the manager were hurled through their fancy glass front, and smashed into a parked car with enough force to tip it over.

The foreigner then casually stepped out of the coffee shop while whistling. "Looks like my friend's bigger." he chuckled as the crowd in the coffee shop cowered and ran at the sight of the creature that shadowed the man. Standing at 448 centimeters, the monster was rotund but powerfully built, its bone-colored body thick and hard; it had a lengthy neck that ended on a disproportionately small skull-like head, bearing sharp fangs on its otherwise small face. It slammed its thick fists together, letting out a shrill "Shpaaaaarrr!!"

—RED KING—
-Armored Skull Monster-

ATK- 900
DEF - 800
SPD - 400

"Psheh! Tell me about it!" the foreigner scoffed. "These guys ain't enough to even get a warm up going! We're just too awesome for this place!"

"Shhpaaaarr!!" growled Red King as he flexed his arms. "Shpaa?" but it then blinked, hearing the sound of sirens drawing nearer.

"Oh, damn! The fuzz!" groaned the foreigner, pulling out a pocket comb that he ran over his pristine pompadour. "Time to split it, buddy." with that, the monster vanished into many red sparks, which gathered on the boy's phone. "We've got bigger fish to fry in this town anyway."

With that, the boy headed off, vanishing into the city's many alleyways...

Chapter Text

Wh-Wh-Wh-WHAT IS UP, EVERYBODY!? IT'S TIME FOR ANOTHER AWE-INSPIRING, TERRIFYING, ALL-AROUND-HOoOoOoOoOoORRIFYING SUPER-SURPRISE STREAM~!!

THAT'S RIGHT FOLKS; IT'S ME: YOUR SUPER-DUPER SUPER-FAVORITE DUPER-AWESOME HOST! THE CHILLING! THE THRILLING! THE KAIJU IDOL HERSELF: MISS FUSHIGI~!!

'Sup? 'Sup? How y'all doin'! It's another chilly Spring day here; are those rain clouds I see in the distance? Has my terrifying presence cast a shade on a beautiful day once more? Perhaps so! These dark powers I hold... sometimes they just get out of control!!

But fret not, my darling little viewers; I'll be sure to never turn their awesome might your way! Not unless you make me mad, of course~! But you'd never do that!

Ahh, but what's this? You might ask; wh-wh-wh-why has the great Miss Fushigi graced us with another one of her candid shock-surprised streams!? Well, far be it for me to keep you all guessin'!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, my Evil Eye is acting out! And you know wh-wh-wh-what that means!

THERE ARE KAIJU AFOOT!

Wh-Wh-Wh-What you say!? Is this for real!? Surely you jest!?

SURELY NOT!! My Evil Eye is never wrong! We've got ourselves a true-blue monster mash about to roll down! Isn't that exciting!?

But Miss Fushigi, wh-wh-wh-what does this mean? Aren't you scared? Aren't you fearful for your safety!?

ABSOLUTELY NOT! But thank you for the concern~! Miss Fushigi laughs in the face of danger! She taunts the countenance of peril! She ridicules the big fat nose of jeopardy!

With a spring in her step, and blood in her Evil Eye, Miss Fushigi stalks her next unwitting prey, preparing for the right time to-

Eh? Wh-wh-wh-wh-what's this, my dear sweet viewers! It seems a new party is crashing this dance! Wh-wh-wh-what does this mean for our intrepid Kaiju Idol?

We shall see, we shall see... for now, my handsome fans, we'll just watch...~

"I'm telling' ya, Ectoplasm-sensei has it out for me!"

"Tokage-san, he's known you for three days." Izuku reminded her with a short chuckle. "I don't think that's enough time for you to gain an arch-nemesis in one of our teachers."

"Nuh-uh! It totally is!" Setsuna fought back, "Back in middle school, a girl in my class immediately butted heads with our homeroom teacher, and they were at each other's throats for the whole school year!"

"Really?"

"...well, OK, they were actually sisters, so maybe that had something to do with it." Setsuna admitted. "But still, you saw how he called me out! That was totally uncalled for!"

"I mean, you were chewing your gum pretty loudly." Izuku reasoned. "You could've tried to be a little more stealthy about it."

"Gasp! You're taking the enemy's side now, Izu-kun!?"

"Enemy? Since when did Ectoplasm-sensei become my enemy?"

"Everyone knows students and teachers are natural enemies! Like snakes and mongoose! They never get along!"

"I got along well with most of my teachers in middle school..."

"Irrelevant!" snorted Setsuna. "Battle lines have to be drawn somewhere, Izu-kun! The question is: will you be standing on the side of the hip and young, or the lame and old!"

Izku chuckled quietly. "Our teachers aren't that old! Besides, you're putting All Might in that category, remember?"

Setsuna blinked and hummed in thought. "Oh, yeah... Well, he doesn't count! He's still young at heart!" she reasoned.

"Kiiighwroor..."

Glancing back at the third party following them, Setsuna let out a snort. "Oh, right, all this talk of teachers probably means nothing to you, eh, big guy?"

"Kighwroor!"

"Aahh, to be four meters tall and not have to worry about schoolwork." Setsuna sighed wistfully. "Them's the dream."

"Technically, Kelbim does have to worry about schoolwork. He's the whole reason I'm even in the Hero course, after all."

"Oh, be quiet, Mr. Semantics." Setsuna huffed, but quickly followed it up with a chuckle of her own to show she wasn't at all mad. "So, hey, you doing anything later?"

"I still have some stuff to unpack, but-"

"Great! You can keep me company then!" Setsuna finished his thoughts for him.

Izuku sighed, but he was never going to complain about spending more time with Setsuna. "Alright, any place you wanna g-" all of a sudden his voice died in his throat, and he immediately grabbed hold of Setsuna's hand.

The girl noticed this, quickly grinning. "Wow, how very forward of you, Mister Midoriya, but I wasn't thinking about a-" but her mirth ended when she actually saw how serious the boy looked as he glanced around himself. They were currently in an average street alongside the river, with the bridge right in front of them; there wasn't a single other soul there other than the three of them. Or so it would seem.

"Alright, I gotta hand it to ya..." the voice called out, "Sensing my arrival takes more skill than I thought you had in ya!"

The boy stepped out from the walkway beneath the bridge and into the dimming sunlight. The boy looked only a few years older them, and was clearly a foreigner, his hair fashioned in a large blonde pompadour look. He wore a black leather jacket and blue jeans, looking straight out of an ancient American biker movie. Taking out a pocket comb, he ran it over his hair to undo any loose strings from the unruly Spring breeze.

"So, I'm impressed, but..." the boy continued, "Only in the sense that you turn out to not be as dumb as ya look!"

Setsuna sharpened her gaze at the strange boy. "Oi, what's this about? Is this some kinda macho thing where next you're gonna say: 'hey girl, lose the zero and get with the hero', or somethin'?"

"You give yourself too much credit, toots." the boy chuckled, "If I wanted ya by my side, I wouldn't even have to pretend this guy's an option."

"Oh puh-lease!" Setsuna rolled her eyes. "You couldn't pick up a cold while wearing boots filled with water in a blizzard!"

In response, the boy just lifted a finger to call her over.

Perhaps against her better judgment, or just over-confidence, Setsuna did step closer, leaning in as the boy whispered something in her ear.

"..." she straightened back up and looked back at Izuku. "Oh, he's good." but quickly shook her head and grew angry again. "S-Still, good pickup line or not, your attitude's already gotten under my skin and is stinkin' up the place! This bird's not singin' to your tune, mister!"

"Hey, your loss, baby doll." the boy shrugged. "But you're not who I'm here for anyway." his eyes fell on Izuku, who kept his defenses on high alert this entire time.

"Who are you?" Izuku asked, "And why-... what are you doing to me that makes me feel so... so..."

"Pissed off?" the boy chuckled. "I'd like to say that's just a natural reaction to meeting someone better than you in every way, but the truth of the matter is, guys like us? We just have that effect on each other."

Setsuna blinked. "Guys like...?"

"Kiighwrooor!!" Kelbim suddenly barked as the boy pulled out his phone.

"Setsuna, get away from him-!"

She blinked, and noticed something begin to materialize right next to her. It began as sparkles of red that seemed to emerge from the other boy's phone, and then coalesce into a large and imposing form, looming over her.

"SHPAAAARR!!" Red King roared as he suddenly grabbed hold of Setsuna, lifting her off the ground with one hand as if she were weightless.

—RED KING—
-Armored Skull Monster-

ATK - 900
DEF - 800
SPD - 400

"Woah- Hey!" Setsuna yelled out. "What's the big idea!?"

"Let her go!" Izuku yelled back at the boy, who continued to prim his hair without a care.

"Oh, I'll let the bird go, alright..." he said, "Just as soon as you hand over your Battlenizer to me."

"My... my what?" Izuku blinked.

"C'mon now, don't play coy with-" the boy paused, seeing the look of genuine confusion on Izuku's face. "...you're kiddin' me, right? You haven't even awoken yours yet!?" he groaned. "Aw Jesus, that is pathetic!"

Izuku didn't know what the other boy was talking about, his focus now on Setsuna who was still trapped by the boy's monster. Which was... strange; surely Setsuna should be able to just use her Quirk and get to safety, but for some reason, she wasn't.

"KIGHWROOOOR!!" roared Kelbim, demanding the enemy monster to let his friend go.

"Shpaaaarr!" Red King responded with a snort and a roar back, waving Setsuna around like she were a toy he was playing keep-away with.

The other boy just huffed. "Alright, no big deal; I'll just have to beat it outta ya, then!" he said as he started walking towards Izuku. Naturally, Kelbim was fast to stand between the two, the blonde boy growling in response. "Hey! Tell your mutt to stand down, or else the bird gets it!"

Izuku grit his teeth, seeing Setsuna still in the hands of the skull monster. "My... My Quirk... why the hell can't I use it!?"

His eyes widen as he heard her try and fail to use her Quirk; was it somehow related to the boy's own Quirk? Whatever the case, he only wanted this... Battlenizer thing, right? He'd let Setsuna go if he just gave it to him!

"A-Alright..." Izuku said. "Kelbim, stand down."

"Kiigh!?" the monster incredulously barked.

"Just-... Just let him, OK?" Izuku said. "He'll get whatever he wants, a-and he'll leave us alone!"

The monster grunted, clearly very unhappy, but willing to follow his master's orders, stepping aside but not without giving a threatening snort in the other boy's direction.

"Atta boy." the blonde said. "You got him trained pretty well, I gotta say." he stepped closer to Izuku and suddenly grabbed him by his shirt. "Now, stand still while I pound on ya for a little, y'hear?"

"IZUKU, DON'T YOU DARE-!" Setsuna yelled, but went quiet when Red King squeezed her slightly.

"I-It's OK, Tokage-san! I'll be fine, I'm... kinda used to it, anyway..." he said, even smiling at her to put her at ease. Not that smile lasted for very long, as the blonde's fist suddenly rammed right against his face.

Fist after fist crashed against Izuku's head, the boy not letting up for a moment as he pummeled Izuku's face. It didn't take long before the first drops of blood started to drip out. "That's it! That's what I wanna see!" the boy said with a grin, continuing his assault. "Come on! Just a few more! Just a little more ought to do the trick!"

Finally, one last powerful punch knocked Izuku to the floor, the green haired boy coughing and gagging as blood dripping down from a busted brow and a possibly-broken nose. But the blonde didn't let him rest for long, as he placed his foot on Izuku's head and pressed it against the floor, letting the blood begin to pool into a small puddle right beside his head.

"Yeah... yeah, that ought to do it." the blonde said, before reaching down and fetching Izuku's phone out from his pocket, and very casually just tossed it down on the ground, landing on the small puddle of blood.

Izuku managed to open his bruised eyes just enough, and if he hadn't done so, he would've never believed what had happened: he saw his own blood float upwards from the ground, and slowly seep into the crevices of his smartphone, the blood obtaining this eerie iridescence as it did so. Then his phone began to glow and grow these strange blue panels on its corners, along with a two-pronged Y-shaped symbol on its back. His phone now looked identical to the blonde's from before, he noted.

With the transformation complete, the blonde simply grabbed the phone off the ground. "There, see? That wasn't so hard." he took his foot off Izuku's head, already beginning to walk away.

"W-...Wait..." Izuku still managed to call out to him. "T-...Tokage..."

"Mmh?" the blonde blinked. "Oh, that's right. Red King, you can set her down now."

"Shhh..." with a snort, the monster just let Setsuna drop to the floor. While she was surprised, she did manage to land on her feet, and immediately rush towards Izuku to help lift him up.

"Izuku? Izuku!?" she then glared up at the blonde. "How the hell can you just do that to someone and act so calm about it!?"

"Hey now, I went as easy on him as I could!" the boy chuckled. "I wasn't the one who made the rules; you gotta spill blood to activate your Battlenizer, that's just how it is. Hate the game, not the player."

"I'll hate whoever I damn well please!" growled Setsuna. She had more choice words for the blonde foreigner, but before she could, Izuku asked-

"What... What's the... Battlenizer...?"

"You don't even know!?" snorted the boy. "Jesus, you really are pathetic!" he sighed and then lifted the phone up. "Alright, I guess I owe ya that much. This here? This here's our mark. The mark of a Reionics."

"Rei...onics...?"

"C'mon now, you didn't think you could control that ugly beast over there on account of your bland looks, right?" the boy chuckled. "Only guys like us can control monsters. That's what makes us Reionics. And as Reionics, we fight to take over each other's Battlenizers, and grow stronger. Simple, right?"

"What for...?" Izuku asked. "Wh-What's the point...?"

"The point's to get stronger, obviously!" chuckled the blonde. "Ain't that what life's all about? The strong stand at the pinnacle, while the weak serve them! That's how it's always been; that's how it'll always be."

Izuku couldn't say he expected a much better answer than that, but at least this was over... whatever this was. Kelbim leaned down, gently nudging his wounded master's bruised face, which did help bring a smile back to Izuku's face just to try and assure the both of them he was fine.

"Oh, I'd probably stay clear from that, if I were you." the blonde said. "Y'see... when a Reionics loses his Battlenizer... they lose control of their monster too."

In a flash, something overcame Izuku. He didn't know if it was the mocking grin on the boy's face, or the prospect of what he said sounding all too real, but something overwhelmed him. And that something overpowered all of his pain and drove him to stand up, and rush towards the boy as quickly as his feet could realistically carry him. This was a sensation he'd never felt before, a rush that seemed to power through every limit of his body, and force him to act with the utmost immediacy, without even caring for the drawbacks.

This... was rage.

And unfortunately, rage made for poor planning skills. Izuku had almost forgotten about the large monster that shadowed the boy, but Red King made sure he'd remember him as he swung his powerful tail in Izuku's direction. It was sheer luck and instinct that allowed Izuku to vault over the tail, but his landing could have been better as he stumbled and fell flat on his face thanks to his non-existent cat-like reflexes. When Izuku tried to get back up, he'd eat a boot sent his way by the blonde.

"Ya got guts, punk, but that can only take ya so far!" barked the blonde. "Just lay down and accept it! Your mamma must be some fool if-ghff!" even the blonde was taken by surprise at how quickly Izuku stood back up and punched him square in the stomach.

"Don't you dare talk about my mother!" Izuku spewed out with tremendous venom, before shouting- "KELBIM!"

Without missing a beat, Kelbim rushed forward and slammed hard into the distracted Red King, forcing the big armored monster to stumble on his feet.

—KELBIM—
-Brutal Space Monster-

ATK - 700
DEF - 600
SPD - 800

But Red King was only dazed for a moment, letting out a roar as he swung his powerful arms and punched Kelbim clean in the face, forcing the other monster to back away in pain. Kelbim returned the favor, spinning around and sending his clubbed tail to crash into Red King's body's girth, but the enemy monster only briefly flinched thanks to his armored body. As if to show it, Red King only brushed his chest, then pounded his stomach as if inviting Kelbim for another attack.

An invitation Kelbim was all too keen to accept, as he swung his tail two more times, but each time Red King seemed perfectly able to tank it, actually flexing between attacks to show truly show off his resilience. Red King then stepped forward, slamming a forearm into Kelbim's side, followed by an effective uppercut than nearly threw Kelbim down to the ground.

Izuku's fight wasn't fairing much better, as that initial rush to action wasn't proving the most reliable ally. The blonde had quickly gained the upper hand, planting his fist right in Izuku's gut. "That's payback-" the he prevent Izuku from falling over by grabbing him up from the scruff of his school uniform. "And this one is my treat-!"

"SETSUNA KICK!" the blonde was unable to finish his attack, as Setsuna dove in from out of nowhere to land an expertly done flying kick straight to the boy's face, sending him flying back and away from Izuku.

"Ghk!" the blonde coughed as he rubbed his sore face, glaring up at the girl. "Why you crazy b-" he then paused realizing. "Th-The Battlenizer!?" sure enough, Setsuna was holding Izuku's transformed phone that he must have dropped during the scuffle.

"You're too slow, duck ass!" Setsuna said with a manic grin. While she felt confident her and Izuku could handle this clown-

"SHPAAAARR!!" unfortunately, he wasn't alone. Red King threw Kelbim down to the ground, and stomped his way over to the two UA students to grab hold of them. Setsuna quickly helped Izuku up to his feet so they could run, but the blonde soon jumped in, crashing against the two with a shoulder tackle to throw them to the ground.

"Alright! I tried doin' this the easy way!" the boy grunted as he fetched his comb, running it over his pompadour to set it back in place. "But if you insist-! RED KING! FINISH 'EM OFF!"

"Shpaarr!!" the Skull Monster pounded his fists together, looming over the trio and read to obey his master's orders.

Kelbim was quick to get between the monster and his friends, letting out a threatening hiss to deter the attacker. Confident, Red King didn't seem too threatened by the display, and elected to demonstrate on his own how much more threatening he was. The monster reared both fists back, then suddenly slammed them right into the road beneath him, punching through the concrete like it were nothing, and ripping out a large chunk of it to raise it over his head with a triumphant roar.

Sensing an opening, Izuku was quick to call out- "Kelbim! Ballistic Exclusive Spit!!"

Hearing his master's command, Kelbim raised his ears as he gathered a fireball in his mouth, before launching it right at Red King's face. The enemy monster yelped and jumped, dropping the thick chunk of concrete, which landed right on one of its feet. The armored monster yelped again, jumping in place, clearly in pain.

"Its feet-! That's his weak spot!" Izuku quickly reasoned. "Kelbim, aim at his feet!"

"KIGHWROOR!" with that, Kelbim launched two more fireballs at Red King's feet, the monster jumping and braying in pain as its feet where singed.

"Shaarr! Shpaaaarr!! Shpaaa!!!" the monster whined, much to his master's horror.

"R-Red King, stop messing around! Kick that sorry excuse of a monster's ass already!"

Izuku, meanwhile, saw the perfect opening. "Now, Kelbim! Supersonic Crusher Tail!"

With a roar, Kelbim swung his tail to slam it right against Red King's head not once, not twice, but three times, powering through the opposing monster's defenses and managing to stun it. Kelbim then spun around, gathering as much momentum as he could, and land one final, powerful hit against Red King and sending him tumbling to the ground.

"R-Red King! No!" cried out the blonde.

"Alright, Kelbim!" Setsuna cheered. "Show that walking pineapple who's boss!" she gave Izuku a friendly punch to the forearm. "Also, you dork! Did you give your pet kaiju attack names!? How come you never told me that before!"

Izuku flinched a bit at the punch, but chuckled in good spirits. "I-It just never came up..." but he had to put that good nature out of the way, turning to face the blonde with a more serious tone. "I don't want to fight you. Whatever this... Reionics or whatever thing is, it has nothing to do with me! You lost, so just walk away."

The blonde grit his teeth, his hands balling into fists. "I ain't lost nothin'! This battle's just getting started!" he yelled out. "You think you can just walk all over me and get away with it!? Fat chance! Red King! Stand up!"

"SHPAAAR!" the monster roared, standing back to its full height as it dusted itself off, wounded but still perfectly willing to fight.

"Looks like we're not getting away that easily..." Setsuna said with some trepidation, glancing at her own body as she tried to get her Quirk to function, yet still failing to do so.

However, as everyone prepared to the battle to resume-

Clap! Clap! Clap! Clap!

"Bravo! Bravo! Wh-Wh-Wh-What dedication! What valor! What a sh-sh-sh-show!"

They heard a voice coming from above. And indeed, balancing perfectly atop a lamp post was a peculiar sight: a woman dressed in an all black tutu, her face covered by a white mask with only the right eye visible, glistening like a ruby. Her black hair was wavy and messy, and a black feather adorned it. She was also holding up a selfie stick, from which she captured the scene on her own phone.

"Weren't these two wonderful, dear viewers! This is the kind of action you can only catch on Miss Fushigi's awe-inspiring, all around hoOoOoOoOoOoOorrifying super-streams!!"

Izuku and Setsuna both blinked, staring in utter confusion at the strange girl.

"Miss Fushigi...?"

"Who the hell is that?"

This got the girl to flinch. "Wh-Wh-WH-WHAT!? COULD THIS BE!? S-S-S-say it ain't so! Has my dark star not reached this neck of the woods yet!? Unbelievable! Unacceptable! Unforgivable!" the girl dramatically exclaimed. "Then allow me to introduce myself! The chilling! The thrilling! The dark mistress herself: Kaiju Idol, MISS FUSHIGI!!"

The blonde, meanwhile, only clicked his tongue. "Great... this is just what I needed..." he raised his Battlenizer, seemingly checking something on it. "...really? You call yourself Fushigi, and you name is Fuka Shigi!? What kind of stupid joke is that!?"

"Ghnekh-!" the girl jolted, nearly falling off her precarious position atop the street lamp. "H-H-Hey! D-D-D-Don't say that out loud! Are you trying t-t-t-to dox me, or something!?" she argued as she quickly grabbed hold of her phone to try and cover up the mic somehow.

"Why do I care!? Go play dress up somewhere else!"

"D-D-Dress up!? You dare mock the dark vestments of Hades!?"

"It's a tutu! Did it come with a mop too, ya freak!?"

Izuku blinked as the two argued, wondering just how the blonde boy figured that out just by looking at- "...?" Izuku raised up his phone- or, Battlenizer, more accurately, and held it up to face the two mysterious figures. Sure enough, his screen lit up with the images of both the blonde boy, and the masked girl, showing both of their names as Roy Lawler and Fuka Shigi.

"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Miss Fushigi suddenly yelled. "Though I'm sure you two tearing each other to shreds w-w-w-would be most entertaining, I think my adoring audience would much rather see their beautiful queen of the night take both of your Battlenizers instead!"

As if things couldn't go from bad to worse, Izuku felt the pressure coming from the girl, telling him that despite her eccentricities, she wasn't one to take lightly.

"My Evil Eye burns with anticipation..." she said, curling her fingers together except for her index and pinky. "It thirsts for this battle...~!"