99"This is incredibly booooooring." Mina stretched her words. Slime King thought she needed a little experience on night patrols. That is exactly why he temporarily handed her off to Ms. Joke for a week, just to get her used to it. What's even worse is that they just so happened to run into her homeroom teacher, Eraserhead, who himself had Hitoshi as his intern. The two of them were on the rooftops right now while Ms. Joke said something about proposing to Eraserhead for the fifth time that day. "Is this really all night patrol we got right now?"
"Yes. I get paid for doing this. Or eventually, I'll get paid for doing just this," Hitoshi answered while looking through his binoculars, trying to spot anything illegal down the streets. The night was relatively peaceful today, all things considered. They were in the livelier parts of the city, after all. Less crime happens in the public spaces. He turned on the radio. "No signs of crime. Yet."
*Good. There's no crime happening here, either.* The two of them heard Ms. Joke moaning in the background, followed by an angry Eraserhead. *WILL YOU STOP DOING THAT?! Oh. Sorry. Emi thought it would be funny to do that and embarrass me.*
"Emi?" Hitoshi raised an eyebrow while Mina laughed, a little amused by the exchange.
*Shut up and get back to patrolling. Out.*
An explosion happened in the distance. Hitoshi looked through his binoculars, finding the source of it at a bank. He turned on the radio again. "Bank Robbery. South from your location."
Mina and Hitoshi were hoping it was the so-called League of Villains. Izuku kept insisting that they weren't supposed to be called the League of Villains, but the news reporters decided that for them. Mina slid down the building using her acid while Hitoshi used his kusarigamas to latch on to the building and swing down. They ran towards the bank, where the robbery was already going underway. Sadly, it wasn't the League of Villains as they hoped. The hostage taking and the way they're demanding money were too sloppy.
The police were already on the scene, outside and ready to negotiate. The two interns were instantly recognised once they showed their provisional hero licenses. "Good evening, officer. Can you let me do the talking?"
"Are you sure, kid? You may be heroes-in-training, but I'd rather wait for a pro to do the talking." The police captain wasn't looking down on them. Not in the least. He just didn't want to put lives on the shoulders of two interns.
"Oh, don't worry, sir! My friend over here can be very convincing," Mina said, knowing more than what the officer was expecting.
"Captain, you're seriously not considering-" The police officer was interrupted by their partner, the captain, when he held his hand up. "Captain, if this is about your son's-"
"No, this has nothing to do with Izuku." Hisashi took off his mask, revealing himself to Mina and Hitoshi. "I just wanna know what he saw in these guys. I did my research. They were, or still are, his friends. But I'm still doubtful of his taste in women."
Hisashi gave a side glance to Mina. "Young lady, you shouldn't be dating a criminal. Even if he is my son."
"I- uh…" Mina was speechless. This was not how she wanted to meet her boyfriend's father. "But can you let us handle it?"
"Sure. Holler if you need help. That bum Eraserhead is running too slow to get here." With Hisashi's approval, the two began walking towards the bank.
"No more closer, heroes!" The criminal pointed the gun at the hostages. They were a crew of three people. Mina and Hitoshi calmly entered through the entranceway. "I swear, if you take one step closer, I will kill them!"
"Really?" Hitoshi asked the criminal.
"Yes, re-" The criminal went limp as he dropped his gun. Mina sighed, knowing she'd be back to being bored. Hitoshi made hero work look easy with all these gullible criminals.
"Kick your gun over to me, get out of the bank, and surrender over to the police."
"Hey! T! What are you doing?!" One of his crewmates yelled at him, but 'T' wasn't listening. "T! Get back here! Get- damn you!"
The criminal aimed his fingers at the civilian. Mina figured he had a projectile quirk to use against the hostages. She slid in front of the hostages quickly as he fired. The projectiles looked like sharpened wood darts, but that didn't matter.
"Acid Veil!" Mina shouted, creating a wall of acid that instantly melted the projectiles. The criminal was confused, but he had no time to say anything else as Hitoshi knocked him out with a kick to the back of the head. She turned to face the hostages. "Where's the third one?"
"Under. Please be careful." One of the hostages answered them. The two of them were about to go down, however, someone else stopped them.
"Good work, you two! Ya see, if this guy here wasn't busy giving me-" Whatever sentence Ms. Joke was about to finish, Eraserhead stopped her. Mina and Hitoshi wondered if she was joking or not, but they're not ready to know the answer. "Okay, okay fine. We'll take it from here. Get that guy into police custody."
The two did as their mentors told them to. The guy Hitoshi brainwashed already turned himself over and was glaring at him from inside the police cruiser. The other guy was yet to wake up. Mina and Hitoshi were now on standby, waiting for the heroes to finish up.
"Well, those two are taking quite a while. Haven't said anything on the radio yet?" Hisashi walked up to them, feeling a bit bored. He was given permission to use his quirk and free to do semi-hero work with a special license given to him. The man still prefers to do things by the book if he can help it. "Say, how did you two meet my son?"
"He was the first guy I talked to. Or rather, communicated with. As it turns out, his mouth was stitched shut and he was wearing a face mask, so I wouldn't really know." Hitoshi answered Hisashi. "We hit it off well. Even taught me how to fight. Got me into the hero course. He had no reason to do that, but he did. He's still someone I'd call my best friend, but it's complicated. Not as complicated as what she went through."
"We met when I bumped into him. At the time, I didn't know he was actually sabotaging UA stuff. All that I knew is that I made a friend." Mina recounted the time she met with Izuku. Hisashi listened intently. "He helped me a lot, and I did the same. We started dating some time after he got into the hero course. Despite everything, it was genuine, what we have. Even now. It's just… so hard and frustrating. Seeing him like this. Because he had no one back then. Deep down, I still have a problem with Bakugou, even when he did change for the better."
"Same, kid." Hisashi patted Mina's shoulder. "Thanks for taking care of him. I wasn't there when he needed it the most. At the very least, you were at the end of it."
"We're his friends. We're on the opposite side and we want to capture him. Even if he wanted to make things better…"
"He's right about how it is, but what he's doing is still wrong." Hisashi finished what Hitoshi said. "I know. That's just how it is here. I don't like it. It's why I never liked turning heroes into celebrities. How the kids don't know what it's really like to be out there. You both have seen your fair share of villains. So you'd know what I'm talking about. I just wish they didn't put too much value on quirks, but that's unavoidable. The Meta Liberation Army, The Creature Rejection Clan, and others like them. I can't do much about it now, but I can at least help the next generation."
Mina and Hitoshi stayed silent as they listened to Hisashi. It was unexpected to have Izuku's father dump all that on them.
"I failed my son. He had no one else there for him. And that's a good start to becoming a villain." Hisashi finished up what he said. "Changes in this system. I can't do it. No one can by themselves. Make sure you get a lot of people in on this, okay? So maybe in the future, this becomes avoidable."
"Sure thing, sir." Mina agreed with what Hisashi had to say.
The two pro heroes came out looking like a mess. They had the criminal leader already tied up and ready to be escorted by the police. Hitoshi and Mina walked up to their mentors. "Rough fight?"
"Yeah…" Ms. Joke had a lopsided grin. "Definitely rough."
"Tell me you two did not just-"
"Nothing happened down there, Captain." Eraserhead interrupted Hisashi before the full implications could be made. Hitoshi and Mina were aware of what Ms. Joke was implying, but refused to believe that it actually happened. He then turned to his co-hero. "Stop making up rumours about us."
"Only if you marry me."
"No."
"HA! I knew you'd say that!"
"Flirting in the workplace, really you two?" Hisashi raised an eyebrow while giving a side eye glance to the two's interns, who was also silently judging the two.
"Flirting in the- what about her?" Eraserhead acted a bit immature while pointing at Mina. "She's still dating your criminal son!"
"When she's not at work, at the very least! She still snitches on him while on their dates like a proper civilian and hero should!" Hisashi countered Eraserhead's point before realising something. "And… the only reason it keeps happening is… he might be… he might be into that… Oh my fu- I NEVER SHOULD HAVE LEFT JAPAN! I SHOULDA BEATEN THE SHIT OUT OF BAKUGOU! HE DEFINITELY STARTED THIS!"
1B Dorms…
Despite now having a mechanical spine, Katsuki couldn't help but shudder while he was tutoring Ibara in physics. She noticed it and was curious.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing… it's more as if a target on my back got bigger." Katsuki had that same shudder when he met Hisashi and when he got news that Hisashi had returned to Japan. "What can you do if the dad of the guy I bullied back then came home to Japan, and he's a Police Captain with government backing and permission to use his fire-breathing quirk?"
"Pray for you." Ibara answered while focusing on the test that Katsuki had made to help her with. The calculator was very helpful, but he already told her to get used to not relying on one first. She was not good in most academics involving mathematics, but Katsuki had always helped her with this one. "Midoriya has already forgiven you, has he not?"
"His dad definitely does not. I did what I did for no good reason." Katsuki was surprised that Hisashi did not immediately go after him. He would rather not encounter that man.
"Well, he's gonna have to cope with the fact that you changed, and you're not the same person who tormented Midoriya anymore." Ibara reassured him while answering her test. She used her vine hair to bring him closer to her. "Otherwise, you wouldn't be here with me right now and…"
She brought herself closer to him. Something was about to happen before Katsuki saw the test paper. His expression soured as he placed his index finger on her lips. "What the hell?! I just taught you about that part!"
"Huh?!" Ibara looked at her answer again. "What's wrong with it?"
"Check the tangent again." Katsuki said. She did and… yes, she got it wrong. "No kiss until you get it right."
"If I was not a woman of faith, I would have caused your downfall by now."
"Well, too bad. I already caused my own downfall way earlier. Now get back to answering that. I'd like you to pass your quizzes and exams." Katsuki handed her a calculator this time around. "I'd rather not have you get held back… Or maybe I should, so you could call me senpai."
"There is not one thing you said there that was funny." Ibara scoffed at him. "You were already quite at a low point of your life for bullying a quirkless person due to some insecurity."
"Ouch. Really aiming for the soul there, Ibara." Katsuki smirked at what she said.
Wherever the LoV is…
"Okay. Let me get this straight." Tomura looked at Paul's chalkboard, which had a summary of everything that happened while he was busy wiping out the triads in China. "Some giant appeared. Claimed he was Sensei's old bodyguard and now we have to do something to tame him. I know that. But he barely rests?"
*bzzt… Yes… bzzt*
"And my sworn brother's father is now hunting us down however he can?" Tomura knew Hisashi was probably gonna be a threat at some point, but he didn't think the man would be this big of a threat. "Look, Izuku, I really don't want to kill someone you care about. So I'm leaving it to you to figure this out."
Izuku nodded grimly. Tomura didn't want to put Izuku up to this, but having a competent cop with "Any means necessary" attached to his order coming after them is not a headache he's willing to have.
"Also, Dabi is racist and homophobic?" Tomura had to raise an eyebrow for this one. They're kinda a bunch of bad guys and killers here. That should be the least of anyone's worries right now.
"Oh my g- I AM NEITHER OF THOSE!" Dabi yelled out in anger. Compress and Audrey couldn't help but snicker behind his back. "At least I got a pro hero secretly working with us!"
"Sure. Just keep a really, really, really close eye on him." Tomura did not, at any point, trust Hawks to actually be working with them. "Okay, well, you already saw the new stuff we brought back for you guys."
"IT WAS JUST MEN'S PERFUME!"
"Then take a fucking shower, Dabi." Tomura told him.
"Thanks for this new cigar, boss! IT FUCKING SUCKS!" Twice gleefully lit one up in his mouth.
"I like these new knives. The shoes are cute, too!"
Izuku was happily inspecting the new gun he got. It was a sniper rifle that can turn into an assault rifle any time. That decreases the load he has to carry any time he's out doing a job.
"One more thing…" Tomura's expression soured when he recounted the last part.
"We lost contact with Giran shortly after you got back." Paul finished it for him. Twice wasn't fairing after hearing about it. Nobody was. They all liked the guy. He's an honorary member, after all.
"Audrey, Paul, Compress, and Himiko. I'm leaving it up to you to find out. Okay?" Tomura said to them. The four nodded, seeing as how they have the most contacts and resources to look around with. Right on time, Miro and Rappa came bursting in from the windows.
"We're gonna need your help," Miro said while holding his bleeding head.
"No, we don't, old man!" Rappa was worse off than Miro, having two broken arms. Tomura sighed and got up. He's not using anything this time besides his quirk. Nothing works against Machia, after all.
"Paul, send them to the doc. Make sure he doesn't do anything to them."
"Alrighty, mate."
"Dabi, Twice, and Compress. We're up. Everyone else I didn't mention, you can take a rest." Tomura and the three he called out walked out of the door despite Rappa's complaints of not being down.
A Week Later…
Back to Who's Joe and Acid Queen…
"Why did this guy have to have a gigantification quirk?" Hitoshi jumped off the building as rubble almost hit him. It was a good thing every civilian was already evacuated from the area. The only problem is that pro heroes don't patrol this area often. It was supposedly safe, and that was why nobody wanted to patrol it. The villain guy had a brain and put two and two together.
"Hey! Big guy!" Hitoshi tried to get the big man to respond, to no avail. Instead, the villain faced his hand, which had a face drawn on it.
"Look at that guy, Handy! He thought I didn't watch the UA Sports Festival! Well, I recognised that student!" The big man then turned to face him and threw another piece of rubble, which Hitoshi also jumped out of the way of. "Don't worry, handy. He'll run out of buildings soon eno- ow!"
He looked down to see some pink girl using her acid to burn his ankle. "Why you little!"
He tried to stomp her, but she created a shield made of volatile acid, which stopped him from doing so. "Listen here, brat! I only want the money! Let me get the money!"
"Well, I want to stop you! So let me stop you!" Mina yelled back. A piece of rubble tried to crush her, but her acid shield lived up to its name. "AND CAN YOU USE ANYTHING BUT RUBBLE!"
"Okay, then!" The giant replied to her before looking around and gently grabbing a puppy. "Serve your purpose and be a good boy!"
"WHAT!" Mina quickly dissipated her acid shield and caught the puppy before it could hit the ground. "JERK!"
"Now that you're holding the puppy, you're unable to defend yourself with your acid." The giant said before raising his leg, ready to stomp her again. He could feel Who's Joe trying to stab him with the weapon, but the pest can be dealt with. "Now, cower as I, the Genius Giant, crush you underneath my-"
He was not able to finish his sentence as a wave of fire splashed over his face, knocking him out. His quirk deactivated, and he shrunk down to size. Mina and Hitoshi looked to the right and saw that Endeavour had arrived at the scene. Hitoshi was already down the building and Mina let the puppy go. The new number one hero stomped over to them.
"Acid Queen. Who's Joe?. You are interns, correct?"
"Yes?"
"Where are your supervisors? The heroes you're working under?"
"We split up. We were patrolling this area while Eraserhead and Ms. Joke were patrolling a different part of the city." Mina answered the hero's question.
"Hmmph." Endeavour glanced at them for the moment before reaching for his communicator. "The immediate problem has been dealt with, Hisashi. Although, from the looks of it, your son isn't in this area, as your contacts claimed. Must have disappeared into the crowd during evacuation."
"Izuku was here?" Mina walked up Endeavour to ask him. She hasn't had contact with him for a while now. The last thing he messaged was something involving a giant bodyguard.
"He was." Endeavour sighed. "Despite your… relationship with him, this isn't your fight. The both of you stay out of it."
"We can fight." Hitoshi said.
"Yes, you can, but Izuku Midoriya is an experienced killer. He's not one for theatrics, so if he really wanted to, you'd be having a bullet between your-"
*BANG!*
The bullet did not hit Endeavour. It melted before it could reach him. Mina and Hitoshi turned around to see Izuku holding what looked like a new gun. He silently waved at them before grabbing on to a drone with him and flying off.
"HEY! DON'T FORGET OUR DATE NEXT FRIDAY!" Mina yelled at him. Izuku gave her a thumbs up before disappearing into the clouds. Endeavour still had his eyes closed because some of what's left of the bullet got to his face. It was not a pleasant feeling.
"He's gone now, is he?"
"Yes."
"So, where and what time is your date, Acid Queen?" Endeavour asked her.
"We're planning on the local arcade at Musutafu. Around night time when it's most populated." She answered honestly. This was always a game between the two. Mina tries to catch him and Izuku tries to escape. He always wins.
"Tch. Too crowded, then. The date would be done by the time we're done isolating the area." Endeavour scratched his chin, trying to plan for other ways to do it. Any hero he knew could beat Civil War, and the boy has even fewer chances once he's surrounded. The problem is that the villain chooses where and when he appears. That meant they can't brute force this one in particular. Endeavour would need heroes like Eraserhead and Ms. Joke over heroes like Ryukyu and himself. Hisashi would naturally be involved no matter what. He always noticed Mount Lady going serious every time Midoriya was mentioned.
"I think I can help with that." Hitoshi raised his arm, catching Endeavour's attention.
"Truly? What's your quirk?"
"You respond to anything I say. I get to take control of you. It's a gamble, what I have in mind."
"A gamble, you say? How so?"
"He knows my voice, but he doesn't know my gear. I had a plan earlier to take that giant down if you weren't here." Hitoshi pressed a button on his mask. "And now I sound like you."
Endeavour's eyes ever-so-slightly widened, but overall kept his stoic face. Thousands of possibilities went through his mind, hinging on Hitoshi's quirk and abilities. There were lots of avoidable things that could have been prevented had the boy been interning for him from the start. "Too bad Eraserhead claimed this one before I could…"
"Whatever you're thinking, I'm planning to go underground after graduating. Not high profile." Hitoshi raised his hand, as if already saying no to Endeavour's offer. The new number one hero merely hummed and nodded in understanding. "My quirk wouldn't do too good if I'm popular."
"That's understandable. Regardless, we'll keep an eye on that arcade. Make sure to isolate it as much as we can. Hitoshi, it's best if you hide among the crowds. Which Friday is it, again?"
"Friday next week." Mina answered him.
"Hmm, I'll be able to gather a few by then. Hisashi, are you getting all this?" Endeavour spoke into his communicator. "Yes. Yes. I know the hero billboard ranking is about to come up tomorrow. I know. Thank you."
Endeavour clicked off his communicator. "Tell me anything you learn. The more prepared we are next week, the better chances that we will catch him."
The hero began walking away until Mina called out to him. "I really don't like you."
"Hm." Endeavour didn't take it personally.
"But, you're the best we got right now," Mina continued. "All Might was worried about what would happen when he inevitably retired. Please ease it a bit."
"I intend to go further than that, but thank you." Endeavour walked away. Eraserhead and Ms. Joke finally arrived, both their hairs a bit messy.
"Phew, quite the workout we got. After we ha-"
"After we chased after and detained a villain. STOP MAKING THINGS UP, EMI!"
Hitoshi rolled his eyes while Mina was busy laughing her ass off while tying up the giant villain guy with the quirk suppressor cuffs.
"I have to say, I didn't expect Endeavour to be part of your plan." The giant villain said as he was being escorted to the police cruiser. "Or perhaps you lucked out."
"I lucked out." Mina admitted.
"Or perhaps I lucked out." The giant villain said. "Killing you would mean making enemies with the current top villain group. You heroes and your complicated relationships."
Moments before the Hero Rankings Chart…
"Maybe it's time I come clean, Hisashi." Endeavour sat inside the room given to him by the HPSC. Shoto told him that Touya was alive and unwell. Angry. Racist. Resentful. There was no one else to blame for it other than Endeavour, despite the independent choices that Dabi had made. "I know my son would use it-"
"No. Maybe some time in the future, but not now, you tone deaf idiot." Hisashi cut him off. The man knew what Endeavour did. The two fought over it in the past with no clear winner. Although, it was less of a fight and more of a way for Enji to grieve. The man wanted to do better, but he only knew one way to raise a kid. It was a miracle that Shoto did not end up the same way Touya did. In the end, he unconsciously doubled down, and that broke his family even more. "This is no time for that, Enji. The people need someone they can look up to, now that All Might is gone. Hawks? He's not that guy. He's too casual for that. You're the best we have right now."
"The best right now because the best of before retired. I did not surpass All Might. That man was merely too injured to keep going. The weight I feel now as the new number one is a mere fraction of what that man's shoulders have carried for years. Am I fit for it? Do I deserve it, despite how I became the number one?"
"Then prove them wrong. That you're not a replacement. If you're not fit, then start fitting for it. If you don't believe you deserve it, do things that would make you deserving of it. As I said, the public needs a beacon to shine on that path. Your fire is gonna need to burn hotter than it ever did before."
"It will never be fitting. Now I clearly understand the weight of what I have done to my own family. For my own ambitions, and it's all for nothing. How I treated them… and it was all for nothing." Enji contemplated his next moves. "I'm not just another hero. I'm no hero at all. It was my own actions that caused my family's fall. How do you expect me to-"
"The past is the past. I'm not telling you to ignore it. I'm not telling you to keep it a secret. What I am telling you IS TO SAVE IT FOR LATER. Put on a face for now. Nobody wants the person on top to be melancholic. If you still wish to pay for that in the legal way, I'll be the one to put you behind bars. But not before we dealt with the League and the Meta Liberation Army. You are our best shot right now."
Enji closed his eyes, having listened to what his friend had to say. Perhaps he was the best they had available. Hisashi made sense as well. He can accept his fate later, but he can atone better through action and not by sitting behind bars. "Very well."
"And don't try to run away. Talk to your kids. And maybe your wife as well. I'm sure only one of them would forgive you, but it's better to know you're sorry and that you're willing to atone."
"I want their forgiveness." Enji admits. "But I will never have it. The only thing I could do is… You're a lucky man, Hisashi. Your son is quite forgiving, and I'm sorry for the path he took."
"Don't sweat it. None of this could have happened if I never accepted that overseas transfer. Even if I didn't wish to, I ended up neglecting my son."
"It's about time we stop mulling over what already happened, don't you think, Hisashi?" Endeavour stood up. Hisashi did the same. "I'll be counting on your support."
"Right back at you, buddy." Hisashi shook his friend's hand. It was just in time for the Hero Rankings to start.
{- To Be Continued...