Chapter Text
Ten Months Later
“You’re wrong, Izuku. You’re just wrong! And there’s no other way to say it. Those analytical skills of yours have failed you if that’s what you think happened.”
“But Mei-” Izuku laughed.
“No!” Mei interrupted, pointing her spoon at him, ice cream dripping onto the table between them. “Don’t argue with me, Midoriya Izuku. I may not be the only genius at this table, but I am still smarter than you.”
“Whoa now. That might be taking it a little too-”
“No!” Other people in the cafe had begun to turn towards their table at Mei’s second, much louder exclamation, but neither of them paid the extra attention any mind. After nearly ten months of hosting Mei and Izuku’s weekly Comic Debates the regulars and the staff had long grown used to the their antics. If the two of them hadn’t been asked to leave before, they weren’t going to be worried about it now.
Izuku leaned across the table, journal open between them as he pointed to his notes. His own ice cream sat melting beside him, forgotten in his rush to explain before he was interrupted again. “Just listen, Mei. I know we’re supposed to think he died- and he really might have- but what if-”
“If you’re going to argue that he didn’t die, fine. I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt there But you can’t bring people back from the dead, Izuku! We haven’t seen anyone with a power like that.” Satisfied with her argument, Mei dug into her ice cream again, making a show of taking another bite.
“Exactly! We haven’t seen anything like that, but we haven’t seen anything that says it’s impossible either. They aren’t quirks. Who knows what kind of limits there were.” Izuku reached out, pulling Mei’s cup away from her, forcing her to look at him again. “And what about the pit? That one that was mentioned a couple of times in that other series? That could definitely-”
“Midoriya. Izuku. Give me back my ice cream or I swear I’ll sneak in my mom’s shop and swap out the Wonder Balls for something a lot less helpful to your cause.” Mei’s golden eyes flashed in the low light, but Izuku could tell she was trying to hold back a smile.
“One- We are not calling them the Wonder Balls. We’ve talking about this fifty times. Two- You would never do something to ruin the reputation of your products so that’s a horrible threat, Mei, come on. And three- if you would listen to me, I wouldn’t have to steal your ice cream!”
“Well, maybe I would listen to you if your theories weren’t ridiculous!” Mei responded, snatching up Izuku’s notebook and holding it high above her head. “Looks like we both have a hostage now. What are you going to do about it, Hero-kun?”
Izuku frowned. “You know I can’t take you seriously when you use that nickname, right?”
“You know my mom is never going to call you anything else, right?” Mei countered, shaking the notebook a little as she spoke.
“Then I suppose I must do whatever I have to do to ensure the safety of that hostage! Have no fear, dear citizen, for I am hear!” The proclamation was followed by a small bow as Izuku grinned up Mei.
“Oh ho! What’s this? Channeling All Might today?” Mei asked, lowering the book from over her head. “Do I need to tell Aizawa-san that you have a new favorite hero?”
“Aizawa-sensei knows who my favorite is. There’s no way he would miss all the Present Mic merch I have in my room now. Who can resist a pro willing to give you their own merch? No competition whatsoever.”
“I suppose that would shift things in his favor a bit,” Mei allowed. “And it seems we’ve come to an impasse. Truce?”
Izuku placed Mei’s ice cream back down. “I guess we can call a truce. For the good of the cafe, of course.”
“Of course.” Mei handed Izuku’s notebook over as he slid her cup across the table again. Grinning, she took another bite as she asked. “So how’s it going with Aizawa-san’s little monsters? They giving you as much trouble as you thought?”
“Don’t get me started,” Izuku groaned, leaning his head against the table, looking up a Mei with a pout. “He finally lets me watch them, and I regret almost every decision that led to this moment.”
“Except the training, right?”
Izuku rolled his eyes. “That goes without saying. But yeah, they’re great, and I’m glad he trusts me with them. It just seems like they’re testing me? Or maybe just Marlo? It seems like Marlo is testing me. How much nonsense can I put up with before I lose it. That kind of thing. I swear that cat is smarter than any other animal I’ve ever met. I have no idea how Aizawa-sensei manages all of them.”
“Are you sure they aren’t the ones managing him?” Mei asked.
“That-” Izuku paused. “That might actually be a good point. In Marlo and Maru’s case at least. I swear if I didn’t watch Leo he would have set Aizawa-sensei’s apartment on fire by now. I’ve got to head straight there once we leave. Who knows what kind of chaos they’ve created while I’ve been gone.”
“I’m done if you’re ready,” Mei said, her chair scraping against the floor as she stood. “I guess we’ll have to put this discussion on hold until next week. Maybe you’ll have come to your senses by then.”
“I’ll send you the panels I’m talking about, and maybe you’ll see that I know what I’m talking about,” Izuku answered, flipping his notebook closed as he gathered his own trash. Their weekly meetings weren’t the only times he and Mei met up, but it was always at the end of these debates that Izuku thought about how much his life had changed since he met Aizawa Shouta. A year ago he never would have been able to picture himself regularly meeting up with a friend, let alone a friend who loved old comics. Having someone who actually enjoyed listening to him talk besides his mother? Impossible.
Yet here he was.
Hatsume Mei had been an unexpected surprise, and Izuku would never stop being grateful for her. He liked to think that she valued his friendship just as much as he valued hers.
“Are we still good to go to the mall this weekend?” Mei asked once they had stepped outside again. Izuku hadn’t realized how long they had been arguing, but the sun had started to slip below the horizon.
“Yeah, Aizawa-sensei and Hizashi-san are still out of town until the start of next week. He left me some assignments, but I’ll have plenty of time to get that all done before the weekend.”
“Good,” Mei said, elbowing him gently in the side. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to carry all the stuff I need without someone else there.”
“Oh, I see. You just want me there to be your pack mule, huh? Is that how it is?.” Izuku smiled, and he couldn’t help the feeling that came with being able to joke about that when he knew it wasn’t actually true.
“That’s how it is,” Mei agreed, nodding. “But considering I’m using these materials for a test run of a new product for you I thought you might want to come along, help out, but if you don’t want some new toys…”
“I never said I wouldn’t help, Mei,” Izuku said quickly. “You know I don’t mind carrying your stuff. You’ll lose it before you get home otherwise.”
“You know me so well, Izuku.” Mei threw her arms around him, pulling him into a tight hug that he quickly returned. “I’ll see you then! Don’t let those cats push you around!”
“I’ll try, but no promises!”
Izuku might have been exaggerating a bit when he told Mei about Aizawa’s cats, but the basics of what he said had been true. Marlo was testing him, and Izuku didn’t know what to do about it. The fact that Aizawa let him stay in his apartment while he and Hizashi were out of town showed just how much the pro hero’s trust in Izuku-and Inko’s trust in Aizawa- had grown. Izuku didn’t want to let him down.
Marlo seemed to have other plans entirely.
It should have been no surprise that the apartment Aizawa had led him to before leaving for his trip was not the same apartment Izuku had tracked down all those months ago, but somehow Izuku had been thrown when his mentor’s roundabout method of travel ended at an unfamiliar concrete building. If Aizawa hadn’t told him before that they were going to his apartment, Izuku would have thought it was a new training facility.
“There are a few other pros in this building, but no one who likes being in the public eye,” Aizawa had explained, pressing a finger against the keypad. A light flashed green and Izuku heard the click of the lock unlatching. “I’ll need to add your print before we leave, but the rest of the paperwork has been filled out. No one should give you any problems while I’m gone. Anyone living in these apartments knows and values the importance of privacy. Don’t bother them and they won’t bother you.”
That along with a list of guidelines for taking care of his cats were all Aizawa had said about the situation, but Izuku didn’t need words to recognize the monumental shift that had occured for Aizawa to allow him into his personal space like this. The sound Hizashi had made when he heard Izuku would be staying in his apartment for the week only solidified it.
Footsteps sounded on the other side of the door as Izuku turned the key to unlock Aizawa’s apartment. He had only a second to brace himself once he opened the door before Marlo was on him, launching himself off the kitchen counter at Izuku’s face.
He had never been that grateful for the effects Aizawa’s training had had on his reflexes because Izuku just managed to drop his bag and lift his arms in time to catch the cat, narrowly avoiding a face full of cat claws. “Marlo!” Adjusting the ball of fluff in his arms, Izuku shook his head as he felt the hum of the cat’s purring against his chest. “Don’t even start with that, Marlo. You aren’t cute. Uncalled for.”
Marlo ducked his head under Izuku’s arm, stretching as he continued to purr. Izuku opened his mouth to speak again, but cut himself off when Leo raced around the corner, barely slowing as he wound his way between Izuku’s legs.
“See that, Marlo? That’s a greeting. You don’t attack the person coming to see you. Unless it’s a villain. Do you think I’m a villain?” Marlo licked his hand before turning to look up at Izuku innocently. “It’s been three days. Can’t we skip this by now?”
Dropping Marlo gently onto the couch, Izuku went through his nightly routine while pet sitting for Aizawa absentmindedly. The new school year had finally started, and with it came a whole new batch of students for him to profile. Forty new quirks to pick apart and put back together again. The stack of folders sat on the edge of Aizawa’s coffee table, waiting for him to start combing through. Izuku couldn’t wait.
A year. That was how long Izuku had left before he could start at Yuuei. It had seemed like so much time when he had first started training, but now it seemed like no time at all. Aizawa had in no way been taking his training easy, but Izuku knew that the moment his mentor and Hizashi returned that his training would be pushed to an even higher level than before. He only had six months left until the demonstration, and Izuku would make sure he made every moment of it count.
Collapsing on the sofa next to Marlo, Izuku pulled the folders into his lap as Mochi jumped up beside him.
“Alright, guys,” he said, flipping the first one open. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”
The bar didn’t seem like much from the outside but that might have, upon further inspection, been the point. The windows were dark, the door closed and uninviting, light peeking out between the curtains the only sign that there was anyone inside. Kurogiri stood behind the counter, glass in hand as his quirk swirled inactive around him. The bar sat empty aside from him, but that was how Kurogiri prefered it. Owning the bar had never really been about making money off it, and no customers meant no people for him to pretend to pay attention to.
He had just decided to close up for the night when a sharp knock sounded at the door. Kurogiri froze, glass inches from the wooden counter. Maybe if he ignored them they would go away. The door was unlocked. There was nothing stopping whoever knocked from coming in, but maybe they would think the bar had closed.
Crack
The silence of the bar shattered as the door disintegrated. Kurogiri could barely wrap his mind around this turn of events when a figure stepped into the light of the doorway. A hoodie covered his face in shadows, the flash of a grin and greying, scarred skin the only thing visible in the low light.
“Hmm.” The stranger hummed. “Not very...hospitable. And here all I wanted was to invite you to play.”
Kurogiri set the glass down, inching slowly around to the edge of the counter. “We’re closed,” he said, and stepped into the empty space at the opposite end of the room. The more room he had available if this turned into a fight, the better. “Breaking down my door wasn’t the best way to offer an invitation.”
“The door was closed,” the stranger said simply, as if that explained everything. “Relax. Relax. I’m not here to fight. Today.”
“Right.”
“Sensei says you’re good,” the stranger continued. “Says you’re just the person I need to make this game interesting.”
“And what is this game, exactly?” Kurogiri didn’t make a habit of conversing with deranged strangers, but there was something about this man that told him that trying to get him to leave wasn’t an option.
“To change the world order, according to Sensei. But me? I want to destroy All Might.”
Destroying the Symbol of Peace? Kurogiri wanted nothing to do with that. Targeting All Might would a one way ticket to having every hero in the country after him. He didn’t need that kind of trouble in his life.
Changing the world order though? You didn’t get to where Kurogiri was in life without being dissatisfied with the world in some way. Still. There was no reason for him to get involved in this. Whatever this was. No reason for him to know more than he already did. But in the same way he knew the stranger wasn’t going to leave him alone, Kurogiri knew that telling him no wasn’t an option either.
Whoever Sensei was, however he knew about Kurogiri and his talents, the choice seemed to have already been made for him. At least for the moment. The words were out of his mouth before he could think about the consequences. “Tell me more.”
The stranger’s crooked grin spread as he tilted his head back, letting the hood slip to reveal his face. Kurogiri barely held back his flinch at the look in his eyes.
“I’m Shigaraki Tomura,” the stranger said, stepping forward. “Game Start.”