Mastermind: Strategist For Hire

Learning

Izuku checked the address Giran had texted him to make sure he was in the right place before going in, letting the door swing on it's hinges behind him. The travel agency he was in was obviously a front, the bored young woman at the front desk fixing him with an unimpressed stare that very obviously said, you're lost, idiot, get out of here before you hurt yourself. Izuku just ignored it, walking up to the desk with the sweetest smile on his face.

"Hi! I have an appointment with Giran. He said he had a package for me?"

The girl continued staring at him for a minute before she gave up and sighed, "If you're sure, squirt. What's the name?"

Izuku's smile got wider, "Mastermind."

He almost laughed as she did a double take, suddenly much more awake.

"Just a moment sir," her voice shook slightly, "I'll just let him know you've arrived."

Izuku nodded and found a seat in the lobby as the receptionist made a call. He was just pretending to look through a magazine when the door swung open again and a blond girl in a loose school uniform came skipping in and leaned over the receptionist's desk.

"Hiya baby! You're cute! Giran said he wanted to see me, do you know why? Was it to meet you? I like your shirt by the way, it's such a pretty shade of red. Red's my favorite color! I love seeing everyone in it! You just came prepared."

Izuku smirked at the cornered look on the receptionist's face as Toga encroached further and further into her personal space. She was saved by Giran coming out from the back.

"Mastermind! Pleasure to see you again. Nice to see that the phone I gave you is working well!"

"It's working wonderfully, thanks," Izuku replied, "The laptop as well. If the other gear I've ordered is even half that quality, I don't think I'll ever order from anyone else."

"That's what I like to hear," Giran clapped him on the back and turned toward the receptionist and Toga, who was looking at Izuku hungrilly, "Toga, I'll be with you in just a few minutes. Can you find something to entertain yourself out here in the meantime?" The receptionist looked faint as Toga smiled widely at her, her fangs on full display.

"Your poor receptionist..." Izuku said when the two arrived at Giran's office.

"Yeah," Giran replied, "But remind me whose fault it is that Toga is here to begin with."

"Point taken," Izuku chuckled, "So, you have my villain outfit?"

Instead of replying, Giran just took a large box and put it on the desk. Izuku looked over the contents, inspecting the armored pants, shirt and jacket before moving onto the gas mask. Overall, it was simple and more than a little plain compared to the flashy hero costumes plastered all over the news, and it was exactly what Izuku wanted.

"It all looks good. And the weapons?"

"In the gym where you'll be training with Toga. Speaking of, I don't really like the idea of having to find a new receptionist. I just barely hired this one. The gym is the last door on the left, I'll go get Toga and meet you there."

Izuku nodded and made his way down the hall. He tried a few of the other doors, but they were all locked. Good, Giran's not just a trusting idiot. The gym wasn't huge, but there was enough room to move around comfortably. There were a variety of different sized boxes stacked against the walls so that they could train with obstacles when they were ready and there was a large display of weapons on the wall beside the door. Izuku guessed that this room was normally used for demonstrations of the most common weapons Giran sold.

He noticed an innocent looking cardboard box sitting on the ground under the weapons display and was halfway to wondering what was inside before he saw the name Mastermind written in small black letters in one corner. He smiled and opened it. All the weapons he'd ordered were there, as well as a few extra "training" versions, which were basically the same, except dull instead of sharp.

"Is this really him? Is this Mastermind? He's so tiny!" It was a wonder this girl was such an effective killer, considering she probably wouldn't know stealth if it bit her in the butt. Izuku really hoped that this wasn't one of those "smart people make stupid decisions" moments because he wasn't really ready to die today. Maybe he should have put his affairs in order before showing up?

Something must have shown on his face because Giran laughed, "I would say she won't bite, but honestly I don't know. Yeah Toga, this kid is Mastermind. Don't let his size fool you though, he's probably one of the smartest villains I've ever met. Mastermind, I'm sure you already know this is Toga Himiko, considering you're the one that wanted this meeting."

"Oooh!" Himiko squealed, "Mastermind knows who I am?! And he's so cute! You need a cute nickname to match! Like Stainy! Mastermindy? Master-chan? Mind-chan? Mind-chan! That's perfect! Giran said you asked for me Mind-chan! Why does a cutie like you want to meet an adorable killer like me?"

Izuku swallowed his doubts and smiled. It was getting easier to understand her the more he listened, her excitement wasn't too different from his own ramblings after all. And Giran probably wouldn't let her kill him. Probably.

"Well, um, you probably know that not many people have met me, um, yet. So, um, I need to learn how to defend myself, and, um, you're really good at knife combat so, um, yeah." He cringed and saw Giran mirroring the expression. Smooth . Toga, however, didn't really care.

"Wow! So you want me to teach you how to fight Mind-chan? That's so cool! I don't really know what I'm doing half the time, I just like to see people in red, so I don't know if I'll be a good teacher, but it'll be lotsa fun to try!"

Despite his common sense screaming at him to get as far away from this girl as possible, her enthusiasm was contagious. "Perfect Toga-sensei! If you'll try to be a good teacher, I'll do my best to be a good student."

It was Toga's turn to cringe, "Toga-sensei? That's not cute at all! Just call me Himiko, Mind-chan!" and then she ran at him with a knife.

Izuku didn't think he had ever been more sore in his life.

He was currently stretched out on the couch icing his bruises with bags of frozen peas. Thankfully, the training knives he and Toga had been using only left bruises instead of slashes. Toga wasn't too happy about that: she insisted that red was a much prettier color than purple.

Izuku heard the door open, but didn't bother moving. He wasn't even sure he could at this point, but maybe he was just being dramatic.

"Oh! Izuku sweetie, are you ok? What happened?"

"Hi Mom," Izuku tried to smile, but it came out as more of a pained grimace, "I just spent the afternoon with a few friends. One of them is pretty good at martial arts and she was trying to teach me. She's just, uhh, really enthusiastic."

His mom didn't seem any less worried, but seemed to decide to take his word for it, "Did you learn a lot? What's she like?"

Izuku lit up, "Yeah, I did! We basically spent the whole time going over some basics and getting them into my body. She said I'm a really fast learner. Um... what else? Like I said, she's really enthusiastic and not just about fighting. Himiko just does everything with about twice as much energy as anyone else, so she's actually a lot of fun to be around. It was a little intimidating at first, but I'm getting used to her, so it's not too bad."

Mom was smiling too now, "I'm so happy you're making friends, Izuku! She sounds really nice! Maybe you should bring her around for dinner sometime," yeah, no, that would not be happening, "You've been so happy these past few months. I was so worried about you after Katsuki was attacked by that awful villain, you were just so quiet for months after, and then that whole thing with trying to find a job. I don't know what changed, but you seem to be thriving now!"

Izuku thought about it for a minute. It definitely hadn't been a smooth transition from wannabe hero to up and coming villain but, was he happier now? He thought of his fight with Toga and how she didn't ever ask about his quirk, just pouted that she wasn't allowed to make him bleed. He thought of Giran and how he treated him like an equal. He thought about his overflowing inbox, full of people who respected him and wanted to be associated with him and he felt a smile smile tug at the corners of his mouth as he looked up at his mom.

"Yeah, I guess I am. I've found people who like me and I'm doing something I enjoy. For the first time in a while, I think I'm really happy."