Ticked Off [Boku No Hero Academia]

BONUS CHAPTER: TWO HEROES [1/2]

"I'm glad I invited you," Toshinori commented bemusedly as the boy trailed off in an excited spiel about the island.

"Me too," Izuku agreed, although glad for an entirely different reason.

He gave a contemplative hum, brow furrowing thoughtfully. "Ah, but I suppose you've already seen all of this before, in your time?"

"Yeah, but I'm still excited! Not only do I get to see Melissa-san and Dave-san again, but also all the cool support gear people have invented, and all the latest prototypes that could help change the world as we know it! I just think it's really amazing to see how creative all these scientists can be, and I bet they're super happy to see all their hard work pay off and be admired by thousands in the greatest Expo in the world! Support companies really don't get enough credit for all the incredible work they do for heroes – and, well, for everyone else, too, because support companies tend to have a bigger budget for inventions, which means they get more opportunities to test out new ideas and push the boundaries of modern science in a way that could end up benefiting the general population. Like the Oni armour – that's such an ingenious creation which I'm so honoured to be able to test out, and I bet, once the concept is more refined, it'll be super handy and popular because it'll shave so much time off for heroes because they won't have to waste precious minutes pulling on their costume, which means response times will be cut down, which means more people can be saved, which is really great!" Izuku took a deep breath, placing a hand on his chest and blinking almost dazedly at the seat in front of him. "Whoa. Sorry. I'm, uh... I'm very excited. Thank you for inviting me, again, Toshi-san."

To his credit, the man didn't seem too overwhelmed by the sudden ramble. Instead, he merely cracked a fond grin and patted the boy's messy hair. Perhaps he'd grown accustomed to his tendency to word-vomit at any given moment.

"You're welcome, my boy. It seems I made the right choice." Toshinori paused, blinking and raising a pointed finger. "You already know about Melissa and Dave? I suppose that makes sense... It ruins the surprise, but it can't be helped. How do you like them?"

"Oh, Melissa-san's amazing! She's truly a prodigy and a total genius – but that's all through her own hard work and studying, which is really cool. And she hasn't let people deny her of her dreams just because she's Quirkless! She's a real inspiration to me, to be honest," he said softly, looking down at his hands in his lap with a smile before looking back up at his mentor. "Dave-san's cool too! His inventions have always been super ground-breaking, and he really is very good at what he does... Maybe too good..." He added as an afterthought, frowning a little.

The pilot informed them that they were about to begin their descent, successfully distracting Toshinori from querying that odd statement. He stood and gradually beefed up into All Might, muscles pushing against the once-oversized suit that he quickly discarded to reveal his bright hero costume underneath. Izuku's gaze flickered to the ceiling, lips quirking up in amusement as he noticed that the man had to crouch to be able to fit inside properly, but his expression grew a little sad at the reminder that his mentor would be straining himself for so long to keep up the facade.

"Right," Izuku muttered, voice gentling with concern. "Please don't push yourself too hard, Toshi-san. Take any moment you can to power down and take a break – I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"I'll be fine, my boy," Toshinori said with unending cheer.

They exited the plane when it landed, going through automatic security checks before being able to enter the island. He couldn't help but stare around in awe, even if it was all familiar to him. Everything was all so bright and shiny and beautiful, with concrete interspersed with grass and trees to keep the place from feeling too synthetic. Spires of swirling colours reached skyward, every building created with fascinatingly unique architecture and painted in bold and eye-catching hues, making sure that all the attractions were equally as interesting to entertain the public. Glittering spouts of water sprayed into the air, manipulated into words by someone with a water Quirk. Large music notes floated like bubbles through the air from a giant golden harp, letting out soothing tones that were loud enough to be heard over the cheers of the crowd, even from where they stood, upon the top of the stairs near the entrance.