(A/N: Image above is her current outfit)
(A/N: I decided to add beta Teruteru in this and have him not be as gross as Mineta nor Hifumi)
Also here's her burn scar from Bakugo:
Picture that, but pale pink. Unless she gets upset and then it changes to an angry red.
Also her eyes now look like Izuru's only instead of the prohibition sign, she has the "Do Not Enter" road sign symbol in her eyes. It gets super pronounced when her eyes changes to red.
(Like this, only with said symbol)
Timeskip a few years later to ten months before Retasu's first year in High School....
Retasu's POV
It has been a few years since what me and my friends had dubbed "The Biggest Baddest Family Betrayal in Human History" (courtesy of Junko, of course). Ever since then I have trained under the man, the myth, the legend: Izaya Orihara. Along the way, I have met his arch rival, Shizuo Heiwajima. Man, that was one wild ride... but that's a story for another time. He also, despite my affiliation with the so-called "flea", trained me in body strength and stamina. Kinda was gonna need that for when I took the UA entrance exam.
That's right.
Despite leaving behind... my family (man, just saying that, much less thinking it, leaves a sour taste in my mouth..) and cut off all contact with both Inko and Izuku, I still wanted to prove that we Quirkless (and we Ultimates) are just as good as the Quirkies.
Even if it meant going into the infamous lion's den that produces a lot of fake heroes to prove my ideology. If I'm going to leave my mark, I might as well do it in the place known as the Number One Hero school.
However, I will not be attending UA for my high school years.
Oh no. Not a chance in all the rings of hell.
I have already made up my mind on where I'm going once I graduated from the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles and I already got my acceptance letter not a week after. Me and the gang threw a huge "afterparty" after the graduation ceremony, but that's a story for another time as well. Let me tell you though, that was the longest I have ever seen both Izaya-sensei and Shizuo-chan stay in the same area without trying to kill one another (and not a single vending machine nor lightpost got dismantled).
But I digress.
I'm going straight to Hope's Peak Academy. Where Ultimates like me and Kura-chan can flourish with other fellow Ultimates. And to make things better, all of our friends are already accepted at this prestigious school.
And thanks to Izuru and his connections with some of the staff there, he got me my own private space on the dormitory grounds, which is basically a hidden passage under the school founder's statue. There's enough room for me, Izuru, and the others to hang out in. Hell Izuru even lives there with me when he and Hajime doesn't have to be home to deal with his old man whenever he's not traveling abroad for his business.
I sighed to myself as I put my outfit on to go out for the day. While I'm not on campus, I'm at Izuru's and Hajime's place, along with my dogs. And when both Izuru and Hajime are out, I am usually working as a part-time dealer and delivering products to paying clients. From imported goods to even prescription drugs (I have a regular who asks for klonopin every other week a couple of towns over) to even pot brownies, I make quite a bit in tips.
Not only do I do deliver products, but I also sell info to promising clients. I have a client in the Novoselic Empire who is looking to negotiate with the Prime minister, who is also a regular client of mine; a member of the Togami clan who goes to me frequently for Intel on rival businesses to get in his father's good graces to be the next sole heir of the family; several clients in the secret military group known as Fenrir for supplies and some weaponry (ones I can get ahold of anyway without alerting any big shot authorities); among many others.
Thanks to that, I have racked up quite the nest egg, and have several overseas accounts.
All in all, Izaya prided himself as taking me on as his protege. And I honestly couldn't ask for a better person to teach me. Let me tell you, it is no smooth ride in this field of work. Not only do I have a great amount of friends, Ultimate or otherwise, but I have a great amount of enemies too. But that list will be made out another time as it is kind of a long one....
For now, let us focus on what is going on now...
Which happens to be in a cat cafe....
And it is here, I have met with a few key players to my "grand scheme" for my "conquest".
3rd POV Switch
It was a normal weekend day for Retasu.
Only difference is that all of her friends are all busy.
Junko had yet another photo shoot to attend to. Mahiru's mother was home from her work as a war photographer so she and her were having some quality time before she goes back to work. Hiyoko was at a tea ceremony the next town over. Kirumi was called for a cleaning job uptown. Kokichi was yet again on a pranking spree with his cohorts downtown, so Retasu made sure to avoid that area until further notice. Nagito was in the hospital (again) thanks to his bad luck catching up to him (don't ask). Mikan was with Nagito, attending his injuries. Hajime and Izuru were out dealing with business in their old man's stead. Maki and Mukuro had their own thing to do with their groups, the detailed were vague at best if only for their friends' safety. Gonta was out collecting different rare types of beetles with Rantaro helping him along with some of his sisters whi enjoy wildlife. Souda and Miu were working on something together, dragging poor Kiibo along with them for the ride. Chiaki had a game tournament with her cousin Chihiro cheering her on. Gundham was out training his new bear cub he rescued just a week ago so he had his hands full. As for Retasu's dogs, she decided to let them have the day off to themselves, even if it went against Izuru's wishes.
But hey. What Izuru and Hajime doesn't know won't kill them, right?
So that left Retasu with nearly nothing to do after making her "deliveries" for the day. So she decided after she made her last dropoff in Musutafu (her last customer being some former street magician guy that had an obsession with cherries) that she should stop by the local cat cafe for a nice refreshing drink and some cake to go along with it. She also decided to bring some extra cake back with her so she and the others can share as an afterthought.
As she sipped her bubble tea and played with a black cat that wanted her attention , she saw something purple out of the corner of her eye. Looking out the window next to her, she saw a boy, perhaps a year older than herself, standing outside the cat cafe, looking inside a bit longingly, especially at the cats lingering around inside.
Immediately grasping the situation she waved at the boy, grabbing his attention. He pointed to himself, raising an eyebrow. She nodded, answering his unspoken question before waving him over.
Reluctantly, he entered the cafe, walking over to where Retasu sat, who was already handing him her menu as he sat across from her.
"Pick what you want. I'll pay." She said, her face leaving no room for argument.
Nodding he took the offered menu as she waved one of the waiters over.
"Yes?" He asked, not taking his eyes off Retasu's body nor how she looked in her outfit, not that she paid attention to this, much to the boy's curiosity.
"I'm gonna need one of these," she said pointing to the tiramisu cake and a strawberry cake. She looked at the boy seated across from her. "What do you want to drink?"
He answered, "Black coffee. And some tiramisu."
She nodded before turning back to the waiter. "And I would like another one of these, if you please." She added pointing to her bubble tea.
The waiter nodded eagerly. "Sure! Be right back!"
As soon as he left, the purple haired boy turned to her. "Why?" He asked.
Looking up at him from her drink, she responded, "Why what?"
"Why did you invite me? We don't know each other..." The black cat that was on Retasu's lap then walked over to him, meowing for his attention, to which he immediately gave.
"Well you look like you wanted to come in, judging from how you were looking at the cats. And besides, food taste better when it is shared with friends."
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Is that what we are?"
She shrugged. "Why not? You seem like an okay guy. And I know how to read people."
"What if I were to tell you that I had a villainous Quirk?"
Retasu didn't get the chance to respond when the waiter suddenly returned, with both orders in hand.
"Here you go!" The waiter chirped staring only at Retasu, who was now actually looking at him. Not only that she was beginning to feel a rather uncomfortable feeling crawl up her spine as he flashed her a cheesy smile at her. The boy noticed this.
"If you want, I can give you my phone number~ Maybe we can rendezvous~" This made both of them cringe.
"Isn't this guy at least eighteen?! She can't be younger than thirteen!" The purplenette thought in disgust as Retasu tried to make him go away to no avail.
Having enough of this, he decided to end this, villainous Quirk be damned.
"Oi." He spoke plainly, making the waiter turn to him in slight irritation.
"What-?" Then the waiter's eyes suddenly glazed over, his face going slack.
This got Retasu's attention. "Must be his Quirk.... mind control perhaps?" She thought as her eyes flashed red for the briefest of moments before returning to gold. "Close. Brainwashing. Though while I can see why some may call it 'villainous', it actually has more uses when it is used for good..."
"You will stop hitting on her." The teen said, his eyes on the older man's glazed over ones.
"Yeah." He responded tonelessly, like a robot (no offense, Kiibo!).
"And you will turn yourself in to your boss for your misconduct."
"Yes." With that, the waiter turned and left, presumably to the manager's office.
With him gone, Retasu turned to the one who had more or less saved her.
"Thank you." She said, making him turn to her in surprise.
"Y-you're not mad?" He looked shocked as if he wasn't used to being thanked for anything.
"Why should I? You might have potentially saved me from a pervert. Your Quirk is actually quite handy, despite what you may say." She said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Brainwashing, I assume?"
"Y-yeah." He answered, floored that she hit the nail on the head on guessing his Quirk. "But why-?"
"Why am I not running away in fear?" Retasu interjected, making him blink in surprise as she took the words out of his mouth. "Because I'm not some Quirkist fucktard who only judges a person entirely on their Quirk." He could hear the bitterness in her voice as he spied a very vindictive look in her amber eyes, only now they were tinged with red on the edges of her irises.
"Ah." What else could someone in his position say after hearing something like that? Though he will admit that it is a nice change from the usual reactions he get when someone sees his Quirk in action.
"But enough about that," Retasu said. "I should introduce myself. I'm Retasu."
"Shinso." He returned. "Shinso Hitoshi." While he noted that she didn't offer her surname, he chose not to pry as it was basically none of his business and already deduced that the mint-haired girl had her reasons for not giving her full name.
"Nice to meet you." She said with a poker face.
"Same to you." He took a swig of his coffee. After a moment of silence that hung in the air, he decided to give small talk a try. "Do you... live around here?"
"Not exactly." She responded honestly, sipping her bubble tea. "I'm basically in this town on business."
This made him lift an eyebrow. "You work?"
"Yeah." She shrugged nonchalantly.
"Don't take offense but aren't you a bit young to be employed?"
"None taken. And yes. Yes, I am." She didn't offer anything else as she took a bite of her cake.
Deciding not to question it, Shinso decided to move on. "So... what exactly do you do?"
"I make deliveries. Like food, medicine, grey market goods, that sort of thing." She responded nonchalantly.
"Oh," was all Shinso could say.
He was not very good at having conversations, at least where keeping them going is concerned, Retasu observed. "You don't have to force yourself, you know," she said, as she too isn't a lover of conversation herself.
"Beg your pardon?" Shinso asked, not sure what she meant.
"You don't have to force yourself to have a conversation with me if it helps anything. I'm not exactly one of those social butterflies, you know." This made the indigo-haired boy sigh with relief. Thank Kami.
"Thanks." He muttered taking a bite of his tiramisu.
"No problem." She shrugged.
For awhile, they just ate and drank in a comfortable silence, the lull in the air now gone since Retasu drove that away.
"So... you out of school or something?" Retasu asked.
"Not exactly." Shinso admitted honestly. "I'm basically ditching."
This got Retasu's interest. "Really?"
"Yeah. My school sucks. And I needed some time away from those guys."
"Something going on over there?" Retasu had an idea what this could mean, judging from his antisocial demeanor and the bags under his eyes and the scars he had failed to hide from her analytical eyes, but she rather hear it from him.
He shrugged, trying to play it cool, if only for the sake of his pride. "Bullies. Prejudiced assholes that play the role of teachers. My parents also suck so they sent me away on foster care." Aha. Just as she suspected. Though she will admit she didn't see that last part coming. Then again, chances were she was more than likely to find that bit of information out sooner or later, given her Ultimate and who her mentor is.
"I hear ya." Shinso was surprised by the honesty, even if her voice was monotone. "I have dealt with the same thing..." Her hand drifted to the jagged scar on her sternum that peeked slightly from the v-neck of her shirt. Shinso's breath caught in his throat upon glimpsing the red scar; even if was just merely a glance before she adjusted her shirt to conceal it, he could tell that it was quite severe and cause for worry.
"You're not the only one who suffers under society's thumb." She tapped her fingers nervously on the glass holding her bubble tea. She stared into the liquid, her amber eyes full of undiscernable emotions.
"So what about you?" Shinso decided to bite the bullet and ask. "You ditching school too?"
"Nah. School's out for me. Gotta focus on my high school applications. Though there is only one place I want to go to."
This piqued Shinso's interest. Perhaps she's trying for UA, too? "Where do you plan on going?"
"My heart is set on going to Hope's Peak Academy." Shinso blinked, having only vaguely heard of the place. Though he knows of the school's reputation and what sort of students they admit into their facility.
"Oh? Then you are-"
"An Ultimate," Retasu finished for him, revealing that she isn't a Quirky after all.
"Huh." This girl just keeps surprising him. "Never met one before."
"Doesn't surprise me." She said nonchalantly. "We are quite few in numbers as it is. And we aren't exactly known to be society's gift from God, if you catch my drift. And not many of us Ultimates live in areas that are populated by Quirkies."
"So you are also being discriminated." He stated than asked.
"That's the long and short of it, yes." Retasu confirmed. "Though you are the first Quirkie I met that isn't some prejudiced asshole."
"Thanks I guess."
"You're welcome." He sweatdropped as she ate another bite of her cake.
Swallowing her bite, she then asked, "So what about you? Where do you plan on going once you get out of middle school?"
"UA." He decided to answer honestly.
"Ah." Her grip on the glass noticeably tightened, her knuckles paling a bit as Shinso noticed with a slight wince, thinking he might have stepped on a mine in this proverbial minefield. "That place."
"Uh, yeah." He confirmed hesitantly hoping to not lose the possible first friend he had made.
"Then, I must tell you, you won't be able to pass the practical exam. You won't make it into the hero course."
This brought the familiar fire of rage to ignite within him. He glared at the girl sitting in front of him. "What did you say?"
"Let me finish before you say something you may regret." Her tone wasn't sharp but it did make Shinso pause. "When I say practical exam, I mean it in the loosest definition as it is but practical in so many ways."
"What do you mean?" He was curious now.
"Well answer me this. Can your Quirk work on machines?"
"Well... no." He admitted reluctantly, still not sure where she was going with this.
"I thought so. Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but those guys on the board will not be in your favor. Those suits only care about flashy Quirks. So they always do the same thing every year. Send in some robots and they root out the less noticeable Quirkies in favor of the flashy and possibly arrogant Quirkies so they can get first dibs in the Hero Course while the others that have less flashy Quirks are stuck with the dregs in the General and Support courses."
"So what does that mean for me then?" He was beginning to feel a bit disheartened. "You telling me I should give up?" A touch of anger surfaced in his tone as he began to glare into his coffee.
"Quite the opposite." Shinso snapped his eyes up to hers. "While it may seem impossible, I assure you it is not impossible for you to be enrolled in the hero course."
"B-but- how can I-?" He was cut off abruptly.
"Tell me this. Do you happen to have any fighting experience?"
"Well... no." He admitted in a defeated tone.
"Ah." He then noticed that she had pulled out a notebook and was writing some things down. "We will have to work on that, then..."
"Huh?"
"Any experience with gadgets or support items?"
"Well no but-"
"Very well then," She wrote it down, cutting him off. "I suppose I better call Miu then," she muttered to herself.
"But what are-"
"What are your thoughts on hacking and-"
"Wait!" His sharp voice finally made her pause in her words and notetaking.
"What's the matter?" She asked innocently.
"What is all this for?!"
"Well you wanna get into the hero course, don't ya?"
"Yes, but-!"
"Well for that to happen we are gonna have to think outside the box, now don't we?"
"What?"
"Tell me this, did you know that applicants can use support items if they submit a form to allow this ahead of time before the entrance exam?"
This threw the older teen for a loop. He did not know that... Neither did he actually consider it. "No..."
"Then why don't we turn the tables on these yuppies and wow those heroes' socks off?"
"And how do I proceed with that?" He questioned. This all sounded too good to be true.
"Tell you what." She snapped her fingers, catching the attention of a waitress, who hurried over. "We're ready for the bill. And can I get a to-go box and a to-go cup?" She turned to Shinso. "You want one, too?"
"Uh, yeah," he replied, lifting his cup of coffee. "And can I get a refill, too? Black coffee with sugar."
The waitress nodded. "Yes, right away." Before she left to go get the bill and their to-go containers.
As Retasu paid the bill and was carrying her leftovers with Shinso right beside her, she then suddenly paused before they left through the exit. "Have you finally decided to stop eavesdropping?" She suddenly asked, confusing Shinso before he caught sight of a guy close to his age making himself known. He had desaturated tan hair and a bit of a surly poker-faced expression, like he didn't plan on being called out. Though what stood out to the indigo-haired guy was the slightly swollen cheek on the boy's face.
"Yeah um..." The boy spoke in an awkward tone. "Would you guys care too much if I... can I join you guys?!" He got out in a rush, surprising Shinso.
Retasu however, kept her poker face intact, though she will admit she was stunned by the boy's request. Though now that she got a good look at him, she began to recognize him. Before she stopped at the cafe, she ran across some delinquents who were cutting class and they were beating someone up. Not one to pass up an opportunity to "clean up these streets," she stepped in and, wham, bam, thank you ma'am she sent them running for the hills, tails between their legs and everything. And with some info sent to Izaya, those guys are not gonna face the light of day for a good percent of their lives. She had no time for pleasantries so instead of sticking around, she quickly patched the victim up and then bounced.
So apparently the guy followed her to the cafe, and even ordered a drink so he could listen in on her conversation with Shinso.
"And what, pray tell, could you gain from going along with us?" She questioned him, wanting to know his motives though she does have an idea if he was really listening in on everything she and Shinso talked about.
"I... I want to prove myself to those guys." He confessed. "But my Quirk alone can't get the job done... and I saw how you handled those guys back there and you didn't need to have a Quirk to do it. So please, I beseech you," He clasped his hands together. "Please teach me as well!"
Shinso stared at the kid with a slightly slack jaw while Retasu analyzed him to see if he is lying. Seeing no treachery or deceit in his words, she made her decision.
"Okay, you can join in." Both Shinso and the newcomer looked surprise at her answer. "What's your name, kid?"
"Call me Mustard." He introduced himself. Retasu offered her hand to him.
"Well then, Mustard, welcome aboard." He shook her hand after a second of hesitation. "Call me Retasu. No need for the formal crap."
"Ah, okay." He nodded, still stunned that he was readily accepted.
"Anyway, let's get going, daylight is wasting." She said, leading the way out of the cafe, she pulled out her phone before she tapped in a few commands. A few minutes later, a van pulled up to them. At first both Shinso and Mustard were a bit wary, until the front passenger window rolled down and revealed a strawberry blonde in steampunk attire behind the wheel.
"Hey there, bitch!" Both boys jolted at her loud voice and coarse language. "Where you been all day?! Izuru is having a bitch fit because you didn't leave a note or nothing before you took off!"
Retasu facepalmed. "Of course my luck would run out at some point..."
Miu then noticed the two boys behind her. "Ooh what do we have here, Lettuce-chan? You found two new boytoys to fuck with?" This caused a bright red blush to appear on both boys' faces.
Retasu didn't rise to the bait; she looked very unamused if you were to ask anyone who could see her. "No, Miu-chan. These two are some guys who need some help. And I was hoping that your stuff could help these guys along. Think you up for the task? Or is this too much for the great Miu Iruma?" She barely let a smirk surface on her face as Miu's expression changed from cocky to one that was given a challenge and she will go through hell to conquer it, or her name isn't Miu Iruma.
"Get your fucking asses in here." She said with a straight face. "You motherfucking tit-suckers are gonna get a crash course in hell from the golden brain Miu Iruma."
Patting herself on the back for getting Miu on board with her new project, Retasu slid the van passenger door and turned to the two boys who looked pale as ghosts now, possibly from Miu's words and the effect of them.
"Shall we, gentlemen?" She gave them a shit-eating grin. "Once you guys enter, you guys are gonna go through hell and back and there are no takesie-backsies. So no chickening out once you guys get on board. So you guys still wanna do this?"
Not trusting their own words, the two nodded, gulping down their fear for now.
Retasu smirked, looking a lot like her mentor Izaya. "Good. Nothing I hate more than those who don't show any backbone."
With that, the van zoomed through traffic, running a few red lights and giving pedestrians slight heart attacks as Miu drove like a deranged maniac.
"Oh gods," both boys clung to each other as they narrowly missed being t-boned by a semi speeding down the street. "What did we sign up for!?"
AAAANNNNDDD Scene! Guess who's back again, and about time too?
Sorry for the delay on updating this, I kinda hit a writer's block on how I was going to introduce the underdogs of the canon BNHA universe. I intend to add in Toga Himiko at some point, and maybe Dabi/Touya as those two could prove to be a big help for Retasu in changing the world along with her friends in Hope's Peak Academy. And with some more research on this Rody guy, I may find a way to slip him in this story, as he seems like a good candidate for Retasu's band of allies.
If anyone has any additional ideas on who to bring to Retasu's side please let me know in the comments.
This is the ArtVampire signing off!
Ja ne!