"Well, I must say, you two did surprisingly well for being thrown into things at the last minute. I'd go as far to say that you have a natural talent for it."
Kendo, Yaoyorozu, and Uwabami sat in the lounge at her agency. The sun had set long ago and the two teenagers were exhausted from unexpectedly being thrown into a hair product commercial. Uwabami, on the other hand, sipped her wine as if she didn't have a care in the world.
"I'm certain the two of you could easily make a name for yourself as a model or tv personality if you put your minds to it."
Yaoyorozu gave a shaky smile as she gingerly waved her hand. "Thank you for the compliment, but I don't see myself doing anything like that in the future."
Kendo nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I've never thought about doing any of this either."
A gentle laugh escaped Uwabami as she swirled her wine. "You say that now, but you learn that it's impossible to stay out of it once you go pro. Yaoyorozu, your teacher does his best to stay out of the media's sight, but they still manage to catch him from time to time."
"That may be true, but if I solely focus on my hero work I should be fine."
Uwabami shook her head before taking another sip. "Sadly, it doesn't work that way. Once you stop your first villain or save your first bystander there's no getting away. The media is relentless. If you ignore them, you have to be in the top 25 at the very least, any less than that and the public will brand you as arrogant and untrustworthy."
Kendo raised an eye as she leaned on the arm of the couch. "But that's completely unfair."
Uwabami let out a sigh. "You're right, but it's not completely unfounded. Even in your classes I'm sure you've noticed people automatically put a bad label on those that don't interact with the class."
Kendo and Yaoyorozu both sucked their teeth as they thought about their elementary and middle school classes. Almost every year one person would be the class outcast because they did nothing but keep to themselves.
"Thankfully hero courses teach students how to handle media attention, but nothing gets the point across like actually working it." Uwambi smiled sweetly before taking another sip. "I'm sure you expected this week to be full of patrols and learning how to be a hero, but that won't be the case. Instead you will mainly be learning about how to navigate while constantly having the public eye on you. Do you two think you're up for it?"
Yaoyorozu nodded firmly. "Yes ma'am! While it might not be what I expected, I believe this will still help me learn how to make quick decisions without panicking."
Uwambi gave an approving nod. "Good, I'm certain that by the end of this you'll be able to handle any situation with a cool head. What about you, Kendo?"
Kendo shrugged casually as she glanced down at her phone. "Well the commercial was unexpected, but everything I figured would happen. So yeah, I'll be able to handle it no problem."
Uwabami narrowed her eyes on Kendo. "Interesting, you said you had no interest in this side of the hero world, but you also expected this week to go like this. Why would you still accept knowing that?"
Kendo looked away as she nervously ran her fingers through the ends of her hair. "Well... my boyfriend said-"
Uwabami set her glass down, the sudden clinking sound caused Kendo to stop mid sentence. Kendo turned back to Uwabami, with a nervous expression. Uwabami had a mischievous grin as her eyes narrowed on Kendo, as the snakes in her hair softly hissed with anticipation. She leaned in with more interest with each word.
"Did you say boyfriend?"
Kendo gulped as she quickly nodded, she had never seen the rescue hero this intense before. "Yes ma'am."
"Oh my, sounds like you will need to include some special classes as well this week."
Kendo's eyes widened. "What do you mean by special classes?"
Uwambi's smile turned Cheshire like as she crossed one leg over the other. "Hero dating of course. It's about a thousand more times as complicated as normal dating."
Kendo let out a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God, I thought you were gonna give me the talk."
"Oh don't you worry, we'll have some sexual education as well. You can never be too careful with teenagers and their hormones. I'm sure your parents don't want to be grandparents this soon."
Kendo's head fell as she cursed under her breath. "Damn it."
Yaoyorozu put a hand over her mouth to try and stifle her laughter. "Have fun Kendo."
"Oh don't worry Yaoyorozu, you'll be joining us."
Yaoyorozu's mouth dropped in disbelief. "But why? I'm not in a relationship."
"Yaoyorozu, I'm one of Japan's top models and I'm jealous of the body you have. I'm certain you already have a line of boys and girls wishing for you to look their way. You need this talk just as much as Kendo."
Yaoyorozu's head dropped. "Fudge."
Kendo looked over at Yaoyorozu with a weak smile. "At least we'll suffer together."
Uwambi laughed softly as she picked her wine glass back up and relaxed into her seat again. "So Kendo, was this boy why you seemed so distracted today?"
Kendo looked at Uwabami surprised. "Did I really look distracted?"
Uwabami shook her head. "Not exactly, but these three babies right here tell me things that I wouldn't notice at first." Uwabami put a hand in the air and the three snakes gently nuzzled into it while hissing happily.
Kendo blushed as she scratched her cheek. "That actually makes me feel a little better."
Uwabami smiled as she took another sip. "So was he what was distracting you today? Is he at an internship right now?"
Kendo shook her head. "Not exactly, he's not in a hero course. He actually isn't even going to high school."
Uwabami raised an eye. "That's... interesting? Did he not pass any entrance exams?"
Kendo shook her head again. "He didn't take any. He's taking over the family business so he decided it would be better to go straight in and learn on the job. I don't really know how much he needs to learn though he's been working there since he was 8."
Uwabami nodded. "I see, I hope the business goes well then. It will be hard to find a good job without a highschool diploma if everything goes south."
Kendo nodded as she picked up her phone with a smile. "Yeah, honestly I don't think he's ever going to have to worry about money though."
Uwabami's eyes widened as her snakes hissed. "I get the feeling there's a lot there that you're not comfortable talking about."
"Yeah, it's personal stuff that I don't think I should just be talking about freely."
Uwabami smiled as her snakes relaxed. "I understand. So, where's this boy from?"
Kendo's eyes widened as she heard Yaoyorozu laugh to herself. "He uh... he lives in Tokyo..."
Uwabami smirked as she began to pour herself a second glass of wine. "Ahhh, I see. You were hoping that you might be able to see him when you all were done for the day and had time to yourselves."
Kendo looked away quickly as her face turned a deep red. "I wasn't expecting it, but it would be nice. I promise that wasn't why I chose to come here!"
Uwabami laughed as she watched the young girl panic. "It's fine Kendo, I understand, I was young too once. Tomorrow is going to be a relatively easy day for us. I just have a few interviews to record in the morning and early afternoon, so after that I don't mind if you hang out."
Kendo's jaw dropped as she looked at Uwabami in complete surprise. "Really it was that easy?"
Uwabami snickered to herself as she sipped her wine. "I do have a few conditions though."
Kendo closed her mouth quickly as she nodded. "Of course."
"First, Yaoyorozu must accompany you."
"Done."
Yaoyorozu turned to Kendo quickly. "I never agreed to this!?"
Kendo put her hands together and bowed her head to Yaoyorozu. "Please come with, it will be fun."
"... Fine."
"Yes!"
"Second, you must be back by dark. You're still under my care this week."
"That's fair enough."
"Third, he must walk the two of you back here. I know you're heroes in training, but Tokyo still can be a dangerous city at night. Also I'd like to see him for myself."
"No problem, he'd be more than happy to do that."
"And finally, when you return the four of us will have our hero dating lesson."
"Consider it done."
Both Yaoyorozu and Uwabami looked at Kendo surprised. Her quick response had caught them off guard.
"Um Kendo, shouldn't you ask him first before you agree to it? What if he says no?"
"Why should I? If I have to sit through that lesson the least he can do is suffer with us."
Yaoyorozu raised a hand ready for a retort, but stopped and slumped her shoulders when she realized that there was no changing her mind. Uwambi could only shake her head with a proud smile.
"It sounds like you have that boy all figured out and wrapped around your finger."
Kendo laughed as he brazenly smiled as she furiously typed away on her phone. "My mother taught me well."
Itsuka: "Hey I got the ok to meet up tomorrow but we have a few rules. The girl that is doing the internship has to come with, we have to be back by dark, and you have to walk us back."
Izuku: "Sounds good. I'm free all day so just call me when you're on the way and I'll make sure to be home."
Kendo showed her phone to Uwabami to confirm that he agreed to everything. Uwabami proudly smiled as she polished off her glass of wine.
"I see, well I should go prepare some notes for tomorrow's class. You two are free to stay up, but remember we have an early morning tomorrow."
Yaoyorozu and Kendo both decided to head to their rooms as well. The day had been exhausting and they longed for the sweet relief of a soft bed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Midoriya sat alone on his balcony as he looked across the city, he was still exhausted from the night before. What he had assumed would be a simple walk and drop off turned into a two hour lecture on the does and don'ts of dating in the hero world and an hour interrogation of what kind of person he was.
All in all the talk itself wasn't so bad, Uwambi did have a lot of good points about safety and how to handle backlash. While most of her points could be seen as hypothetical, it was safe to assume she had seen or experienced a few of the situations based on her passion.
That being said he could have done without the sex ed talk. Sure it may have been helpful and needed since all Ken told him was, 'If you're gonna stick your dick in it then you better prepare for the consequences.' But that didn't make it any less awkward or uncomfortable when he was hearing this not only with his girlfriend, but also a girl that he had previously tried to shoot.
With a deep sigh Midoriya hung his head back and stared into the sky. The sun was close to setting, so it was almost time for him to meet up with the Hero Killer. With a swift slap to his cheeks he stood up to finish getting ready.
Once inside his room he set his phone on speaker as he began to rummage through his closet. As he pulled out the clothes he needed a voice came over the phone.
"Is everything alright, Phoenix?"
"Yeah, I'm about to leave now. I don't think it should take more than two hours."
"Very good. We'll be waiting for the shipment to be delivered, just make sure you get the spare quirks tonight."
Midoriya shook his head as he flipped through his lighters trying to find one that produced a purple flame.
"I will, I've already discussed it with All for One, he said they'd be ready once I bring in a hero."
"I see. Just out of curiosity, do you know what hero you'll be bringing in?"
"No, all I know is that I'm meeting the Hero Killer and he's gonna help me."
A sigh came from the other end of the phone. "Alright, I'll make sure to bring one of our trial rounds just to be safe. We don't need any slip ups tonight."
"Yeah, the last thing we need is to cause a scene that would link you to the League of Villains."
"I'm not worried about that. We have people that can clean up messes before anyone finds out. I just don't want us to have any more setbacks when the cure is so close to completion."
"I hate that the fact you are solely focused on your plan is reassuring."
"Someone has to be or else nothing gets done."
Midoriya grabbed his mask and put it on as he checked the time, it was almost seven. "Speaking of getting things done, I have to go now."
"Very well, I'll start getting things ready on my end."
"Alright."
The phone call ended leaving the room in silence. Midoriya picked up his phone and sent a text to Kurogiri letting him know that he was ready. While he waited for Kurogiri he scrolled through his messages, Kendo had yet to send him a single message since he left Uwabami's agency the night before. He could only shake his head as he laughed to himself. She somehow was more embarrassed than he was and she knew what was coming.
"God seeing Itsuka's face turn redder than her hair was priceless."
Kurogiri's warp gate opened up in front of Midoriya. With a smile he spread the purple flame across his mask.
"Well I guess it really didn't since her hair is orange, not red."
Once he crossed through the warp gate Midoriya found himself in the same alley that he had met the Hero Killer a few nights before. The sun was just starting to set, all he had to do now was wait for the Hero Killer to show up.
Not five minutes after arriving Midoriya could hear the faint sounds of footsteps approaching him. Even though he knew who it was, he remained on guard.
"I'm glad to see you showed up, Phoenix."
"And I'm glad you didn't try and stab me in the back."
Stain glared at Midoriya before walking past him. "The night's not over yet, now let's get moving before some fakes show up."
Midoriya nodded and followed behind him swiftly. As the two of them made their way through the alleys, Stain, explained his methods of selection.
"Contrary to popular belief, I do have a method to the fakes I choose. Whenever I move onto a new city I research every hero that calls that place home. After that I pick the five worse, more often than not most times it's fairly obvious who the biggest offenders are."
"How exactly do you get this information?"
"The underworld has eyes and ears everywhere, all you have to do is know the right people to talk to. After that I'll follow my targets for a week to see if the information was true or not."
"I see, and what exactly are you looking for that makes the hero's fakes? The media makes you out to be someone who attacks indiscriminately."
"That's because if they revealed the things these 'heroes' do, society would lose all faith in them."
Midoriya tightened his fist as he looked to the ground. "What exactly do they do?"
Stain scoffed as he turned around to stare down Midoriya. "What don't they do would be the better question. Money laundering, underground fighting, child trafficking, prostitution, paying criminals to be caught by them to boost their popularity. If you can think of it, they've done it."
"That's disgusting."
Stain narrowed his eyes before turning around and continuing down the alley. "Yes, and I intend to take out the garbage that pollutes our world."
"So who are we going after tonight?"
"Native."
Midoriya looked up confused. "Native, what has he done?"
"Besides being incredibly racist?"
"Yes, I'd prefer a little more than that."
"He paid his way to get where he's at. In the week I watched him he met with eight different people and handed them envelopes filled with money. I interrogated those people and it turns out he's paying off criminals to do crimes where he's at and then take a dive to make himself look better. The money he gives them is to pay their bail and some."
"If that's the case why has no one caught on?"
"Most of his cases are small-time petty thefts so it's more often than not a small slap on the wrist as punishment. No one cares about the time they spend in jail because cases like that happen everyday."
"That seems like a real waste of money."
"It is, he could be giving his extra to people that genuinely need it, but instead he uses it to boost his popularity and increase his own wealth."
"I guess that means we're going to him right now."
"Exactly, he's supposed to meet up with someone else tonight. We're going to stop him and then you're free to do with him as you please."
Midoriya nodded. "Hey, can I ask what exactly Ingenium did to get paralyzed?"
"Ingenium comes from a long line of heroes and they all have been outstanding heroes who fight for justice. He on the other hand took in sidekick after sidekick and before long he was no longer the hero Ingenium, he was the man with sixty-five sidekicks. He became sloppy and lazy as he commanded his sidekicks to do the hard work. They'd stop the crimes, but he'd get the credit. That's why I let him 'track me down.' He wanted to watch from the sidelines so bad I gave him the excuse he needed to watch for the rest of his life."
"I see. That's a shame, I really liked him growing up."
"It is, I was a fan of his father growing up as well."
"Hey Stain, I get why you are targeting some of these heroes, but is it really bad for them to want things like money?"
"No, wanting this is what pushes us to achieve our dreams. I have no qualms with a hero who is in it for money to support their family, as long as it stays within reason. Take Pixie-Bob, everyone knows she is looking for someone to settle down with, because of that they think she could be my target."
"Will she be?"
Stain shook his head. "No, wanting a family is natural and she doesn't let it interfere with her hero work. When things get serious she sets aside all her wants and focuses on those in need."
"I see, thanks."
"It's no problem, it's refreshing to have someone be interested in my process; unfortunately we have to end it there."
Stain and Midoriya came to a stop and looked around a corner and saw the hero Native talking with a shady individual.
"It looks like we arrived just in time Phoenix, this is your target so you take the lead. I'll be standing by to cut off his escape routes."
"Alright, this shouldn't take long."
Midoriya slowly made his way down the alley doing his best to not draw their attention. As he got closer he could make out bits and pieces of their conversation.
"Look, the job is simple enough. You're going to rob the corner store, my friend runs the place so it will be fine. I'm gonna be close by so I'll stop you before any other pros show up. We'll use this to bail you out and you keep what's left over."
Native held out an envelope filled with cash, his partner took it and began counting it.
"Are sure this will work? What if some other hero stops me?"
"Trust me, it will be fine."
A snap echoed through the alley and the envelope suddenly burst into flames, incinerating all the money that was inside.
"Are you sure about that?"
The two conspirators froze in terror as they saw Phoenix slowly approaching him. His purple flames that covered his face mask dimly lit his face so that his emotionless eyes were the only distinguishable feature. Before either of them could say a word Midoriya snapped again causing the would-be criminal to be engulfed in flames.
"Now that the extra is out of the way, we can get down to business."
Native had slowly regained part of his composure as he shakily got into his fighting stance.
"Thi... this is per... perfect. If I ca... capture yo.. yo.. you I'll easily ma... make the top twenty-five."
Midoriya didn't respond, he continued his approach at the same speed. As his footsteps continued to echo through the alley Native finally mustered the courage he had left and charged towards Midoriya.
"I'm taking you down here and now Phoenix!"
Midoriya sighed softly before snapping again. This time the bottoms of Native's feet ignited. The hero screamed out in pain as he collapsed in front of Midoriya. With the hero laid out in the ground the flames on his feet disappeared. Reaching down Midoriya raised Native's head with his head band.
"What... what are you?"
Midoriya didn't answer, instead he slammed the hero's face into the ground, knocking him out cold. With him incapacitated Midoriya took out his phone to send Kurogiri his location.
"You truly do live up to your reputation Phoenix. It's no wonder you've been able to stay anonymous for so long."
Stain approached Midoriya with his sword drawn. He danced his blade across Natives cheek drawing blood. With a gleeful smile Stain licked the blood from his blade.
"What exactly are you doing?"
"He has type B blood, consider this insurance in case he wakes up too early."
"Thanks, you've been a big help tonight."
"Don't expect any more favors, you're on your own from now. I've taught you how to fish, now you can feed yourself."
Stain made his way out the alley leaving Midoriya to himself. As he leaned against the wall he pulled out his phone again to make sure his message had gone through. It usually only took Kurogiri a minute after a message was sent for a portal to appear, but five had already passed. As Midoriya wondered what could be taking him so long an explosion rang out through the city. Midoriya quickly looked up to see smoke emerging from buildings.
'Holy shit, he's learning.'
As Midoriya stared in amazement the sound of footsteps rapidly grew close. He instantly readied himself knowing that a fight was about to begin. Seconds later Stain rounded the corner with his blade drawn.
"Damn it Phoenix, you said you only came here for help!"
Midoriya raised a wall of flames between them hoping to stop his advances.
"I did, I didn't know they were going to attack."
A knife flew through the flames, embedding itself in Midoriya's arm.
"And why should I believe a word you say? An attack happening after I help you is no coincidence, and that's not even mentioning the increase of heroes that aren't from here or the rumors of you being seen here the past two days."
Gritting his teeth Midoriya pulled the blade and ignited to cauterize the wound and eliminate any traces of his blood on the knife.
"I told you before, if I wanted you dead, you'd be dead."
As he threw the knife away Stain leapt through the wall of flames. The two of them stared each other down waiting to see who would make the first move.
Midoriya quickly snapped his fingers, but Stain instantly dodged as flame appeared where his feet were previously. Midoriya watched in disbelief, that was the first time someone had actually dodged his flames.
"Your quirk may be powerful Phoenix, but that won't be enough to kill me. I studied everyone in the League before I came to visit so I know all of your quirks. You can control all flames, but you still have to ignite a specific area. You also snap before every attack so I can easily dodge. I don't fear your flames so I won't falter at their sight."
Stain charged at Midoriya with his sword drawn as he prepared to strike, Midoriya snapped again and flames engulfed his hands. Stains blade came down and grazed Midoriya's sleeve, at the same time Midoriya sent a punch into Stain's stomach.
Stain quickly jumped back to avoid further contact with the flames, again the two stared each other down. The scream in the city grew louder as the two of them faced off.
Before the two of them could engage again the sound of footsteps caught their attention. The two of them turned to see a high school boy standing behind the wall of flames.
"Hero Killer Stain and Phoenix, I've come to stop-"
"Get lost kid, this isn't the time for you to play hero."
"I am the hero Ingenium and I have come here to avenge my brother and my classmates!"
"Are you stronger than him?"
"No, but I-"
"How about faster?"
"No, I-"
"Then leave, you're not worth killing."
"I will kill you for what you did to my brother! Then I'll kill you Phoenix for attacking my classmates!"
Without saying a word Stain threw a dagger towards the young hero, cutting straight through part of his helmet. Slowly blood trickled out as a cut appeared on the exposed skin.
"If that's the case then stay right there, I'll cut out the cancer before it infects the rest of the youth."
Midoriya listened quietly, never taking his eyes off of Stain. He recognized the voice of the kid as Tenya Iida, the class president of 1-A. As the two of them went back and forth he felt a vibration in his pocket and then saw a portal open up next to Native's body.
When the portal opened up Stain's eyes widened as he instantly charged Midoriya again. Midoriya didn't care, he quickly ran to the portal and threw Native in before dodging back.
"You're not getting away that easily Phoenix, we're not done yet."
Midoriya stared directly at Stain who was directly blocking his path to the portal. With a quick snap Midoriya ran to the right. Stain instantly jumped to his right expecting a flame to appear where he was standing before, but none appeared. Instead the flame wall that was keeping the student back intensified becoming a roaring pillar of flames. Every hero in the city would be able to see that flame and know who caused it.
"Drawing the attention of heroes in hopes of scaring me off, it's not a bad plan, but it won't work."
"You really do think you know everything, Stain. You think you know who the true heroes are, you think you know my plan, and you think you know my quirk. Well I'm gonna let you in on a little secret, you don't know anything. All you do is spout nonsense, so I'm going to end that tonight."
Stain smiled madly at his words. "And how do you plan on doing that? I already know when and where you're going to attack."
Midoriya narrowed his eyes on Stain, his crazed smile left a small gap in his teeth. "Simple, I don't have to snap."
Stain's eyes widened as a burning sensation filled his mouth. Smoke poured from his mouth as he screamed in agony. With his opening secured Midoriya ran through the portal that placed him at All for One's warehouse. As he began to regain his bearings he heard an all too familiar voice.
"Well that certainly was surprising, I didn't expect an unconscious hero to fly through the portal by themselves."
"That wouldn't have happened if Kurogiri showed up on time."
"Ah yes, that was Tomura's order. He decided to launch an attack in Hosu to corner the Hero Killer."
"It would have been nice to know that beforehand. I would have been prepared for Stain to come back and attack me."
"That may be true, but Tomura has faith that you can hold your own against him. If he didn't, he would have sent the Nomu's to you instead of the city."
"Wait, he released them in the city?"
"Oh yes, but they are substantially weaker then the one we used against All Might."
Midoriya let out a sigh. "You know what, I'm too tired to deal with his plans tonight. I captured a pro hero, so can I get the spare quirks?"
All for One softly smiled as he nodded. "Of course Phoenix, I am a man of my word. Doctor, bring Phoenix what was promised."
The doctor emerged from the shadows grumbling to himself. He brought Midoriya three different tubes that were filled with a strange liquid.
"I still don't like this, but here you go. You're gonna want to inject three millimeters worth into your specimen. To help keep things simple for you I modified the quirks so they're always active."
"Thanks, can you get Kurogiri to send me to Osaka?"
"Of course. Would you like us to take care of those wounds before you go?"
"No, I have a guy for that."
All for One laughed as he snapped his fingers. Instantly, one of Kurogiri's portals opened up.
"I'll be looking forward to the results."
Midoriya tossed Native through the portal before glaring at All for One. "And I'll be looking forward to you telling me who killed my parents."
All for One smirked at Midoriya as he made his way through the portal.
"All in good time Phoenix. All in good time."