"What are you guys talking about?" Izuku asked curiously.
"Magne wants that watercolor painting." Spinner said nonchalantly.
"Oh, the cherry blossom one? I painted that actually." Izuku responded cheerfully before handing a glass of iced water to Mr. Compress. "I'm glad you like it!"
"Wait. You painted that?!" Magne asked loudly in disbelief.
"I painted all the paintings that are hung up in this house. 'Those cherry blossoms came from a palace I was feeling happy. The other ones... oh. I don't really want to remember the ones I made from back then." Izuku explained while he handed a tall glass of wine to Kurogiri.
"Well, I think the cherry blossoms are very beautiful," Magne responded from her seat.
"Thanks for the compliment. I'll be happy to move it into your room if you would like." Izuku replied happily with a gentle smile.
"I would appreciate that very much," Magne answered. When Izuku turned his back, she flipped off Shigaraki while mocking him with silent laughter. 'Ha!' She mouthed to Spinner.
Spinner rolls his eyes. "Hey, are you even a professional? Do you have any kind of license to actually be doing this?"
Izuku paused after putting the wine bottle back in the drawer. "I'm not a licensed professional, but I am qualified to help you all."
Dabi asked, "How the fuck can you help us if you aren't even an actual therapist."
"It was essential that I wasn't a licensed therapist apparently," Izuku responded simply.
Dabi was even more confused, "What? How the fu—?"
"It's because you wouldn't actually want to talk to them, would you? And they wouldn't want to 'deal' with you guys. I took the necessary classes to be considered a therapist, but I was taken out of them when Nedzu learned about my analysis. I was going to settle to be a therapist or quirk counselor who could do actual good until that point." Izuku explained.
"What's so special about your analysis that Nedzu took you out of studies?" Kurogiri asked with disbelief.
"My analysis was covered in fifteen notebooks by the time Nedzu heard word of them. In them, I listed everything that I knew about each pro heroes I came across. Hell, the last one was all about villains. Recover Girl actually visited the college to help oversee a medical exam. When I asked for an autograph, she read my notes. After that, she took me and my notebooks to Nedzu and the rest is history."
"How much do you really know?"
"Enough to blackmail, bribe, apprehend, and possibly even kill anyone I have information on. I learn their quirks very quickly from any fight online or in real life I see. From there, I break down what their strengths and weaknesses might be. Any weak points or strong points are listed down in that notebook. When Nedzu saw it, he took me under his wing to teach me personally and that allowed me to make some new friends and gain one back."
"Are you telling me...that you had valuable information on EVERY SINGLE HERO?" Shigrarki asked while scratching his neck up bad.
Izuku reminded with a calm grin, "And the villain. I still write in those notebooks to this day. The notebooks are actually being used to their fullest potential."
"Wow," Sako commented with wide brown eyes.
Everyone's jaw dropped. They were captured by a skilled team of pro heroes that somehow found out their weaknesses and drawbacks. Could it be that Izuku's notebooks helped them accomplish that?
"I'll just set up the painting in Magne's room then! See you in a bit!" Izuku called out cheerfully before heading up the stairs to take down the painting from the wall.
"I'll go next time while you guys go look around for something new." Spinner volunteered. The others nodded while Mr.Compress sighed and sat down.
"I'll be here. Taking a much-needed break for myself." Sako relayed while sipping on his iced water. "Ahh. Cool and refreshing."
Kurogiri took a big gulp of the red wine in his glass. "Oh god, this tastes so good. Count me out of this hunt too. I'll be here enjoying every last drop of whatever the hell is in this glass."
"Oh, great." Dabi sighed in irritation.
Spinner and Magne bit back a laugh at how the other two were acting.
They all agreed to actually begin the hunt tomorrow since everyone was tired from the scavenger hunt from that day.
"I'm back!"
"What's for dinner?" Toga groaned out to him.
"I can make something for everyone." Izuku offered.
They all agreed and soon Izuku was off whipping up some quick ramen for everyone. While they ate, the seven glanced at each other while Sako chatted with Izuku about learning to cook himself. After they ate, each of them retired for the night. Relatively calm for now.
When everyone was asleep, Magne laid awake, admiring her new painting until she fell asleep as well.
*
In the morning while Izuku made cinnamon rolls for breakfast, the villains gathered together on the third floor. Sako expressed how he rather stay out of it for now, before he headed downstairs to watch Izuku ice the cinnamon rolls.
Sako joined Izuku down at the kitchen while the others talked out their plan. "Hey, could you help me learn about cooking or baking something? I want to do something today, you know?"
Izuku blinked with a cinnamon roll in his hands. "Sure. No problem. How about you start with something simple like cookies?" Izuku suggested while Sako took the cinnamon roll out of his hands and ate it.
The seven concluded their plan to check the house again while Spinner is distracting him with his talk. The villains headed downstairs when they caught a peek at Sako taking notes while Izuku talked about temperature and time.
"I volunteer as tribute for your next session." Spinner said while getting up from his comfortable seat on the couch.
"Oh, okay. You go ahead and take a seat. I'll be right there with you!" Izuku replied before grabbing a cookbook from a kitchen drawer. "Just follow the instructions and you should be set to make some chocolate chip cookies."
Sako nodded which Izuku smiled at before excusing himself to start Spinner's talk session. The villains nodded at each other, Kurogiri's nod a little slower than the others. Apparently, the wine was stronger than he thought.
*
Spinner looked around the office while in his seat with Izuku readjusting his clipboard across from him.
"So, Iguchi Skuuichi, are you comfortable with me saying Iguchi-Kun?"
"That's alright."
"Okay. Let's begin, shall we?"
Spinner hoped that this time his friends would actually find something more useful.
*
"Woah. Now that I'm looking at some of these paintings, I'm really wondering why most of these are like really ...something. I really love them!" Twice commented while looking at a particular watercolor that looked to be a flame diminishing in a sea of water made of green. Made of green?!
"Dark? Sad? Depressing?" Toga suggested while she looked at a particular one. A painting of a green-haired teen standing still in darkness with a middle school uniform on. Multiple colorful scenes are drawn out above him, very different from the black background he was surrounded by. A scene of two children. One sitting in a stream looking angry at the other who was standing above them with their handheld out. Another scene with three angry shadows. The last scene was a beautiful sky picture from on top of a school rooftop with his school shoes right near the edge.
Since Izuku made the paintings, the villains checked all of them for any clues as to what Izuku was hiding from them. Shigaraki found himself looking at one that portrayed what he assumed to be the younger version of Izuku wrapped up in a hug by his mother. But he was crying and she was crying in a dark room only illuminated by a computer screen.
Kurogiri found one with Magne that looked to be a painting of a middle school student that looked like him standing alone in a classroom. Their uniform looked burnt in certain places and their cheek had a nasty purple bruise forming.
And Dabi seemed to have the only happy painting in front of him. A family portrait of Izuku and his mother. A future one based on the height of Izuku and the gray hairs starting on his own mother. Izuku sat on the couch with his arm around his smiling mother as they posed for the picture.
Each of them moved on to checking anything they might have missed from yesterday's hunt, but they each separately wondered about Izuku's past.
Why the hell did it seem so sad?
*
Sako wasn't struggling THAT much. It's just....
'What the fuck is the difference between a teaspoon and a tablespoon? Each spoon that the kitchen had was the same fucking size! Did it make that much of a difference?' He thought angrily, picking up spoons of the same size.
He shrugged before guessing the amount of salt. He poured a cup of white sugar and a considerably less of the amount of salt into the dry mixture. Then he added the brown sugar before sighing.
'Okay. Now time for the wet ingredients.' He thought, turning around in the direction of the fridge. He opened the door and looked inside before he started panicking.
"Where the fuck are the EGGS?!" Sako whisper-yelled into the open fridge door.
*
"How was your life growing up?"
"It was just fine. My mother raised me by herself when my dad left. And she tried her best to put food on the table and take care of me while working two jobs."
"Would you believe me if I told you my dad was also absent and that my mother was basically a single mother as well?"
"I could take a guess with how well you cook and apparently bake too."
Izuku laughed at Iguchi's comment, "So what happened before your quirk and after"
"Yeah, the quirk is where the trouble always starts sometimes. Nothing unusual happened before I got my quirk. I was always a loner that didn't have many friends or any at all. I mostly had classmates that I saw every day and that was it."
Izuku nodded, "And what happened afterward?"
"Well, I was one of the last to develop in my class." Iguchi started, "Everyone was gushing over how cool their quirks were or how perfect it would be to become what they wanted to. But when I said I wanted to be a hero, things took a turn with my classmates. They kept saying that it was practically useless. The only thing my quirk does is gives me my appearance and make me able to stick to walls."
Iguchi continued with a glare, "That's when it started. Kids who didn't really talk to me made fun of my appearance before ridiculing my weak quirk. I was basically ignored by all my classmates besides the talking behind my back. Once I got a love letter only to show up to her and her friends laughing at me that I actually believed that anyone would actually care like that for me."
Izuku nodded with a grimace, "Let me guess. 'Meet me on the rooftop after school. I want to tell you something.' Covered in hearts?"
"You too?" Spinner asked in confused disbelief.
"Several times. Some were girls to make fun of me for actually believing in it and others were boys who were looking for a punching bag."
"Geez," Iguchi commented.
"Yeah. So did the bullying continue?" Izuku asked, getting back on topic.
Iguchi shrugged, "Pretty much. It wasn't really severe as physical, but it did wreck me on the inside, you know? Basically made me feel weak and useless for a long time. After years of that, I was struggling to find something to get into. I couldn't be a hero, so what else was there for me to do? I was in-between part-time jobs when I found Stain and his whole outlook. Then I found the League and the rest is history."
"So Stain and his principle..."
"I heard it from Mr. Compress about you saying stuff about it."
"I just wanted to say that heroes work differently from All Might. Yes, half the time you need to think quickly and that's where All Might stance comes in. But when there is a sensitive case to deal with you need time to think it over and suggest the best plan to move ahead, otherwise, the whole thing goes to sh- poo." Izuku corrected himself.
Iguchi snorted at Izuku's attempt at censoring himself, "So, if you think Stain isn't the right one. Who else should I follow then?" Spinner questioned the 'therapist'.
"You don't have to follow anyone, Iguchi-Kun," Izuku said.
"What do you mean?" Iguchi asked.
"When was the last time you did something based on what you wanted?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"Who are you?" Izuku asked calmly
"What?! I'm—" Spinner questioned outraged.
"Are you only the follower, Spinner? Or are you going to make yourself your own leader, Iguchi-Kun?" Izuku replied gently. "It's time for you to make your own decisions. Don't base it on what someone wants from you or what someone else does."
Iguchi sat in silence.
'Damn, Mr. Compress was right about him being good.' He thought to himself.
*
"Have you found anything yet?" Shigaraki rasped over his shoulder to his followers.
"Nothing in the broom closet. It's very cozy in here actually. Eww, dusty!" Twice sounded from his spot in the closet.
"Nothing here," Toga said from her place in her room. "But I really do love the red color it's painted! I didn't even notice how red it was until I turned on the light!"
"Where's Dabi?" Shigaraki asked when he saw no sign of him.
"I heard he went down to speed up Mr. Compress' baking," Magne responded while still trying to examine the paintings since she didn't really want to look around.
"You do realize that Dabi will probably do something with the cookies." Kurogiri deadpanned from the side with his head resting in his hands.
"Hehe. Wait! No! THE COOKIES!" Twice yelled out before charging downstairs from the third floor.
Then three things happened.
Twice tripped on the last step.
Sako screamed at Dabi to not touch his masterpieces.
And Dabi rapidly placing the cookies on the counter before revealing what he found hidden away in his own room.
Apparently, someone was dumb enough to leave their lighter inside his room and guess what else he found.
You'll never guess.
Yep, hairspray. Charcoal cookies coming right up!
*
"If there is anything I would like to add before we finish, I think your quirk is very useful and handy."
Iguchi snorted, "Yeah, but not hero material, right?"
"I think so."
He raised a brow at this, "Are you being real with me?"
"I'm being serious. The ability to stick to walls is very good for hero work. You can climb into spaces that regular heroes couldn't be able to maneuver. You could climb onto the ceiling or walls undetected and listen in on important conversations for missions. You could rescue civilians trapped by—,"
Iguchi was getting redder by the minute until he smelled something, "Do you smell that?"
Izuku pauses in his words to smell the air. He gasped and said in a scared voice, "The cookies."
They both looked at each other before running out of the room to check on what the hell was happening in the kitchen.
There Sako was being held back from strangling Dabi while there were several burnt cookies on the counter.
"What's going on?" Izuku asked approaching the two.
"This son of a bastard burnt the hell out of my cookies!" Sako yelled out, pointing a finger at Dabi.
"I was TRYING to make them cook faster!" Dabi argued back holding a charred cookie in his hand. "You are so lucky that my cuffs are actually holding back what I can actually do."
"No! I wanted cookies! I'm actually on a diet!" Twice exclaimed from the ground, which he still lay face down from his fall.
Sako laughed at him revealing what is in his pocket. He reached in to reveal four cookies unharmed from the fire. "I saved some of my cookies, you mother-,"
"Okay. Okay. No more cursing in the kitchen." Izuku calmed Sako down. "Dabi, get out of the kitchen, nothing can take your heat in here" Izuku pointed to the now ruined charred black marble counter. "Sako, you go and enjoy your saved cookies and I will make some dinner."
Sako gave Izuku one of his cookies and gave Iguchi one as well. He gave the last one to Twice since he was sad without one. They were all very crispy, but good enough to be edible. But before anyone sat down, Izuku made sure that everyone's cuffs were still on.
Dabi and Sako sat across from each other on the couches while Izuku got dinner ready in the kitchen. The villains gathered together to say they hadn't found anything the second time around.
"Apart from the old paintings, we haven't really gotten any concrete information," Shigaraki mumbled.
"We just know he was very sad when he made a lot of them," Magne said to her friends.
"Dinner's ready!" Izuku called from the kitchen. They all looked up to see eight bowls of delicious smelling food. "I made my mom's katsudon! Eat up!"
Everyone drudged up to grab their bowl to eat. When the got their bowl, they all sat down back in their seat.
"I hope you like it. It was my favorite while growing up." Izuku said absentmindedly while he ate his own in the kitchen.
When everyone took their first bite, they each had their separate reactions.
Sako nodded and hummed at the delicious familiar taste of a home-cooked meal. Iguchi smiled at his first bite, remembering the times his mom had enough time to cook dinner for him when he was younger.
Kurogiri appreciated the taste, but he would recommend a glass of specific wine with it. Toga groaned, remembering a time she would only dream to have this kind of food when she was living on the streets. Twice loved and hated the food, he didn't know what to think.
Dabi distinctly remembered a time that his mother cooked dinner for him while his father was out doing work. She was pregnant with his brother at the time. He grimaced but kept eating the meal.
When Shigaraki ate the first bite, something spiked in his heart and mind to remember what his own mother was like. What she cooked for dinner for him and the rest of the family. Mon-Chan...
Everyone sat down eating a delicious home-cooked meal that reminded them of their lives before all the bad times.
In the kitchen, unnoticed, Izuku wipes a tear from his eyes while eating the katsudon.